I had read in the tourguide books that Malawi is described as the “warm heart of Africa” and that was certainly true. The owner of the inn came over after a bit because he heard that we were looking for a fire (we were just hoping to use someone elses fire to cook our meat), but he arranged to have a brai pit brought to us at the vehicle. What a blessings == we had a feast of hippo, maize and vegies (carrots, cabbage and onions). We had purchased the maize that afternoon from a man on a bicycle – it looks a lot like the sweetcorn we know in the states. But if you are expecting sweetcorn, you will be dissappointed. Instead, if you expect something starchy and Extremely filling – more like field corn, then the maize is quite good in it's own starchy way.

The next morning we were on our way to Lilongwe – Malawi's capital and then headed to the Lake. Lake Malawi is known for the many brilliantly colored fish that swim in Monkey Bay. But Monkey Bay was over a hundered kilometers out of our way so we decided to snorkel at Senga Bay instead. The wonderful part was that Senga Bay was much less touristed than Monkey Bay and the Lake was gorgeous. We stopped at a hotel to see if we could rent snorkel equipment and they loaned it to us for free – we were “most welcome” . The less wonderful part is that the famed fish of Monkey Bay have apparently not heard of Senga Bay and there were very few fish to view. We swam over to some reeds and finally found a few fingerling fish – with white stripes down their side – not quite the sights we had anticipated, but we did find some clams and had a great time swimming in a magnicent lake.

Back on the road – we were rather hungry after our swim and found the perfect opportunity to try one of the delicacies Malawi is know for – boiled mice. Little boys sell them on the side of the road – stacks of mice between two sticks – 20 or more in a stack. They apparently sell them by the stack, but we convinced them to sell us just two and there we had them – the 3 inch long little dead mice in our laps – their jaws open with their tiny teach sticking out, their front paws curled, their tiny eyes squeezed shut. Val was the first to taste one – our fearless leader setting the example – the tail and paws are crispy – not bad. The rest of the mouse was harder to approach so we created a bit of a mice sandwich – lettuce a bit of croisant (left over from a bakery stop that morning – a chocolate croissant – what a treat!!!) – and Val bit it's little head off – we all had a go at the mouse sandwich – Val's bite got the brains, Lori the lungs and I went for the liver. The middle parts were soft, squishy and, well, really “mousy” (none of us could quite describe the taste). The bones though (and the tiny little mouse incisors for Val) get stuck in your teeth, the hair is a bit slick and the whole thing is a bit wet and not quite as delicately delicious as had been described -- nonetheless – a memorable experience.

Then we headed north -- I was dissappointed that we didn't make it to Mzuzu to stay at the YWAM there, but we found a magnificent place to camp right on the beach of Lake Malawi – it was a nearly full moon, the beach was covered with white sand stretching out for miles. I took a short walk down the beach to see several dugout canoes – the handywork of the Malawians is rough, but servicable and beautiful in its own way.

That night we had our leftover hippo meat (fixed nicely by Val with Taco seasoning, tomatoes and onions) and we had Hippo taco salad. Another treat! Lori made fried bread, I made lemonade – another feast.

The next day we drove North again, and decided we didn't really have time to stop by Niyika National Park (long time on dirt roads just to reach the park) so we stopped by a local market instead. Fun to try the local foods -- like little bananas cooked in a tomato and onion sauce, curdled milk that makes a sort of soft cheese, and little cornbread-like squares. We each noticed little colored flecks in the cornbread – I had red and green flecks, Val had black ones, Lori had multiple colors – they were really crunchy – not that nice really – kind of gritty. We looked closer and discovered that we were eating beads! The cornbread maker's necklace apparently broke while she was baking and What to do? We also had our first taste of lake flies – the insects hatch out the by billions at the season we were there. They shake the trees they're in, make them fall on a piece of cloth or plastic on the ground. Then they scoop them up by the handful, squish them into four inch squares and smoke them. The squares look like charcoal, but the consistency is a bit softer – they are rather salty – another indescribable flavor.

We found other wonderful treasures at the market as well. We needed a funnel for pouring the kerosene and we got some rope for strapping things in the vehicle. I found some beautiful lesos (the cloth that women wrap around their waste as a skirt) and some prettily painted tin bowls. There's much more to say, but that's all for now – I thoroughly enjoyed our brief time in Malawi.

Again, Youth With a Mission takes great care of us. We meet Fred and Dorine who show us around their base and blessed us with their hospitality.

Victoria Falls/Mosi au tunyo (The smoke that Thunders) is 15 minutes away from the base. I have always wanted to see Victoria Falls; waterfalls somehow represent a part of what God is to me. They are extravagantly beautiful, ever moving yet always present, and especially powerfully peaceful. We took lunch to the falls. Incredible doesn't do it justice. The falls are a mile long and drop 500 feet. We viewed a part of the falls from the Zambia side, but the falls are shared with Zimbabwe. The spray from the falls can be viewed miles away and appears as a rising fog. The walk way is very near the falls and soaking wet is what you get as you walk. We stayed until the sun went down, beautiful as the sun set over the falls. The next day we played in the Zambezi River. Interestingly it hadn't ever been rafted until 1983 when a group of Americans took on the Zambezi River. We made it thru 23 rapids and are here to talk about it.

The next morning we were off to Lusaka. We had met Thomas and Boswa in Livingstone, they were newly weds headed to Lusaka, heading E across Zambia. We had to repack and cozy up, but it was a delight to be able to take them to the YWAM base in Lusaka, where we met Stanley and Priscilla. They prepared us a fine dinner and let us stay in the dorm area there. They had an incredible garden which they shared some of their vegetables with us. Again we were blessed by being able to help. Jesse, the son of the Chipata YWAM base couple, needed a ride home from boarding school and we were headed that way. Got in late, but received a warm welcome from YWAM Chipata. Dick and Anita were glad to see their son. The ministry there is new and trying to find its calling, but in the meantime they have a ministry to 76 children/orphans. Elizabeth, the previous person at YWAM Chipata had recently died of malaria. Pray for the YWAM ministries/people in Zambia.

Sat Aug, 5, 2006 The road to South Luangwa Park was quite bad, but it couldn't discourage our Landy. Spent the night in a tree house, woke up at 3:30 am wondering what all the racket was. Hippos are not quiet eaters. There beneath the tree was a huge hungry hippo. Interesting night, a little worried about falling off the platform in the tree, it wasn't quite long enough that my thermarest didn't hang off the edge a bit. Then in the morning had to divert around the ablution block/toilet because there was an elephant there. Went on a walking safari in the am, got up close and personal with the giraffes. By 10 am we were back on that indifferent road, and that is when we encountered our first flat tire. A little struggle, but got it changed and were headed to Malawi. Thanks for praying.

(Because of unwanted anonymous posts by private companies, we've disabled the "comments" for this particular blog entry. MEE)

Changing money from one currency to another did cause us a little bit of struggle. After traveling thru Namibia and preparing to enter Botswana, we spent our Namibian money, and we had cleaned out our South African Rand. We arrived at the Botswana border with American dollars which couldn't get us thru customs, they required Botswana Pula. It was late Friday night, no banks open, not a pula to our name, stuck at the border, took some money trading, but got enough pula to cross into Botswana. It was late, dark and the roads were not safe to drive at night, mostly due to the large numbers of donkeys on the roads. We stopped at a gas station, explained our situation and they allowed us to camp out back, nice place except for the 24 hour music that played. At least we were safe for another night, thanks for your prayers.

Early morning headed into Ghanzi, which happened to having their yearly fair. We attended the "Ghanzi show", Herero district fair. The Herero women dress beautifully and are adorned with ornate head dressings. We saw the championship goats, sheep and cattle and of course had to try some of their fair foods. We had shredded donkey. Good thing it was shredded because it was a bit tough.

Headed towards Maun a town at the end of the Okavango Delta. The delta is a unique and dynamic network of waterways, crystal clear channels, palm tree-covered islands and full of birds, fish, hippos, crocs, and elephants. The head waters for the delta start in Angola as the Cubango River, go into Namibia as the Kavango River and end in Botswana as the Okavango and because of the flat nature of the land it forms the delta which eventually flows into the Kalahari desert. This area is home to five separate ethnic groups.

We took a short ride into the delta on a mokoro/dug out canoe and learned a little bit about the people, fishing and living on the delta. The people that run the mokoros are called polers, because the channels are shallow and poles are used to move the mokoros. Learned of the healthy respect for the hippos that these people have.

We drove to our next camp site. One site left, thanks for praying, but the lady said it is a bit remote and the road is deep sand. We had driven thru Mozambique, so knew the road would be no problem for Landy. Remote it was, but much quieter than the gas station stay. Set up the tent, started a fire, preparing for dinner, and it was a fight for the dinner. The rats came out of no where and were aggressive towards our dinner. It was us with firewood in hand going after the rats, the word got out we would defend our dinner, we won and the rats retreated.

Early morning rise again, driving thru the sand toward the road, big cat foot prints in the sand, just glad it was only the rats and not the lion that wanted our food. Quick drive thru Chobe and arrive at border to Zambia in the afternoon. Who knew the border crossing was going to require a ferry ride across the Chobe river? We loaded up the Landy onto the ferry and across we went. It was a small ferry, it could carry one big truck and a couple small ones. Excitement on ferry was the big snake that tried to cross, but I think it didn't end up making it across.

Posted from Livingstone, Zambia

* Note: In 1871, Henry Morton Stanley was sent to East Africa to find the Scottish missionary and explorer, Dr. David Livingstone. After an 8 month search, upon finding him, he famously greeted him with, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume."

(Click on this map to enlarge it.)

Fishriver Canyon, Namibia

Sunrise over Lake Malawi

*Note from blog-master: While they may not refer to themselves as 'intrepid', I think it's appropriately descriptive. Definition: "Intrepid" -- characterized by resolute fearlessness, fortitude, and endurance