Dgurley2000
Adventurer
Thanks for the updates. Your photographs keep getting better!
unURBAN Adventures - Alaska to Argentina to AFRICA!
- Thread starter unURBAN
- Start date
Thanks for comments!
Finally we got our Edge/3G usb dongle working in Tanzania. Airtime and data bundles are dirt cheap so, hopefully, we can get through some more posts and pics the next few days. First: Border crossing info, Mosambik to Malawi:
http://iloapp.unurban.no/blog/blog?Home&category=7
They weren't too happy about the camera at this border, so we didn't get many pics. Better safe than sorry...
E
Finally we got our Edge/3G usb dongle working in Tanzania. Airtime and data bundles are dirt cheap so, hopefully, we can get through some more posts and pics the next few days. First: Border crossing info, Mosambik to Malawi:
http://iloapp.unurban.no/blog/blog?Home&category=7
They weren't too happy about the camera at this border, so we didn't get many pics. Better safe than sorry...
E
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achampagne
Explorer
Fantastic journey!
Malawi
Malawi is all about the lake. At least for most of the tourists, and this time, also for us. The places along the lake are stunningly beautiful, and prices are reasonable (read: cheap). So we got stuck – twice…
From the border we kept going to Cape Maclear. We were hopng to meet up with Toyotours (yes, again – they are nice people!) Georg and Andrea had already been in Malawi for more than a month, and had recommended us several places. We pulled in to Fat Monkey Lodge directly on the lake, and camped as close to the beach as possible.
Cape Maclear is a pretty touristy place, but after driving through Northern Mozambique for the last days, we didn’t really mind. Sometimes it is nice to just go out and find a restaurant and eat together with other people that don’t look at you as you are from another planet. Anyway! After checking out the water the next morning we were a little skeptical to go in. It was quite murky, and after walking along the beach we realized why…
It was quite busy with lots of fishing boats going in and out. It also seemed as the whole village used the lake for washing clothes, dishes, and kid’s buts.
Toyotours came in the next day, and together we booked a small boat for a snorkeling trip to the nearest island. We had the place all to ourselves….. for about 15 minutes. After a while it kind of became ridiculous.
The snorkeling was good, however, and the lunch was world class!
After a few days of enjoying the pleasures of a tourist trap, we split up. Toyotours drove east more or less the route we came in, to Mozambique and the coast. Their plan was to hit the coast at Ilha de Mozambique, and from there drive north along the coast into Tanzania. We went north along the west side of the lake, and we have a feeling that we’ll run into Georg and Andrea again when we in a couple of weeks time cross the border to Tanzania.
On our way north through Malawi, we had a stop at Mua Mission, as we’d heard they had a very nice crafts shop. What we didn’t know was that the Norwegian Government had been involved in building the place years ago.
I mentioned getting stuck twice. After two days driving north we were looking for another place to stay and relax for a few days. We stocked up on food and drinks, and started checking out places along the lake. We stayed a night here and there, and then we found Makuzi Beach.
The bar and restaurant wasn't too bad either....
And to put the last week’s action into a few words: We’re still here…
Espen
Malawi is all about the lake. At least for most of the tourists, and this time, also for us. The places along the lake are stunningly beautiful, and prices are reasonable (read: cheap). So we got stuck – twice…
From the border we kept going to Cape Maclear. We were hopng to meet up with Toyotours (yes, again – they are nice people!) Georg and Andrea had already been in Malawi for more than a month, and had recommended us several places. We pulled in to Fat Monkey Lodge directly on the lake, and camped as close to the beach as possible.
Cape Maclear is a pretty touristy place, but after driving through Northern Mozambique for the last days, we didn’t really mind. Sometimes it is nice to just go out and find a restaurant and eat together with other people that don’t look at you as you are from another planet. Anyway! After checking out the water the next morning we were a little skeptical to go in. It was quite murky, and after walking along the beach we realized why…
It was quite busy with lots of fishing boats going in and out. It also seemed as the whole village used the lake for washing clothes, dishes, and kid’s buts.
Toyotours came in the next day, and together we booked a small boat for a snorkeling trip to the nearest island. We had the place all to ourselves….. for about 15 minutes. After a while it kind of became ridiculous.
The snorkeling was good, however, and the lunch was world class!
After a few days of enjoying the pleasures of a tourist trap, we split up. Toyotours drove east more or less the route we came in, to Mozambique and the coast. Their plan was to hit the coast at Ilha de Mozambique, and from there drive north along the coast into Tanzania. We went north along the west side of the lake, and we have a feeling that we’ll run into Georg and Andrea again when we in a couple of weeks time cross the border to Tanzania.
On our way north through Malawi, we had a stop at Mua Mission, as we’d heard they had a very nice crafts shop. What we didn’t know was that the Norwegian Government had been involved in building the place years ago.
I mentioned getting stuck twice. After two days driving north we were looking for another place to stay and relax for a few days. We stocked up on food and drinks, and started checking out places along the lake. We stayed a night here and there, and then we found Makuzi Beach.
The bar and restaurant wasn't too bad either....
And to put the last week’s action into a few words: We’re still here…
Espen
Espen
you bring back some memories....did you climb the mount Mulanje?
read our blog entry when we were there if you have the chance...
"Malawi and Tragedy on Mount Mulanje"
http://2aroundtheworld.com/?p=255
you bring back some memories....did you climb the mount Mulanje?
read our blog entry when we were there if you have the chance...
"Malawi and Tragedy on Mount Mulanje"
http://2aroundtheworld.com/?p=255
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Frank
Explorer
I've been following and rooting you on for almost a year now! I still envy you daily and speak of you while talking to people. Congrats and keep on moving!
I also want you to know that my 4 year old daughter and I just spent part of our morning looking through some of your pictures in awe. She would like to know if you have seen Simba yet!? (from the movie Lion King) Haha!
She also asked me to take her on an adventure like that some day to which my wife and I answered, we would love to!
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I also want you to know that my 4 year old daughter and I just spent part of our morning looking through some of your pictures in awe. She would like to know if you have seen Simba yet!? (from the movie Lion King) Haha!
She also asked me to take her on an adventure like that some day to which my wife and I answered, we would love to!
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Hi Christian!
Unfortunately we didn't. We came in a bit further north from Mozambique, and we were on our way upp to Cape Maclear to meet up with some fellow travelers. We talked about it, but decided not to. It looks like a great area for hiking from the pics, but as the missing hiker from your blog probably discovered, being prepared for ALL conditions are essential.
Kilimanjaro seems to be way outside our budget (as with most of NPs in Tanzania and Kenya), but we are looking into climbing Mount Meru on our way north. We'll see what we can do about permits in the next week or so.
E
Thanks for commenting, Frank,
Not sure if we have seen Simba, but maybe some of his brothers and sisters. We found lions both in Chobe National Park (river front area) and in Moremi (Okavango). Amazing animals to watch, and not at all worried about a couple of people studying them from inside a car ten meters away.
Will be looking forward to read about Your adventures when you take your daughter on a safari (safari means "journey" in swahili) ;-)
E
NEW! Through The Windshield series: Things you can buy along the road
Some times when driving you take photos of things you see going on along the road. Normally, the picture is, from a photographic point of view, crap. Reflections from the window, out of focus, too dark, etc... But still, what you can see in the photo can be quite interesting and perhaps characteristic for the area you travel through. Therefore I'd like to try to post some of these pics as well, just to give an idea of things we see along our way. I call it the Through The Windshield series.
First out is "Things you can buy along the road", and pictures are taken in Malawi:
Everywhere people gather you find things for sale, especially food.
Coka Cola is also everywhere, but we don't see as many commercials as expected. Beer and air time for cell phones are also readily available.
Fruits and vegetables are also sold along the road.
Bad feeling about the afternoon drive?
Other souvenirs: baskets and natural-rubber-footballs...
Planning to put up a new roof? Everything you need is available next to the road.
Not technically buying anything, but another thing you could spend money on along the road in Malawi are speed traps. First one on the trip so far, came after almost 100 000 km in Malawi. They even had a video camera connected to the laser gun, and yes, we were speeding.......
E
Some times when driving you take photos of things you see going on along the road. Normally, the picture is, from a photographic point of view, crap. Reflections from the window, out of focus, too dark, etc... But still, what you can see in the photo can be quite interesting and perhaps characteristic for the area you travel through. Therefore I'd like to try to post some of these pics as well, just to give an idea of things we see along our way. I call it the Through The Windshield series.
First out is "Things you can buy along the road", and pictures are taken in Malawi:
Everywhere people gather you find things for sale, especially food.
Coka Cola is also everywhere, but we don't see as many commercials as expected. Beer and air time for cell phones are also readily available.
Fruits and vegetables are also sold along the road.
Bad feeling about the afternoon drive?
Other souvenirs: baskets and natural-rubber-footballs...
Planning to put up a new roof? Everything you need is available next to the road.
Not technically buying anything, but another thing you could spend money on along the road in Malawi are speed traps. First one on the trip so far, came after almost 100 000 km in Malawi. They even had a video camera connected to the laser gun, and yes, we were speeding.......
E
5000 kwacha, which is 18 USD or 106 NOK. We were driving 70 in a 50 kmh zone, and the fine would be the same from 50 kmh to 110 kmh, and then 10 000 from 110 kmh and up. Should still be some money left to travel for...
E
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Shoot, last speed trap I got caught in (downhill on a mountain road on my motorbike)... the fine was $369 US. 72mph in a 55mph zone....
Thanks for sharing! I hope you guys are still enjoying the travel and as always, I'm awaiting the next update!
Thanks for sharing! I hope you guys are still enjoying the travel and as always, I'm awaiting the next update!
More from Malawi
Okay, it is not only about the lake. We found of course a few other interesting places along the way as well. After the infamous incident with the speeding ticket, we headed inland to Wvaza Game Reserve. Since leaving Kruger National Park in South Africa we’ve hardly seen any wild animals, and Malawi doesn’t really come to mind when thinking about good wildlife viewing. But we wanted to give it a try. It is a two hour drive in from the main road north along the lake, and the camp site was amazing!
It is a very quiet place, and there weren't many people around when we were there. We had stocked up on food (even found a good meat shop!!) in Mzuzu, and soon the fire was going for the braai. We hadn’t even had time to put the meat on before the first elephant came walking straight past our camp site. Those animals are BIG…..
We continued north and soon found a road sign pointing up a steep hill to Livingstonia. This is the place the missionaries chose to get away from the malaria, and the mission is on the top of a hill almost a thousand meters above the lake.
Up, up, up. We didn’t count the switchbacks, but there were many…
Livingstonia is not as busy as it used to, I guess, but somebody made my day by serving fresh scones at this little coffee shop. Just down the road we found a camp site literally on the edge of a cliff with views over the lake. Not a place for sleep walking.
We even had meat left for the braai (bbq)! Though life….
Malawi is not a big country, and if you try you can probably drive through it in two or three days. For us, however, Malawi was a great place for a long-driving-days-break, and we even stopped at a place for a last day by the lake after driving down from Livingstonia.
At this place we also came across traces of some other overlanders, almost as famous as us…
Next post from the border to Tanzania.
Espen
Okay, it is not only about the lake. We found of course a few other interesting places along the way as well. After the infamous incident with the speeding ticket, we headed inland to Wvaza Game Reserve. Since leaving Kruger National Park in South Africa we’ve hardly seen any wild animals, and Malawi doesn’t really come to mind when thinking about good wildlife viewing. But we wanted to give it a try. It is a two hour drive in from the main road north along the lake, and the camp site was amazing!
It is a very quiet place, and there weren't many people around when we were there. We had stocked up on food (even found a good meat shop!!) in Mzuzu, and soon the fire was going for the braai. We hadn’t even had time to put the meat on before the first elephant came walking straight past our camp site. Those animals are BIG…..
We continued north and soon found a road sign pointing up a steep hill to Livingstonia. This is the place the missionaries chose to get away from the malaria, and the mission is on the top of a hill almost a thousand meters above the lake.
Up, up, up. We didn’t count the switchbacks, but there were many…
Livingstonia is not as busy as it used to, I guess, but somebody made my day by serving fresh scones at this little coffee shop. Just down the road we found a camp site literally on the edge of a cliff with views over the lake. Not a place for sleep walking.
We even had meat left for the braai (bbq)! Though life….
Malawi is not a big country, and if you try you can probably drive through it in two or three days. For us, however, Malawi was a great place for a long-driving-days-break, and we even stopped at a place for a last day by the lake after driving down from Livingstonia.
At this place we also came across traces of some other overlanders, almost as famous as us…
Next post from the border to Tanzania.
Espen