Tag Archives: Malawi

Beach Bungalows Lake Malawi Africa

Beach Bungalows Lake Malawi Africa

Beach Bungalows Lake Malawi Africa

These are the beach bungalows at Kande Beach Campground that is located the beach on Lake Malawi. I could get the privilege of sleeping in one of the bungalows for the paltry sum of $8 per person with an occupancy of two. I wound up sleeping in a tent. The bungalows were cool, sitting on the beach and all, but there were locals who frequented the beach and tried to sell us something, anything actually, and they were quite persistent. The locals were not allowed in the campgrounds where the tents were located and from what I gathered, there wasn’t a lot of advantage to sleeping in the bungalows. There was no running water. There was light bulb and one electrical plug. Only the couples on the trip seemed to need the bungalows for effect.

Piggy Crew Malawi Africa

Piggy Crew Malawi Africa

Piggy Crew Malawi Africa

This is the piggy crew. There were the three local guys who brought the pig to the campsite and two of our group – Tyler from Canada and Almog from Israel. Everyone had to help cook the pig. We worked in shifts throughout the day. I was in Group 3.

Costumes Malawi Africa

Costumes Malawi Africa

Costumes Malawi Africa

We are buying costumes for the costume ball that we will be having later this week. What happens is that the truck stops in Mzuzu, Malawi and we go to the market where people come and sell us really bad clothes that people buy for each other to dress up. The object is to buy the most ridiculous outfit that you can for someone else. There was obviously no problem finding people to buy clothes from.

Little Kids Malawi Africa

Little Kids Malawi Africa

Little Kids Malawi Africa

Little kids were everywhere. These were three of the cutest. They were standing on a trail above the road when we stopped to let everyone take a "bathroom" break in the bushes, an event that occurred whenever we let the driver know we needed to stop or he stopped letting us know this was the best stop in the next hour or so of driving. One of the neatest things about going on an overland trip is all the little children who yell and wave and run to our big yellow truck as we pass through an area. They are everywhere. Since we have really big windows we all get to wave back to them.

Lake Malawi Island Africa

Lake Malawi Island Africa

Lake Malawi Island Africa

This is a view from Kande Beach, our new home for three days. We made this stop on Lake Malawi as it is supposedly a good place for people to do a little fresh water diving. It’s also a place to stop and relax. One thing I’ve seen on this trip is that an overland trip is much different than the normal type of traveling that I do. Usually, I pick a location based on the significant things to see in the area. Generally, I try to find the world’s most significant tourist attractions and go see them. This trip is something of an adventure for me. There aren’t a lot of "The World’s Top Tourist Attractions" on the overland trip I’m taking, although there are a few. This type of trip is about doing a 3,000 mile truck camping trip through Eastern and Southern Africa with a group of 15-20 other people. This trip really isn’t tourism in the traditional sense, something I didn’t think through as well as I should have when I purchased the trip. Yes, I’ve gone on group tours before, but we always stayed on a hostel or hotel not in a tent, and our goals were to see the traditional tourist sites. It wasn’t a tour of the campgrounds of Africa and 3,000 miles in the back of truck with a large group of people.

Butte in Malawi Africa

Butte in Malawi Africa

Butte in Malawi Africa

There was some really beautiful country in southern Tanzania and northern Malawi. We did a lot of climbing and descending as we drove through the region. There were some great scenic views. One thought that came to mind as we traversed the area was that it would be a great route for a motorcycle ride. The scenery was great, the distances weren’t unmanageable, and there were plenty of places to stop.

Kuche Kuche Malawi Africa

Kuche Kuche Malawi Africa

Kuche Kuche Malawi Africa

The label says that Kuche Kuche is "The Pride of Malawi" and who am I to argue with what people are proud of? The first thing I heard people say about it was that it was a little bit watery. I’d agree with that. Our driver said that I might not finish first one, leading me to believe the beer was not so good. But, not only did I finish my first one, I ordered a second. No, it won’t compete with the best beers in the world, but I have no problem with it while I’m in Malawi. Plus, I have something of a professinal obligation as a tourist to sample the local beers of an area.

Campground Bar Malawi Africa

Campground  Bar Malawi Africa

Campground Bar Malawi Africa

They had nice bar at the first campground we stayed at in the country of Malawi. Actually, most of the campgrounds that we stayed at up to this point were fairly decent. The hot water in the shower of all of them was at least warm. The places to pitch a tent were good. All of them had charge stations for electrical devices. You could usually get some food there. Many of them had chips (crisps) and nuts at the bar. In most of them the beer selection wasn’t good, but it was okay. I mean, if you’re not going to drink good beer, who cares what kind of not-so-good beer you drink?