Mumbo Island Lake Malawi National Park

... much more integrated with the tourist industry - there are numerous craft stalls, guys will take you out kayaking or arrange a beach BBQ/breakfast (we had banana & mango pancakes our first morning here). Apparently tourism helps support around 500 families here. Where we were before, although we stayed it tents I think the place was trying to market itself as a pretty swanky resort (it wasn't) and was completed separated from the local community. I can well imagine ...

... as me. Lucy & Ant met me at the airport and we got a lift back to the campsite we were staying at for the night in the pick-up of some people who'd also stayed there and were picking people up at the airport. Unfortunately we got stopped by the police a few miles from the airport as there were too many of us in the back! This was soon sorted out with the exchanging of some cash (I'm still unsure whether this was an official ...

... recently popped and some have had their surgery - all of them are uncomfortable. Initially i was to shadow one of the 1st year intern clinical officers called James. A really sound guy of about 22 who had a pretty horrendous stammer which was much worse when he spoke english. This made the language barrier slightly more apparent but was, i'm ashamed to say, quite amusing as his nostrils would flare in time with the sound he made. He basically ran the maternity department with the ...

... 2 of the 4 left decided to go find out taxi driver who'd spent the day with us. He was waiting at the bottom of the stairs (not somewhere taxis are legally allowed to be) and was going "what are you guys still doing here? People get killed here and you guys would be garunteed to get mugged being white, between the border and it being dark - lets go!" A2 ran up to grab the others and we got out of the CLOSED border (the bungi guys said it didn't close til 2200h but our driver said it ...

... journey to Monkey Bay and the resort of Pumulani. You really need a 4x4 to do the last quarter of the trip. Interesting ride as we saw a lot more of country Malawi and we took the road close to the Mozambique border, literally the road is the border; one side is Malawi and the other side Mozambique. The reception over there was amazing and we settle in for the night as if nothing happened.

... br>We did some fun stuff like went to the local cheese farm and made an amazing lunch and milkshakes. On Wednesday we bought a live goat and named it ''dinner''. We then walked it back were it we watched it be killed. It was then spit roast and lived up to its name. Dinner so delicious, we seasoned with garlic and herbs and was glazed in honey as it was turned on the spit roast.<br> <br>This sounds a ...

... the street to a Reggae bar on the beach (that was an experience!) and on the last night we had a sunset boat cruise across the lake in the sunset which was the most amazing thing EVER! We took a boat out to the island another day and did snorkelling there which was SO cool, love snorkelling you feel just like Nemo its brilliant! Oh, let me get my statistics out too...theres getting on for 1000 different fishy species in the lake, which is more than all ...

... and cleaned the table and had a candle lit supper whilst chatting about intellectual thangs...which i ended up staying pretty shtum in. But good nihts all round. I'm in now in Dedza for hte weekend for Liv's birthdy and it is our last weekend in Malawi...sooo sad! off to Zambia next weekend woo. Loads of love and i'm glad things are going bon bon in the homeland, minus the hiccup of yee olde credit crunch that is...xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Nicky xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

... my belongings. The trip was probably <br> going to take about 22 hours so I wanted my own bed. <br><br> <br><br> Monkey Bay<br><br> I went and bought some banans off a street vendor, and just after I walked <br> away a monkey stole a whole bunch of bananas and ran off with it, all <br> the vendors shouting and chasing after it in vain ...

... Malawi I told myself I would not swim in the Lake because <br> you can contract Bilharzia. <br><br> This is a nasty disease which you contract from little worms that penetrate <br> your skin as you swim in the water. These little buggers find their way <br> through your blood vessels and attack organs inside you. But they can <br> take years to become ...