Cape Maclear
on Tom's Excellent Adventure (Zambia), 08/Jan/2009 09:52, 34 days ago
We’ve done a deal with Austin (People Carrier guy) to take us directly to Cape Maclear it’s almost twice as expensive as public transport but much quicker and more comfortable, what hardened travellers we are. We managed to sort accommodation for our first night whilst in Dedza and this will allowus time to organise the rest of our stay once we get there. We spend a pleasant 3hrs in air conditioned luxury driving through the windy mountain rds enjoying the spectacular scenery and arrive before midday. Anna& I are in the dorm at Gecko Lounge whilst the rest are camping at Gaia Lodge, as it turns out we manage to stay like this until we leave on the 28th when we’ve organised a speedboat to take us to Cool Running’s, an Hostel in Senga bay further north on Lake Malawi.Cape Maclear is on the southern tip of Lake Malawi and a pain to get to, as a result it’s still relatively unspoilt. There’s a long arcing sandy beach, protected on the southern corner by an Island with another just north of centre. The water is still& clear and because it’s a lake not Salty which is a big bonus. The downside is that this is a Bilharzia area, I won’t bore you with the details but suffice to say you don’t want to get it. We’re told you just take a tablet 6wks later and you’ll be fine, this turns out to be something of an over simplification.The lake contains over 1,000 species of fish of which over 400 can only be found here, do if you’re into diving or snorkelling there’s plenty to be seen. The Gecko Lounge is pretty central on the beach, its run by a English guy, Simon, and is probably the most modern& professionally run lodge on the beach. The main building is“U” shaped facing out sea. The left prong is the bar area with great views out from and along the beach. The base of the “U” houses the bar and restaurant with right side being the dive& activity shop. Built in and around this base are chalets, a dorm and hammocked lawns. Gaia Lodge is similar but has a less corporate feel, is a little older and more hippy. Once in situ we pretty quickly managed to arrange ongoing accommodation at Gaia& Gecko and the ever helpful Simon has organised for accommodation at Cool running’s and for its speedboat to pick us up and take us to Senga bay where we plan to meet 4 other volunteers who could only make it for a week. The control freak in me is beginning to relax, maybe the “It’ll be alright on the night” philosophy isn’t so bad after all. Everyone’s making all sorts of plans to Kayak, snorkel, walk and so on I have only one plan, to weigh down an hammock. The next couple of days are spent in a relaxed haze of sun& sand. The big night on Christmas Eve is curtailed by the mother of all storms, the night sky is lit up a milky white by the lightning refracting through the clouds and rain the size of pear drops beats down on us. Despite everyone decamping early I sat up for a couple of hours with a beer watching the show. The only other event to speak of is the arrival in the dorm of a stunning Dutch girl, I kinda hope Becky’s prediction is gonna come true, sadly she’s young enough to be my daughter so no-one needs to go out hat shopping just yet. Christmas day is spent with a couple of cold beers on the beach in the company of an ex pat who’s set up and running a campsite on the beach. We had Christmas dinner inthe evening at Gaia, they did their best to deliver a traditional dinner but truthfully it was as traditional as the setting and the weather.Having heard of our speedboat trip the VSOs we’re meeting are eager to have a go, so they get the boat from Senga bay to Cape Maclear and we take it back it. This has the advantage of dramatically reducing the cost and the disadvantage of us not getting together, oh well, they’re gonna come back to Senga bay in couple of days so we can catch up then.