> Did anyone have any memorable kayak trips over the Memorial weekend? I was > on-call for my job so wasn't able to leave town. Um, yeah! Seven us were on the last two days of a 10-day expedition up the east shore of Lake Malawi (or Lago Niassa if you're from Mocambique) in southern Africa. We put in at Cape Maclear near the southern end of the lake, made a 35 kilometre crossing to Cape Ngemba in 3-5 foot swells but were pushed along by the same southerly wind that was causing all the upheaval. We free camped on a spit of land on the eastern shore and therefater hopped up the lake, camping on beaches and in tiny pebbled coves. On the third day, we crossed into Mocambique where the coastline becomes much more rugged -forested mountains, thick with miombo (brachystegia) forest and baobab trees, falling into the lake. Apart from migrant fishermen (whose craft are for the most part dugout canoes carved from Mozambican teak logs) there are few people on this coast. Settlements are paltry and far between, and for five days we did not hear an engine, nor see any cars, roads, TV aerials, aircraft. No barking dogs, no traffic, no cellphones ... Bliss for the city-averse. We averaged 25 kilometres most days, in conditions ranging from mild (it's *winter* in this part of the world) to, erm, exciting. While waiting for inept officials to stamp us into Mocambique at a skanky immigration office in the lakeshore village of Metangula, a Mweru (the name for the southerly wind) blew up and turned the lake into a raging sea. Staying in Met was not an option - nosy officials and, for once, too many people eying our kit - so we paddled off into the bay. Our camping option that night - a south-facing beach - was being pounded by huge waves so we tracked around the point in 10-foot seas. That was a big trek, but once round the point we blown downhill at a rapid rate, eventually seeking shelter in notch of a bay. Apart from a small resupply from friends at Metangula, we were entirely self-supported. Thanks to the outstanding planning of a gourmet camp chef, we ate exceedingly well (try fillet of beef and potatoes and fresh vegetables on day 5 - oh, the miracles of blast freezing). Sometimes we bought fish on the way, but the winds had blown out most of the fishing so fresh fish was scarce. Water came unboiled and unfiltered straight out of the lake. With ample driftwood on the beaches, all cooking was done on open fires, obviating the need to lug stoves and fuel On day 10, we stamped out of Moz at Cobue and paddled across to Likoma Island, which despite being just 6km off the Moz coast, is actually an enclave of Malawi, and finished the paddle there, 230km from Cape Maclear. Three of the party took the kayaks back to Cape Maclear on the Ilala, a 1950s ferry that is the lake's only international public transport; the rest of us hopped into a ageing Piper Aztec and flew back to the capital to catch our flights home. Very weird to undo the previous 10 days paddling with a one-hour flight, but that's progress for you. Highly recommend the trip. It's like paddling into a anthropological experiment. Cheers Paul *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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