Chitimba to Kande Beach - New Year's Eve

I had a slow build up of tiredness through the longterm camping experience that started causing me to do clumsy things like flood my tent by tipping over a water bottle. I also woke up with my tent filled with tiny insects again and had to brush them out before I packed up my tent. The insect populations are very dense by lake Malawi with dozens of bees buzzing around the honey on my breakfast pancakes, ants everywhere and large moths of all possible varieties sheltering on available surfaces. As we left the campsite, waving goodbye to the children who ran after the truck, we headed up into the hills and saw the huge plumes of lake flies rising like living smoke, in their billions, above the sunlit lake.
We had fantastic views across the forested hills as we climbed. We passed small villages and towns with vibrant markets which are always a riot of colour and activity. We stopped by a shopping mall in a local town to buy lunch and some fancy dress clothes for the New Year's celebrations that evening. The clothes were arrayed on nearby stalls and sold by funny and characterful young men which made it a fun experience. We headed on through more green hills and a large rubber plantation where young boys were selling large balls made of rubber bands. We arrived on the shores of Lake Malawi who's extensive coastline we had been following for the entire journey, and found ourselves in a beautiful campsite, Kande Beach Resort, on a long golden beach with a small island just off shore. Lake Malawi has the 4th largest volume of any fresh water lake in the world and is over 700 metres deep at its deepest. It is fed by many rivers and over spills at one end to help form the great Zambezi river that we will witness spectacularly at Victoria falls. I booked a single cabin at the campsite with a view onto the beach which would be a welcome relief from the miserable camping experience the previous night. As I settled in to my bamboo wood and tin rooved cabin, a large rainstorm passed over beating a heavy and persistent rhythm with large rain drops on the roof. After the storm, I walked out onto the beach to take in a lovely golden sunset over the deep blue far hills with the stormy clouds providing an impressive backdrop.
Next it was time to begin the New Year's Eve celebrations with my fellow travellers and welcome in a new decade. We had a nice meal, involving a hog roast, which I passed on in favour of some vegetarian sausages, roasted cabbage, vegetables garlic bread. Punch was made and everyone got drunk very quickly on that. Drunken games were played with much hilarity, until we walked over to the campsite bar to wait and see in the New Year. As midnight struck, fireworks were set off into the dark skies from the sand as distant pink lightning lit up the horizon, reflecting in Lake Malawi's calm waters. As is usual, everyone hugged everyone including local people who had joined the party. I had some funny banter with local young men who follow Premier League football. The celebrations continued until the early hours until I retired to bed to face the inevitable hangover the following day.Read more