Day 23 to 25 - 22nd to 24th November - Nkhata Bay

Point of departure : Senga Bay

Point of arrival : Nkhata Bay

Accommodation: Aqua Africa([email protected])

Km travelled today: 356km Cum: 5 958km(gravel 0km cum 1 323km)

Countries so far: 4/16

Where to next? Chitimba, Lake Malawi

Total number of photos taken: 168 (cum 1 170)

We left Senga Bay quite early and hit the road north as we wanted to stop along the way.Our first stop Nkhotakota Bay Potteries - a factory and outlet for local pottery as well as a very pretty beach and accommodation provided in terms of camping and chalets, just outside Nkhotakota

Second stop was Nkhotakota Bay - a town steep in history - the largest slave market on Lake Malawi.The port, from where over 20 000 slaves were shipped out across the lake to Tanzania and on to Zanzibar.An Arab half cast, Jumbe ruled the slave market here from the early 1800's.We stopped at one of the trees - Livingstone Tree - where Livingstone, on his first expedition to Lake Malawi, met with Jumbe in 1861 in an attempt to convince him to stop the slave trade.He was unsuccessful.Livingstone came back in 1863 and camped under another fig tree which has also been named in his honour.The slave trade was only abolished in the late 1890's after the British Commissioner Johnston persuaded Jumbe (who by now was quite old) to abolish the trade in return for British protection.Livingstone by then had died.

It was at the latter tree that we were "mobbed" by the local children.After taking photographs and chatting with the children about our car, the flags etc Marina took out a packet of sweets to hand out - pandemonium broke out - the kids told her to hand the sweets to one of the older kids to hand out, which she did, and then started fighting over it.Some of the little ones got "trampled" and as a result we don't really know what happened to the sweets.We then decided it was time to go.Lesson learnt - be in control and don't bring out sweets when there are too many children around.

We also stopped at Kande Beach, the local overlanders and backpackers joint - very pretty and on a lovely stretch of beach.There were two overland trucks - one heading south to Cape Town from Nairobi and the other heading north to Nairobi.If it was not for the diving at at Nkhata Bay we might have spent our "extra day" here but decided against it.

We arrived at Nkhata Bay, on a Sunday in the middle of a local "rock concert" and the market in full swing.We had to fight our way through the crowds to Aqua Africa.One could buy anything from clothing to pots to airtime to fish - there were quite a few stalls selling fresh fish as well as dried fish - all shapes and sizes.This is what Africa really is!

For the first time in over 3 weeks the Beast enjoyed its first wash yesterday (at Senga Bay) and the luxury of a garage whilst in Nkhata Bay.

In the evening we went to a local "restaurant" (back home in SA we would call it a shebeen) called Safari - loud music, pool table, and tables and chairs outside - for dinner.We were the only "mzungu's".They only served beer and coke so Marina ended up drinking beer that night.Funnily enough we felt quite safe and chatted to the locals about politics and Malawi in general. They were quite knowledgeable on the continent's history.

Supper was an experience, Marina had chicken curry - it tasted like chicken but none of the usual chicken cuts were noticeable.Cutting a chicken in Africa involves taking a cleaver and cutting it once in one direction and then again in the other direction.

We spent Monday exploring the town and the local market - very atmospheric - fish smells, dust, vegetables….Whilst waiting for the arrival of the ferry, we spent time at the local internet café catching up on the blog and email.

We had an amusing luncheon experience at the Kaya Papaya - John saw their Monday special - German sausage, potato salad and cabbage - and decided that's where we will have lunch.Lunch duly arrived and his facial expression was priceless!Have a look at the picture of his lunch - two teeny weensy sausages (certainly not German), each a mouthful size. He was not sure what he was eating.I say no more.He ended up sharing my pizza.Needless to say for supper we ordered, from the Harbour Café (opposite Aqua Africa), two baguettes with tuna mayo!

The waters around Nkhata Bay provide a unique diving environment - over 600 fish species can be seen. So hoping that tomorrow will be a diving day - dependent upon the visibility conditions in the lake as the wind has been blowing.

We woke up just after five this morning (Tuesday) with the sound of the Ilala's horn…. it had finally arrived (two days late). Like they say, the Swiss may have invented the watch but Africa owns the time.

The MV Ilala (Lake Malawi's famous lake ferry which runs a weekly service up and down the lakeshore) docked in at Nkhata Bay on Monday during the night and is due back on Tuesday morning.The Ilala used to sail the Scottish Clyde and after it was decommissioned it was sent to Africa.It started its life in Malawi in 1949 as a colonial luxury liner with first class cabins and silverware.Parts were brought in from Scotland across Mocambique into Lake Malawi to assemble it.It's now more than 60 years old and has adapted with the changing times, now servicing the local communities and loaded with everything from sugar cane, chickens, goats, other food stuffs and of course people and cars.It has become an institution on the lake - Cape Town has the mountain, Tanzania has Kilimanjaro, Cairo has the pyramids and Lake Malawi has the Ilala.

We went down to the jetty and what an experience!It was absolute organised chaos.Next to the gangplank the crowds who wanted to board with their children and personal belongings all around them made one focal point.Towards the stern, where a tractor and trailer was busy loading 250kg diesel barrels (for Likoma Island's generator), other loading was happening covering everything from beer and cooldrink crates, to furniture, to wood, to bags of maize and rice, mattresses… you name it.How they even know what belongs to whom when they offload beats us.And, the 250kg barrels were being loaded by 4 men, manually tipped to get a better grip and then heaved more than a metre from the trailer flatbed up onto the ship's deck.No gloves, no protective footwear and even a leaking barrel didn't really faze the loaders.Wheelbarrows were the mode of transport from the key to the ship.Furthermore, there were no ship manifests nor checking documentation of cargo being loaded … it was more of a first come first serve basis.

John went aboard (whilst Marina was at the internet café).He thought he had chosen a quiet moment but then the skies opened and the loading frenzy which followed filled the gangway and the walkways on board and it was almost impossible to get off again.He certainly needed to sharpen his elbows to make an exit.One blast of the horn means the ferry is ready for boarding, two blasts means 20 minutes to departure, 3 blasts… you snooze you lose as she sails.

And now, another offering from our resident Poet - John

The Lake

This Lake is really quite immense

It's wide and deep and long

The Shire River the sole way out

But currents never strong.

On the Lake a little steamer

Ilala is its name

The glory days are long behind her

But still vital all the same.

The bays and beaches that exist

All up and down the Lake

The markets and strange restaurants

Happy days for tourists make.

Rural villages along the way

Homes of brick and thatch

The kilns provide the bricks they need

Each one a perfect match.

The roofs of tile or iron sheet

Or thatch with wild fringes

The windows just a board in place

No need for catch or hinges.

East or south or central

We can't agree which part

But there is really no denying

It's Africa's warmest heart.

The main reason for coming to Nkhata Bay, at least for John, was the scuba diving in the lake and this was finally realised in the afternoon, when Johnny (the dive master) returned from Lilongwe.While the lake visibility was not particularly good after the recent rains and high winds, seeing the various types of cichlids, as well as catfish, was quite unique.Cichlids are not caught and eaten, but are captured and sent to aquariums world wide.The rock formations underwater, huge boulders and pillars,bear testimony to the gigantic forces that created the Great Rift Valley, of which Lake Malawi is the most southern part.The dive was memorable in a way but not one that John would hasten to repeat.