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.
Going for a swim
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