Senga Bay, Lake Malawi - Day 1

I got let out at a highway junction near Lake Malawi in a village called Kaphalenga. The village was basically a petrol station with some huts and was too small to have taxis. A dude on a bike managed to balance me and my pack. 25 minutes and $0.70 USD I was in the bigger town of Salima, and had learned some more Chichewa. I'm trying to learn enough Chichewa to get by while in Portuguese Mozambique.

From Salima I got a ride to Senga Bay on the Lake in a half-ton pickup truck with 24 other locals headed the same way. I was one of fourteen in the truck's bed, and was happy to not be one of the eight in the mini-cab, or two who balanced on the roof of the truck. I sat on the door of the open bed balanced atop two bags of rice facing backwards. It felt rude to not wave to the children who ran along-side the truck waving at me - but my hands were busy keeping myself dubiously balanced. Wish I had a picture.

I went for a long walk along Lake Malawi when I arrived. You must walk slowly, as absolutely everybody you pass waves or says hello or strikes up a conversation - no wonder this place won Lonely Planet's "Happiest Country" award. I met many people and talked in the sand for a long while. Most notable I met my new brotha (from-anotha-motha) Rasta. He has a canoe and was loading it onto a powerboat to go deep into the lake for some fishing. He asked me to chat with him, and I asked if he needed help loading the boat. He didn't, but with some prodding invited me to fish with him. He fishes with nine others by dark using bright lights to lure fish from the deep water into the shallow nets. I got more language lessons from him while waiting for dark to fall. In this time, I also procured a lifejacket since all the boats are homemade and we were going out very deep to fish until sunrise. Sadly, a storm came and the winds blew from the south causing waves big enough to swamp the small canoes. No fishing tonight - I'll meet Rasta again at 6 am.

I checked into a room with a bed, my first mattress since Swakopmund. Pretty nice to be on the beach just 10m from the lake.