Today, we woke up at Big Blue Star Backpacker in Nkhata Bay, Malawi. The accommodations are akin to camping, but for $5.00 each/ night, we can hardly complain- besides, we have mosquito nets, deet, and a discarded plastic water bottle (which I have used to kill large buzzing insects in the night).
Mark and I started the day with some Mzuzu coffee and a hearty breakfast of museli/yougart/banana with eggs and toast. We dropped off our laundry, and mozied down to the lake for some free snorkeling. Previously, we had debated about whether or not we would swim in Lake Malawi. It seems there's no end to the variety of maladies in the tropical "fresh water." You may have seen Dateline's Medical Mysteries segment on the guy who had a brain-eating parasite? The parasite came from Lake Malawi. Ever heard of a parasite that lives in your ear? A gal's writing her PhD on how they're in Lake Malawi. There's a cousin to HIV that lives in Lake Malawi. The list goes on and on. The maladies freaked us out, but we knew ourselves well enough to know that if we drove by or stayed overnight near the lake, we'd be swimming in it, so it was either fly past or swim. In the end, we decided to pick up an advance prescription (without a doctor's visit or note) and just plain chance it. I mean, how could we come to Malawi without actually swimming in Lake Malawi? It's the third largest lake in Africa.
You may have seen Lake Malawi on the Discovery Channel; they have the shiny blue and pretty striped cichlid fish. We swam with the fish and flutter-kicked about, enjoying ourselves immensely. At one point, Mark went back to the room to get our underwater camera, and as I waited on a rock for him to return, an 18 year old paddled up in a dugout canoe (literally a tree that's been dug out in the center). The young man plopped down on the rock next to me and proposed. I tried to explain that I was already taken. He hung around until Mark came back, then excused himself and paddled away.
After snorkeling Calendar Lake (so knick-named because it is 365 miles long and 52 miles wide), we sauntered into town to take pictures and mingle with the locals. The community of Nkhata Bay was very friendly. We enjoyed shopping at the People's Store for a few groceries, and buying a pineapple from a guy on the side of the road (he sliced it up fresh straight-away). Coke has the market share here, so we enjoyed 50 qwacha cokes in the glass bottle (50K is 30cents US- bargain! cheapest yet!). As we walked through town, Mark took pictures of women carrying food and children, men working to build coffins, children playing in canoes, and people walking the main-street. We were invited to place an early supper order at H&M Restaurant, and John was such a good salesman, we placed an 5pm pre-order for fish and peppered beef. We spent the afternoon reading and relaxing. A saleswoman found us sleeping in the lofted bar overlooking the Bay. She, Mercy, explained that she was a wood-working student who owned a giftshop nearby. She was competing against all men in the trade and was hoping for our support, "female power." We checked out her shop after supper and bought a lathed and hand-carved teak globe (it's round with a storage space when opened at the equator)- it's beautiful.
In the morning, we're heading north to Tanzania. If you've been following the protests in Egypt, as we did at supper tonight, please don't worry about us as we don't fly out of Cairo until May 4-5. If you're the praying type, please keep Egypt in your prayers. We've heard reports that a museum is burning, and it's sad to think about a place losing its historical records. Pray that the government transition takes place smoothly, peacefully, with no more deaths (I think there are 38 dead at last count). Love to all from Malawi, Annie
Mark and I started the day with some Mzuzu coffee and a hearty breakfast of museli/yougart/banana with eggs and toast. We dropped off our laundry, and mozied down to the lake for some free snorkeling. Previously, we had debated about whether or not we would swim in Lake Malawi. It seems there's no end to the variety of maladies in the tropical "fresh water." You may have seen Dateline's Medical Mysteries segment on the guy who had a brain-eating parasite? The parasite came from Lake Malawi. Ever heard of a parasite that lives in your ear? A gal's writing her PhD on how they're in Lake Malawi. There's a cousin to HIV that lives in Lake Malawi. The list goes on and on. The maladies freaked us out, but we knew ourselves well enough to know that if we drove by or stayed overnight near the lake, we'd be swimming in it, so it was either fly past or swim. In the end, we decided to pick up an advance prescription (without a doctor's visit or note) and just plain chance it. I mean, how could we come to Malawi without actually swimming in Lake Malawi? It's the third largest lake in Africa.
You may have seen Lake Malawi on the Discovery Channel; they have the shiny blue and pretty striped cichlid fish. We swam with the fish and flutter-kicked about, enjoying ourselves immensely. At one point, Mark went back to the room to get our underwater camera, and as I waited on a rock for him to return, an 18 year old paddled up in a dugout canoe (literally a tree that's been dug out in the center). The young man plopped down on the rock next to me and proposed. I tried to explain that I was already taken. He hung around until Mark came back, then excused himself and paddled away.
After snorkeling Calendar Lake (so knick-named because it is 365 miles long and 52 miles wide), we sauntered into town to take pictures and mingle with the locals. The community of Nkhata Bay was very friendly. We enjoyed shopping at the People's Store for a few groceries, and buying a pineapple from a guy on the side of the road (he sliced it up fresh straight-away). Coke has the market share here, so we enjoyed 50 qwacha cokes in the glass bottle (50K is 30cents US- bargain! cheapest yet!). As we walked through town, Mark took pictures of women carrying food and children, men working to build coffins, children playing in canoes, and people walking the main-street. We were invited to place an early supper order at H&M Restaurant, and John was such a good salesman, we placed an 5pm pre-order for fish and peppered beef. We spent the afternoon reading and relaxing. A saleswoman found us sleeping in the lofted bar overlooking the Bay. She, Mercy, explained that she was a wood-working student who owned a giftshop nearby. She was competing against all men in the trade and was hoping for our support, "female power." We checked out her shop after supper and bought a lathed and hand-carved teak globe (it's round with a storage space when opened at the equator)- it's beautiful.
In the morning, we're heading north to Tanzania. If you've been following the protests in Egypt, as we did at supper tonight, please don't worry about us as we don't fly out of Cairo until May 4-5. If you're the praying type, please keep Egypt in your prayers. We've heard reports that a museum is burning, and it's sad to think about a place losing its historical records. Pray that the government transition takes place smoothly, peacefully, with no more deaths (I think there are 38 dead at last count). Love to all from Malawi, Annie
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