After a few days on Chizi we moved to the nearby island of Likoma. The usual transport between the two is a sailboat that we were reliably informed left daily between 10am and 2pm and that the crossing took anywhere between 1 and 5 hours. All in all not a particularly accurate timescale, but in fairness a lot was to do with the direction of the wind and not just African timings. Fortunately we were able to secure passage on a small fishing boat (complete with engine) instead, a much more attractive option. Despite being a lake the waters can get pretty choppy with the largest recorded swells reaching 7 meters, we can't quite fathom this but there were certainly a few waves as we crossed. The fishermen were hilarious and insisted that we moved to the back of the boat and he sent a young guy up to the front so the poor chap caught the brunt of the waves and associated spray.A couple of hours later, windswept and covered with a liberal dose of lake-spary we pulled up on the beach at Mango Drift where we were met by Basil the dog. Likoma is the larger of the two islands but still feels extremely secluded. Our new home was a beautiful stretch of beach dotted with grass huts, mango trees and bougainvillea and we could tell we would be here for a while.

Likoma is home to one of the largest buildings in Malawi, a 18th century cathedral, an incongruous site on this tiny island with only 6000 inhabitants. There is no crime whatsoever and tourists are left to their own devices. This seems to be a recurring atmosphere in Malawi and makes a welcome change from the hassles of Tanzania. The locals are genuinely friendly, the kids still curious of white people - to the extent that we made quite a few run away screaming to their mums when we came near! Onone occasion after a dive we were passing a school and got mobbed by 5 or 6 little ones all wanting to be swung between us or round and round. We were both exhausted and rather dizzy after 15 mins or so and had to try and escape to cries of 'bangalili, bangalili' as one of the kids took a fancy to my charm bracelet, unfortunately for him it's something I won't be parting with voluntarily.

James and I embarked on our open water diving course and spent the next few days in and out of the lake in extremely attractive wetsuits and dive gear. Considering I had insisted I wouldn't dive it was a pretty incredible experience and an amazing place to learn due to the fresh water. The Cichlids' are beautiful and come in all colours and patterns under the sun. We're pleased to say we are now qualified divers though I'm still rather disappointed that James beat me by 1 mark in our test!

Our evenings were spent eating delicious meals, supping Malawi G&T's and with me learning poker, I must say I was pretty good. Poker nights in Stoke Newington may be resurrected when we return.

We couldn't leave Likoma until the Ilala passed through again so we've ended up spending the past eight days on the island - not that we're complaining. It has been our longest time anywhere so far on our travels and as felt like a holiday from our holiday.

Now you may have noticed that we seem to have become obsessed by public transport and I think virtually everyone of our entries to date contain some form of transport related anecdote, not being one to disappoint or break tradition we have to mention the return journey on the Ilala...Having already had a taste of the trip on our way from the bay to Chizumulu we were quite well prepared. The boat was scheduled to arrive at 1pm and depart at 6pm, in reality it arrived at 6ish and we started trying to embark about 8.30pm. A group of 7 of us from Mango were catching the boat together and strength in numbers was certainly a benefit. I was particularly pleased to not be the only girl with a complete lack of upper body strength. It's hard to explain the magnitude of the task of simply getting on to the boat, it comprised of a brief shuttle in a lifeboat to the Ilala and then climbing up to the first class deck - simple I hear you say...The reality is that you have a beach full of people, babies, luggage and cargo in all shape and sizes. Its pitch black and this is not England and therefore no chance of any kind of queuing system. So the two life boats make their way over to the beach shuttling back and forth, unfortunately they are packed with passengers getting off the ferry they pitch up on the beach and people waiting start piling on before people have had a chance to get off.

There is no point waiting so the seven of us picked a boat as it was coming to shore and decided to make a dash for it (think push, shove, clamber, shout etc). All good in theory but quite tricky with backpacks James made it on and bags were passed on to him. Having waded in up to my knickers I tried to haul myself up but was unsuccessful, a second attempt and perhaps a slight flash of bum and I had somehow made it on, albeit ungracefully. Three of our companions (Ericka, Daniel and David) also made it aboard the life boat and after a while we were on our way, seriously overloaded with passengers and at slight risk of capsizing but there we go. So first part of the challenge completed successfully and then came the task of getting on to the Ilala. Imagine a small wooden dinghy pulling alongside a large old school steamer type boat, no jetty or gangway just a small ladder stuck to the side of the boat leading to the third class deck crammed with people trying to get themselves and their cargo off as we try to climb aboard. More teamwork followed with one of the David shoving his way aboard, James passing him bags and getting head butted and kicked by a local woman in the process. Me then me crawling on someone and using them as a leg up on to the ladder. We'd made it unscathed and the boys hung around below deck waiting for George and Henry to help them aboard in the mean time me and Ericka took charge of bags and secured a lovely y spot to bed down for the long journey ahead.

Whilst waiting for the boys to arrive on deck we noticed 'maximum 22 persons' stencilled to the side of an incoming lifeboat. Quite simply hilarious as I counted in excess of 40 and then there is luggage on top of that. Finally we were all safely aboard with a few mattresses to sprawl on.A 10 hour crossing followed, all taken pretty slowly due to the waves and constant listing from side to side; fortunately none of us were sea sick, though we spent our first few hours back on dry land feeling as though we were still rocking.