Day 34, 4 march 2010, Chitimba to Iringa A long day, leaving Lake Malawi at 08:30 and arriving at the Old Farmhouse Lodge nearby Iringa in Tanzania, and including an uneventful but slow border crossing. The Northern stretch of Lake Malawi from Chitimba to Karonga is exquisite and deserves more time. in fact, it is easy to get stuck at the lake of stars and stay forever. Many have done just that! Our best surprise en-route was a message that Didi (cat) was found...

Day 32-33, 2-3 March - Chitimba A reasonably early start and short drive via Mzuzu to a lakeside beach at Chitimba, at the Chitimba Beach Camp. One of the most scenic drives in Malawi approaches the lakeshore with its long beaches, from the highlands which include the settlement of Livingstonia. The camp is pleasant, a regular stop for overland trucks. The lake appears like the sea here. Makoros line the shore, fishing nets 'dry' in the 'sun'. People wash and ...

Dive Log: Sunday, 1 March - Diving Lake Malawi Unbelievable - clear water, mostly clear sky, sunny - a perfect day for diving! Rains had been soft, so no ugly brown runoff either. More unbelievable is that we had actually booked to dive (a real act of faith in the 'rainy' season). We met Jonnie at Aqua Africa, the dive master and instructor, who had more good news. We could do the Lake Dive as part of our adventure diving ticket, since the lake is at 'altitude...

Day 28, 26 February: Chipata to Nkhata Bay We had not lost any fuel, so left quite early to get to Nkhata Bay on Lake Malawi. Another place that Michelle & I had visited in earlier backpacking days, so were keen to stop in again. No more than 100 km out of Lilongwe, I noticed the fuel guage dipping rapidly. Suspecting the worst (the leak), we stopped quickly and it was confirmed. A short round of curses and we carried on, trying to get fuel stations out of...

Day 27, 25 February: Chipata to Lilongwe Up early, we had toast and eggs and hit the road after refueling and trying to spend remaining kwacha at Shoprite. The leak seemed miraculously gone, but I knew it was just waiting for a bad time to make itself known again. We arrived at the Malawi border, and carried on to Lilongwe after uncomplicated, friendly, and now familiar border procedure. The rainy season is most aptly named, so I probably don't need to go on ...