Nkhata Bay, Malawi

September 30, 2013

So this last week we took our first vacation to Myoka Village, Nkhata Bay, Malawi. If you cant guess from the pictures we are literally ON lake Malawi which looks like an ocean, and gets some oceanic like waves too. Getting there and back was an adventure in itself, and utterly exhausting, but once there its literally paradise. Way too many 10 hr bus rides in too few days.

Sunny and perfect 90 degrees everyday with the warm waters easily accessible for all day festivities. There was a group of 8 of us (Kate, Chris, Luke, Lucas, Mark, Grant, Travis, and myself) all of whom are RAPers and we flew into country together. Its been almost 4 months since weve last hung out so this was a great break from vill life and to be reunited with my original Zam-fam. Chris has a friend in PC Malawi so she came down with about 10 of her Malawi crew so it was great to hang with other PCVs and make a ton of new friends in the process. Also, it turns out one of my friends from college, Jake, is part of that group and he completely surprised me by stopping by for a day or two. All in all it was a most fabulous trip and I would go back in a heart beat, and most likely will in the next 2 years.

From here I will let the pictures speak for themselves. Eat your heart out Americaland.

Our lodge. It was most excellent.

The view I woke up to on the daily there.

Shenanigans on the raft

So this is a traditional Malawian canoe. Theres the "Myoka challange" where if you and another boat mate can get the canoe to the raft and back without flipping over then you get a free night. Obviously we did not win.

A small sampling of some of my time snorkeling. Lake Malawi, along with many of the African lakes, are famous for their diversity of endemic species of chiclids. It was amazing to see them all up close!

Cliff jumping was also a frequented activity The lodge took us out to this point one day but we spent another day canoeing around and looking for other good jumping/snorkeling spots.

We found this great jumping/snorkeling spot while out on the water one day. It was awesome to hang out with the kids and play some frisbee, show them the goggles, and watch them all jump around/off the rocks

How they manage to get around in that, much less with 4 people, is beyond me. Its ridiculously hard - do not let their relaxed faces fool you.

Beach frisbee and a game of chicken.

One of the best things about Zambia/Malawi are the kids. Although, they can get a little tiring and quickly turn into some of the worst things. However, on this particular day of volleyball and games they were amazing.