Melt

My start in India

2012-01-24T10:44:00.005Z

After flying into Chennai, my first stop was a place called Tiruvannamalai. Even now if you asked me where it was I went, I could not tell you without (very slowly) reading out the word from somewhere it was written down. Fortunately lots of place names in India seem to have abbreviations which does make things a little easier. Although like in Sri Lanka, it often takes a while before people understand what I'm saying.

My journey to Tiruvannamalai involved the first of what I now know is a reoccurring sequence of events when trying to find something in India, be it a bus, or train, or anything else. What happens is this - the first person you ask points you in the direction of whatever it is you're looking for. However, when you get there and ask someone else, they point you in another direction. This will normally happen a few times before, more often than not, you find whatever you're looking for in roughly the same place as somewhere you previously asked directions but got sent somewhere else. Another thing I've found is that sometimes if people don't understand you, they get a slightly anxious look on their face and then just completely ignore you as if you're not there at all.

Whilst in Tiruvannamalai I visited a Hindu Temple. It was pretty impressive to look around, covering a huge area, with extremely tall intricately carved gopurums (the word which I have recently discovered refers to the big white towers). Another thing I discovered is that you can't take shoes inside the temples. I knew that you mustn't ware them, but I just put my flip flops into my bag to avoid paying someone to guard them for me. They are very old and I'm pretty sure no one would want them, but you never know. Well, to get into the temple you had to go through a scanner thing like at the airport. For me it bleeped and so my bag was checked and I was sent straight out to leave my flip flops with the guarding man!

In Tiruvannamalai there was an extinct 800m high volcano. I climbed to the top for amazing views down over the town and the temple. It was a very hot but enjoyable climb and at the top was a little shrine and a hut where you were invited to sit and drink sweet milk tea.

Last few days in Sri Lanka

2012-01-24T10:33:00.003Z

My last few days in Sri Lanka were spent in a little town called Kurunegala, and on the west coast. I was expecting Kurunegala to be a bit different to how it actually was. So rather than enjoying the scenery as I had expected, I enjoyed the company of some of the people who live there.

Finding a place to stay proved tricky but a kind guy showed me a hotel that belonged to his friend which was right on the lake. For some reason I got mates rates and so for less than I've paid in other places I got a huge room with air con, a TV, and a lovely bathroom with hot water!

From here I moved to Mount Lavinia, on the coast a little south of Colombo. This was unlike any place I've been in Sri Lanka and seemed to be full of very rich people. I stayed in an older ladies house who was lovely but could most certainly talk! She spent hours talking to me, and I spent hours listening to her. She was very rich and had a 'servant' who she referred to as the creature. This probably makes her sound horrible but it was actually quite a funny situation. She would tell me in horror about what her 'creature' had done and at the same time her 'creature' would be cursing to herself in the next room deliberately loud enough for us to hear. I think secretly they wouldn't know what to do without each other.

There were a few very posh hotels of which I was able to have a look around. I spent a day relaxing by the pool of one of them, whilst four Sri Lankan weddings took place. The ladies were absolutely beautiful in their saris.

I also did a couple (well kind of) of dives. The first dive was down to a ship wreck which ordinarily I think would have been a lovely ship wreck to explore. However, on this day there were strong currents and not good visibility and so it not only was quite hard to see, but also quite hard to relax for fear of being swept away and lost. The second dive was down to a different wreck, but this wreck I didn't even see. The visibility was so bad that all you could see was blackness. We aborted the dive and returned to the surface.

When it was time to leave I had my first and last train journey in Sri Lanka, which apart from the train being late (I think the only transport that has been late in all of my time here) went smoothly and I got to the airport in time for my onward flight.

Peradeniya Botanical Gardens

2012-01-21T05:07:00.002Z

As a day trip from Kandy I visited these amazing botanical gardens.

There were so many beautiful flowers and trees. Some of the most beautiful ones I noted were from Central America.

There were huge trees in one section, absolutely full of noisy fruit bats.

And there was even a collection of lots of different lawns from around the world (there were many more that wouldn't fit in the photo).

Kandy

2012-01-21T05:00:00.003Z

Kandy is a town in the hills in the middle of Sri Lanka.

Here I tried to play the game in the first photo which seems to be played a lot all over Sri Lanka. You have to flick a disc at one of your coloured discs to try and make it go into the holes at the edges. The little guy in the middle was the champion and he made it look easy. I think I only managed to pot one of my discs. Fortunately (for me) I had someone else on my team who could play a little better than me.

I also walked up to a huge Buddha statue on a hill, which I could see from my hostel. There were stairs attached to the back of the statue which you could climb up, but at the height of it's armpit there was a gate which stopped you going any further. I did try and get someone to unlock the gate but without any success. I was given two different reasons why the gate was locked. One man told me it was because people didn't know how to respect the Buddha and didn't cover their shoulders (I did point out that my shoulders were covered but still the gate remained locked). Another guy said that it was locked because you weren't aloud to walk on the Buddha's shoulders. Then a monk suggested I should just climb around the gate. I decided not to follow his suggestion as apart from anything else, falling would have meant certain death.

There was a little room inside the Buddha with sculptured pictures on the wall and painted flowers all over the ceiling.

In my hotel (the YMCA) there was a tiny kitten. She was so sweet and we played together a lot. She was as acrobatic as Mimi - our cat - and Mimi was very acrobatic! I was told that the kitten was three months old, although she was barely bigger than my hand. She had flees but they didn't bite me.

The North

2012-01-21T04:19:00.007Z

I next headed right to the North of Sri Lanka, where things were quite different to the South. Everything is very dry there and evidence of the war is clearly visible. Many of the buildings have been half demolished and lots are covered in holes/craters, which is really very sad to see. The further North you go, the more military people and police checkpoints there are. On the way to Jaffna - the main town there - I had to show my passport and answer questions about my intentions whilst I was there. I felt a little sorry for everyone else on the bus, as being the only tourist I was the only person who had to do this. I discovered that although the people who live in the North are Tamils, all of the policemen are Sinhalese.

I visited a little village called Manalkadu, which lots of people were very helpful in showing me how to reach. Here there were sand dunes and the ruins of St Anthony's church and graveyard half buried in the sand.

There was also a pretty beach as far as you could see. All along the shore was a line of little shiny blue things that had been washed up by the sea. At first I thought they were some sort of litter or part of a plant, but after a closer inspection I found they were tiny sea creatures. They were only about the size of a thumb nail and felt like jelly. They had little kind of wings which looked almost feathery at the tips. I've no idea what they were as have never seen or heard of anything like them! Any ideas??

I went to a little town called Manar where there apparently is the largest tree in Asia. It's a Baobab tree like the ones in Africa although here it's called a Biobab tree. It was quite short but did have a huge trunk, and unlike all the ones I saw in Africa, also was covered in leaves. Another addition to the town were lots and lots of donkeys, often looking very thin.

One thing the North and South of Sri Lanka definitely have in common is the wonderful people!

Trincomalee

2012-01-10T11:36:00.004Z

Trincomalee is a lovely little town on the East coast of Sri Lanka. It is apparently monsoon season here, and going by the guidebooks the weather should be windy and rainy. However, as you can see, this was very much not the case!

All along the beach here are ruins left from the tsunami in 2004, which were interesting but sad to see.

My visit here almost left me despairing about a lot of Sri Lankan men (after asking where you're from and whether your married, the next question will often be a very to the point proposition), but instead my trust in the people that live here grew. I found that a lot of people will show you no end of kindness and not want anything at all in return.

I was treated with such wonderful hospitality - cooked for, bought cups of tea and snacks, given free lifts in tuktuks, introduced to peoples family and friends, shown around peoples homes and lovely gardens... and yes, I was also aloud to drive someone's tuktuk! That was a lot of fun, and very amusing seeing the looks on people's faces as I, the tourist, drove down the main road with a Sri Lankan passenger.

I also spent some time climbing up a big hill through the army barracks, to where there was a Buddhist Temple half way up, and a Hindu Temple and views all around the coast at the top. There were loads of very noisy green parrots in all the trees on the way, and also lots of pretty spotted deer. I wasn't really allowed to take photos there because of being in the barracks, but the kind army guys allowed me to so long as they could check the photos were ok afterwards. Apparently they were.

A cycle ride through the Jungle

2012-01-10T11:25:00.004Z

Still in Sigiriya I spent a day cycling around the jungle. My first plan was to find a statue of a giant standing Buddha which we'd seen in the middle of the jungle from the top of Lion rock.

This was surprisingly easy to find and I thought was a pretty good statue. There was even a purring chatty cat there.

I cycled on, eventually coming out of the jungle and into fields and views of mountains. I past a peacock who's feathers shone almost metallicly in the sunshine. Unfortunately though I was going quite fast and when I pressed my breaks they were extremely noisy and so the peacock ran away.

I also came across a monitor lizard (who ran away too), another snake (possibly dead in the road), a Buddhist temple, and some more ruins. Oh, and a lot of heavy rain in between the sunshine.

Sigiriya

2012-01-09T11:57:00.019Z

I travelled on from Ella using a number of buses to my next destination – Sigiriya, and an ancient Buddhist Temple and Palace around and on top of a huge rock.

The buses here never shut their doors and for part of the first bus ride, the bus was so full when I got on that I had to stand in the open doorway, which was a bit tricky with my bags and the bus braking and accelerating sharply whilst going at top speeds around the tight bends. Still I managed not to fall out and got a safer position as people began to get off. The next bus ride took me through beautiful green gorges and then after the forth bus ride of the day I arrived in Sigiriya.

Sinhalese is a very tricky language to learn, for me anyway. I just can’t seem to be able to say the words correctly and so consequently people don’t understand me. This is the same when I’m trying to pronounce place names. A lot of the buses only have the places they’re going to written on them in Sinhalese, which is very pretty writing but by now way resembles our letters at all. Generally when I ask someone where the bus to a certain place is, for example Sigiriya, they ask me 'where?' a number of times and then finally will say ‘oh, Sigiriya’ in exactly the way I thought I’d said it in the first place. Another thing I struggle to find quickly is a room to stay in, as the conversation generally goes like this:

"Do you have a single room?"

"What?"

"A single room?"

"What?"

"A room?"

"What?"

"Room"

"What?"

"Room"

etc...

..."Oh, room!"

And this exchange of words happens between me and the owner of a guesthouse in the reception area of their guesthouse.

Anyway, back to Sigiriya...

I have been very fortunate in meeting friendly people - either locals or tourists - everywhere I've been so far in Sri Lanka, and here was no exception. So the following day I set off with a new friend from Canada to climb the Sigiriya Rock. We set off early and after buying the rather expensive one time only entry ticket we crossed the first of two moats, passing fish and kingfishers, and found ourselves in the 'water garden'. I have to say I was slightly disappointed as perhaps foolishly after reading in a guide book that said we'd pass through two water gardens, I was looking forward to seeing water. Only this was an ancient water garden and there was no water. As we walked on to the next one though, I was pleased to discover that here at least in some places there was still water.

There was a boulder garden with the hugest boulders that you could climb up onto, walk under into little caves and walk through as if walking through a massive bottom crack. Then there were no end of stairs and a cave with frescoes on the walls. Then more stairs and we arrived at the Lion's Paws. Apparently there was once a lion's head too, which must have been gigantic if you think about it in relation to the paws. Then there were plenty more steps and finally we were on the top. Here there were the ruins of the palace which was perhaps built (along with the moats and water gardens) between AD 477-485. There were also magnificent views across the jungle below.

On the way down we found a guy with two snakes. One was a big python and the other a cobra. Although very pretty, the cobra was also a little scary as continually hist and looked angry. Not surprising really though, what with being stared at by lots of people and being confined to a little basket which the guy kept tapping to make it go for him.

Mountain Walks in Ella

2012-01-09T11:44:00.006Z

My next stop was a tiny town called Ella, which is in the middle of the hilly/mountainous part of Sri Lanka. To get there we drove along winding roads around the side of the hills and mountains and just as we arrived it began to poor with rain. It was getting late in the day and it turned out that Ella was already full of tourists and so the only places left to stay were expensive guest houses. Instead, I was very fortunate and found a lovely family who put me up in their spare room and made me tasty and huge portions of food. My room was at the other end of the house to where the family slept, and to get to it I had to negotiate my way through no end of toys and ornaments and plastic flowers.

I spent a day hiking in the mountains with a couple from France who I’d met on the bus. We went up to a place called Little Adam’s Peak, which is the light green peak directly behind me in the photo (taken on Ella Rock). From there we could see a beautiful peak which I really wanted to climb (the third photo down). We didn’t know how or even if it was possible, and we to set off towards a peak called Ella Rock.

We followed the railway line and then cut through villages and forest until finally we reached the top. To our delight we realized that Ella Rock was the peak we could see from Little Adam’s Peak. The views from both places were wonderful and although it rained torrentially on and off for the whole day, the sun did come out for us at the top of Ella Rock. Unfortunately so did the leaches though!

At the end of the day, exhausted and soaking wet from the rain and the effects of humidity I remembered I had a problem (which wasn’t related to the leaches). Were I was staying there was a normal squat toilet, but there didn’t seem to be anywhere to wash. There weren’t any taps inside and I would have been happy to have a bucket wash but there didn’t seem to be anywhere private to go, apart from into the tiny toilet which I didn’t really fancy. Only one member of the family spoke English and as I prepared myself to most likely look like a fool whilst inquiring how exactly people did wash there, my new friends very kindly invited me to use their hot water shower – what a relief! I never did find out how that family washes.

Temples and Fish in Kataragama

2012-01-09T11:34:00.003Z

Although I felt I could have quite happily spent a very long time on the coast, I moved on to a little town called Kataragama.

Here there was a Mosque, along with a Buddhist and a Hindu Temple.

I saw my third snake since arriving here, met people feeding popcorn to thousands of fish in the river, watched an elephant taking a bath, and found plenty of buffalo.

The start of a new journey - Unakuruwa, Sri Lanka

2012-01-09T11:19:00.015Z

My arrival into Sri Lanka was a nice one. Feeling very tired after arriving at 6am when it was only 12.30am in England, I discovered the capital – Colombo – to seem pretty laid back. I got a bus down to the South coast to a little village just outside of Tangalle. I wasn’t at all sure what would great me, but it was lovely. My room was one of two, right on a beautiful beach. The windows were falling off their hinges, in fact one had come completely off, but I had a bed, a mosquito net and a view from my bed to the sea just a few meters away.

In the day time I relaxed on the beach or walked around the coast where friendly families outside their homes would invite me to sit with them, offering me coconuts to drink and sea food they had caught.

There was a little dog called Sibo. He mostly slept and if you commented on him sleeping then poor Sibo would be made top walk on his back legs whilst someone held his front ones, until he got to the sea where he was made to swim. I did feel this was a little mean but everyone there clearly loved Sibo, along with all animals I think. One day they found a lost tiny animal who was about the size of my hand. We discovered it was called a Deer Mouse. It did look a bit like a big mouse but with the hooves and legs of a tiny deer. The guys there adopted it, feeding it milk and keeping it safe. It can only have been a few days old as could hardly walk. By the time I left, Deer Mouse was doing well and had made friends with Sibo (who was happy for us to bury him in the sand).

There was also plenty of other wildlife. Snorkeling in the sea I found lots of fish and a family of cuttlefish who swam together in a perfect line next to each other in size order. In the jungle I saw a peacock and on one of my walks I found a snake busily eating a lizard. There were also hermit crabs, and two turtles who you could watch coming up to breath next to a rock at the edge of the beach.

I successfully stayed up past midnight on New Years Eve (it certainly helped that I was still used to English time and so for me it was really only 8pm), and celebrated with everyone who worked/hung out where I was staying, along with the other guests – two girls from the Ukraine. We tried the local drinks, set off fireworks and had quite a funny time.

The owner of the guest house told us that it had ‘rained stars’ the previous night at 4am and asked if we’d like to be woken if it did it again. We agreed, and at 4am the following night were awoken to see the raining stars. Unfortunately though he had woken us on the off chance that it would happen, and so we sat of the beach in the middle of the night waiting and waiting for the stars that never rained. The sky was however beautiful and we all had a little of the local greenery and then returned happily to our beds.

I couldn't have asked for a nicer more relaxed place to start my trip.

Finished!

2012-01-07T08:59:00.002Z

I have finally finished writing about my travels in Eastern Africa. A few of my posts mysteriously disappeared at various times, and when putting them back on they've not gone in chronological order.

So in case you are confused, I did not go to Malawi (the most recent two posts are from the last bit of my time there) after returning home, nor did I go back to Malawi at all after I left, or back into Tanzania before heading into Mozambique.

I actually started my trip in Tanzania then left from the south east of the country to go into Malawi. I travelled south and went through southern Malawi into Mozambique, where I travelled up the north coast and into eastern Tanzania. From here I travelled on into Uganda before heading home from Kenya.

Hope you enjoy the read!

Lake of Stars Festival

2012-01-07T08:58:00.000Z

My love of music festivals has remained with me since I first attended Download Festival in England in 2003. Perhaps not long after this time I remember reading about a festival called The Lake of Stars which was held in Malawi. It sounded amazing and I immediately wanted to go. Over the years though I completely forgot about it, until I arrived into Malawi in August and heard people talking about the festival and I knew it should not be missed!

I'd only been able to get a visa for Malawi for four weeks, which took me up to a couple of weeks before the festival. So at the first opportunity I extended my visa and bought myself a ticket. Bands from all over the world came to play there. Through music played in the clubs and bars and sounded out onto the streets as I travelled through Malawi, I'd got to know some of the bands from within Africa who would be playing. My excitement further grew when I discovered a band called Foals, who are originally from Oxford, would also be playing. I'd seen part of one of their gigs when I was living there but a friend I'd gone with hadn't been well and so I'd had to miss most of their set.

The festival did not disappoint! There was no end of good music and I even managed to get a mosh pit going when Foals played, which was so much fun. Although I'd gone to the festival alone and did miss my regular festival buddies, I bumped into a few of the people I'd met previously on my travels and so had happy people to dance with.

I also found large pots which could be climbed up and sat in, chefs in full chef outfits, plenty of sunshine and also at night time the lake full of 'stars', otherwise know as lights from fishermen's boats used to attracts the fish they wanted to catch in their nets.

Mulanje Mountains

2012-01-07T08:57:00.001Z

In the south of Malawi I found what to me feels like perhaps one of the most beautiful places on the Earth - the Mulanje Mountains. Here I spent three days trekking up onto the Mulanje Massif and climbing up to the top of Malawi's highest peak - Sapitwa - at 3003 metres high.

Although often steep and hard work, unlike Mount Rungwe in Tanzania, we walked at an enjoyable pace. The views were ever changing and so so stunning, across mountains, plateaus and plains, down into valleys or up to higher heights, and on the last day as we made our way down the view off the edge of the mountain went far as you could see over forests, tea plantations, villages and smaller mountains far below.

On my journey through Malawi I'd heard many times about the Mulanje spirits who left fruits out for passers by on the Mulanje Massif. The story goes that if you are hungry then it's ok to eat the fruit but if you take more than you need or take some along with you on your journey rather than just eating it where it is, then the spirits will capture you and keep you unseen with them for many years. There are tales of people who've disappeared on the mountains whom it is thought now reside with the spirits.

Along our trek we found lots of bushes covered in yellow berries which are almost identical to black berries apart from the colour (and their name funnily enough is yellow berries). As we past the bushes we ate all we could and then I decided to risk my luck with the spirits and take a handful with me. And that's when things took a turn for the worst.... we took what was once a short cut but part of the way along it became incredibly over grown and so we ended up fighting our way through almost impassably dense vegetation and fallen trees. The guy I'd come with ripped his trousers and we both acquired scratches and bruises from our battle. At a stop for lunch, when getting food out of the bag, the lid came off our bottle of oil and it spilt everywhere, all over our bananas. And then in the evening the wind began to blow harder and harder and harder, something very unusual for where we were at this time of year.

All was ok though as the spirits spared us (as did the log hut and fire that I kept stoked throughout the night) and the following day we made it up to the top of Sepitwa. It was a steep climb first up a smooth rock face, and then over, under, and between huge boulders, jumping, crawling and squeezing our way though. There was so much mist and dampness in the air and twice I slipped nearly falling to my death again, but just about finding something to grip onto in time escaped serious injury and instead just acquired further bruises. At the top it was windy, cold, and perhaps unsurprisingly considering my view (or lack of) from the top of other mountains I've climbed on this trip, completely cloudy! I was in an optimistic mood though and so we sat sheltered between some rocks eating chocolate biscuits and were eventually rewarded with a space in the clouds where for perhaps two seconds I could actually see a view of the mountains below.

A day in Nairobi and my last day in Africa

2011-12-27T09:18:00.000Z

My last day in Africa was spent in Nairobi. As it was described in the guide book as the most dangerous city in Africa, even more so than Johannesburg, I did feel a bit anxious about spending time there. It was however a really nice city in which I didn't feel scared at all. Unlike any other city I'd visited in this part of Africa, Nairobi was very built up and full of smartly dressed people. One thing it did have in common however, was that all the people were lovely and friendly.

I visited the Nairobi National Museum and spent some time in the botanical gardens. The receptionist kindly let me in for the price of a resident as I didn't have enough money without going to the cash machine. This meant I got into the adjacent snake park for free. Although it was rubbish and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone (the snake park that is), I was pleased to meet a very hungry tortoise tucking into it's lunch.

From the botanical gardens there were views back over to the city center. There were also lots of interesting statues.

Another area of the gardens I rather liked was the medicinal plants section. For anyone who has swollen testicles I've included a photo of the sign which tells you what plants will help.

Leaving Africa was really very sad indeed. It is a land I've come to love and feel very much at home in, and one day I hope to return. Most people I met who discovered I was travelling there alone expressed how foolish or brave they thought I was for doing so. My advice to anyone wondering whether to travel alone where I've been is most definitely to go. I've not once felt unsafe and have met such wonderfully kind and friendly people who live amidst the most beautiful and exciting land. It is definitely a place not to be missed!

The Kenyan Coast - Watamu

2011-12-26T23:56:00.002Z

After the tour I decided that the last week or so of my trip needed to be a relaxing one and so I headed to a village called Watamu on the Kenyan coast.

When the tide was out you could walk over to little islands normally surrounded by the sea. Caution was needed whilst walking though, as there were numerous rock pools full of all sorts of fish and thousands of spiky sea urchins.

Being a place where it was hard to escape from chatty local men and not somewhere I felt particularly comfortable lying in my bikini, the guy running my guesthouse kindly showed my the empty pool at his friends guesthouse which I was allowed to use whenever I wanted. In between heavy rain showers I spent some time enjoying the hot sunshine here.

I spent a day doing a couple of dives, where again there were lots of fish and coral and it was really pretty. After the last dive we came out of the sea and onto the boat in the middle of a huge rain storm. By the time we'd got back to shore I was cold, but jumping into the sea to get off the boat was amazing as it felt as warm as a hot bath.

Another day I went to the house of the family of the guy who ran the guesthouse. They cooked me delicious food and wanted me to eat far more than I could manage. They also invited me to go back before I left Watamu so they could give me a cake they would make for my family. This was despite me laughing at an inappropriate time - the mother couldn't speak any English and spoke to me a lot in Swahili. I was laughing as I couldn't understand what she was saying no matter how hard I tried. It turned out though that she was explaining that as a Muslim she couldn't leave the house for three months because her husband had recently died.

The guesthouse was in a maze of houses and the first few times I left and tried to get back I got completely lost and had to ask someone to show me the way. It is fortunate people here are so friendly and happy to help. I'm not sure why I found it all so confusing as in similar situations in Stone Town on Zanzibar I had done so well.

Two lovely additions to the guesthouse were the neighbours cats who came to visit each day and very much liked being made a fuss of. There were also two other guests staying at the same time as me, who strangely enough were from the little town where my parents live in England.

It was just the sort of week I was hoping for!

A Terrifying Day

2011-12-26T23:56:00.001Z

Towards the end of the tour I had an extremely terrifying day. With a lot of adrenalin in between, it ended in loving something I thought I'd never love, and disliking something I thought I'd never dislike. It also ended in a bit of a hang over...

The day started with a big wake up when I did a tandem bungee jump into the Nile. Having done a couple before and never really enjoying them and both during/after each one saying I would never do another one, the only reason I did it was because you could touch the water. As it was something I'd never done I thought I'd give it a go, with a friend with me for courage. This time I absolutely loved it. It was still the most terrifying thing making yourself leave the platform, but as we were tied together at our feet no jumping was involved. We just stood sideways and lent over until we fell off. I felt the rope tighten before we'd touched the water and thought that they'd got the measurements wrong and we weren't going to go in. But then we kept on falling down and our heads went into the Nile. Once we'd stopped bouncing we were lowed into a waiting boat and then taken back to shore. I would have quite happily done another one straight away but we had other things to do...

Our next challenge of the day was white water rafting. Again this was something I'd done before, and I remember it being one of the most fun things I had ever done. Oh how this has now changed! Being rainy season, the water levels were high and the rapids were particularly big. After doing the bungee jump my friend and I felt brave and sat at the front of the boat (possibly a mistake). The first white water we came to was a waterfall. We were told this was a grade five rapid and there was some questioning as to whether the water level was too high for us to go down. Our guide decided we would go anyway and said that really we needed to go down either backwards or forwards but not sideways. We messed it up though and ended up going down sideways. Despite this all was fine, we didn't fall in and we were still enjoying it. We had a few more big rapids and waterfalls and then we came to 'what would be the worst white water you would ever sensibly go into'. Before hand our guide asked us what we wanted to do. We had a choice of three different parts of the river, a grade three, a grade four, or a grade five - grade five being the biggest and the one we decided to go for. Our guide did explain that there was a 97% chance the boat would flip over. He told us that unlike all of the other rapids where you were supposed to hold on to your paddle and the boat if you could when it flipped, if we were going to flip then he would instruct us to chuck our paddles and that by no means should we even attempt to hold onto the boat. He also said that it would be like a washing machine and a very long swim. I did not think it through! Almost as soon as we hit the huge roaring waves our guide shouted to chuck our paddles. We all threw them away and jumped down into the boat clinging onto the rope which surrounded it, preying it wouldn't flip. Soon enough though it was very clear that we were not going to stay in the boat. I took a deep breath and then was thrown out into the crashing water. I truly thought I was going to die. There were guys on little canoes who would help you get back to the boat if you came out and I was under the water for so long, completely unaware as to which direction the surface was in, that I thought the only way I could survive would be if one of the rescue guys pulled me out. But straight away my next thought was that they'd never see me under all the waves. After what felt like a lifetime I came back up to the surface. Another instruction from our guide was once we did get to the surface to open our eyes before we breathed in. I opened my eyes and before I'd even had time to breath out, let alone in, I saw another wave crashing down onto me and forcing me back under. Again it felt like forever before I got back up to the surface. By this time I really did believe that this was it. Faced with what looked like never ending smashing waves in front of me and hyperventilating through fear and trying to get some air I resigned myself to the fact that if I went under again I would never come up alive. Fortunately I was out of the worst of the rapids and saw my friend come up and then a rescue guy came and got us. There was a worrying time of wondering if everyone else had come out ok and then we were all back on the boat. My friend who was at the front of the boat with me had felt exactly the same as I did, but no one else on our boat had thought they wouldn't survive. We stopped for lunch and then for the rest of the day spent the whole time completely terrified on what was probably pretty small rapids. Sadly I don't think I'll go white water rafting again.

Once back at the camp and a little bit traumatised we decided the only thing to do was have a stiff drink. The bar looked out over the Nile. Torrential rain pored down and lightning lit up the whole river in front of us. There was an upside down canoe on the ceiling and if you could use the ropes hanging from it to get in, then you would be given a free shot of sambuca to be drunk whilst you were still upside down. This was not a challenge to be missed, and also not a challenge to be only done once. The night ended 45 minutes before we had to get up to face the next day. A day that I was happy to be spending the whole of travelling on the tour bus!

Nursery schools, the perfect gin, and close encounters

2011-12-26T23:55:00.001Z

Still staying on the banks of Lake Bunyonyi, a few of us visited a nursery school. This was an organised trip and it felt like everything the children did was done to try and get us to give the school money. It was still a fun morning though as we played and sang and danced with the children (all except one who I found left behind and sleeping in one of the classrooms).

On one of the hikes I did, we came across another nursery school. The children all ran out to the road to great us when they saw us pass. Their teacher came to see what all the fuss was about and the children then sang us their national anthem and other songs which involved praising God and their teachers and school. We were shown around the school by the head master, and never once were asked for any money or got the feeling that was what they were after. Quite refreshing after the school we'd visited in the morning!

Another find whilst out walking was that of sachets of gin, which as the box told you meant that 'The mornings will always be BRIGHT and CLEAR, No Hangovers, No Headaches'.

From Lake Bunyonyi we moved on to our next camping spot on the edge of Lake Mburo. This was a particularly exciting place to camp. During the day light hours we were surrounded by warthogs and when it got dark we were told we should walk around in pairs. This was because there were hippos in the lake and they liked to walk through our camp site to get to where they liked to eat during the night. Hippos apparently kill the more people than any other animal. It might not be that they're simply horrible but just very territorial. If you get in their way they'll charge you, flattening you if you're on dry land and drowning you if you're in the water.

We watched the hippos in the lake as the sun set and then as we sat by the fire in the evening we could hear them grunting close by. Everyone had a very early night that night and I don't think anyone used the toilet in the middle of the night! In the morning though, we were up before light and sure enough there was a hippo munching on the grass only a few metres from where we were camped.

Scenery

2011-12-26T23:54:00.000Z

The south west corner of Uganda, near where the gorillas live, is an amazingly beautiful place. The forest has long since gone and now in it's place are mountains and hills mostly covered in tiered fields and little villages.

We camped on the edge of Lake Bunyonyi, a beautiful lake full of islands, surrounded by hills and mountains.

This was the only place on the tour that we had a couple of days to do what we liked with, and so I took the opportunity to do some hiking. It was really fun to walk around the hills meeting the people and animals that lived there, never knowing what would be around the next corner.

Here cows have the coolest horns, which are so long and perfectly curved.

Mountain Gorillas

2011-12-26T23:53:00.000Z

After a very early start we set off in 4X4’s towards Bwindi Impenetrable Forest where the mountain gorillas of Uganda live. We drove down bumpy roads above green, valleys full of thick white cloud. Once at the headquarters for the gorilla treks, we met our guide who looked quite funny carrying a bright pink bag and a massive machete.

We set off on foot along a track running through little villages dotted in between the tiered fielded hills until we got to the forest. From here we followed a path made by elephants and when we needed to turn off, our path was made using the machete our guide had bought along. There were lots of pretty flowers along the way and also lots of nasty biting ants.

After two hours we found the group of gorillas we had been looking for. They were all sat with their backs to us and for quite a while refused to face us. The forest was on very steep slopes and was so thick that we couldn’t go around to the other side of them. They kept slowly moving away with us following behind.

This was quite a different experience to my chimpanzee encounter. Then there were just two of us and it was a very personal experience. Here though there were eight of us and unfortunately quite a few of the people in my group weren’t the most selfless of people. This meant that they always had to be first and so often it was rather tricky to see the gorillas.

Towards the end of our time with them though, the three of us at the back were able to follow a few of the gorillas who’d split off from the rest and we got to spend some time watching them relax and eat as they sat and faced us. This was really amazing, and they looked so gentle and content with life.

Hippos Everywhere

2011-12-26T23:52:00.000Z

We took a river safari boat trip where we saw so many hippos all extremely close to the boat. We were told to be careful not to fall or drop anything in as they would surprise you by suddenly coming up out of the water in front of you. This they did, but nothing and no one was lost.

There were loads of water buffalo and we spotted a pair of mating monitor lizards which if undisturbed will apparently continue mating for an entire day. We also saw a lion in the trees on the river bank (who even looking through binoculars I wouldn't have known was there unless someone told me), and lots of different birds.

The start of a trip through Uganda

2011-12-26T23:51:00.000Z

My next country to visit was Uganda. Here I joined an 11 day tour to go in search of the mountain gorillas. Very much used to traveling alone, I did find being part of a tour group a bit hard. Everything was so rushed and it felt like you just travelled through places rather than actually got to know them a little. If you liked somewhere you couldn't decide to stay a few days longer and if you didn't like a place you couldn't just leave. I was very fortunate in that there were a few really nice people on the trip, but there were also a few who I would much rather not have had to spend any of my time with, let alone 11 days. By the end of the tour, after having to get up before 5am on most days I was exhausted and very glad to be able to travel alone again, but I did also have a lot of fun.

Over the first couple of days I got to secretly hold a security guard's gun, whilst hiding from onlookers around the side of the bank he was supposed to be guarding. I crossed the equator and hung off the sign which implied we were in UG N A. Perhaps someone with the initials A and D had decided they'd quite like the missing letters. I went on safari where most of the animals were in hiding but we did see water buck and buffalo and some very pretty scenery. We also had a break down and so tried unsuccessfully to tempt the lions out of their hiding places as we sat outside of the truck waiting for it to be fixed.

Mafia Island and the Whale Sharks

2011-12-26T23:50:00.001Z

Almost half way up the Tanzanian coast is Mafia Island, and it was here that I met the whale sharks.

We set off on a snorkeling trip to find them, across the sea which was so calm it was almost perfectly flat and the clouds reflected beautifully on its surface. After about an hour in the boat we spotted one and once close enough were allowed to jump in and swim. We’d found of group of about six, all either a spotted lighter or darker shade of gray. They swam up to the surface with their huge mouths wide open to catch the plankton, and then swam along the surface for a while before diving back down into the darkness. Often they had any number of cleaner fish around them and even in their mouths. If you swam above them you could watch their gills expand and ripple as they swam, and if you chose to swim next to them then you could look into their eyes. Well, one eye anyway as the other would always be around the other side. At times they swam really fast and it was exhausting trying to keep up, but a lot of the time they slowed down a bit and you could happily swim at their speed.

There were two particular moments that I don’t think I’ll ever forget. One was when a friend and I were swimming along next to one of the whale sharks and we realised that another was swimming right next to us on our other side. So we swam along for ages in between them, almost able to reach out and touch them. It felt like we were just two of their friends and was very special indeed.

The other moment I was alone. I was swimming along above one looking straight down onto it when I looked up to see another swimming directly towards me and perhaps only three or four metres away. We were about to have a head on collision! I think we saw each other at the same time and so took immediate avoidance action. I swerved to my left and the whale shark fortunately swerved to my right with the hugest swish of it’s incredibly powerful tail. They are such graceful creatures which don’t normally seem to make any sudden movements and although we were in the middle of the ocean with the hugest fish in the sea, there was something so calming about the whale sharks that I hadn’t felt scared at all. I have to say though that after this experience I did feel extremely tiny and vulnerable. I’m certain that if one of them wanted to it could just casually swoosh it’s tail and take you out without any effort at all.

Aside from the calm sea and the huge whale sharks I was also lucky enough to spot a very cool little squid. He caught my attention by squirting out a cloud of black ink, which filled a space far bigger than itself. I followed him as he bobbed up and down below the surface, although he didn’t squirt any more ink at me.

On another day I did a couple of dives although these weren’t where the whale sharks are as they didn’t hang out by the reefs. One of the dives was a completely new experience to me in that there was such a strong current – something I’ve discovered I’m not particularly keen on. As you descended if you looked down at the bottom you saw it rushing past you, which I found extremely disconcerting. There was no way you could swim against the current and so if you spotted anything you wanted to have a look at you had about half a second to do so before you were swept well and truly past it. I love diving but I do feel a little anxious about the possibility of getting separated from whoever I’m diving with. This was a constant worry as there really wasn’t much you could do about it, what with having very little control over your position in the sea. However at times our dive guide would cling onto rocks on the bottom to try and get everyone together. Normally I’d completely avoid touching the bottom for fear of damaging the coral but I felt that I could either risk hurting them or risk killing me so I also clung on when I saw other people doing the same. This was very hard though as you’d be horizontally clinging onto the rocks whilst the sea was doing all it could to pull you off and drag you away. I was not that sad when this dive was over.

The rest of my time on the island I spent exploring. I found some lovely beaches and forests, met lots of fishermen and ladies and saw a lot fish either drying on the beach or being prepared to sell. I’ve discovered that if you see lots of little pretty shiny things lying in the sand then often these are the scales of fish which have been scraped off, usually by women after the men have caught them.

I also discovered a very effective way of being able to walk on my own without numerous people coming to chat to me – walk with a dog! Being a predominantly Muslim population, the people of Mafia Island are not particularly keen on dogs and in a lot of cases seem to be quite afraid of them. After befriending a lovely dog whilst out walking, he decide he wanted to walk my way. I did try and persuade him not to follow me but he would not listen and so we walked together all the way back to my guesthouse which was about an hour away. Not one single person came up to me when normally I most likely would have had very little time on my own. In fact most people crossed the road to get as far away from me and the dog as possible.

A terrible journey

2011-12-26T23:49:00.001Z

My journey back into Tanzania was not a pleasant one. The transport – all pick up trucks – left from a little town four hours south of the boarder. The vehicles only left when they were full and so to be sure of getting one you needed to set off at 2 in the morning. Fortunately they picked you up where you were staying, so you didn’t have to wonder around in the dark trying to find one.

Everywhere in Mozambique had been really hot and my last night, well what little I had of it, was no exception. I lay in bed trying to get a bit of sleep before the journey, so hot that I had to fan myself with a piece of paper. Still very hot when it was time to set off I foolishly packed both my jumpers unreachably in my big rucksack.

As we drove around the town picking people up all was fine. But when the truck was full and we set off, all was not fine at all. We sped ridiculously fast down the dirt/sand roads, which resulted in two things – cold and pain, both of which were pretty extreme. I had a little shirt handy for cover my shoulders, but even with this wrapped around me it was still completely freezing. The immense pain was due to hitting all the many bumps in the road at such speed, that at each one you flew into the air and then smashed back down onto the bare metal. To try and reduce the impact and also to avoid accidentally flying off the back, I clung onto the side as tightly as I could. This however left my arm with cuts and scratches from the plants that ripped at them as we passed. I was not in the best state when we arrived at our destination!

One good thing about the journey was that as we drove in the pitch dark through the countryside in conditions which made sleeping not an option, the sky was absolutely beautiful and so full of stars that you really had to look to spot the constellations.

When we got to the boarder it was light. Unsurprisingly we’d made good time and so had a two hour wait before the boarder opened! After eventually being stamped out of Mozambique, myself and the other people from the pickup I was in, along with all the people from another pick up, had to squeeze rather scarily into one vehicle to get taken to the river which formed the boarder. Here we were punted across in boats until the water became too shallow to go any further and then we had to get out and walk. On the other side mini buses were waiting to take us to the Tanzanian boarder post and on into Tanzania. It was so good to arrive!

Zomba - a hike, a horse, solitude and variety of the food kind!

2011-12-26T23:28:00.002Z

My next and last stop in Malawi was in a place called Zomba, and if I'd had more time I would have quite liked to stay longer... if only for all the amazing food. I could not believe the variety of fruits and vegetables and even herbs that were on offer at the market! Why what can be grown there or on the overlooking Zomba Plateau is not exported out of the town I do not know. I had heard that you could get strawberries there (which was very true) but this was not my sole reason for the visit. I'd also heard that a trip up onto Zomba Plateau was beautiful and that you could go horse riding there, so I thought I'd take a look.

I decided to try and get a ride up to the top of the plateau as I was told it was a long and steep walk, but I discovered that a taxi cost a ridiculous amount of money, even by English standards, and that no public buses went up there. I did however make friends with the guard at my guest house who very kindly managed to get me a free lift with the staff bus for a posh lodge which was at the top of the plateau. This not only meant that I got up there in comfort for nothing, but it also meant that one of the kind members of staff showed me all around the lodge and it's wonderful grounds. Sadly she didn't offer me the eat as much as you can style buffet breakfast though.

My day on the plateau was not a day when I felt like being sociable. So with photographs on my camera of two different looking and not at all detailed maps from guidebooks I'd managed to borrow along my trip, I set off declining the offer of a guide to try and find a waterfall. This proved to be surprisingly easy as I just walked in the direction I thought it should be in, which fortunately it was, until I heard water. I then spent quite a while climbing down to where the sound was coming from and then followed a river and lots of smaller waterfalls upstream until I got to the big one. At each waterfall I came to I wasn't sure whether it was the big one, but at the big one it became clear that this was it as a couple of other tourists (funnily enough from Salisbury - near where was once my home) were there with their guide. With new found confidence in my way finding abilities I then decided to try and find a peak to climb to the top of to get some views. I headed to the highest one I could see, past yellow berries, a snake, another random Cedar Tree nursery and up a smooth rock face to the top. Except this wasn't really the top, and no sooner had I got to where I'd thought was the highest point, I saw a higher peak a bit further on. This peak really was the highest around and on the top was a big tower with a little hut placed upon it. No one was around so I took the opportunity to climb the ladder to the top and get out of the window onto a platform that surrounded it, where I could see for miles in every direction. I'm still not really sure what this peak was called but it was a good one!

I then did manage to have a ride on a horse. Perhaps two hours was a bit ambitious after not riding for a very long time, but although I couldn't walk all that normally when I first got off, I did really enjoy it. My horse was big and black and called Zara. Despite her size Zara was terrified of a lot of things, one of which being baboons - a fear I now identify with. This fear meant that any rustling in the bushes was then followed by an often successful attempt to gallop very quickly away. This I did find quite disconcerting but we made it through without any falls and we even had a surprising shower of torrential rain, which was quite a joy to experience after so long without any. I had a lovely walk (once I could walk properly again) back down to Zomba town, the whole time passing the most stunning views down off the plateau across towns and villages and the many purple flowering Jacaranda trees to mountains in the distance.

Every town in this part of the world always seems to be busy and full of people. Most of the time I'm now quite happy with this but sometimes it's nice to be outside and alone. The problem with this is that generally wherever you go, someone will find you and come and talk to you. I often have a song by a band called Bush in my head which goes 'I'm never alone, I'm alone all the time'. I think perhaps only this line fits in with my current experiences of traveling alone in Eastern Africa but it's not at all a bad song to have repeatedly in my head! Anyway, in Zomba I found a botanical gardens. In a past blog I wrote about the particularly unexciting botanical gardens of Dar Es Salaam. Zomba's botanical gardens were the complete opposite. They had a huge selection of plants and trees and different environments and they also had something else - peace and quiet and no people - it was lovely!

A day in Nairobi and my last day in Africa

2011-12-26T15:53:00.008Z

From the botanical gardens there were views back over to the city center. There were also lots of interesting statues.

Another area of the gardens I rather liked was the medicinal plants section. For anyone who has swollen testicles I've included a photo of the sign which tells you what plants will help.

Back to the main land... Pangani

2011-11-06T10:06:00.012Z

My next stop was back on the mainland of Mozambique in a little village called Pangani. Between Metamo and Pangani we passed many pretty islands, all surrounded by the beautifully clear turquoise sea that we had been fortunate enough to be surrounded by for the past few days. But as we neared Pangani things began to change. The sea became murkier and murkier and by the time we arrived at Pangani we had to jump out of the boat into brown water full and rubbish and all sorts of bits of dead fish. Above is one of the islands we passed, and below is a picture of all the other guys getting off our boat in Pangani (yes they did immediately strip down to their underpants to brave the water).

Pangani was described in the Lonely Planet as 'the edge of paradise'. Fair enough it was pretty much on the edge of what to some could easily be considered as paradise, but to actually be called 'the edge of paradise' was perhaps pushing it a little far. We decided that really it should have been called the rear end of paradise. This was the second mistake in one day that we had discovered the Lonely Planet authors had made. The first one was that of the 'coconut crabs'. These apparently lived on one of the islands we sailed past, were impressively huge, climbed up coconut trees, shook them until a coconut fell off and then went down to the ground to eat it. On passing the small island however, we discovered that there wasn't a singly coconut tree there and our captain informed us that there were no such crabs!

Although we missed out on seeing any crabs climbing coconut trees, we were treated to witnessing a small boy very skillfully climb to the top of a tall coconut tree to get a coconut where we were staying.

Pangani wasn't all bad. Where we stayed the beach and water were nicer than where we got off the boat, and there was a market with an almost overwhelming amount of different things for sale. There was also a lot of drying fish!

Not a place we particularly wanted to stay very long in, we found out from the guy at our campsite that the one and only bus out of there each day left at 5am. So after a day relaxing, we couldn't face such an early start after the long journey the day before, we got up in plenty of time in the morning to be greeted by the camp site guy who angrily told us that the bus was there 'now'. We went along at 5.00 anyway as that was the time we could be ready by, seeing as that was the time we were expecting to have to get the bus. No bus was anywhere to be seen and we were informed by all the villagers that the bus always left at 4.30 and that we had missed it. There followed a very heated discussion in Portuguese with the guy at the campsite about why he'd told us to be there at 5am when everyone else was aware that the bus left half an hour earlier. His shouted responses were that he had told us when we'd got up in the morning that the bus was there, and that he was up and ready (although he wasn't planning on getting the bus himself and nor was he needed or planning to come with us to where the bus left from). Almost in complete despair about the prospect of having to stay an extra night in the rear end of paradise, we were saved by a very kind south african couple who were leaving that day in their jeep. Their jeep was full of belongings but they let me sit in the front with them whilst the others sat on the roof and we left Pangani along the only road, which was a little sand track.

Metamo Island

2011-11-06T08:31:00.008Z

After a lucky escape from being bitten to death by the many mosquitoes that entered my tent when I unknowingly opened the door in my sleep (I think I must have been too hot!), we set off to Metamo Island. We’d arranged for the captain of a dhow to drop us off at Metamo on his way to taking his other passengers to the mainland. We managed to get a good spot on the back of the boat with a nice amount of room, although someone’s feet were still a little too close for my liking. There was the usual procedure which seemingly needs to take place before setting off on any boat trip - waiting around for no apparent reason long after we were due to have set sail, then having some sort of problem with the motor, the sail or the anchor, then eventually setting off for a short distance before turning back to pick up someone else who arrived about three hours late, and then finally setting off for real. It’s always an adventure travelling here, full of the unknown and the unexpected. This could potentially be a little frustrating, especially if you like things to run on time. But for someone like me who’s quite used to running late, once you begin to expect the unknown then it’s a very entertaining and relaxing way of life.

A few of the unexpected things on this boat trip:

a very manly looking man wearing a fluffy pink baby’s hat
turning around to see the captain’s assistant’s bare bum right in my face, as he was bending over to sort something to do with the sail (he was just wearing a tee shirt and his underpants, which were very more full of holes than material)
stopping quite a way off from the shore to transfer a large fridge and it’s owner from our boat to another one – this took all of the men on board to achieve and looked a very awkward and risky process, especially for the fridge
there being a very fishy plastic sheet available to cover our bags when the waves started to splash into the boat

Nearing Metamo, we past perfectly white sand islands and the sea became such a beautiful colour and was so clear that you could easily see down to the ocean floor which must have been quite a few metres below. At Metamo we had to jump from the boat into the shallow sea and then walk up onto the most perfect and completely empty beach, with bright white sand surrounded by stunningly turquoise sea, and palm trees lining it’s edge. Immediately we were so very glad we’d managed to come. There aren’t any towns on this part of the island, just a few pretty little villages. There is one very expensive and posh lodge which apparently is quite popular and then one campsite which is where we stayed. With some good bargaining by my friends, we were aloud to stay in the otherwise empty little bungalows next to the beach for the same price as if we’d stayed in our tents. That evening we watched such a beautiful sunset and then saw a sky full of stars. There was no electricity in the village and so no lights to pollute to sky. As we returned to our bungalows with the light of our torches we discovered they weren’t empty after all. It turned out that the porches were a favourite hang out for pretty little hermit crabs.

My main reason to come to Metamo apart from to see another island in the Quirimbas Archipelago was to do some diving. I’d heard it was very beautiful, and as not many people come here the coral was supposed to be almost completely undamaged. It was better than anything I’d imagined! There was so much coral that most of the time you couldn’t see the bottom because of it. I saw some that looked like a cactus, some like mini holly bushes, and so many other different types all amazing shades of pinks, purples and reds. Along with such wonderful coral were thousands and thousands of fish. The area was protected and so not fished and there were endless shoals of multi coloured fish, beautiful little sea slugs (nudibranchs), lobsters, huge puffer fish and all sorts of different coloured and patterned starfish. I was the only person diving (with a dive guide) and although I only paid for two dives I got a mini one for free – we were following the directions of a GPS to find one of the reefs and when it said we were there we jumped in a began to descend. My dive guide had said that if we couldn’t see the reef when we went down then we’d just need to swim along for a bit and it should appear. So we went down and down and swam around but all we could see was nothing, just endless dark, empty water. In the end we decided to come back up as the reef definitely was not anywhere near. Back on the boat we did eventually manage to find it. Not sure what the GPs was up to!

The only dive company on the island was at the posh lodge. My guide was really nice and said that I was welcome to make use of their facilities. Not one to pass up free stuff I quickly enquired as to whether my two friends could make use of them too, and also established what exactly we could make use of. By the end of the day I returned to our camp with free sandwiches and bottled water and news that we could all go and use the lodge’s pool, beach, restaurant and snorkelling gear!

So the next day this is exactly what we did. In the morning we went to the beach and snorkelled above the rocks, and then we returned to lie by the pool in the afternoon. The food in the restaurant was rather expensive so we skipped lunch and instead had the most delicious cocktails I’ve perhaps ever tasted. Then as we began to get really hungry we made use of the outside shower (our camp only has buckets of cold water to wash with), and then headed to back our home.

We took some walks into the villages where most of the time it was strangely quiet. People must have been about but they made no noise. In the day time you’d bump into a few people but in the evenings when it was dark, the only sign that there were people in their homes were the little fires burning which were used to cook dinner on. The exception to this quietness was the children. If any child saw you they immediately began to chant ‘mzungu mzungu mzungu…’ whilst clapping their hands and marching towards you. They’d then run back to wherever they’d come from screaming ‘mzungu’ to get reinforcements from more children and eventually you would be followed by any numbing of excited children all chanting and clapping and marching and getting themselves into quite a frenzy.

A hike to Ilha de Quirimba

2011-11-06T08:26:00.028Z

Just south of Ibo and a couple of hours hike away at low tide is Quirimba Island. We decided to go here for a day trip, hiking there in the morning when the tide was out and returning by dhow in the evening when the tide had come back in and walking would be impossible. We hired a guide who led us through mangroves which we would most likely have been lost in forever without him. Part of the time we just had to negotiate the mangrove roots in water, but a lot of the time we found ourselves squelching and sliding through shin high mud. This proved to be very amusing and somehow none of us fell down or got eaten by hiding beasts.

Before we reached the biggest mangroves we past an area full of small crabs with one big clawed arm. They scuttled away as we passed, apparently not really up for attacking our feet.

When we eventually made it out of the mangroves we found ourselves presented with the hugest stretch of white sand that had been left uncovered by the withdrawing tide. At high tide none of the sand would have been visible but at the time we were crossing it, the sand was visible almost as far as you could see with the ocean so far away in the distance. The difference between high and low tide was immense.

It was hard to know at which point it would have been considered that we had moved from Ibo onto Quirimba. Perhaps when we left the mangroves, or half way across the sand, or perhaps at the edge of the beach on the far side. Who knows?!

Anyway, as we crossed the sand we also had to cross rivers the sea had left,which came up to higher than our waists. This provided another opportunity to practice the African style of carrying things, as we put our bags on our heads to keep them dry.

When we finally reached what was most definitely Quirimba, we made our way down the quiet sandy main street of that section of the island. Here a few people were sitting in the shade of their doorways, some with a little selection of things to buy.

I'm not really a big fan of hats but here at times I've had to use my one and only sun hat. Apart from being at least 5 years old, it was originally a cream colour but after accompanying me on this whole dusty trip is now absolutely filthy. Despite this I got quite a few requests from people we passed to let them take it off my hands. One lady also asked for my top but even if I wasn't in an area where a lot of people were Muslim and everyone dresses very conservatively, I'm pretty certain I wouldn't have agreed to take it off and then walk around topless for the rest of the day. Both the hat and the top remain in my possession.

An afternoon of exploring, swimming and eating was very much enjoyed. We found an old church where the walls were all crumbling and the few tiles that were left on the almost completely collapsed roof looked so precariously balanced that they could fall on an unsuspecting person at any time (we didn't linger in there too long). We found lots of children who either had extremely imaginatively made wire toys or detailed and life like miniature cars they'd made themselves out of the sand. If somehow I'd managed to make anything like that I would have been so proud I'd have wanted to keep it forever. They however played with them smashing them up as they collided them into one another, clearly in the knowledge that they could easily repeat this extremely skilled construction at any time they wanted.

Our journey back to Ibo was somewhat interesting. When we set off the wind was blowing in the wrong direction and so we kept having to change sides in the boat as the sail was also moved from side to side. Each time this happened the boat would tip right up which I did find somewhat terrifying. Not too long after we left the sun set, and we sailed in the darkness under a sky so completely full of stars there seemed almost no space left for just sky. Our captain sailed us in the moonlight across the area of sea where we'd walked in the morning, and then through narrow channels in the mangroves. All of us, including our guide, were expecting to be dropped at Ibo where we could just quickly walk onto dry land. For some reason, whether this be to do with the tide being too low or just the captain wanting to get back to Quirimba, we were dropped in the middle of the mangroves with what we eventually discovered was a full hours walk to the dry land on Ibo. Trying to walk through the mud and water between the mangroves at low tide was one thing, and not all that easy at that, but doing the same at high tide and in the dark was quite another. Unable to see where we were going or spot all the stones and roots in the mud and high water beneath out feet, the journey was a slow and often painful one. We kept ourselves in high spirits though, discussing the anacondas and crocodiles we imagined were waiting for us and did eventually make it to shore with just a few minor injuries and many laughs to accompany them.

No Crapping in the fish's Mouth (and Ibo Island)

2011-11-06T08:06:00.021Z

After a journey of pick up trucks, tin boats, dhows and the successful avoidance of getting stranded on slightly submerged sand islands, we arrived at Ibo Island. It was low tide so we were dropped far from the shore and had to make our own way across the sand/mud and shallow water - another hot mission with big bags on our backs!

Here was another beautiful island full of old Portuguese buildings falling to ruins with plants and trees claiming back their home, growing in and around the crumbling stone. There were also no end of flowering prickly pear plants, a crumbling graveyard still in current use, seemingly random yet popular and regular clothes auctions by the market (which had a small number of people selling bread/cake things or a few tomatoes on the floor in an open square), and a white star shaped fort. Oh, and there was a botanical garden, but it was more just a open space with a few trees in it than what you might imagine a botanical garden to be like. You could have a look around the fort, which we did, but there wasn't any information about it's history there at all. In almost all of the little rooms inside were people selling craft type things they had made. A lot of the people designed and made really pretty jewelry out of silver which we were told came either from South Africa or India. Walking around the roof of the fort were views out to sea and at the particular moment we were there, there was a view of someone doing exactly what the sign above was instructing them not to do - crapping in the fish's mouth!

A very elderly and knowledgeable man lived near the fort. He couldn't speak English but my traveling companions spoke amazing Portuguese and so we were able to learn that years ago the fort was used as a prison where many people were killed. Their bodies were dumped in a mass grave and this went on until the people of the island began to complain about the smell. Then all the bodies were moved to Metemo Island - an island a little further north - which we also hoped to visit.

Whilst exploring Ibo we found two other very little forts. One was locked but the other we were able to let ourselves into and then extremely carefully look around. The carefulness was necessary as it turned out that people don't only use the fish's mouth when they need to go. Avoidance was successful and I even found a conveniently placed ladder and was able to get up onto the roof. It is so hot here though, that we'd been dashing from one patch of shade to another as we walked around the island, to try and avoid the sun and so my stay on the roof was only very brief.

Another past time whilst on Ibo was checking out the posh lodges there. We had cocktails and smoked shisha in one place which was situated behind the two hugest Mango trees (in the last picture here the two trees on the right hand side are the mango ones and the lodge is behind them, although you can't really see it). Here there were dorms which you might not expect in an upmarket place, but looking through the window we saw that the beds in these dorms were wooden double bunk beds and each bed had it's own table a bedside lamp and looked very cool indeed. Equally cool were the swings the size of beds out in the gardens!

Pemba

2011-11-05T21:11:00.008Z

My next stop on the Mozambican coast was a place called Pemba. On my journey here I discovered there is a huge difference between the amount of unwanted hassle you get from men, when you're traveling alone and when traveling with friends in this part of Mozambique. So when I arrived at a campsite in Pemba, I was especially pleased to find that a couple of friends I'd made in Malawi were also there and planned to head the same way as me.

The place where we stayed had a swimming pool and even a TV, which is quite a rarity amongst the places I've been staying and so it felt quite luxurious even though I was camping. Although not as beautiful as the other beaches I'd come from, Pemba did have a huge beach and also the most amazing skys. Another addition was that of hermit crabs who were particularly cool to watch as they scuttled across the sand.

We spent time relaxing on the beach where people trying to sell biscuits, chocolates and crisps passed by, along with guys trying to sell beautiful cray fish. One day we were there was 'Teachers Day'. We couldn't quite gather what it was about but it seemed to mean that all the teachers came to the beach to drink and party and so all the children also came to the beach to play. The children are so imaginative with making toys and although I've never seen the type of football people use at home here, there are always children playing with footballs they've made themselves. In the photo above there is a particularly good example (I'm not at all sure how or why the one boy has a sand beard and overgrown mustache). When they weren't playing football, some of the children made a raised step in the sand and would run up to it, jumping of and doing somersaults and back-flips extremely skillfully.

I spent a morning doing some diving where there where really pretty corals and loads of different fish. There was also the most beautifully patterned turtle at the end of the dive, and on our way back we found a small ship wreck to explore.
Whilst we were in Pemba a few other people we'd met previously arrived and we decided to try and head north together. We all wanted to visit the reportedly stunning Quirimbas Archipelago and so thought we could perhaps hire a dhow to take us to the first in the long string of islands. This turned out to be ridiculously expensive though, and so we set off by bus to where we could get a taxi boat further north.

A trip to an Island and a discovery that fish tastes good!

2011-11-05T20:19:00.007Z

From Ilha de Mozambique we took a day trip on a dhow across to a tiny island called Goa which was once a stop off on the trading route between Goa in India and the African coast. It only took about ten minutes to walk from one end of the island to the other and we climbed to the top of a lighthouse from where you could see the whole island covered in cacti and surrounded by such pretty white sands, turquoise seas.

We then continued on our day trip to a beautiful beach on the mainland, buying colourful fish just caught by the fishermen as we past them in the sea.

I've not eaten fish since before I can remember and I don't intend to eat it again, but I decided that here was a place that I should try it. Although I had to try and put the thought that of what I was eating out of my mind, it did taste really good. I had the tentacle of a squid and a very small mouthful of the three different types of fish. All were cooked just with garlic and lemon for seasoning and the fish were cooked on sticks over a fire, whilst the squid was cooked in a frying pan.

The beach on the mainland had hundreds of little crabs all running in and out of the sea and all facing the same direction. There was a lagoon where we found lion fish and lots of black, yellow and white stripey fish, and then on the way back to Ihla de Mozambique we had views of the walls of the fort which glowed as the sun began to set. It was an extremely relaxing day!

Ilha de Mozambique

2011-11-05T18:22:00.004Z

Getting to Ilha de Mozambique was a particularly uncomfortable but very worthwhile journey, which involved repeatedly sliding off the tiniest amount of seat I had, onto the floor and peoples feet, where there was no room to move out of the fetal position I found myself in, and no way to get back up onto the seat unless someone pulled me up, and where I was more often than not incredibly close to a number of different men's crotches.

The journey was worthwhile though because Ilha de Mozambique was a particularly good place to visit. It was beautiful, interesting, different, and full of people selling all sorts of edible goodies.
There was a very strange mix of cultures with Portuguese buildings, people and cuisine along with those of what I'd consider to be more traditionally from this part of the world. Faded and tatty pastel coloured buildings met thatched roofed homes. There was a fort and an old island prison, beaches full of fishermen and a regional hospital. This was particularly intriguing as it looked like it was about to fall down and wouldn't even make a safe home let alone a hospital. But when exploring we found a way through the middle where patients waited to be seen by the nurses and it was evident it was indeed still in full use. Right next to the big and once grand building was a contrasting church - new, clean, and in perfect condition.

I spent my mornings here waking up early and wandering around the island trying all the different foods on offer. There were no end of different breads and cakes. Some were savory and either plain or sometimes with vegetables and chili sauce in them. Others were sweet of which the best sort included coconut to a certain extent. The star cakes above were probably the softest cakes I've ever eaten. Not really sure what was in them though.

One morning I found ladies with a pan of what we were told were cooked mangoes, and were in a very red sauce. Still to this day I've no idea what made the sauce red but they tasted amazing, almost like apricots. I thought I would be getting one piece for the money I handed over, but the lady got out a bowl and placed one, then another and another and another until I had 12 - what a bargain! As we ate a big crowd of both adults and children gathered to watch. I also got to try a sort of porridge that is fed to the children there. We think it was only made of maize flour and water but it had coconut and probably some sort of spice in it and was so tasty. For meals I was made up delicious vegetarian feasts. When I asked for rice it was always coconut rice and everything was so so good. I cannot complain at the Mozambican foods!

A Mozambican Train Journey

2011-11-05T18:18:00.003Z

I successfully made my way across the Malawian border and into Mozambique, a beautiful land where I didn't really know any of the language - Portuguese - but where my name is on billions of milk cartons and in Portuguese means Honey.

With my time to return home drawing closer, and being a long way away from where my plane would leave, I decided to just briefly travel up the northern Mozambican coast. This meant getting across to the other side of the country, which I did by using another train.

I handily met some other travelers who could speak Spanish just before getting a ticket and so after stocking up on delicious pastries and cakes (!!!) from one of the many bakeries, we set off together in our own carriage.

Being with people who had the ability to speak a language at least a little similar to what is spoken by lots of the people living in Mozambique was very usefully as pretty much no one speaks English there, and if they do then it's only a few words.

The journey was very beautiful passing huge granite rocks and lots of little villages with thatched roofed houses, and also having the now more familiar opportunity to buy all sorts of food from pots on people's heads out of the train windows at each stop.

Safari

2011-11-05T18:07:00.004Z

After a couple of days recovering from our climb we set out to safari things up with our not so brilliant guide Richard, a couple from Denmark and two Polish guys. We first went to a place called Lake Manyara which wasn't overly exciting as the lake was quite dry and there weren't a huge amount of animals. We did however brake down just after seeing some elephants so that was a bit of excitement. We camped really high up with beautiful views down across the lake and the sun was rising as we opened our tent in the morning so it was a good start to the day.

We then headed on into the Serengeti. At first it seemed like we'd not see much at all. For as far as you could see the flat and empty looking Serengeti stretched on and on. However, things did change. We came across three lions relaxing in the shade of a tree and some rocks. Then a bit further on we found a group of 17 lions including some cubs who were all lying around a kill, either eating it, or waiting their turn. We parked right next to them to watch as they munched. Being able to look into their eyes was very surreal. It felt kind of like they weren't really wild but we were assured that had we stepped out of our jeep, we wouldn't have ever stepped back in again. A little further on, just before sun set, we spotted a leopard sleeping far away in a tree. Then Richard was told something over his radio and he informed us we would be about to see a cheetah. Sure enough we saw him running through the long grass. He jumped up to rest briefly on a rock and then carried on his way. It wasn't a bad days animal spotting at all!

The next day Naomi and I had to get up at ridiculous o clock as we'd arranged to go in a hot air balloon over the Serengeti. We got to the balloon sight and watched as the balloons (there were three of them) were inflated with huge fans. The baskets were on their sides so along with the other 14 people sharing our balloon we climbed inside in lying/sitting down position. Then hot air was blasted into the balloon and we started to fly. We couldn't see take off though, as from our lying down positions we couldn't see over the basket. Once in the air and the right way up we could stand up and saw the ground getting further and further away and the sun rising in the distance.

Below us the balloon jeeps followed so they could pick us up when we landed. We saw some lions stopping by a river to drink, absolutely loads of hippos in the water, buffalos, a hyena and giraffes. At first we went really high but then came down lower. We had to stop before we reached some hills as there was nowhere to land the other side of them. If we went higher the wind would take us faster but if we went lower we'd go more to the left so our pilot had to get a good balance to go where we wanted to go and to be able to see what we wanted to see.

Our landing was very smooth and the basket stayed upright, but despite this one lady fell back in when she tried to get out and I turned to see her arms and legs sticking up in the air - she was stuck! When we'd all got out we were promptly presented with glasses of champagne. Although it was only 8am we happily took them and by the time we'd been taken to where we were being served breakfast, we were already a little tipsy. I suppose that's the only way to be though after such an event. We had a full English breakfast at poshly layed tables in the middle of the Serengeti, and of course it was served with more champagne so we took our malaria tablets in style.

There were three sided toilets with one side completely open so you could pee or whatever whilst watching what was happening over the plains. When breakfast was done we were taken back to our safari group but not before we'd got a bottle of champagne each firmly in our hands, after all, we had paid for them. The rest of the morning was very funny. We all drank when we saw an animal. We were highly amused by humping hyenas and elephants with five 'legs'. We past hundreds of startled giraffes and zebras all running past us away from something although we never found out what. A massive herd of Zebra were standing in a water hole drinking. Every few minutes one would be scared by something and would turn and run out of the water followed by all the others except one, who not realising would keep drinking. Suddenly he'd look up, see the others had gone and then quickly chase after them. A few minutes later they'd all return and the same thing would happen again, including the one Zebra who would always be slow to realise what was going on. We saw another leopard in a tree, closer this time, and then stopped for lunch. The rest of the afternoon Naomi and I spend napping, being woken by the others when they saw anything of interest.

Our camp for the night was by a crater called Ngorongoro. An elephant lived next to the camp and so caused great excitement when he came up to drink at the water tank. Then as we sat eating dinner, two zebras strolled through the tents. Fortunately no big cats decided to visit the camp site that night.

The following day we drove down into Ngorongoro Crater where we saw what must have been hundreds of zebras and wilderbeast hanging out together by the road. They stood talking to each other or themselves, the wilderbeast nodding their heads and the zebras just looking on. We saw two lions with kills although missed the chase. The zebras and wilderbeast stood staring at one of the lions with it's kill. Richard said it was because they wanted to get past to go to the water but they could easily have gone the long way around and avoided the lion completely. I felt quite sad for them.

We then came across a pair of lions right by the road. Our jeep had an open roof and as I stood looking out the male lion walked past right beneath me. As he past I felt my heart rate go crazily fast, realising that if he turned and reached up he could easily swipe me. It was a very welcome knock into reality that the animals really were wild.

We again had a jeep disaster as Richard backed into another jeep, breaking two of it's windows. There was quite a heated discussion and in the end Richard said he would have to pay. They just put plastic sheeting over the broken windows of the other jeep and that was that.

Our safari group then split with all the others returning to Arusha and Naomi and I heading onwards to Olmoti Crater. We camped with our new safari buddies who were from Italy, next to a village belonging to a Massi Tribe. We went for a walk before tea and met a lovely lady called Mary. She couldn't speak English and we couldn't speak Swahili but we all got along very well. She just talked and then laughed and talked some more.

The next day two of the Massi men guided us up the edge of the crater and then down into it. We reached a little waterfall and then walked through long grass up to our hips trying not to fall over the very uneven ground or slip in hidden cow pats. Cows were being herded across the bottom of the crater in great long lines. They all had bells and so it made a lovely sound. On the way back down we past a group of Massi ladies taking their donkeys up the slope of the crater, laughing at us as we passed. Once back at the camp we ate and then headed back to Arusha.

Mount Kilimanjaro

2011-11-05T18:07:00.003Z

Climbing Kilimanjaro was so much fun! We went along the Machame route, taking eight days so we'd hopefully have time to acclimatise a little to the altitude. It worked and until the summit day we both felt fine.

Our first day was spent trekking up through the rainforest. I wasn't overly impressed at it being all up hill but Naomi pointed out that we were climbing a mountain so we persevered despite rather a lot of breathlessness. There were lots of really beautiful flowers along the way and through the mist the forest was really pretty. Our first camp was at 3000m and our amazing team of porters had already arrived and set up our tent by the time we got there.

Day two, after not a great nights sleep and both Naomi and I shouting in the night during nasty dreams, we set off leaving the rainforest and climbing above a thick blanket of clouds. We got our first views of Kili's summit and very much enjoyed some lovely hot sunshine. Everywhere were little white and yellow flowers that looked and felt like they were dried but were very much alive. Absolutely covered in dust we arrived at our next camp and hid in our tent from the wind, although thanks to the altitude (I blame it on that) it was pretty windy in there too.

From the third day onwards, the days were lovely and warm but the nights and mornings were absolutely freezing. Each morning we were bought a little bowl of hot water to wash in. It would have been so good to be able to climb right into it but being only about a foot wide that wasn't really an option.

Being late as always, we were the last trekkers to leave the campsite. Most people seemed to be doing fewer days than us and so we had the bit of the mountain we were walking on all to ourselves as everyone else had gone a different way. We trekked across an alpine desert, still with some of the dry flowers but manly just rocks and dust. It was a short days walk and so we got to relax at our camp for most of the afternoon. We were camped in a beautiful little valley with the mountain rising up on three sides and a drop down on the fourth.

I think day four was my favourite day. At first we walked up and up through the alpine desert with amazing views of Mount Meru's summit coming through the clouds below. We then crossed through a tower of rocks with Kili's summit to our left and continued on downhill over little half frozen streams and rivers. The clouds below were so thick that they looked like rolling white hills. Further down the scenery completely changed and we found ourselves walking in between beautiful flowers and alpine tree things. Our camp was right on the edge of a sheer drop, with Kili's summit kind of in the direction we'd just come from.

The fifth day was the only day that involved a bit of proper climbing, so that was a lot of fun although very hard work when the air's short of oxygen! Once we'd climbed up a huge rock wall we then followed frozen rivers and waterfalls down into a valley before having to hike right back up the other side to our next camp.

On day sixth we walked along really dry ground with lots of rocks and very few plants, to our final camp before we'd try for the summit. In the morning all the clouds had cleared and so we could see right down to the bottom of the maintain for the first time since day one. We camped on a rocky slope with drops to either side and the summit ahead of us.

We spent the afternoon and evening trying to sleep without much success and then set out just after midnight to go to the top. Being late again we were some of the last people to leave the camp and for a long way in front of us rising up the steep mountain side was a snake of people's glowing head torches. Stanley, our ever patient and wonderful guide, seemed to be on a bit of a mission and so we ended up overtaking every single group in front of us. We both were feeling absolutely exhausted and not at all healthy inside. We just had to stare at Stanley's boots and keep going, hoping we were near. The sky, as on all the nights on Kili, was so beautiful being almost completely full up with stars. We reached Stella Point where we'd been told it got a bit easier and then had to keep going coming to lots of peaks that we hoped were the top but we'd get to them and then find they weren't and we'd have to carry on to the next one until finally we reached the real top!!! We got there just before 6am and before the sun had risen. I'm not sure that I have ever felt so cold. Both of us being so very freezing, nauseous and tired had a couple of photos taken of us at the top in the dark, Stanley took my camera and took some pictures of our surroundings - glaciers, the crater and one of Kili's lower peaks - as it was more than I could manage and then we headed straight back down without waiting for the sun to rise. Bit of a shame but we just could not wait!

It soon got light and we had to try and keep up with Stanley as he raced down the slope of scree we'd just climbed up. We both agreed that had we tried to get to the summit in the light, seeing where we had to go, that we probably would have given up and turned back.

We decided to hide from Stanley on the way down, diving behind a massive rock. We lay there for ages, laughing and exhausted but Stanley never came back. When we came out from behind the rock we found him sat on a rock a little ahead of us, staring at where we were and looking unimpressed. Poor Stanley. He so very tolerantly put up with a lot from us. Each time we'd play a trick on him he'd look at us in disbelief, sometimes a bit annoyed and sometimes just puzzled, but by the end of the week, even if it did take him a day or so, he'd laugh at our tricks. He even tried playing tricks we'd played on him on us, though he wasn't successful :)

Back at the camp we had a couple of hours rest and then had to head on downwards to our last camp. I felt like I had the worst hangover in the world, but by the time we reached our camp I just felt tired rather than like I would be sick at any minute.

The final day we headed on downwards through the rainforest to the bottom of the mountain and a much needed shower.

Arrival in Tanzania

2011-11-05T18:06:00.001Z

Well, I've been here for just over a month and I'm thinking about leaving soon so thought it best I try and write something on here!

Arriving in Tanzania we flew into Kilimanjaro airport and got our first view of the mountain from the air which was very exciting indeed. We were picked up at the airport and driven to Arusha past lots of little villages and lots of not so little maize and sunflower plantations. Our accommodation, which was included with our Kili climb, was lovely. We stayed in a thatched bungalow, had a three course meal free every day and also were able to relax by the pool on what may have been the only hot day in Arusha in June. The lodge had a friendly dog called Skippy and a Crested Crane bird called Henry who was very keen on Naomi, but had a sad story - he's the sort of bird that only has one mate for the whole of his life. When he'd first come to stay at the lodge he'd come with his wife, but unfortunately she'd died and now he spends his days wandering alone, looking for her and staring at his own reflection in the windows. I think for some reason he thought that Naomi was his wife and I caught him dancing for her. It didn't work out though after he decided to use our drying washing as a toilet.

Anyway, we spent a couple of days in Arusha which is quite a nice little town with beautiful views of Mount Meru, and then we set off to climb the mountain...

Adventures of the Ilala Ferry

2011-10-25T14:30:00.007Z

The Ilala is the ferry that takes you to and from Chizumulu and Likoma Islands along with various other places along Lake Malawi. Unless you have a lot of money to fly to Likoma, this is your only transport option to get there.

At a couple of the stops, one being Nkhata Bay, the ferry can get right up to the Jetty and so you can just walk on. Well, saying just walk on doesn't really give an accurate description. You more have to battle your way on (or off). Everyone wants to get on immediately, even before all the people getting off have got off. There is one tiny entrance gate and with hundreds of people all trying to fit through it at the same time with all their luggage and goods for transporting it does get quite squashed.

All the other stops require even more of a battle to get on or off at, and they involve an added adventure - the need to use tiny over packed boats to take you from the Ilala to the shore or vica versa. To get through the crowds either to get off the boat or to actually manage to get on to the boat in the first place you had to be pushed from behind so as you could force a gap between all the people and get through.

Whilst you have no choice of boat or as to your method of embarking or disembarking, you do have a choice of class. Normally with this sort of choice I'm very much up for using the lowest class, often much to the surprise and amusement of the local people I join. However, on both my journeys to and from the islands I chose to pay the higher price and go first class. There were four reasons for this... comfort, personal safety, luggage security and the journey time.

Both second and third class on the Ilala were completely packed with people. So many people in fact, that between the busiest stops (most of them) if you wanted to get around those parts of the ship you literally had to climb over people. There were seats - hard in third class and padded in second - but these were all full as was all the floor space, and bags were just piled up where ever they could fit including on and under people. It was clear that if the Ilala happened to sink and you were in second or third class it would be very unlikely that you would be able to get out, especially if you wanted to get out alive. And whilst the fact that the Ilala has been happily crossing Lake Malawi since 1951 without any sinking taking place could indicate there may only be a very small chance of any sinking events happening, it could also mean that one may be due.

In first class there were very few people at all. It wasn't perhaps what you might consider a first class to be like, but then you could pay a huge amount more and get a cabin if you wanted to. As regular first class passengers though, our place on the ship was the top deck. There was nothing special there, just the top deck, but if you were lucky (and on one of the journeys I was) then you could get a foam mattress to sleep on. There was also a shaded area which was greatly needed in the midday heat. During the night it was so lovely lying under the beautiful star filled sky, something that for me added class to first class.

The last reason to mention for not going in second or third class was journey time. The journey to Chizumula was supposed to only take about four hours and although the Ilala was scheduled to leave at 8pm and didn't set off until gone midnight, it really did only take around four hours once we'd got going.

The journey from Likoma to the south of the lake was a much longer journey though and turned out to be not at all so timely. The entire journey was supposed to take about 28 hours, but one day passed into the next and we eventually arrived at our destination 44 hours after boarding at Likoma. Apart from being covered in black smeared ash from the funnel, I was really fortunate on the journey as had wonderful company, beautiful clear night skies and lots of food.

Likoma Island

2011-10-25T14:06:00.013Z

My journey to where I would stay on Likoma (there were two choices - an extremely posh and expensive lodge well out of my own and most other people's price range, or a much much cheaper but still lovely option) was an exhausting one. Getting the dhow across involved sitting on the beach from where it would leave until who ever was sailing over to Likoma that day decided it was time to set off. The boat ride simply involved sitting in the sunshine whilst the captain did the work and others around me chatted in a language I couldn't understand. And then the exhausting part came. Due to the wind blowing in the wrong direction the boat wasn't easily able to take me to where my home for the next few days would be. I only discovered this however when I arrived at the shore and was told I'd have a half hour walk or could pay more than double what I'd already paid for someone to sail me round. This probably worked out as only about £3 or £4, but when you're traveling for a long time even 10p for some things can seem a ridiculously expensive and unnecessary cost so £3 or £4 was out of the question!

So I set off across the rocks in the tremendous heat, around the edge of the lake where there was no shade at all. A guy had offered to carry my bag, of course for a cost, but to me it always feels very wrong getting someone else to carry my bag. So there I was with the great big thing on my back trying not to let it pull me down onto the ground as I negotiated my way over all the uneven rocks, of which many would take you by surprise and roll over when you stood on them. A kind guy who was heading in the direction I was going showed me the way but he walked so fast that I couldn't keep up. He would occasionally wait until I'd nearly got to where he was but then exasperatingly would set off again leaving me no time to rest.

My mood got worse and worse as I unnecessarily cursed both him and the rocks, along with the dhow's captain and the wind, until finally my accommodation came into sight in the distance. At this point there was the first bit of shade I'd come across, provided by a Baobab tree so I shouted out to my guide that I was very grateful for his help but had to stop for a rest and that he should continue on his way alone. As I rested two figures appeared in the distance getting closer and closer until with great joy I realised it was the couple I'd stayed with on Chizumulu who had gone to Likoma the day before. They'd spotted me on the rocks and had so very kindly come to help! The rest of the day was spent relaxing by and in the lake followed by very welcomed red wine and the most delicious curry.

Being a bit bigger than Chizumulu, Likoma took longer to explore and I found it to be even more beautiful. As we explored we past lots of little houses with vegetable patches (in which no doubt were growing tomatoes, onions and green leaf vegetables) which were protected by fences made of reed type plants. Again there wasn't any traffic on the sandy roads so it was very peaceful and there were lovely views across the lake to the mountains of Mozambique. Life in Malawi is generally a very relaxed affair with a high priority for lots of people, well, lots of men in particular, being to chill out and enjoy life. Life on the islands was yet more relaxed so slow paced and people seemed even kinder and friendlier than on the main land.

In the town we found a very impressive cathedral. We climbed the tower to get views across the island, which in itself was quite an adventure involving climbing tiny stone stair cases in pitch black, scaling uneven ladders, pulling ourselves up through tiny holes in the ceiling and scrambling on to and over the bells to finally get out on to the tower's roof. I feel quite proud to be able to say that here I managed to have my second church bell ringing experience in Malawi (and my life), again without getting into any trouble. On our way back down we were greeted with the sound of the beautiful voices of choirs practicing for the Sunday services.

Another adventure on Likoma was a visit to the witch doctor. We'd heard how he was very much respected and that people came from far away, as far as other neighbouring countries, to come and see him so we thought we'd pay a visit. We had to take off our shoes and then pick up a stick from one pile and take it to another where the witch doctor, who seemed rather angry about something at this point, took the stick and put it on the second pile before marching off somewhere. We were then shown into a room where we were told to sit on the floor and then more people came in and sat behind us until the room was full. There were lots of pigeons about and I saw the first baby pigeon I've ever seen nesting between the wall and the roof.

Everyone began to sing and we waited and waited until finally the witch doctor, still looking pretty angry, came in singing and chanting and making odd and a little disconcerting noises. A group of ladies walked up to the front of the room where the witch doctor was and a lot more chanting and odd noises and talking went on, none of which we had any idea of it's meaning. After a while the witch doctor addressed us. Now he seemed to be in a far better mood and through a translator explained that he was just helping the group of ladies who had come to see him and needed to get back to Mozambique, and then he would talk to us.

When it was our turn, as we didn't have any problems to speak to the witch doctor about, he asked if we'd like to hear his history. Through the translator he then told us all about his life. This took an incredibly long time as it seemed necessary to repeat a lot of things and talk about events day by day, and so what could have been said in perhaps 10 minuets ended up taking well over an hour and although it was interesting to hear, by the time we'd got to may be the 7th of November 1979 we were all feeling a little fidgety!

We learnt how he'd been bewitched as a young man by a member of his family who'd secretly put something in his food. He'd then suffered severely from both physical and psychological illnesses and had spent a lot of time wandering naked in the mountains near to where he lived, until he'd ended up in a psychiatric hospital for two months. Then his mother passed away and her spirit helped him and enabled him to heal others. Now he is thought of so highly that if hospitals can't heal someone, they will refer them to him.

Chizumulu Island

2011-10-25T13:51:00.018Z

Near the Mozambican side of Lake Malawi, though still counted as within Malawi, are two islands - Chizumulu and Likoma. One ferry takes passengers there and away and passes through once a week as it goes up and down the lake. Chizumulu, the smaller of the two islands, is the island you come to first when traveling south on the ferry and from here you can get a dhow (a small sailing boat) across to Likoma. The first picture is a view back across to Chizumulu from Likoma.

Chizumulu is a tiny island without any cars but there is one tractor! There is a market at one end of the island, though as you can see despite lots of space for things to be sold there was very little on offer - just a few piles of tomatoes and a bucket of kind of doughnuts (of course not sweet though) called Mandazis. One day there were some lovely bread roles too. Although admittedly this was a particularly poorly stocked market, my experience of markets so far in Malawi is that often there really isn't very much at all on offer and no matter how much there is, generally it'll only consist of tomatoes and onions and if you're lucky then bananas too. Whilst this would make preparing a meal full of a variety of vegetables and fruit impossible to make, it does mean that I am filled with anticipation and excitement every time I find a market. For every now and then you find something different - perhaps a papaya or some limes or even green peppers, and you can never be sure what if anything you may find.

Being vegetarian here means that most days I eat either vegetables (some kind of leaves cooked if you're lucky with tomatoes) or beans with either rice or nsima. I then will often make myself a tomato and onion salad to eat with bread and Mandazis and what ever else I happen to come across. Sometimes boiled eggs or nuts or potato chips or cassava. The nsima is made either from maize flower and water or from cassava flour and water. The cassava type I really like but generally it'll be the maize one that people make and I find that sadly it's the maize type that doesn't keep me full for long. If you eat meat then you're choice of food is the same just with added animals! In touristic places if you pay a lot more then you can find other foods but for the people who live here that's not an option or a preference, as they're more than happy to eat nsima with meat or the green leaf vegetables or beans for most meals every day. It makes me see more and more how spoilt we are in the western world to have so much choice and variety all of the time.

Anyway, being a very tiny island, Chizumulu doesn't take long to explore. There is one hill, some little sandy paths and many many huge Baobab trees. At the moment none of them have any leaves on and they look like they're upside down with their roots in the air. I'm not sure at which time of year but they grow fruits which are really high in vitamin C. They have a hard fury shell and inside there is dry white stuff that surrounds the seeds which you can eat. The trunks can be used to make rope as are really fibrous and I guess if you hollowed out the trunk then you could make it into a home as they are so very huge.

Along with the many Baobab trees are many children, often excitedly after a gift or money or a picture taken of themselves. Whilst waiting for one of the dhows to Likoma, a lady I'd met on the ferry coming over and I taught some of the children some songs. At first the children were a little suspicious and hesitant to join in but in the end so many children joined us to sing and dance to Ring a Ring of Roses and The Hokey Pokey.

Nkhata Bay

2011-10-25T13:27:00.027Z

Returning to the shores of Lake Malawi in a little town called Nkhata Bay, I found no end of lizards, fishing birds, kittens and Bao Game players. Although still far fewer tourists than in a lot of other places in the world, this was the most touristic place I'd been to since leaving Zanzibar, a very popular stop off for most people traveling through Malawi.

At first I stayed in a backpackers on the shores of the lake where there was home made cake (an incredibly important thing in a country where so many things look like they should be sweet but when you eat them are extremely disappointingly not sweet at all), and then I moved to another backpackers a little further south in order to do some volunteer work, which was organised through the owners. Here there was no cake but I did have a huge mango tree growing outside my dorm and was able to witness the first mangos of the season beginning to grow.

One of the aspects of life I love here is that people have time for each other. There is always time to great the people you pass in the street, whether you know them or not. If someone needs help with something it seems help will be given without any questions asked, even if it means stopping what you're doing at the time. Family and community are important and people work together to do what they need to do.

However, for people with mental health problems or learning disabilities life can be very different. Whilst belief in religion is strong here, often so is a believe in witchcraft. Many people believe that those with mental health problems or learning disabilities have been bewitched because of something bad they have done in the past and that this is the cause of their illness or disability. There is very little support available for those who need it and people are often kept out of sight at home with little if any opportunity to participate within the community or live a fulfilling life of their choice. Alternatively people can be completely outcast and left to live on the streets, surrounded by a lack of understanding around their illness or disability and often victims of taunts and laughter.

These attitudes are slowly beginning to change. Within Malawi there are now two mental health clinics. One is government funded in the south, and the other is privately funded by Irish missionaries in a town close to Nkhata Bay. Whilst I was in Nkhata Bay I visited this clinic and was able to find out a little about the sort of work they do.

The clinic supports people with mental health issues as well as people with learning disabilities, although fortunately the two aren't thought of as one and the same. From what I saw and was told I was really impressed with the services offered.

Along side an in patients ward was a drop in centre for patients and their families, and also an outreach service. Services were free to access and I was informed that no one would be turned away. I did later meet someone who had been turned away though, so it's hard to know exactly to what extent each individual can receive support. Those who required it had access to medication and need was regularly assessed with the aim of reducing medication when need decreased, rather than using it long term regardless of changing requirements. Outreach workers met people in the community and in their homes, giving support in gaining skills needed for more independent living, ranging from every day life and relationship skills to vocational training and advocacy. After care was also offered, along with support for drug and alcohol issues. Another focus of the clinic was to provide mental health and community education - such an important area to work through if all people are to have a part to play in society and be treated equally.

Back in Nkhata bay a group for young people with learning disabilities was held once a week at the backpackers where the newly fruiting mango tree was, so I helped out a little with this. People were physically supported to get to the group if needed and once there spent time socialising, playing games, developing and learning new skills and studying similar topics to what they might study in school. This not only gave people the chance to get out of their homes but also helped them gain confidence and independence, build new friendships, and have fun.

Four mornings a week I also helped out at a local nursery school. Here 50 children all under the age of six attended and were split into two classrooms. I did not envy the two teachers who taught them! Even with myself and another volunteer it was often impossible to keep the children's attention. Things were made harder by the fact that whenever a vehicle past along the dirt track outside the school, all the children would jump up screaming and run to the windows and doors to wave. The doorways just had little gates in place of doors which proved fun for the children to swing on, and the empty spaces in the windows (there wasn't any glass) proved equally fun for the children to climb in and out of regardless of whether it was during the lesson times or the breaks.

We found that often, especially for the younger children, the material taught seemed to be at too higher level and so not of interest to the children it was aimed at - another thing which didn't help to keep the children's attention. The time everyone was the calmest was snack time. Here all the children would sit together in one of the classrooms. Before eating everyone shouted a prayer, the same one each day, at the top of their voices asking god to bless many different people in their lives, along with their food. They would then tuck into foods such as plain rice or bread or crisps, along with fizzy drinks. There was nothing that might help their concentration levels, but for their families there wasn't really any other food they had a choice of providing. Some children didn't get given any food to bring with them and for a brief moment when everyone else started eating they'd sit quietly looking rather sad, but then the others would always happily share their food with those less fortunate.

On one of the mornings the other girl volunteering and I planned a lesson. A task which at first seemed a quite daunting but actually turned out really well. We decided to teach about what plants need to grow. We looked at the cycle of a seed through to a mature plant and what it might then produce which could be eaten. Recently some ground nuts (peanuts) had been planted in the school's garden and so a few at a time we took children out to water the new shoots. This was a huge success and I very much hope that the teachers and future volunteers might continue to help the children to water so they can see the plants grow and then harvest and eat the nuts themselves.

This watering task not only helped the children learn but also helped lighten my duties, for another area I did a bit of volunteering in was gardening and it was often my duty to water the nursery's garden! Along with watering though I also planted seeds and trees, dug holes, moved stones, spread compost and potted out new plants.

My last area of volunteer work involved helping build a kitchen at the nursery school, where it was planned the children would be made porridge from in the mornings. This was pretty hard work lugging bags of bricks and sand and buckets of water around in the boiling sun. Fortunately though I was only needed to help with this for one afternoon.

When I wasn't working I spent my time relaxing by the lake, playing Bao Game, and enjoying being around friendly people and animals. I also did a couple of dives in the lake. I'd never dived in fresh water before and one enjoyable difference was that you needed far fewer weights, so when you had all the gear on it was a lot more comfortable. The dives were really pretty with all sorts of rock formations including tunnels to swim through and big walls of rock. The fish were very colourful, many shiny stripy blue colours, and there were extremely cool Mouth Breeders - I was amazed as I saw hundreds of baby fish, which together looked like they'd fill a space far bigger than the entire size of their mum, all taken up inside their mother's mouth for protection. I did a night dive here, where although we didn't see a huge variety of fish we were followed around for the entire dive by about ten or more Dolphin Fish. These were pretty ugly looking things about a metre or so long who loved the torch light and weren't at all afraid of us. Fortunately though they also weren't at all tempted to bite us.

Luwawa Forest, Vyphia Plateau

2011-08-30T11:59:00.006Z

After our time in Mzuzu Mike returned to Chitimba and I continued on South, alone once more. I don't have a guide book for Malawi and like Tanzania it's never overly clear how to go about getting to places so things can be a bit tricky. Buses here just go when they're full though, so you never need to worry about being somewhere to get one at a certain time which is handy as I'm always late anyway.

My plan was to get to Vyphia Plateau where I'd heard, but wasn't fully sure, that you could do some rock climbing. Mike left me at the bus station waiting on a bus which apparently was headed where I hoped to end up. Whilst I waited for it to fill up a lady sat her baby down next to me, motioned for me to guard it and then disappeared off the bus for ages. I wouldn't have minded except I was not feeling well at all. I'd been persuaded that the water in Mzuzu would be fine for me to drink but I was now pretty sure that actually it wasn't, and all I wanted to do was sleep. Instead I had to keep half an eye open to check the baby didn't fall off the seat, whilst it kept tapping me with the corn on the cob it was chewing at.

I did eventually reach were I was going and the bus driver kindly dropped me off outside where I hoped to stay which was completely in the middle of nowhere. It was all very strange as the guy there looked surprised to see me and all he seemed to want was for me to leave and not explore the area before doing so. He did give me a room though and finally I was able to make full use of the toilet and then sleep for the rest of the day and the following one too. I managed to establish that to get to where I could rock climb I had to catch a bus further across the plateau and so when I was feeling up to it, that's what I did. I later also found out why the guy had been acting so strangely. Apparently his guesthouse had been closed down by the Malawian Tourism Board for being unfit for tourists to stay in. It had seemed fine to me though, apart from a bees nest in the bathroom that is.

I had to flag down a bus for it to stop as there wasn't a bus stop. The first one that past didn't stop but the second one did. I was given a ticket which read ' Punctual. Reliable. Friendly. Luxurious. Comfortable'. This made me chuckle. Punctual was out of the question as I'd waited for ages for the bus to come along and there wasn't a set time for it anyway. Reliable wasn't necessarily true either seeing as one of the buses hadn't stopped to pick me up and it looked the sort of bus that might brake down at any time. Friendly was most definitely true though. People in Malawi are very friendly and greet you so warmly and this was the case with everyone on the bus. Luxurious was also out of the question as the bus was falling apart and was packed with people so no room to sit or even really stand anywhere. To get on I'd literally had to ram my way into the people and let the door push me in as it shut on/behind me. So this also counts out Comfortable too.

I was dropped at a track which I was told I would need to walk down to get to where I needed to stay to rock climb. Still unsure whether the rock climbing thing was actually something that could happen, whether I would be able to stay wherever I ended up, and also still very much lacking in energy from my unpleasant water drinking consequences, I set off carrying all my stuff on a 10km walk. What a long walk it was too and oh how happy I was when I reached the lodge I was to stay at! The lodge was in a place called Luwawa Forest and met all the descriptions that the bus was supposed to.

It was cold up on the plateau but the was a lovely log fire at the lodge. The food was brilliant too. The lodge was run by an English guy who bought the ingredients needed for English food and so after so long without, I ate pie and mash - one of the few things I'd really been craving from home. I also had fruit crumble and custard one evening! There were two dogs living there who were friendly and wanted to be stroked which is rare for animals in this part of the world. And the lodge was in the middle of a forest next to a very pretty reservoir with a watch tower that swayed in the wind which you could climb up to watch the sun setting over the trees.

It was also possible to go rock climbing and so I had a day relearning how to climb outdoors. After so long using an indoor wall it took me almost until I was too tired to climb any more to begin to master climbing rocks and not using handily or not so handily placed feet and hand holds. It was a lot of fun though and from the top of the climbs were amazing views over the forest below.

Mzuzu

2011-08-30T11:40:00.001Z

Eventually I felt I ought to continue my journey South through Malawi and so set off to the town of Mzuzu. Mike and I decided to travel together for a bit and on the morning we left his mum made us the hugest and tastiest farewell breakfast of sweet potatoes, rice and a tomato and onion sauce, and fruits. For most meals with Mike's family we'd eaten nsima and I'd mastered the art of eating it with my fingers. Now though I was presented with the challenge of eating rice with my fingers. By the end of the meal I considered myself to actually be pretty good at it but that certainly wasn't the case at the start which caused a lot of laughter from everyone watching.

In Mzuzu we stayed with Mike's Aunt and her family in a little suburb. Here I further developed the skills needed to be a good African lady. It's very much the case that if you're a lady here then you have to do pretty much all the hard work, in fact pretty much all the work around the house. You have to cook, clean, look after any children, collect water and firewood, and do anything else that might need doing. Meanwhile your husband's main job is to keep you safe and leave you to your chores, which for them often seems to involve sitting around playing boa game in the bars. Unless that is you have a job which some people are lucky enough to have.

So I set about learning to do the things that most woman here need to do... I was lent a pretty orange and black cloth to use as a sarong type thing so I would be dressed a little bit more like the local ladies. I learnt how to cook different foods. I got some more experience with cooking nsima, which is such a tiring thing to cook. When it's almost ready it's incredibly hard to stir. It's kind of like an exceptionally thick porridge which when cooked you can turn the pot of it upside down and it wont fall out. The ladies here can stir it using one arm but it's a challenge for me to stir it using both! I made rice porridge which was delicious and I was told it would keep me full for four hours. Nothing keeps me full for four hours so I openly refused to believe it, but to my amazement I was wrong and sure enough four hours after eating it I was still full. I also experienced cooking the very tasty meal of sweet potatoes and ground nuts.

My next challenge was to master the art of carrying water on my head. The ladies here are so skilled at this and lots of them can do so without even holding onto the bucket or bowl they're carrying. To be able to do this is my aim but I think it's highly unlikely that I will succeed. I was able to carry first a smallish bowl of water and then progress onto a huge bowl of water whilst keeping both my hands firmly holding it on my head. I needed help to both lift the bowl up onto my head and get it back down again but was very pleased and also quite surprised that very little of my water spilt as I negotiated my way over the rough and uneven ground and across ditches from the local tap to Mike's Aunt's home. Again I provided a lot of amusement and caused much laughter for all the surrounding children and anyone else who happened to be passing.

One of the jobs men here do to make a living is ride bicycle taxis. They are the most pimped up bikes I've ever seen, all brightly coloured with numerous horns and bells and mirrors. They make Candice (my bike at home) look very deprived. I shall have to do something about this when I get home.

I've put up a picture of one of the wire toys that children here make and play with. They are so imaginative and cleaver with what they can make out of wire, or old shoes or bits of someone else's rubbish. They could teach a lot to children back at home!

I really enjoyed my time in Mzuzu. It's a way of life that is very appealing, so simple, relaxed and happy. I think it would mostly suit me very well, if women and men were commonly thought of as equal that is, and perhaps if I could have a western style bathroom as although I don't mind going to the toilet in a pit and having bucket washes, it would be nice to have a powerful shower and be able to sit down when it was time to go every now and then.

Livingstonia

2011-08-30T11:31:00.001Z

At the top of one of the mountains behind Chitimba is a village built by Scottish Missionaries called Livingstonia. It took a very steep and hot four hour walk up a long winding road to get there but was most definitely worth it. The air there was so clear and smelt of the pine and eucalyptus trees that grew everywhere. It reminded me of Australia, in fact since then a lot of Malawi has reminded me of Australia but that may be because there are blue gum eucalyptus trees almost anywhere you go. On the day I set off for Livingstonia I saw my first wild snake (other than one in England when I was at boarding school). It was slithering into a cafe where I was eating breakfast. I thought it was very cool to see and it was only a little one but the cafe owners went mad, screaming and trying to hit it with a stick. I guess they don't like snakes.

Anyway, on the way up to Livingstonia were views back down over Chitimba (a photo of one of the views is on my Chitimba post), and when I was there the were views all around over the mountains one way and down to the lake another.

Most of the houses were built by the missionaries and were huge with lovely verandas and gardens. It seems people in Malawi like to have nice gardens even when everywhere outside of the gardens is often really dry and dusty. I stayed in what is known as Stone House which was surrounded by flowering trees and amazing views. I chose the cheapest room which was a dorm but only two out of the eight beds had mattresses. The others were just metal bed frames. The room was right down in the cellar and at night time turned very cold. There were three other girls staying there who were sharing a room upstairs and when they found out what my room was like they very kindly let me share with them instead (at night time everyone except for a watch man left and so the big old house was completely empty apart from us).

Mike showed me the way up to Livingstonia and when we arrived we went and got the key for the local church off the care taker and let ourselves in to look around. We climbed up the bell tower and out of a hole in the roof to stand on the top, where we could see back down over the village. On the way back down I sneakily rang the bell except it wasn't so sneaky as it was noisy and the care taker knew it was Mike and I in the church. Still, he didn't say anything when we returned the key and there wasn't a mad rush of people coming to the church thinking it saw time to worship.

After a rest and lunch we went off to check out some waterfalls. Now I do like waterfalls but I've found that more often than not they're a bit of a disappointment and not as wonderful as who ever tells you about them makes out. This time though they were a million times more wonderful than I ever imagined. They dropped over cliffs far down into the valley below which was surrounded by forested mountains. We stood at the top of one of the falls looking across to a second waterfall and down over they edge where the water fell. Standing pretty much in the water as it flowed over the top it was hard to see how such a small looking amount of water on the flat river bed could turn into such a large looking amount of water falling for meters and meters and meters below.

It truly was amazing! I then walked around to the second waterfall where we could see back to the first and you could stand in a cave just underneath where the water stared to fall. Apparently slaves used to hide in the cave years ago.

The walk to and from the falls was lovely and we past people going about their daily lives, farming, carrying things to wherever they were going, and sitting around chatting with friends and playing Boa Game. Everywhere both here and in Tanzania are mud bricks piled up ready to burn before they are used for building. The photo above is from a particularly impressive pile on the way to the falls. I'm not sure who the little boy is but here people are very, very keen to be in your photographs where as in Tanzania they're mostly very, very keen not to be.

Mike returned to Chitimba the same day which meant the following day I made the journey back alone. On the way up we'd taken short cuts which went straight up the banks of the mountains, cutting off some of the bends in the road. Mike had warned me not to take them on the way back as some of them wouldn't lead where I wanted to go and I could get lost. I however decided that it would be boring just to stick to the road and so took my chances with the short cuts. The only problem was that I couldn't remember at which which ones we'd taken on the way up.

Almost straight away I was lost in a tiny village where lots of children happily shouted Mzungu (meaning white person) at me but one poor small child was absolutely terrified by me and screamed and screamed and screamed. I was pointed in the right direction and found my way back to the road. Undeterred I continued to take the short cuts as they appeared. All but one turned out to be good ones so I was very pleased with myself and made it down the mountain in the record time of three hours. The one short cut I did get wrong was a bit unfortunate as I'd followed it steeply down through the forest for ages only to reach a sign saying 'private, no entry beyond this point'. The sign was just randomly on the little path in the middle of the forest so rather than going straight on I just turned right, away from the sign, towards where I thought the road should be. There now was no path and I had to battle my way through all the shrubs and trees, jumping over ditches and hoping for once that snakes weren't too close. I really didn't want to have to go all the way back up to where I'd just come from to get back to the road but in the end with the fear of getting lost on the mountain forever I was forced to retrace my steps. It was fortunate I did as the road wasn't where I thought it would be at all and had I carried on I would never have got back to it. Despite the two mishaps it was a journey I very much enjoyed.

Into Malawi and the lovely village of Chitimba

2011-08-30T11:17:00.002Z

Arriving overland into Malawi was pretty straight forward, the only slightly complicated part was getting my visa. Being from England we don't have to pay for the visa, but the immigration lady wanted to know how long I was planning to stay. I really didn't know at the time and so guessed at four to six weeks. This wasn't good enough though and the lady who seemed not to be in the best of moods wanted me to be more specific. Although I asked how long I could get a visa for, she wouldn't tell me until I told how exactly how long I would be staying. I decided to go with six weeks to which she replied I could only get a 30 day visa which I could later extend. If only she'd told me that in the first place, a lot of time could have been saved!

I had to spend a night in a little town called Karonga where there didn't seem to be much going on, then the following day I continued my journey south to Chitimba - a small village on the northern shores of Lake Malawi. I ended up spending quite a few days here as it was a place I very much enjoyed.

Although I stayed at a campsite where overland trucks stopped, the truck people, when they were there, kept to themselves and there weren't any other tourists so I had a dorm all to myself. There was a lovely long beach, which again was backed by the mountains, and very friendly people all around.

Leading out of the campsite were lots of stalls selling wood carvings. I made friends with one of the wood carvers whose family then adopted me. I spent my time in Chitimba learning and then playing Boa Game (a game that I've not yet found anyone who doesn't play in all of Malawi, where you capture each others beads as you count your way around holes in a board), learning some of the local and national languages, eating the lovely food which Mike's (my new friend) mum cooked for me, experiencing the local bars which are open and blaring happy music all day and all night, learning to cook nsima and also getting a little practise in of carrying things on my head.

One day Mike and I borrowed a bike and took turns cycling and sitting on the rack at the back of the bike to get to a near by town with a name that in English means Water Sun. There was a lovely beach there, a little market and some good food to eat. I tried my first Malawian sweet potato which was so delicious. It was very sweet indeed with a bit of a parsnip taste to it. I could have eaten millions of them I think but it was given to me by Mike's uncle and I didn't like to ask for more, so I had just the one. I've never been able to find one quite as good since.