Chitimba Beach - On the shores of Lake Malawi

MALAWI

Days 73 & 74

Sunday - Monday: We spent two glorious rest days at Chitimba Beach Camp on the shores of Lake Malawi, in a truly beautiful setting looking out over the Lake, hemmed in to the West by the mountains of the Rift Valley.

Being a rest day, breakfast & lunch were for our account, mainly eaten at the camp's Bar Area, but suppers were supplied by TDA at the Main Truck.  On the second night, this consisted of Goat and Pork, which was cooked "spit style" by the locals under the supervision of the TDA Staff - delicious!

On the evening of our first rest day, we held a "Cocktail Party" organised by Rupert , the Chairman of the Entertainment  Committee, and a great time was had by all.  Most of the Riders were then introduced to their first "Springbokkies" - a green & caramel colored cocktail consisting of Peppermint Liquor & Amarula Cream; also popular shooter back in South Africa.

Judith and I took a leisurely walk on the beach and included a visit to the Hakuna Matata Camp (situated next door to our Camp). It is run by Willie,  a South African who had been in Malawi for the past twelve years.

Lunch Truck driver, Wynand, organised for us to meet up with a local called Hudson, who was a contact for sourcing rocks and minerals. He took us on a wild goose chase looking for a dealer in a nearby village, to no avail. But at least we did meet up with some locals who explained the whole growth and harvest cycle of cassava to us!

A dealer finally came to Camp and he brought some specimens with him which were utter  rubbish (poor pyrope garnet crystals and calcite crystals) a total waste of time.

Hudson then promised to bring a dealer who had "Blue Sky" gemstones.  A guy arrived the next day, not with any blue stones but with some very red looking gemstones, which I quickly determined to be broken glass!!  What is it with these Malawian gem "dealers", do they take all visitors to be complete idiots??


Lunch on day two was at a local village house, where a big group of us sampled the local Chombo (fish) Dish. It was very tasty, but true to form, we were mainly dished up fish heads and tails,  with the locals having taken the fillets for themselves (can only be Malawi).

Chitimba Beach was a great place to rest up, and the only negative aspect of it was that we would need to climb out of the Lake Area and up over the mountains to the West, on our way to the capital city of Lilongwe. 

Till then...

Cheers,
Mike T

Selfie of Team Treloar :)

Chitimba Beach Camp - Lake Malawi

Lake Malawi and the Rift Valley Mountains

In my opinion Malawi's best beer

"Springbokkies" with Rupert 

Magical Malawian flowers 

Cape to Kili Route 

Met up with a Father and his two Sons who were cycling from Cape Town to Kilimanjaro

The Farrow's enjoying some quality time 

Eating out at one of the Local Houses

Eating local Malawian "Chombo" 

Rest days should be spent resting!

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Day 12 - Rest Day - Abu Simbel

Tuesday: Staying over at the Eskaleh Nubian Ecolodge, we tried sleeping late, but still woke up at 4am, I suppose the intention was there, but we had no such luck, it seems we are already in the groove....

Sunrise at Abu Simbel over Lake Nasser

The Eskaleh Nubian Eco-lodge

This, our second Rest Day in Egypt, was spent visiting the Great Temple Complex of Ramesses &  Nefertari in the morning, lunch at the Hotel and supper at Toya. We tried to keep it as simple and as relaxed as possible.

The visit to the Temple Complex, was definitely worth the walk. It is simply mind boggling that these two temples were relocated in their entirety to their present position, due to the rising waters of the Nasser Lake which  was being formed on completion of the High Aswan Dam. This was done to prevent them from being submerged by the rising waters and lost forever.

Walking through town on the way to the Temples

Abu Simbel - Spot the mistake...

Watching the video concerning the relocation of the two Temples

The Temple of Ramesses II

The second figure of Ramesses II was dislocated by an earthquake

Lake Nasser from the Temple Site

Some old graffiti from 1897 (Sapper nogal)

Figure of Ramesses in the Temple

Four figures at the back of the Temple, which get lit up by sunlight on the 22 February and 22 October

Temple of Nefertari (Rameses II favourite wife)

Liz inside the Nefertari Temple

Riders Briefing Meeting

Lunch was at the Hotel, where the both of us had a Chicken Tagine which was super tasty. I  must admit, the food in Egypt has been great; much better than what we expected.

Supper was at Toya Restaurant. Thanks go out to Philip who organised the booking, the menu was relatively easy - either Beef, Chicken or Fish - and the food was divine.

Early to bed, tomorrow we ride to the Ferry Landing, catch a ferry across Lake Nasser (goodbye Egypt) pass through Egyptian then Sudanese Border Posts, then cycle to our first camp in the Sudan.

Cheers,
Mike T


PS - Horror of Horror's, the Sudan is alcohol free, no beer available for the next 17 days, what shall we do?

Tomorrows Cycling Route (most time will be spent clearing the Borders of both countries)

The Schedule for the next 4 days of riding...

Today's Information Board

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