As we crossed yet another border from Zambia into Malawi, this was the first country we would be exploring with the 10 new members of our tour group. We stayed in 2 beachy campsites, each for 2 nights, on separate sides of Lake Malawi. It was such a relaxing 4 days, even though we didn't do much outside the campsites, it was nice to chill out and prepare for the madness of what was to come in Tanzania. There was an optional activity which the majority of the group decided to do which was a 30km hike up a mountain in Livingstonia. I chose not to do this, as climbing mountains isn't really my thing (Georgina would know this) and it was also nice to be away from everyone. The remainder of the group chose to drive up the mountain to meet the others, which I also chose not to do because the aim of my day was to be away from people, not try to find them. Anyway, my day was spent relaxing on the beach, enjoying the peace and quiet, editing the 3 hours of video footage I had taken on my phone and eating toasted cheese sandwiches with our G-Adventures truck driver Errall. In my mind, this was a perfect day because in a group tour, you are NEVER alone.

The first night in Malawi, we stayed at Kande Beach and our group decided to do a punch party on the beach. I think there was too much expectation put on it to be a big night, plus we hadn't really gotten to know the new people yet and I was still a bit hungover (mentally) from the night out with DD in Zambia! Nevertheless, Dad and a few others made a really sweet orange flavoured punch with heaps of fruit and vodka and after a couple of cups of that, everyone made their way down to the beach to meet the locals and participate in some dancing and bongo drum playing around their campfire. I think everyone had fun; I just wasn't in the mood for drinking and socialising so I just lay low that night.

Days in Malawi were spent playing beach volleyball, swimming in the lake, tanning on the sand, playing ping pong and drinking Kucha Kucha (local beers). There was also a village tour where you met all the local school kids and checked out the markets however apparently the kids were pretty good working tourists to their advantage - a completely different experience to the connections I formed with kids last time I visited Africa which I felt were more genuine because of the length of time we spent with them.

However a connection that did become genuine was with my Norwegian tent buddy Anna, but everyone just calls her "Norway" or "Viking". She's my age and has been travelling by herself in Kenya, staying in a poor village for a month, working for a NGO. Then she met up with a couple of Norweigans who she had mutual friends with, and travelled through Uganda with them. For anyone who is scared about travelling to Africa, feel free to talk to this girl because she can convince anyone that you have nothing to worry about. She even made me believe I could do it on my own eventually.

The other guy who became a really great friend (and source of comic relief) was video Mike. He's 24, from LA, and is here on business with another member of the tour Christine. He is her camera guy as she is doing a video blog of her journey throughout Africa which is so awesome. The footage he shoots is so professional, it's so cool watching his edited videos because he can capture the most simple things and make them look so incredible. He did one video from our time spent in Botswana that I could never forget which included a song and dance performance from the locals. He used their singing as background music for a whole montage of places we had been in Botswana which was so incredible to watch while listening to their singing. Even though he is capturing Christine's journey, I feel like we all benefit from his videos and ability to edit them down to the most special parts because we were all there for it. Plus Mike is that typical American I can talk to about frat parties and the real college life (American Pie style) which we don't have in Australia J

To rap up, Malawi was a peaceful time for me where (as corny as this sounds) I could collect my thoughts and recharge my batteries so I could be re-energized for the final 2 weeks of the 40 day tour. It is a weird feeling spending everyday with people who you only met a month ago. It's so strange to think I've spent more time travelling with Sean and video Mike than I have with some of my closest friends. Except now I have a place to stay when I visit England and Los Angeles which is so great. Mike even agreed to throw me a party at his place (since I can't legally drink when I arrive in America) ;)

Catch you on the flipside!