After 3 days in one spot, it took us a while to pack up camp and we were on the road by 9:30. We travelled through Dwanga and Nkhotakota on our way to Salima, stopping at every garage, in each town along the way – not one had any diesel. The last hour of the trip we were travelling with the little red petrol tank flashing at us. We still have 40L in jerry cans but word is, there is no fuel further down south. Our plan is therefore to head into Lilongwe, there is no guarantee of fuel there either, and then head into Zambia, where we are assured of getting fuel. We are a little concerned that we won’t make it.
Our destination for today was ‘Cool Runnings’, just off the main road of Salima. It is a small, grassy camp site with a few basic rooms, a bit like camping in someone’s back garden. To the front of the house / reception area is a picket fence and then the beach.
This beach, down south, is so totally different to what we have experienced on Lake Malawi so far. Firstly, the wind came up this morning and the water is the roughest we have seen it on the lake but it is still clear and blue. To the left of Cool Runnings and a couple of kilometres off shore is a small island, Lizard Island, so called because it is inhabited by huge lizards. If we were spending more time here we would definitely take a boat trip to the island. The most dramatic difference is that the beaches are so populated; to the left were hundreds of fishing boats and fisherman, returning from a day on the lake. To the right hundreds of people were washing clothes, bathing and pulling in fishing nets and children were playing and giggling on the beach.
We turned right and headed up the beach, the only mzungus to be seen. As we wound our way around washed clothes and fishing nets, there was a smell of Life Buoy as we passed people soaping themselves, this was better than the areas, where there was the smell of people not having washed themselves. We stopped to watch some fishermen hauling in their nets, they asked Gareth to give them a hand, after 10 minutes, he thought he was having a heart attack and these guys do this for 2 hours. Eventually, after 8 guys hauling in piles and piles of rope the net came ashore, with a very disappointing catch of small fish and huge, heavy logs.
We headed back to the camp, stopping along the way to buy a few bracelets from the locals for the girls and to add to Rob’s collection. Gray and Ga then headed off for some boy bonding at the bar and the girls and I watched the sun set on Lizzard Island.
My last dinner in Malawi – had to be chambo with G & Ts, it was delicious. After dinner, Sam, the camp owner came for a chat, a very long chat, wow she can talk but it was so interesting to find out about how the locals live and survive on the lake. Sam is a 60’s hippie type, with smiley face logos everywhere J, but she is involved in numerous community projects in the area. She is clearly passionate about the people in Salima and is local nurse, soccer club manager, organises tractors for ploughing, has built a library, a nursery school and numerous other ‘Cool Projects”, that are all self sustaining.
The fisherman
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