Cape Maclear, Lake Malawi - 7/2/2012

We are getting close! In fact we have calculated that if we pedalled like maniacs we could be in our hometown of Centurion in about 2 weeks if we headed south from here. But that would be too easy, so we will stick to our planned scenic route via Mozambique, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia.

Right now we are in the paradise which is Cape Maclear on the southern shores of lake Malawi - crystal clear water, islands scattered around covered in rugged dense bushveld and rocky outcrops, and plenty of huge, bizarrely formed Baobab trees. This is the Africa I had in mind before setting off from London 4 months ago!

As it's such a nice place here we decided to take a day off, our first since getting off the Liemba ferry at Kasanga in Tanzania, about 11 days ago. We have been pushing hard to try and catch up a few days after all the fun and games in Uganda, and thus have been doing between 100 - 140km most days.

The ferry journey down lake Tanganyika was quite an experience in itself and a really nice way of seeing the lake and all the unspoiled wilderness on it's shores as well as the countless villages we came across which are all but isolated apart from boat access. We couldn't help but constantly think that it must have been not all that different when David Livingstone first "discovered" the lake all those years ago - the mud huts with thatch roofs and dugout canoes have not changed a bit. the only hint of the modern world in these places is the Man Utd tee shirts all the locals are wearing!

The boat we were on was a piece of history itself - a 100 year old german gun boat which was used to keep control of the lake back in the colonial days. hence the large number of rather excitable German tourists on board with us. This included our friend Heinz Stucke - the most travelled man on earth - who provided hours of entertainment with his countless crazy stories from all his travels. We would usually listen to these tales while watching the locals from the current village (which we were anchored off), trying to negotiate a place on board for their giant sacks of dried fish, in between all the passengers and pineapples already on board.

The riding since Kasanga has been quite varied, with a lot of big climbs in Tanzania and a bit flatter in Malawi while sticking to the edge of lake Malawi. The people seem to be getting friendlier and more welcoming to cyclists as we move south, which is great and which we hope will continue, although Malawi's children have picked up the annoying habit of shouting "give me my money!" - tourism is big business here and it shows. Our accomodation has been mixed, a few nights in cheap "rest houses" (when we've decided it's time for a shower), some wild camping under mozzie infested banana trees, some expensive camping in tourist campsites along the lake shore (only to get access to the White sandy beaches) and even a night in a head teachers house of a local primary school.

So it has been another action packed and interesting 2 or so weeks. Thanks to everyone for the great comments on the main page, please keep them coming, it's great motivation!

Mark