2011 – Utengule Coffee Estate

We slept well, or Gray did, he was competing with a spotted eagle owl to see who could make the most noise. It took me a while to get to sleep with this cacophony of snoring in my left ear and owl hooting in my right. I guess it still beats the snoring and hooting of cars on William Nicol back home.

If we want to put a decent meal together we need to go shopping. We have lots of tinned and dry stuff, so we wouldn’t starve but we are short of fresh produce. Although Mbeya is a huge town, we wouldn’t know where to start trying to find things without a guide. This is all just an excellent excuse to eat all our meals in the restaurant. In effect, we are pretty much hotel guests here, swanning at the pool with waiters bringing us drinks and snacks.

Gray is concerned that the little stint with the brake pads has scored the brake discs. We could push onto Dar but the manager at Utengule referred him to a place Mbeya. So begins another of our car sagas; first stop was the local car repair shop down the drag, this shop is run by a missionary and has a Chapel in the middle of the workshop. They were unable to help and referred him to the official Land Rover agent in town. They too, were unable to help and referred him to another spare shop. The ‘local Landy agent’ went with Gray to a little, Indian run, parts stall. There were parts for Africa there, of every description and for every vehicle. The little old Indian lady behind the counter sent some young helper into the bowels of the shop for the part. They then returned to the shop, only to discover the part didn’t fit. By now our car was in pieces, so they borrowed a police Land Rover, in for repairs, to return the part. The little old lady was unable to find the part but was not giving up, she phoned their Dar branch and the parts will arrive tomorrow afternoon. It appears that the problem with getting parts is that our vehicle is too ‘new’ – the joke is it is a 2002 model. Gray says they went out their way to help him and were so friendly – they may not have all the fancy equipment and coffee in the waiting room but for service they beat Sandton Land Rover hands down.

Gray got to the see the myriad of back streets and alleys in Mbeya, it really is an amazing place. Nobody was begging and or asking for handouts, even though he was one of the few mazungus in town. Gray loves going off and playing bush mechanic, I can see he actually gets a thrill of this car maintenance.

So, you may ask, where was I this morning? I was sitting around the pool sorting out the blog. We have discovered that Vodacom operates in Tanzania; so we have a pay-as-you-go set up in an old phone, with plenty of air time (which takes hours to put in as they come in such small denominations). Trying to figure out how to use a pay as you go was another experience, I recommend contract any day. The phone is linked into the laptop and so I was able to post all my backlog of blogs and photos. Hopefully, we can use this facility for the rest of the trip and then I can send daily updates and not volumes at one time. Isn’t technology amazing?

There are a number of local beers in Tanzania, this gives Gray a good excuse to systematically try each one. He moved on from Killy, to Tusker to Serengetti and is still not sure of his preference yet. The good thing about us being here, is that later in the evening, after the beer tasting and wine with dinner – round about the time he starts speaking Swahili – he is now understood, as this is the local language here.

Even better than the beer is the coffee, we are drinking the plantation’s coffee and it is the best we have ever tasted. I am not a coffee lover by any means but this coffee I could become addicted to and Gray is drinking it by the bodum full.

The hooting owl

Utengule gardens

The local brews

NORTHERN MALAWI

NORTHERN MALAWI

Mel

Malawi was once known as Nyasaland, gaining independence in 1964, under Dr Hastings Kamuzo Banda, the first Prime Minister. Banda spent 42 years out of the country; working in Rhodesia, South Africa, studying as a medical doctor in New York and practising in West Africa. After his return he could no longer speak his home language, Chichewa. After 5 years in office, he declared himself president-for-life and held the position for the next 27 years. His presidency succumbed to uprisings in 1994 and a multiparty political system was reintroduced.

Malawi is one of the world’s poorest and least developed countries. Its economy depends largely on agriculture, with tobacco being its main cash crop. The Malawian people use much of their land for the planting of crops and even on the steepest slopes we saw crops being cultivated.

Malawi is small compared to the size of most African countries. It is a long, narrow piece of land, wedged between Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique. About a 1/5 of the country is covered by Lake Malawi on the Eastern border. This gigantic trough of water slices through the Great Rift Valley and is the third largest lake in Africa. It is a shimmering mass of crystal clear water, filled with delicious fresh water fish. Lake Malawi’s northern shores are lined with secret coves, beautiful beaches and lively fishing villages, with forested hills surrounding it. We will be visiting the southern section of the lake on our return trip; I hope we are not disappointed by the more commercial side of this awesome lake.

Most tourists, I feel, think Malawi is just about the lake but the mountain areas and views are stupendous. The wilderness area of the Nyika Plateau cannot be left out for it gorgeous highland areas and roan antelope.

In South Africa, we are taught and we teach our kids, not to trust anyone; sometimes with good reason. It dawned on me after my first visit into Mzuzu that we are always looking over our shoulders and thinking that the local people are out to steal from us. The fact is, just because people are poor does not mean they are criminals. The more we travel through Africa, the more we discover Africans are honest, friendly and trustworthy wonderful people.

Highs:

Lake Malawi; Nyika Plateau; the scenery; the food.

Lows:

Lack of fuel

Graeme

In case you are wondering about ‘the Graeme slot’ – he is supposed to putting his 5 cents worth on the blog pages, clearly, he is not managing the daily additions, so the idea is/was for him to give his thoughts on each country. So we are still waiting, with baited breath, for Namibia, Zambia and now Malawi.

Day 40: 24/05/2011 – Sangilo Sanctuary to Mbeya – Tanzania

We have the camp pack-up down to a fine art, however this morning we had two incidences that made this job a little interesting. Firstly, an amorous gay turkey and 2 ducks arrived; the ugly, horny creature then proceeded to chase the drake around in the hopes of getting lucky, the drake, clearly somewhat aroused himself was in turn chasing the duck around the camp, she being the only non-interested party, squawked loudly and ran off. Secondly, as Gray opened the trailer, this huge, angry spider virtually spat at him, he then proceeded to chase the spider around the packed trailer. I sure hope he didn’t bring a lady friend into the trailer, I would hate to have a group of snot nosed little arachnids crawling around in my clothes.

We were on the road by 8:30, today’s destination being Utengule Coffee Estate, near Mbeya, in Tanzania. On the road to Karonga were lots of giant old baobab trees, my favourites. In Karonga we stopped for diesel and for the first time, just as we were leaving Malawi, fuel was not a problem. The vegetation along the road from Karonga to the border became more tropical and rice fields are in evidence in the marshy areas. Rice is laid out to dry on every flat surface, including the sides of the road, with people walking over it and bicycles riding through it. Next time I decide to cook Tastic for dinner, I am going to give it a thorough rinse first.

Travelling around Malawi we encountered road blocks every 20km or so, the police were so friendly and all they ever asked was where we had come from and where we were going to and then wished us a good day and a safe journey. At our last two road blocks before the border however, we were checked for insurance and drivers licences.

The Malawian and Tanzanian sides at the border post at Songwe were efficient and the officials were helpful and friendly. I am just glad we were not driving one of the cargo carriers, there were hundreds lined up; they can wait for days for border clearance.

I have no idea what the natural vegetation of this area of Tanzania is like because every surface from the steepest hillsides to the verge of the road is being used for agriculture. It is clearly a very lush and fertile area; we saw tea plantations, banana plantations, rice fields, mielies, sunflowers and vegetables fields. I think if you put a stick in the ground it would grow here.

We passed through a number of small but crowded towns on our way up the escarpment of the Southern Highlands. These green mist shrouded mountains took us up to 2300m and the temperature down to 15 degrees. It was not easy going as we could not see more than a few metres in front of us.

As we descended into Mbeya, the mist cleared and we entered this huge bustling African metropolis. There were no shopping centres but stalls selling everything from copper wire to wellington boots. We stopped for money at a Standard Bank ATM – it spewed out the maximum, 300 000Tanzanian shillings, this translates into R1300.

From Mbeya, it was a short 20km drive west up into the mountains to the Utengule Coffee Estate. This is a lodge set on a working coffee plantation and we are camping in the grounds. If I had been offered a bed here I would have taken it but you can’t justify $110 for a room, when camping comes to $20 (with hot showers). The setting here is stunning with views of the surrounding mountain ranges and stunning gardens. It reminds me a lot of the old family hotels in Mpumulanga and Limpopo.

At the moment we are sitting on the veranda of the restaurant, Gray sipping the local beer – Kilamanjaro, I am sipping a Kilimanjaro shandy and we eating the local roasted nuts, all very colonial and civilized. The sun is setting over the mountains and it is another perfect evening in Africa.

At dinner we met 4 guys from Singita – Grumeti Lodges, they were taking 4 brand new Landy game drive vehicles from Johannesburg to the Serengetti. Two were from Durban; it was kind of cool to hear South African accents again. We had a fascinating evening chatting to them about life in the Serengetti. We went to bed at 11:00, this is the latest we have been to bed in weeks – only to discover we are again in a different time zone and have gained an hour.

The gay turkey

The border crossing

Utengule Coffee Estate

Day 39: 23/05/2011 – Livingstonia and Sangilo Sanctuary

We had heard and read so much about Livingstonia that we just had to go there; it’s one of those places that will certainly be a talking point for years to come and we will tell anybody visiting the area that they have to go there but we have ticked it off and got the T-shirt (the one that says I survived the Gorodi Road).

We had the cold shower (same as yesterdays) and headed off to Chitimba. From there, we turned right and headed up the 15 km stretch of untarred and almost vertical road to the plateau housing the Livingstonia Mission. The first 3 km are a gentle slope along the plains. Then the interesting sections begins, it is a tortuous climb up a winding track, for the next 6km, with around 20 hairpin bends gingerly hugging the edge of the Rift Valley. Some of the bends are so sharp that we had to back track before heading on up. We started at 470m and at the top we were at 1150m. My concern was that we still had to come down.

Once we reached the top the last 6km into Livingstonia was your typical potholed track. The next problem was finding the place; after heading off down four wrong roads and landing up at a high school, a Catholic church and on someone’s front porch, Gray was about to give up and go back. I persuaded him to continue as we had come this far, not even his darling Doris had directions for him but I did the girl thing and asked someone for directions. Five minutes later we were in Livingstonia; I had expected a type of Pilgrims Rest Village but besides a fairly run down looking ‘Cathedral’, it was very different.

The history of the village is that, after 2 failed attempts at establishing missions on the southern sections of the lake (because people kept dying of malaria) the Free Church of Scotland, under Dr Robert Laws established this mission in 1884. How he got up there and then developed a mission could only have been with God’s help.

The town still provides a glimpse of Malawi’s colonial past as most of the stone buildings, church and a museum still exist. Its claim to fame nowadays is that it boasts a University, a quiet and conservative one, where no alcohol is allowed (let’s try this at Rhodes or UCT).

As we were heading out of the museum, we bumped into the Director of the University, Jack, an Irish historian, living in Scotland, but spending a year in Mzuzu. He has obviously lived in the area and has an extensive knowledge of the history of the local people. His job for the year is to do a feasibility study on the future of the university. Well Jack, I can do it in 30 seconds – get the Chinese, who are so keen on invading Central Africa, to build you a decent road up here and employ some philanthropic young lecturers and you have your University. One interesting tit bit we gleamed from him was that Livingstonia had electricity before Cape Town (generated by hydro electric power from a nearby river).

From Livingstonia, we headed off to the Manchewe Falls; however, we missed the entrance and so went onto Mushroom Farm instead. This was something else, a bush retreat right on the edge of the cliff. Our roof top tent would never have made it up there. Setting up a ground tent is still a dangerous business; you couldn’t take a leak in the middle of the night for rear of ending up at the bottom of a 400m cliff. Don’t visit this camp if you are even vaguely scared of heights but if not, the views over the escarpment and across the lake must be one of the best in Malawi. We had a coldrink, marvelling at the scene below us and chatted to Joshua, a mad English kid who was doing Cairo to Cape on a bicycle.

Then it was time for the descent; I am one of those ‘let’s go on the roller coaster ride’ types but sliding down those 6km of hairpin bends, with steep cliffs inches away and evidence of cliff slides here and there, left me a little scared. To make matters worse, in one section, we encountered an ambulance coming up and we had to reverse to a spot where he could squeeze past.

Once back on flat ground we headed back to our beach retreat.

The Cathedral in Livingstonia

Mushroom Farm camp site

The Gorodi road

The spectacular view

Day 38: 22/05/2011 – Chitimba on Lake Malawi – Sangilo Sanctuary

The camp is costing us US$5 per day and today I discovered why. The filtered water tap is for drinking purposes only, this makes washing dishes and clothes a bit tricky. If we require water for cleaning, then one of chaps that works here has to take a bucket down the cliff stairs to the lake and bring it back up – my conscience certainly won’t allow this. So we will eat our meals from the ‘kitchen/restaurant’ on the beach (no hardship there as the food is excellent) and watch the washing pile up (no hardship there either as we are in our costumes all day).

The next non-camper friendly obstacle is the ablutions; all clean, tiled shower floors and freshly painted. The problem arises when you try and use the facilities. I can cope with anything the day throws at me, as long as I have had a decent shower in the morning (preferably a hot one). So first thing I headed off to the showers; no hot water, so I jumped under the cold spray, shampoo on hair and body soaped and cold spray stops. What now, by the time I had switched the shower on and off in the hope some action my eyes were burning with shampoo having seeped into them. I eventually willed a slow trickle down onto my head and but dried most of the soap off with my towel.

The next obstacle was the toilet; the cubicle was made for anorexic midgets and the toilet bowl was set on a 10 inch concrete slab. So picture the scene, me backing into the cubicle (because turning once in was not an option) and finding the toilet seat poking me somewhere in the lower back region, with no ladder to climb up. I guess it’s back to weeing in the bush. Gray had a similar experience with the urinals in the gents; he struggled to reach it and as he put it ‘I’m not that small’ – I think he was referring to his height.

There’s not much else to tell about our 38^th day in Africa; once we got to the beach, we could have been living in a squatter camp for all we cared. It was just one long lazy day at the lake; swimming, eating, reading and watching the fishermen canoe past.

A Malawian fisherman

Sangilo Kids at school

Sangilo kids at play

Day 37: 21/05/2011 – Chinteche to Chitimba on Lake Malawi – Sangilo Sanctuary

We arrived at the office just after 7:00 and I managed to get another 2 blog pages sent; in between eating breakfast in the restaurant and waiting for the network to send off. We left Kande at around 8:00 and shortly thereafter heard a grinding noise. It was one of the front brake pads – Gray had replaced all 4 brake pads before we left, so 8000km later they should still be going strong; either he is a shocking mechanic, or to give him the benefit of the doubt, the roads have been shocking.

Luckily the next 80km back to Mzuzu, were all uphill. We could only travel this road slowly as it was filled with Malawians, young and old, walking in both directions. When we were not dodging people, we were trying to pass trucks and container carriers ambling up the hill or alternately avoiding those barrelling down in the opposite direction. Every 10km for so there are branches, with their leaves, laid across the road every few metres, this is an indication to slow down, even further, as up ahead is either an overturned, a jack-knifed of a broken down truck.

In Mzuzu we headed into the first garage, no fuel or diesel was available and the little spares shop had no brake pads. The guy in the shop was suggesting either Lilongwe or Dar-es-Salaam; obviously travelling the long distances to either destination didn’t appeal to us. We headed further into town and came across a tyre shop, as Gray was entering the ‘compound’ area, some chap asked if he could help. After a couple of phone calls, he disappeared and returned 10 minutes later with Land Rover brake pads. Twenty minutes later the pads had been fitted, he had been paid his 17 000Mkw (including a handsome tip); as it turned out he didn’t even work for the tyre place. Within an hour, we were back on the road. We were not so lucky with fuel however; none of the garages had petrol or diesel. The problem with fuel in Malawi is that it is linked to their forex and as they are one of the poorest countries in Africa, they take turns in alternating between buying petrol and diesel, so usually one of the other is unavailable. We have 120L long range tanks and 40L in jerry cans, so we had enough for now and were not concerned.

After leaving Mzuzu we headed north towards Chitimba. The road follows the course of the North Rukuru River in a breathtaking descent down the Rift Valley Escarpment. There were a lot less pedestrians on this road but we still had to contend with jack-knifed horse and trailers, unable to negotiate the hair pin bends. We emerged from this glorious drive at Chiweta, on the northern shore of Lake Malawi. As far as tourism goes, this area is largely underdeveloped.

We left main road and headed down a sand track to Sangilo Sanctuary. As is standard in Malawi, once heading off the beaten track, you find; a soccer pitch, half grassed and angled to fit in with the lie of the land, a school, possibly a health centre and a few huts.

Sangilo is perched on a cliff, overlooking the lake, with its own private little cove of beach. We had a look at the rooms; clearly Panda thinks I am ready for my next lodge night. The funny thing is, the lodge rooms (at all the places in Zambia & Malawi) are very basic, with thin foam mattresses on the beds. At the end of the day, with our double mattresses, I am sleeping very comfortably in the roof top tent. So, appreciative as I was of the gesture, can you believe, I elected to camp in the one and only camp spot here.

Once camp was set up, we descended down the steps to the beach with raked sands, flower gardens in mokoros and thatched umbrellas. Behind this idealic setting is a beach pub, complete with sand floor and a little restaurant. We had a snack with our G & T’s (promise we are not turning into alcoholics but G & T’s really taste very special here).

Watching Gray, on the beach, looking over the massive expanse of water at the Rift Valley mountains of Tanzania on the opposite shore, it struck me – he looks just like Captain Haddock (from the Tin Tin Books), he has this beard and unruly hair and he is so relaxed and happy.

Back at the tent, we were concerned that the fridge had been on lettuce setting, so with steak and chicken left, we decided to braai both and have some for lunch tomorrow. Actually we gave up on lettuce, and started substituting with cabbage, for our salad making around Livingstone. Firstly, because we can’t find lettuce and secondly because cabbage lasts so much longer and is more resilient. After our feast, we went to bed, only to be woken up soon after with rain pouring down, so it was back out to fetch towels and chairs – possibly we should have slept in the lodge rooms.

Coming around the mountain – there’ll be a herd of cattle and a truck

The view from the escarpment

Captain Haddock

Day 36: 20/05/2011 – Chinteche on Lake Malawi – Kande Beach

We were woken up by rain at about 6:00, the first rains in the area in 3 months – what is it with the Morrison’s and rain?

We were considering travelling back up the plateau to a place called Livingstonia but apparently it takes 2 hours to travel the last 9km to the town – the decision to rather stay on the lake became a no brainer.

We had read about Kande Beach as being an overlander spot, we generally try and avoid these spots and head for more tranquil places. One advantage of the busy ‘resorts’ is that they usually have more facilities in terms of access to communications, so we decided to travel the 7km south to spend the night. We were correct about getting internet access and so to all our friends and family following us around we thought we were at last able to post the latest blogs. I spent 2 hours and managed to blog only 3 pages, eventually I gave up.

Although we are just one bay down from Makuzi Beach, it is a completely different world. It is still beautiful here, an island just off the beach and mountains surrounding us. The area is more of a traditional beach, than a bay, with long stretches of sand and small waves rolling up the shore. The stretch of beach in front of the resort is protected by a bouncer but as soon as you leave this area you are swamped by hawkers selling their wares. We bought Robs and Kirst Malawian bracelets and I bought my fridge magnet (minus the magnet).

I was possibly mistaken about the Malawian people; the people we encounter along the lake are friendly and eager to help. What does strike us in Malawi, is that people here work very hard. There is no evidence of people just sitting around, they are either farming, fishing, building or making things to sell. There are always people around looking for jobs or extra work to do (no ruining my nails doing clothes washing here).

As in Zambia, there are lots of schools and schooling at primary level is free. I chatted to a guy who supports the local school and orphanage, as well as 2 volunteer teachers from Australia and again, as in Zambia, it appears that the standard of education is poor and children are not taught to think. If a teacher writes 2 + 2 = 5 on the board, that is what the kids believe. Only the top students make it to high school, free of charge and the rest have to pay, so a lot of children don’t receive secondary education or save up and return to school in their 20’s.

There are 3 overland trucks here and we appear to be the only South Africans around. The place is very busy with people horse riding, scuba diving or just relaxing on the beach. We met many varied people; from a Swedish missionary working in Maputo to a young British micro economic banker, she was organising loans for women in Mazuzu.

The Gin and Tonics in Malawi are amazing (made for Malawian gin), while I sip on these in the evening, Gray drinks the local brew, Kuche Kuche or his preference Carlsberg Green. The restaurant food is so cheap and we can get a great 2 course meal for around R60. With provisions being difficult to obtain, this has become a good option. The fish is especially good as it is fresh out of the lake. After our dinner in the Kande Restaurant, we went down to the beach to watch the moon rise but instead the clouds came in and we watched the lightning over the lake. It was fun but we have also ticked off the overlander experience and will stick to our out of way places, where possible.

Kande Beach

Evening view

Going for a swim

Day 35: 19/05/2011 – Chinteche on Lake Malawi – Makuzi Beach

When the phone rings at 11:30pm and you know your son must be fairly under the weather by now, as he is celebrating his 21^st, your heart kind of skips a beat. The call however, was from Juls to say that Robs had been taken to hospital in Bela Bela. She really was not well and they had tested her for malaria, the tests had come back negative but they had her on a drip and were keeping her in hospital. I knew with Kate Doyle (the camp director), she was in the best possible hands, as she would care for Robs as if she were one of her own. Julie and Adie were on standby to fetch her, if necessary and Al was in contact with the hospital for updates. My wonderful support system was rallying around but we still felt worried and helpless being so far away. This was the first time any of the kids had stayed in hospital.

We had a call from Kate around 9:30 to let us know that Robs had viral flu and would be fine, we chatted to her and she was croaky but in good spirits and more worried about her lost camera than her health. We were soooooooooooo relieved and thankful that she was on the mend. Thanks to Kate and all the Saints staff, the hospital staff, Julie and Adie and Al and Jen for their love and support.

After chatting with Gareth, who had also made it through the night, with nothing more a slight headache, I went for a nice long swim on the lake. I stopped and chatted to some fishermen in a mokoro who were rowing past. We then, lazily did some camp maintenance; mainly cleaning dust off things; the fine dust from the roads seems to seep into everything. From there we gravitated to the beach, where we alternated between reading and cooling off in the water. If we go any slower, we will start going backwards.

We decided to eat at the restaurant; besides it being a nice break from fire cooking, we love trying new restaurants. We are also mindful of supporting the local communities that we go through. It’s not like in S.A., where if you feel like a pizza at 6:00, by 6:30 you are sitting at the local pizza place, sipping sangria. Here you need to let the restaurant know in the morning that you will be dining there in the evening. A waiter arrived at our camp at lunch with a menu – we had a choice of 2 starters and 2 mains and one pudding. As we are the only 2 staying at the camp, we were obviously the only 2 at the restaurant. They had set us a table outside, overlooking the lake, candles and all. The meal was spectacular and to make it extra special the full moon rose slowly up over the lake – so romantic.

Makuzi Beach

Chilling

Day 34: 18/05/2011 – Chinteche on Lake Malawi – Makuzi Beach

HAPPY 21^st BIRTHDAY GARETH

I can’t believe our son is 21^st, where did the time? During the planning stages of the trip there were a few events that made me think twice about going and missing Ga’s 21^st was one of them – but he said that he would probably be working today anyway and if we didn’t go now then we would never go. As it turns out, I hear you lucky South Africans have the day off to go and vote. We had a long chat with him this morning; he was in good spirits and said it felt kind of weird being an ‘adult’. He is having some friends around for a braai and Kirst and her friends will be there. We will celebrate with him when we are all together in a month’s time and organise a party later in the year in Jhb.

This morning we woke to the silhouette of palm trees against the orange sun rise over the water. We have our own private little beach and I went for a swim to the first rock island in the bay. It smelt of guano, from the white breasted cormorants, so I swam back. In our camp are an abundance of birds including the purple-crested turaco, sunbirds and fish eagles.

We had a lazy morning, chilling under the trees in the camp site. We are desperately trying to sort out communications to send letters through to Robs and Jen but it appears all the networks are down.

Eventually, we gave up and headed into the ‘restaurant’ for lunch and our malaria prophylactic (G&T’s) – I had chambo, the local fish; fresh water fish can tend to taste a bit muddy but this was delicious. To work off the lunch, we went for a swim to the guano rock – now filled with cormorants and paddled around, watching them for a while. We then swam back and explored the rock pools in the bay.

We made mushroom pasta for dinner and toasted our son with some red wine. It was a perfect day; just wish he was here to share it with us.

Our camp site

Sun rise

“our beach”

Day 33: 17/05/2011 – Nyika Plateau to Chinteche on Lake Malawi

We had an uneventful trip travelling the 60km to the park gate, payed the $20 for our extra days stay and received no receipt (guess some game park official made an easy $20 today).

From here Gray took a short cut (will he ever learn) to a town called Rumphi. The road was the ‘same old’ but the scenery was picturesque and beautiful. As we descended through hills, we were aware of the many villages and subsistence farming taking place on the hillsides. Even here, in the far north eastern section of Malawi, it is more populous than we have encountered in Namibia or Zambia. Rumpi was very much a little village and the one and only ATM was off line – so we are still without local currency.

The next town, Mzuzu was a lot larger and busier. We needed Malawian kwacha, diesel and meat and salad ingredients for the next few days. We drew the maximum allocation of kwacha allowed (at the second ATM, the first was off line) and headed off to the garage, and then the next and the next – 6 garages later we were more than a little concerned, as no diesel was available in the town. The little red petrol light on the dash board was flashing and all we had was 40 l in cans. We had visions of looking for accommodation in Mzuzu, not a pleasant prospect. In desperation, I suggested to Gray that we try a service station that I had seen as we entered the town, we retraced our steps and to our huge relief they were able to help us. We were still unable to fill up our 120 l tank as we didn’t have enough kwacha.

We returned to town and drew more kwacha on another card and headed off to do some shopping. Three ‘supermarkets’ later; we had managed to get coldrinks at one, toothpaste at another and a frozen chicken, tomatoes, bread, cabbage and ice at a third. This whole exercise took us over 2 hours.

So far our experience of the Malawian people is that they are friendly but not the genuine friendliness of the Zambians. They are more in your face and for the first time this trip I feel we need to be aware of keeping an eye on our belongings.

Eventually, we were on our way down to Chinteche on Lake Malawi. The road was tarred and one of best we had travelled on since Livingstone. We arrived at the recommended camp site to be informed that they were closed for 2 weeks to do alterations. We were beginning to wonder if we were meant to be here at all.

We travelled on for another 5km to Makuzi Beach Resort, a place we had read about in one of our travel books, as they had no one else staying there were very happy to accommodate us. It is beautiful here; we are camped on a grassy patch overlooking a bay surrounded by palms and other tropical plants. The beach is dotted with little thatch umbrellas as the water gently laps up to them.

It is so hot and humid here, in sharp contrast to the previous 3 days on the plateau. We set up camp and went swimming, the water is warm and gentle and little fish nibble at your feet. Robs would be in paradise, I wonder how Bush school is going? We got a SMS from Al to say she had scanned a letter from Robs to us. So far we have not been able to retrieve it and my next deadline to send one to her is tomorrow. Communication problems aside, we headed off to the bar overlooking the lake.

Here as we sipped on our Malawian G&T’s (a good malaria remedy, haha), all the struggles of the day melted away. It is truly stunning; we could be in Mauritius or the Seychelles. We watched the sun set in hues of pink and orange and then a full moon rise over the gentle waters of the lake. We returned to our camp and too lazy to cook, made toasted cheese and tomato jaffles over the fire. We think we may just spend a more days here in paradise.

Sun set

Moon rise