A Beautiful Beach Birthday

The second term of school continues to march on as I race the clock to complete the syllabus material before the end in November. This semester has been full of interruptions including Mid-Service Conference and Site visit week for the new trainees, followed immediately by a week-long term break to mark the middle of the semester. Where has the time gone?!

Well, break conveniently fell over the week of my birthday as well as our 1 year of service mark, so my friends and I decided to take a little trip down to Lake Nyasa (in other parts of the world, it is called Lake Malawi, but here in TZ we refuse to give up our claim).

The trip began with a 10 hour bus trip down to a tiny town known as Mbinga, located in the Ruvuma region. After arriving to Mbinga, we used the only mode of available transportation to travel to the site of another PCV. This transport was in the back of a lorry. 

Zane and I about to journey up the mountain

We got lucky, the cargo was mattresses!

After arriving, we crashed for the night and then woke up bright and early to start our 5 hour hike down to the lake. The hike was completely downhill and the steep grade was pretty rough on the knees, but boy was it worth it. The hike was so beautiful!

The view from the top of the mountain we hiked down. The water was our destination!

The path down the mountain

 After our very long hike, we drug our tired, sweaty selves up onto the beach and realized we were in paradise. We wanted nothing more that to strip down naked and dive in… but we decided to stay civilized and change behind closed doors. The water was crystal clear, so needless to say it was Peace Corps bath time! But seriously, we took our razors and soap out into the lake and played a little game we like to call “Tan or Dirt?”. You win if it’s a tan and doesn’t scrub off. We never win. 

The next 2 and a half days were spent snorkeling, bouldering, swimming, and relaxing in hammocks. The camp we stayed at was called Pomonda Raha Eco Camp and we ate fresh catfish caught in the lake, papaya picked from the trees, everything was farm to table and tasted delicious. 

 A beautifully set table 

Sun setting behind the mountains of Malawi

Hammock Time!

I've got my toes in the water, ass in the sand, not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand

the sunsets are breath-taking

It was such a relaxing, beautiful vacation and the perfect break before heading into the next several months as I barrel toward the end of the term.