Monday 22 August 2011

Day 293 Malawi 22/08/2011, Kande Beach to Ngala Beach lodge, Ngala. 39.98miles/64.60km, 3hr56minutes, Av10.1mph.

After watching one of the overland trucks get stuck in the sand while trying to get off the site this morning, we negotiated the 2km track to the road fairly well. Debs of course managed to find some of the children to give her a push, I meanwhile was left to fend for myself! People seem to come out of the woodwork to help Debs when she has the slightest difficulty; I don't know how she does it, perhaps a winning smile?

Before we rejoined the road properly we stopped in at Kande Horse stables to say goodbye to Sophia, Johnny and Adella. It has been an absolute pleasure to meet them. Every time we have an extended stay somewhere we always seem to meet the nicest people. We have to give a big thanks to them all for their hospitality and a really big thanks to Sophia for the Southern Africa guidebook. We hope to see Sophia again when she comes to England, we will make sure there are plenty of baked beans available!

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Despite having largely got over her cold, Debs was still feeling quite weak, so it was a good job that the strong winds of the previous few days seem to have died down. We were also very lucky with the terrain, as barring a few small hills it was mainly flat. The scenery today was amongst the nicest we have travelled through in Southern Africa. Beautifully green vegetation was backed by the mountain range to our west. When the road moved back towards the lake, we were greeted by a calm waters and a constant string of small fishing villages. While riding along we saw two locals standing in the middle of the road taking a photo of something with their phones. Wondering what they had spotted we were surprised to see them posing with what appeared to be half a snake. While I don't propose that I am an expert on snakes, the diamond head and large fangs looked awfully like some kind of viper, so I guess posing besides a dead one is safer than a live one! As if seeing one snake wasn't enough Debs then had a near miss when she nearly ran over a very sizeable, possibly venomous snake, as it crossed the road. Whether it would have tried to bite her if she had hit it, we can't say, but we imagine it would have been a little annoyed! The break must have done us good because we are now much more able to handle the occasional demands for money, today largely from groups of women. The children in general have just appeared excited to see us, or perhaps we are only hearing what we want to hear now.

Weakness from illness and a rumbling stomach because I hadn't eaten enough aside, we had a pretty good day. Getting back on the road after a break is always a bit trying on the muscles, but we managed fairly well. Shortly after 1pm we arrived at Ngala Beach Lodge, which is a bit posh and has turned out to be the dearest place we have stayed. No matter how nice it is we won't be staying for longer than one night. 1500 Kwacha (£6) per person for camping is a bit steep, especially as it appears we are sharing two toilets and two showers with about 20 British teenagers.

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Having set up camp, Debs went for a swim in the lake and I strolled into the village to get some supplies. It may have been market day but the food selection was pretty limited. I bought some tomatoes, bread and eggs so breakfast is taken care of, but dinner will be had in the restaurant. Let's hope we have a nice meal and a restful night, we have a pretty long day ahead of ourselves tomorrow.

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