Malawi #7

So Thursday we traveled up to Lilongwe then out to Cape McClear on the southern edge of Lake Malawi. I am continually amazed at the lack of plastic bags along the side of the road. There was the usual people walking and others riding their bikes. We passed many bikes with bags of charcoal piled high on the back. It always amazes me the amount of weight that can be carried on those bike tires. Once arriving in Lilongwe Cristy went to the Health department. I borrowed her car and went to the shopping area. I was amazed that I was in Africa, as I was walking around a strip mall and there were quite a few different stores. Shoprite was like a Wal-Mart and there were book stores, banks, Fast Chicken, Horizon Grill… I avoided the curio market as it is suppose to be the most expensive in the country.
Also on the way up there we stopped at Dedza. There is a pottery shop that caters to tourists. They had nice items that were colored and fired with glaze. Beautiful work. We browsed for about a half hour.
After Cristy was done we drove west towards the Lake. It was a winding beautiful road, however when we got near the lake it was already dark. We arrived at our bungalow hotel in the evening.
I awoke this morning to the sound of children laughing and playing. A cat meowed loudly. And Cristys phone was ringing. It was 6:30AM. I peaked out the window and saw the beautiful sight of the lake spreading to the horizon with two large islands in it. A long sandy beach spread in both directions. What a beautiful place. I arranged the slit in the mosquito net to not allow any visitors into my sleeping area then headed outside. I ordered an omelet at the bar and about an hour later it was ready and they brought it out to me. At about nine we headed out to the point where there were large rocks to play on and blue water to swim in. Someone had brought snorkel sets and I snorkeled. What beautiful fish! They are called Cichlids. They are a tropical fish that is fresh water. There were blue striped ones, yellow and black ones, various shades of tan, and green. All in various shades and patterns. Schools of them swam around me. Someone threw in some bread and there was a feeding frenzy around us. We shared them with the group. I went in repeatedly for another look. We stayed there a number of hours till we were all tired and hungry. Then we headed back to the beach we parked at. As we drove up there initially there was a random guy that offered to prepare food for all of us. So someone had agreed. We found some monkeys pacing around about six guys cooking food over an open fire. There were plates and spoons for all of us and food! Rice, potatoes, fish, greens, and a cabbage salad. We ate our fill then Cristy and I decided to walk down the beach about 1.5 miles. We took pictures of naked children playing in the small waves and women washing pots and cloths in the water. Men taking baths in their swimsuits at lake edge. We arrived back around 4PM. Then we went swimming again with the schistosoma. There is a swim platform out about 100 feet from shore what we swam to. I sat out there a while till the sun set with beautiful colors across the water. We sit here under the thatched roof gazebo with a breeze and bugs, typing to you all.