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!

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.

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.

Day 284 – 292 Malawi 13/08/2011 - 21/08/2011, Kande Beach. Resting, relaxing, horse riding and socialising.

Just one blog entry to cover our stay in 'Kande Beach', mainly because we have done very little. Despite the constant stream of overland trucks we have stuck it out and met some great people along the way. Richard and Rachel arrived on our first full day here, in their rather smart Land Rover complete with mobile-home style back. They are travelling north back to England assuming they can get out of Egypt. It seems that ferry from Egypt to Italy is no longer running and the continuing situation in Syria makes getting back to Europe difficult. To make matters tougher for anyone headed north it seems that getting an Ethiopian visa has become all but impossible, short of sending your passport home to your own country. Travel difficulties aside, they are a lovely couple who very kindly gave us their excellent Malawi and Mozambique map, which will be invaluable as we head south. We wish them a safe and a hopefully trouble free journey.

Aside from watching the rest of the cricket and some rugby, I have contented myself with laying in a hammock and reading.

There have been a constant stream of trucks in and out, but never as many as when we first arrived. For the main part the atmosphere hear as been fairly subdued, not all of the trucks are party trucks it seems. Debs meanwhile has been working on her tan, although any attempts to get rid of the cycle tan lines have been largely ineffective. It seems we will be both stuck with them for the duration of our trip!

Since arriving the weather has remained warm but a strong wind has got up making the lake quite rough. Looking at the waves, beach and no visible sign of the other side it is easy to think that you are looking at a sea. Not having to wash off the salt water is a pleasant reminder though.

Seeking excitement Debs booked to go on a two hour horse ride with the local stables. Having been met by Sophia from 'Kande Horse' at 2pm, Debs and another rider Jess set off to the stables to meet their horses. Meanwhile, I chatted with a group who are driving a fire engine from Cape town to Germany. They were an interesting bunch having made the trip once before in the 1960s, although that time not in an old fire engine! For details of Debs' horse ride I will pass the blogging duties over to her:

Arriving at Kande Horse stables, we were issued with helmets and half-chaps and were then introduced to our mounts. My horse was a beautiful grey 16.2hh mare called Clover. With Sophia leading the way, we set off into the forest for the start of a wonderful ride. It was a great way to see the scenery with the track taking us through farmland, forests, open grassland, villages and finally along the wide beach. The reaction we got when we rode through the villages was much akin to when Matt and I cycle through them, with the kids becoming totally overexcited. However, on this occasion they were much more interested in the horses than in us!

We finished the ride back at Kande Beach resort where we un-tacked the horses and changed into our swimwear. Riding the horses bareback we headed to the beach and into Lake Malawi. Clover was very glad to have a drink and to cool off in the waves. It was an amazing experience and a fantastic memory to take away from Malawi. Kande Horse is a very professionally run stables with well-kept, happy horses and Sophia was a brilliant, friendly guide.

Having got on very well with Sophia from the stables, Debs and I were invited down to join her and Johnny (the owner) and his wife for a coffee. It was good to get away from the site for a while and have a chat with some lovely people. It was also very generous of them all, to let us have some fresh vegetables and salad from their well stocked garden. Getting fresh vegetables, at least of any great variety, has been a challenge in Malawi. For two days we were able to make a delicious salad for lunch which has been a nice change to the soup or noodles. The camp-site's restaurant is unfortunately rather expensive, in fairness food in Malawi has been dearer than in Tanzania, and not really that good. We have had a few meals there but, I would suggest that self catering is a better option! On the way back from the stables we stopped in the village and bought a few supplies. Heading back to the camp we had a lot of fun giving the local children rides on our bikes. By way of thanks they helped us push our bikes through the thick sand. The village children have been great and we have given several rides to them, during our trips to get supplies. For once we have been largely free of the requests for money, in fact the worst that has happened; is that occasionally the kids have got a little boisterous and started fighting over who gets to ride next. We have managed to quickly quash most fights, but three children per bike is all we can push. Fortunately one of the older children normally comes to the rescue when it gets a bit much!

Back at the camp Debs got to have another horse experience when Sophia asked her to lead one of the horses into the lake, while she took another rider in. This time the lake was quite rough and it looked like all she could do to stop from being submerged. The grin never faded though, another time and she may have found her dream job!

It is amazing how quick the time has passed, we had planned to leave yesterday but Debs has been suffering with a cold that seems a little better today. From a less than auspicious start, we have had a pretty good time here, but the road once again beckons. Let's hope the kids are available to help us push the bikes tomorrow morning, otherwise we may well be worn out before we make it to the road!

Another day has passed and we are still here. We ended up having a drink or two with Sophia last night, which added to the ones I had while watching South Africa beat New Zealand in the 'Tri Nations', meant that we weren't in much of a state to move on. Still, some good has come out of it, Debs has another day to get over her cold and we have managed to fill up our petrol bottles thanks to the local dive school. We are definitely off tomorrow, it will be an early night tonight!

Just a quick addition: We had another great chat, plus a few too many beers, with Johnny and Sophia at the bar last night and thanks to Gary and Kirsty (who are running the camp while the owners are away) we have a better idea of where to go when we leave Malawi. We also, credit where it is due, had a lovely meal of sausages, mash, veggies and gravy from the restaurant last night. I won't go into the comedic struggle we went through to get the food, but cheers Owen for sorting it out. It rounded up what has been a very entertaining stay!

Day 283 Malawi 12/08/2011, Big Blue Star Backpackers, Nkhata Bay – Kande Beach. 37.66miles/60.88km, 4hrs09minutes, Av 9.0mph.

Back on the road today and heading for Kande Beach. The road leading from 'Big Blue Star' was surprisingly steep, as was the road out of Nkhata bay to join the main road. By the time we reached the main coast road our legs had had a good morning workout.

Far from being flat along the coast, the road weaves inland through rolling hills. The scenery was great, passing palm trees and rubber plantations.

The constant cry of 'give me money' was once again never far away, but we also encountered many friendly people along the road. It is just a shame that the demands for money are from the majority of the children that we encountered. Still it has got much easier for us to just ignore it.

Before reaching Kande beach, we stopped in the small town of Chinteche with a view to get some supplies for our stay at Kande. Unfortunately the normally reliable 'Peoples Supermarket' was pretty poor. We bought some eggs and bread from a small store instead and will have to hope that the restaurant is either good and reasonably priced, or that there are some supplies available nearby. As it was lunchtime we had some food at 'Mums restaurant' and then headed down the road towards our camp-site.

The last few kilometres of the ride was along an unsealed road to the camp. For the main part the going was ok, but the track soon turned to deep sand and as we neared Kande Beach we were forced to abandon any attempt at cycling. While I struggled to push my bike through the sand, I turned to see Debs surrounded by helpful local children all pushing her along! With a wave of thanks we entered the compound, straight into over-lander truck central!

There were at least three trucks here when we arrived, which were joined by three more as the day progressed. Fortunately there were also a few independent travellers as well, otherwise it could have been a lonely place to be. Breaking into already bonded groups of travellers can be a little challenging.

Aside from being very busy, our first impressions of Kande Beach is that it is very attractive. We are camped under a reed covered area, so the tent will remain pleasantly cool. We remain hopeful that the people in the surrounding tents will keep the noise down during the night.

Our last experience of an over-landers camp-site was that it was surprisingly quiet, but that time we weren't quite so surrounded. There is a beautiful stretch of beach and the lake looks quite inviting. I would have gone for a swim but there were more important things to do, like watch England destroying India in the cricket, whilst enjoying a cold beer.

We spent the evening talking to a nice British couple, Will and Jess, who have been on holiday in Malawi and later on two British Canoeists who have been rowing the length of the lake in their packable kayak. I have been quite impressed with the kayak; another trip perhaps?! Later this evening things got a lot rowdier at the bar. One of the trucks was having a fancy dress party which ended with the staff actively encouraging people to dance on the bar. It was good fun to watch for a while but eventually we headed back to the tent for the night.

We hadn't expected the music and partying to go on until 2am. So far it looks like it is definitely not going to be peaceful here. We will have to consider how long we are going to stay; still tomorrow is another day.