Malawi vacation-
On a spur of the moment decision I was persuaded to go on a vacation to Lake Malawi. From Solwezi it took us over 36 hour of buses and horrible transport. The highlight being when the brakes on our mini bus went out just East of Lilongwe and we jumped ship only to catch a ride in the back of a truck with a coffin. Throwing our bags on top of what I assumed would be the dead man's head we were dropped an hour later to catch another ride with a naval officer of Malawi. I still don't understand the concept of a landlocked country having a navy, but he seemed like a nice guy.
The hassle factor in Malawi was amplified by 10. Everybody was out to get us. Even at a bar where they give the price of beer (Carlsberg is the only beer in the country) on the wall they will tell you it is twice that and then force you to pay because they know you will. They call it mzungu pricing. I call it racism.
The lake was nice and we got some serious sun and relaxation. We did some snorkeling, got shisto - a parasite from snails in the lake which enter your body and make you pee blood. No symptoms yet but they say it takes months or years... All in all a nice time- just sick of traveling with crying babies burping up breastmilk on my seat or people trying to pickpocket me.
Good to be home