Cape Mc Lear - The getaway place for tourists and expats - and why not?

The first stretch of road, when you get off the road to Monkey Bay, is horrible. It has been "upgraded", which means its surface is very hard and has rimples in it. Rimples in such a way that I almost slid off the road because I have leaf suspension in the back. It tends to wander off when it gets too bumpy. If you are going, take the second exit, almost at Monkey bay. This road is much smoother, I did it on the way back.

Then, tarmac. Another surprise, the hills were on fire. This happens a lot here, especially in dry season. Deforestation seems like a good idea when you have no charcoal at hand but need to cook. Sad.

I had arrived at night, not sure where I was, knowing just that I was in the lodge allright. The surroundings were made clear by the magnificent view out of the door of our cabin in Mgoza Lodge. Silke posing like that helped a lot.

So this is the lake. Lake Malawi. Big, very Big. But calm as well, just a tad of beach, almost no surf. Fishermen, yes, beachboys, yes, but all very relaxed.

How hard can it be, rowing in a "dug-out"? I rented one to try for KW1000, just to get to the raft anchored a short distance from the beach and back. It is not very hard at all. If you know how to handle a canoe, you'll master this in no time.

Not everyone is in to sports though. My support-group kept their calm and position on the lawn of Mgoza Lodge.

A band offered itself to us. For KW400 they played a song or two. One of the songs, to the rhytm of "who let the dogs out", was about songs that birds and animals make. But there is a sound for us Azungu too: "hello, hello!""

Sunset at the Gecko's. What more can I add?

We slept well, this time in the dorm. It is cheaper, but I would prefer the double bed we had over these bunkbeds.

The kids did fine and the light in the morning provided for a wonderful atmosphere when waking up.

I rented another dug-out, this time with flippers and goggles for all three of us. KW12.000 did the trick at Banapaya, a local restaurant. Much more affordable than going to the diveshop and have them escort you to the island in their motorboat (USD 75)

And there were fish. Lots of little fish. They managed o scre Tijl out of the water several times, but not Silke. She on the other hand, did not dare to dive down. Luckily, you can enjoy the fish here even without going into the water at all.

At last the kids started to confide in our primitive vessel. Tijl, who initially had sat on the bottom of the boat looking for more equilibrity, was now confident enough to state he wanted to jump out of the boat to go swim. Silke wanted to participate in baling out the water. This was necessary several times, these crafts are leaky!

Eventually they even wanted to play with the boat. I had to convince them it was time to go home to Zomba. Still 2,5 hours of driving!