31. Mzungus in the mist

We leave the beach of Tanzania to make our way down to Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world. And as I am writing this, I’m sitting in between 4 people that do voluntary work. I almost, almost, feel guilty that I am only travelling but oh well, we are contributing to the world economy, aren’t we? LOL

Livingstonia is a nice little place on earth and our first stop in Malawi. To get to the hostel were we want to camp, we drive up a crazy road. Just to give you an idea: if you want the hostel to pick you up at the bottom of the hill  they will charge you $50. That is also because fuel is hard to come by but once you have done this road up (the barely 10 km you do in an hour) you understand! Not only is it steep but the condition of the road itself is, well lets say, a bit poor. ; )

Room with a view

Same room, 5 minutes later

But it is such a great place, really worth going to. One moment you see clear, next minute you are literally in the clouds. And the walk up to Livingstonia itself (and the waterfalls) is a nice day out.  More so, for African standards this is actually a quite nice town. I mean really, Africa is a beautiful continent nature wise but if you are looking for a nice town or city (so far) I would say you came to the wrong place. Yes, Africa is all about its magnificent nature!

Mzungu (Kosta in this case) in the mist

Take a look at the highest waterfall of Malawi LOL

Anyway, after a great day of hiking we leave Livingstonia again to go and enjoy a bit of Lake Malawi. On our way we drop of Maartje, a backpacker we gave a lift at the border with Tanzania and who was also on her way to Livingstonia before heading toward her cousin (and luckily for her that was also on our way : ) ). Lake Malawi is the third largest lake in Africa where apparently there are loads of fishes. Nice for diving but for two reasons we’re not going: first of all it is rain season and the visibility is not all that great, and second of all this lake is full of bilharzia. This disease is spread by worms that are carried by freshwater snails. The parasite penetrates the human skin and then migrates to the bladder or bowel. A little pill after having been in the water would prevent this all but no thanks. Just the thought of it makes me glad its rain season!LOL

And while we leave the lake behind us after five days we are already making our way to the border with Zambia. We want to see the Victoria falls, so that means halfway Malawi turning to the West. And it is the best solution anyway, as Malawi does not have enough fuel. More so, diesel is only delivered every two weeks and we are here in the petrol week. LOL

But it has to be said, Malawi might be known for its HIV/AIDS rate and poverty statistics but this country is more than that. It’s a place where locals are still friendly and don’t immediately want your dollars, a place where green is all around you (well, at least in rain season), and a place where there are so many bicycles you would think you’re in Holland LOL. And oh yes, we appreciate the fact we don’t have to pay for a visa to enter. ; )