Malawi Part 2

After leaving Blantyre I loaded on another mini bus for Cape Maclear. After jumping from mini bus to mini bus for about six hours I finally reached Monkey Bay where I found transport going our to Cape Maclear. What did I find when I reached Cape Maclear, but a bunch of Peace Corps Zambia volunteers sitting on the beach with a crate of beer. I roomed with some of them and the next day was the 4th of July, so we took a boat out to an island and did some snorkeling and had a bar-b-que of fresh fish. The lake is really beautiful, but it was kind of cold that day, so I spent more time bundled up on the island than in the water.

Then next day me and three other volunteers did some canoeing around Cape Maclear and amazingly managed not to sink our canoe, which was taking on some serious water. The next day was more canter truck rides (one I was sitting on top of a basket of fish, which was not ideal), and mini buses up to Lilongwe. A guy tried to pick pocket me at the bus station. Apparently I learned kung fu somehow, because I whiped out a crazy karate chop and scared him away (actually I think he was just really drunk). That night we ate Chinese food and spent a night at the Peace Corps transit house. The next day was more mini buses back to Chipata and then another bus the next day to Lusaka for our Close of Service Conference.

The COS conference was held at a game reserve called Chamenuka. It is located about an hour outside of Lusaka and is about 10,000 hectares. There is lots of game, including lions, hyenas, ostrichas, and dozens of different kinds of impala. The food there was amazing as well and included different kinds of game meet at each meal. The reserve also happens to have Zambia's biggest (maybe only) cheese factory. After a tour of the factory they take you to a cave where they serve you every kind of cheese you can imagine. This didn't sit that well in Peace Corps volunteer's stomachs who haven't eaten dairy products in two years, but it was too good not to gorge ourselves. The best thing is that it was all on Peace Corps bill! Your tax money well spent.

The men all went fishing on afternoon as well and probably set a world record for the most amount of small fish caught in two hours. They were so easy to catch that I was using a fishing pole with no reel and still catching.

Sad to leave Chamenuka, we are now back in Lusaka. Tonight we are all going out for one last night together and tomorrow I am going for my end of service language test (wish me luck with that). I'll be back in Kasama on Saturday morning and then back to site Sunday or Monday.