Africa pt. II
Hey hey hey again!
Our first stop in Malawi was, of course Lilongwe as you usually have to go through the capital if it on your way. We stayed in Lilongwe for a few days just to stock up on provisions, take a breather and handle some things. We also needed to take a lot of cash as ATMs are scarce around the Lake Malawi. We wanted to get to Nkhata Bay along the shores of Lake Malawi as I had read that it’s one of the best places to be on the lake and you can also do diving there which was a priority. We checked in to a place called Mayoka Village which was on the shores and filled with small, cute cottages. You could also take out a kayak to go into town and go snorkeling for free. Long story short, Nkhata Bay was possibly the best place I have been in Africa so far. It was a small village with a beautiful lake next to it and the watersports possibilities were abundant. There was a free boat trip from our accommodation that we took. We went cliff jumping (first time ever!), fed some fish eagles and went a nearby beach to play some football with the local people. I also did two dives, one during the day and one during the night. The night dive was a bit scary as you could not see anything else other than the beam of your torch. It was great to be diving again! Also convinced Olli to do a course too hahahaha. Our instructors were also great and NKhata Bay was filled with awesome people too. We spent only four days there but could’ve stayed for longer. If I go back to Malawi at some point, I will definitely go there.
Next stop was in the middle of nowhere to a hostel called Mushroom Farm, an eco-lodge in the mountains of Malawi. We had heard so many great things about it so we had to check it out. The way there was a bit rough though. Took like four different buses there and one of the minivans’ door was broken so it fell every now and then. The last stretch was a one hour ride along the steep, narrow, mountain roads high up. Definitely interesting! Mushroom Farm was a really cool place with spectacular views. We also visited the nearby waterfalls which are the tallest in Malawi.
We had decided that after Malawi we just push through Tanzania as our time was running short since we need to catch our flights from Nairobi on the 26th of May and Tanzania is a rather large country hahahah. So we took a bus, traveled during day light, slept, then repeat. We did this until we reached Pangani Town (a village with maybe some hundreds of inhabitants), where we stayed for a few nights to take a breather. Now we are on the last stretch of Africa, in Moshi in Backpackers Paradise. Tomorrow we get a bus towards Nairobi and on Tuesday leaves our flight to Dominican Republic via Germany!
See you next time!
-J
