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Mog Makeover

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From the freezing cold of Zomba Plateau to the heat of Lake Malawi, from the elegance of the Riley's and the Mount Soche Hotels to the brick houses of the local people, the one constant in Malawi is the friendly and helpful people.
Our first reminder of this was the Malawian border officials who were welcoming and friendly. Once over with the formalities at the border we headed straight for Blantyre, where we stayed at Doogles. This is the meeting point for most travellers and it is a good place to catch up with information on where folks have recently been.

We had the Mog serviced at Automotive Products, the same place where we left our vehicle when we had to return to South Africa. On the right Alan is pictured with Stuart, one of the owners for Automotive who we have become friends with. Our thanks to George and the staff of Automotive for their great service and for ensuring that our Mog is ready for the next stretch of our journey.
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We left Blantyre and made our way to Zomba Plateau where we stayed at KuChawe Trout Farm as we had done before. The days were warm but by late afternoon the shadows were long and the cold began to seep into our bones. We enjoyed dinner one night with a German couple, Rafe and Eva who are travelling Africa on motorbikes! We also indulged in fresh strawberries, gooseberries and raspberries, grown on the plateau, with ice cream we had brought from Blantyre.

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In desperate need of thawing out our hands and feet we carefully negotiated the steep descents of Zomba and headed for Lake Malawi. When we were called back to South Africa the last time we didn't quite make it as far as the Lake, so a huge celebration was called for when we arrived at Chembe Eagles Nest at Cape Maclear on the shores of Lake Malawi.
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From the cool comfort of our awning we watched men in dugout canoes pole past us on their way to their fishing grounds while fish eagles, egrets, cormorants, hamerkops, and Yellow-billed Kites wheeled overhead. The days were warm to very warm and the nights refreshingly cool, while the sunsets over the water were magnificent!
We did some diving but found that this freshwater environment is not as colourful or varied as the ocean, but we enjoyed the experience and the swim-throughs. After a week of soaking up the calm relaxation of Cape Maclear we headed to Senga Bay for a night, then onto Nkotakhota for another night. Our next point of call was Kande Beach, a regular stop-over for most of the overland trucks. We were able to catch on news from the north, swop stories and generally mix and mingle with like-minded travellers. The biggest thing that happened however, was the makeover our Mog got!
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The artist, Pink Floyd, begins...
The finished product!

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It started with a hand-written letter from Pink Floyd - the Artist. He offered to paint, in typical Malawian style, on our vehicle. We found a picture we liked and Pink Floyd set about decorating the back panel of the Mog. It took him less than 5 hours to finish his masterpiece; we then had just about everyone in the campsite coming to admire his handiwork. It is indeed a very colourful and humourous addition to our paintwork!

We are on the road again heading north. There are still a few places on our "must visit" list before we wave goodbye to Malawi and say hello to Tanzania.
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The "restaurant" at The Wheelhouse
in Senga Bay doesn't have windows,
a roof, or any finishes - but it does
have lots of character!
This large Rock Monitor
kept his beady eye on us as
we shared his home at
Chembe Eagles Nest.

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Highlights:
Best meal: It's hard to decide between the Strawberries, Gooseberries and Raspberries with ice cream we had for dessert at Zomba Plateau or the Strawberries with Raspberry Sauce and ice cream we had for breakfast at the Lake.
Best moment: When we arrived at Lake Malawi!! This is the point we didn't reach last time around, so we were thrilled to make it this time.
Worst moment: When we discovered that freshwater diving is not anywhere near as colourful or varied as ocean diving.
Interesting people we've met:
- Rafe and Eva; this adventurous German couple are exploring Africa on motorbikes. They are shipping their bikes to Australia from Kenya to continue their adventure.
- Glenn and Nahoka; this great couple run Scuba Shack at Cape Maclear on Lake Malawi. They have superb reputations as diving instructors and the lake is a great place to learn to dive.
- Phil and the Nomad passengers at Kande Beach.
- Temba and his passengers that we also met at Kande Beach.
- Nat, Eddie and their passengers, particularly Kay, John and Maria, who we also met at Kande Beach.

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