Hey Everyone,
Sorry for not posting in the last few weeks. Malawi doesn’t have the best internet access and besides, we’ve been waaaaaaayyyy too busy! (yep, busy, real busy)
Since our last post we travelled a solid 2 days of buses, taxis, minivans and bicycle couriers to get to Nkhata Bay, Malawi. We weren’t sure quite what to expect but we were quite surprised none the less! We stumbled in weary and tired at sunset into butterfly space. Unfortunately they were full. They did however lend us a tent although it was more of a nylon sack with a couple of poles and no tent pegs! None the less, the ever adaptable Jeff and Kate set up shop and unfurled our 0.1mm thick silk sacks onto the ground for sleeping. We quickly migrated to the bar next door to imbibe a healthy quantity of “local sleeping aid.” Anyway, many bottles of sleeping aid later and help from a couple of nice saffie guys(in the form of a single mattress) and we managed a full night sleep!
Two weeks later and we’re now living in a zebra motif painted hut approximately 2.5 metres from the lakes edge. It’s glorious. Each day we wake to the sound of the waves and either go for a swim, a cup of bottomless coffee or wander into town. Thus I am either feeling healthy, wired or inquisitive! We are helping out here with setting up a community resource centre focussing on healthcare, agriculture and income development. Kate is helping out with some local intellectually disabled children too which is nice.
There are over 800 species of fresh water fish in Lake Malawi. It is rumoured but generally considered untrue that one species tastes like cheese cake. The other great thing about the lake is that there is a really excellent dive school operating here. So without further ado Kate and I signed up and squeezed into our wetsuits last Monday! We had a great few days obtaining our Open Water Dive qualification although Kate fell sick and missed the last bit of the course. She is on catch up this week though! There are some cool things to see in the lake but my favourite is the upside down fish. These things have apparently realised at some point in their history that swimming upside down is a good idea and they do it quite often! Good for them. You’ve got to do something fairly spectacular to stand out from the other 800 other species!
Anyways, before I go a quick description of Nkata Bay. The people here are really nice. They also speak English which makes interaction a breeze! The tap water here is even drinkable! Having said that, Kate has been ill with Giardia so maybe we should revise that status slightly.(we are now zapping the water with UV everyday which is fun AND healthy!)
Also, congrats to Walmsley for mowing down more spare ribs than young Mr Mullin. Very Impressive. Now you’ll have even more ribs sticking out!
We are skipping off to Lilongwe, Lussaka and then Vic Falls over next weekend. Will post again hopefully from there although not if we are too busy celebrating Kate’s 27th bday!
Take care out there!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Onwards and Downwards
Hey Everyone.
We've managed to upload photos! Get to the photobucket link to check it out!!
Post-Pangani life has been interesting!! We've reduced our gear by 50% and are now travelling with only one pack and a smaller backpack! hoorah. Anyways, we left our beloved Pangani Saturday. We made it as far as Peponi's - a heavenly wee place 1 hours drive away from home and figured that was enough travel for the day. We checked in only to find out they were full and so we had to camp under the stars. Another Jeff and Kate romantic moment!!! Except that this time it was disrupted by a dose of weeping and gross conjunctivitis in my left eye!! The next morning I woke with it in the other eye so we decided to move into the resort next door (called "Capricorn"). This resort takes Visa so we felt like we were able to waste time and money with glee! Soon after we checked in Kate developed a nice little case of bung eye for herself. You can picture us sitting there eating our dinner in the most romantic setting yet of our holiday both red eyed and none too pleased!!
Anyways, we soon recovered enough to travel onwards back to Dar es Salaam. We have now been holed up here for a couple of days. On Friday we head to Mbeya in south Tanzania and from there due south into Malawi. We apparently head to Mzuzu and then hang a left and end up in Nkata Bay. We plan to spend a couple of weeks there because there is a cool backpackers hostel there that you can volunteer at. It also looks beautiful!! (http://www.butterfly-space.com/). From there we plan to be in Vic Falls, Zambia for Kate's birthday on the 3rd of June. THen on the 4th of June we depart Vic Falls on an Acacia tour that heads through Botwana and Namibia down to Capetown. We'll spend a few days there and then return back to Dar es Salaam in time for mum and dad's arrival on the 30th of June. Good times.
6 weeks in Africa have passed and we are still going strong!! Dinner tonight might even be lebanese!
Great article about bird flu in the national english newspaper this week: "hundreds worldwide have been infected by bird flu and millions more have died..." - brilliant!
Oh also - we saw a dude with a television on his head. Also another with a toilet bowl. This means we've seen a tv, a toilet and a fridge. It is our aim to see an entire apartment being carried around. Kind of like an african monopoly!
Take care. Tuliakachezi Ka Mandezi (Cool, Crazy like a Banana)
Jeff. Kate.
PS check out the jandal tan...
We've managed to upload photos! Get to the photobucket link to check it out!!
Post-Pangani life has been interesting!! We've reduced our gear by 50% and are now travelling with only one pack and a smaller backpack! hoorah. Anyways, we left our beloved Pangani Saturday. We made it as far as Peponi's - a heavenly wee place 1 hours drive away from home and figured that was enough travel for the day. We checked in only to find out they were full and so we had to camp under the stars. Another Jeff and Kate romantic moment!!! Except that this time it was disrupted by a dose of weeping and gross conjunctivitis in my left eye!! The next morning I woke with it in the other eye so we decided to move into the resort next door (called "Capricorn"). This resort takes Visa so we felt like we were able to waste time and money with glee! Soon after we checked in Kate developed a nice little case of bung eye for herself. You can picture us sitting there eating our dinner in the most romantic setting yet of our holiday both red eyed and none too pleased!!
Anyways, we soon recovered enough to travel onwards back to Dar es Salaam. We have now been holed up here for a couple of days. On Friday we head to Mbeya in south Tanzania and from there due south into Malawi. We apparently head to Mzuzu and then hang a left and end up in Nkata Bay. We plan to spend a couple of weeks there because there is a cool backpackers hostel there that you can volunteer at. It also looks beautiful!! (http://www.butterfly-space.com/). From there we plan to be in Vic Falls, Zambia for Kate's birthday on the 3rd of June. THen on the 4th of June we depart Vic Falls on an Acacia tour that heads through Botwana and Namibia down to Capetown. We'll spend a few days there and then return back to Dar es Salaam in time for mum and dad's arrival on the 30th of June. Good times.
6 weeks in Africa have passed and we are still going strong!! Dinner tonight might even be lebanese!
Great article about bird flu in the national english newspaper this week: "hundreds worldwide have been infected by bird flu and millions more have died..." - brilliant!
Oh also - we saw a dude with a television on his head. Also another with a toilet bowl. This means we've seen a tv, a toilet and a fridge. It is our aim to see an entire apartment being carried around. Kind of like an african monopoly!
Take care. Tuliakachezi Ka Mandezi (Cool, Crazy like a Banana)
Jeff. Kate.
PS check out the jandal tan...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
