Kande to Mabuya near Lilongwe, Milawi

The night was long, hot and disturbed - I woke up in the early hours with my mind turning over and with a tangle of thoughts and experiences preventing any further sleep. I therefore got up early, had some light breakfast and walked out onto the beach, where the troubled skies with dark storms and emerging clouds of lake flies seemed to match my mood.
Some people say that travelling is an escape from the problems in your life. However, my experience on this journey has been the opposite - that the multifarious experiences of travel are more like a reflective lens that focusses a light as intense and unforgiving as the African sun on the issues in your life. Without the shade of rest and sleep you can easily get burned. All your feelings and emotions are magnified and expanded like the great African plains where your thoughts wander like herds of wildebeest and zebra, often falling prey to loneliness, exhilaration, hope, pain, loss, wonder, happiness, misery. All your emotions reach a high pitch, resonating in rhythm with the epic scenery, which can be intoxicating but also unbearable.
We boarded the truck once again and headed back along the tree lined track up to the main road with the branches of trees crashing through the open windows of the truck and causing us all to duck down to avoid a swipe from a tree branch. Insects and even a small tree frog were momentarily stranded on the truck and had to be returned to their natural habitat.
We headed out into the green and lush countryside with tree filled, misty mountains rising up above the road. We followed the lake again, up into highlands with expansive views up to the mountains that lined the road for many miles. At certain points the landscape opened out into huge plains leading all the way to dark, distant mountains.
We arrived in Malawi's capital city, Lilongwe, around mid-afternoon and were shopping for food for our evening dinner when a huge thunderstorm hit the city and torrential rain came down flooding the streets. Suffice to say, we got drenched running back to the truck and then got caught in the Lilongwe rush hour. Once again, the weather reflected my own mood and I began to wonder if I was sickening for something.
We finally arrived at a very wet campsite, Mabuya Camp, in pouring rain and there was little choice but to upgrade to a room as the campsite was flooded. I continued to feel tired and miserable, and after dinner I retired to bed for an early night with the rain still bearing down. I managed to go to sleep quickly, but had many, now forgotten, dreams of Africa as if the large African raindrops were somehow seeping into my soul.Read more