Well, after a few days with no internet access we are back - in the comfort of Joan Smuts' family room!! We have actually done quite a lot of stuff over the last few days:

Chitemba - Lake Malawi

It has been another long few days of driving on the truck through Tanzania heading towards Malawi. We were to blame for reaching camp after dark one night as an extended visit to a local police station to report Sean's mobile phone & iPod stolen took 2 hours after the initial assurances that 10 minutes would be all it takes - I guess that gives you a ratio for Africa time. It was loads of fun with no-one quite knowing what to do, Sean even having to pay for the police form to be photocopied at the local business centre, that then being the wrong form ultimately, a statement finally being taken by hand (pay for that privilege too), the statement then being returned to the same business centre to be typed up (us paying again), and then waiting as the broken photostat machine took 15 minutes to get 2 copies from (again paid for) and then finally the signature and stamping confirming the theft reported for insurance…phew.

But the wait was worth it in the end as we arrived at the stunning shores of the North West side of Lake Malawi - our hut on the beach, literally at Chitemba Beach. Yes we mean beach, and yes there is beautiful sand, and yes there are waves…all at an inland lake, absolutely amazing! Without hesitation the boys were all in the water body surfing in the 1m high waves (apparently can get up to 2m!).

We chose (yes, chose) to do a 35km walk up a nearby mountain (highest point in Malawi - hey we did highest in Tanzania so why not Malawi) to the village of Livingstonia. The route had stunning views of the lake, and amazing waterfalls with plunge pools that were quickly jumped into by most of the group climbing despite their freezing fresh mountain water temperatures (except the token woman!). We reached the village of Livingstonia for a much needed sandwich and coke and climbed the long route down. This was made more interesting by a crazy couple of lads in our group who took 'shortcuts' down the mountain. Essentially they got lost on the wrong side of the mountain and had to do some serious foliage clearing and rock climbing to get back to camp. Needless to say they arrived long after us (luckily before dark) carrying all the scars, grazes and bruises of their adventure - I guess the exploring/crazy spirit of Dr Livingstone must have got into them! They took the hard route - but to be honest we were all completely knackered from the marathon long walk up and down the hill, with very sore and blistered feet to prove it…think we preferred Kilimanjaro…or maybe not?

We then headed further down the shore of Lake Malawi to Chinteche Beach Resort for the next three days. That was my Birthday, and despite being shattered from keeping up with the boys on the mountain the day before, we managed to celebrate in the evening with a piece of cake (not sure how Sean managed to find some for me) topped with a candle, and a fancy dress party on the beach. 23 of us on our truck stopped in the local town (they saw us coming a mile away), and spent 500 Kwacha ($2-3) each on an outfit for someone else in the group (the worse you could find the better). Highlights were red lingerie, paraded proudly by Frankie, many leopard skin outfits and sheer bad taste ensembles' - mine being a big gold blouse and skirt. Sean looked lovely in his Flintstones type dress…think he was gutted he didn't get anything pink! We lit a bonfire on the beach, filled a large cooler box with a toxic punch of local hard tac, fruit and some token fruit juice and then just enjoyed the evening as a group. After a couple of drinks the charades became seriously amusing!

The big news the next morning was the one girl who wasn't particularly "well" that evening, and unfortunately couldn't make it out the tent in time - much to the horror of her tent mate!

From this base we visited Kande beach for the day, where we hired a pedalo to visit an island approx 1k away. The pedalo was a good option as it has a wide base and is almost impossible to tip over which was important as the wind and waves were pretty viscous as the guys who had gone in canoes found out - the waves were too big, and they were capsizing all over the place - watching was hilarious. Landing back on the beach was interesting as the ferocious waves tossed us about, and we ended up "jumping ship" just before arriving back leaving Sean to try manoeuvre it in.

The boys again went onto the island to do some cliff jumping into the sea off the rocks and outcrops - some with a drop of 10m. The island also had some of the cool colourful fresh water tropical fish.

Sean went off diving in the afternoon with Frankie and had a brilliant dive seeing all the tropical fish, a sunken makoro boat, the wreck of a jeep and even the elusive catfish. I made the most of the warm sun with some other girls on the beach. We finished the day off with a treat - a burger from a restaurant on the resort, sort of a belated birthday meal! Cheese burgers have become the major sort after commodity to help one get through the camping stews…and these ones were the best in Africa, with aged meat, cheese and bacon (loved this as you can't get bacon in most of Tanzania).

So now for the journey through Zambia to Zimbabwe, the fun of the elections there and Vic Falls. It will be another long few travel days - but we are getting used to that. Sean has already read 4 books and is half way through the marathon book "A long walk to freedom" - a total which probably eclipses the number of books he had read in the last 5 years!

Bye for now x