Moving on again this morning…this time to Chitimba, another location on the edge of Lake Malawi. It's supposed to be a short drive further north along the edge of the lake and this afternoon, when we arrive, there is the possibility to hike to a nearby waterfall. The itinerary describes it as a "short hike" but Mandla has warned us that this is misleading as it's actually a 2 hour hike up a nearby mountain which is apparently very steep! That's not includi...

This morning we were finally allowed a lay in!!! Breakfast wasn't until 7.30am…and added to the fact we didn't have to take our tents down either most people didn't stir until 7.15am! It was pure luxury! The reason we even had to have breakfast that early is because a tour had been arranged around a local village taking in the school and hospital as well. The guide, Jonathan, is a local man who had also agreed to take us into his house which he owns with ...

This morning we went to visit the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre which is a park of over 180 hectares used for rescuing animals, most of which have been kept in captivity. They attempt to release those that can be released but most are injured or don't know how to feed themselves and these animals will always have a home in the park. That said, its set up like a zoo and there was very little evidence of conservation and all the animals we saw were never to be relea...

Well what can I say about today…we had to return down the same terrible track we drove down 2 days ago :-/ We then had to get to the Malawian border, cross and drive to the capital city of Lilongwe. In all it's only about 330km but given the terrible roads and the time it takes to cross borders it took about 10 hours! Horrendous! It did take us longer than usual to cross the border today though. I'm writing about this as I feel it's important to rememb...

Waking up this morning we all compared the various noises we had heard in the night and came to the conclusion, with Mandla's help, that we had heard hippo's, elephant, hyena and leopard…not bad! Pretty glad I didn't venture outside my tent though! Today's task is to do…well…nothing! We can laze by the pool but we can't wander too far on our own. The itinerary has changed slightly from what is written in that we should have done the textile factory an...