Livingstonia to Chitimba to Chilumba to Nkhata Bay to Nkhotakota to Cape Maclear!

Livingstonia is a weird place, really high up and all the houses are brick. It’s a little bit English. We stayed in the Stone House which is a national monument- the house Robert Laws lived in when he started his mission there. The women were so adamant that we couldn’t sleep in a dorm with boys that they moved 2 beds for us into the archives, a ‘staff only’ room where they keep all the records for Livingstonia which was pretty weird but cool!

In the day we had rice for breakfast (wicked) and went to see the museum then the church. We walked down to Manchewe falls which were amazing, huge. Some kids from an orphanage followed us all the way down and were playing right next to the edge of the waterfall, and climbing trees to show off. We carried on walking to a camp and the gardens of the man who took us to Nyika. His wife teaches Malawian farmers how to grow things well and use water to its maximum-they had tiny little streams running through the garden. We stayed at a camp right on the escarpment (I think that’s the word) and the view from our hut was amazing. We had a delicious dinner there and met up with some Belgians who had been on Nyika with us but had hiked all the way to the camp.

We left early for Chitimba where we planned to stay a few days on the beach before gong to get the ferry at Chilumba. We stayed at Mdokeras Beach Place where we had a beautiful reed and straw hut on the beach- it was a little paradise really soft pale sand, calm water views of mountains in the background. A good place to chill before we had a nightmare bus ride (my flip flops were melting from the heat of standing on the engine)to Chilumba.

At Chilumba the ferry left at 4 am so we stayed in the restaurant where we had dinner. It was so nice of the woman to let us, she laid out blankets and her own mattress for us to rest in and woke us up when the ferry arrived.

We went first class on the ferry which was good, we had amazing views of the hillside all the way. The boat, the MV Ilala is a steam ship and very slow. A few ports weretoo small for the ship togo in but lifeboats went out to collect people (and animals). This wascrazy-everyone wanted to be on first, people werte losing their bags and children. They make dug-out canoes from trees and people were using these to try and get on without waiting for the lifeboat. Very entertaining to watch! At Nkhata Bay we got off and got a lift to a hotel. Nkhata Bay is the point where the boat gets really busy-there were hundreds of people sitting on the side of the jetty with huge bags of grain and rice, boxes, building materials. I think we were on the boat for the quietest and most scenic part of its route.

Nkhata Bay was nice, more touristy than other places we’ve been. It was shocking to walk into a room full of white people! We went on a boat ride to a nice beach and snorkeled and fed a fish eagle. We relaxed a bit too, and ate well (not that we haven’t on this trip). The last night we went for beef stew and to see a one man band at one of the hotels. That was really fun- his instrument is hand made and designed, like a guitar/drum/bass but it sounded good.

We left for Nkhotakota and got minibuses and pick ups to a hotel on the beach where as we were their only customers they gave us their best suite- a house on the beach! It was really beautiful. The next day we went to Nkhotakota pottery and tried to make some stuff (it didn’t go too badly, the seventh attempt was a winner J) We met up with some girls from England that had been on the ferry with us and shared our stories of the few days that had passed and had a really nice dinner with them. Then a VERY early start leaving to travel south to Cape Maclear, another relaxing beach place.

Hello, now we are in Cape Maclear and this will probably be the last blog as it is Monday and we leave on Wednesday. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone! And getting exam results (hmmm). Today there is a music concert for WWF just along the beach in the National Park so we think we will canoe down there to check it out. We had a fish barbecue on the beach last night so maybe we will do the same tonight, maybe we will eat in a restaurant. Then tomorrow we leave for Lilongwe where we will fly from on Wednesday. I’m sad its over!