Malawi

Malawi is flourishing green, although sadly all the big ancient forests have been cut down and sold. At 5.30am shops are open and people are busy.

Tasty tomatoes. Woocash and Robert disappeared off into the surrounding area to hunt out Oofa (Sadza) which has now become a team favourite food. In the meantime, these ladies were lovely and friendly and happy to sell me their produce.

The land of smiles is full of people smiling and waving. Food on the roadside is cheap and delicious. Ripe sweet mangos and home made doughnuts become daily treats. Insects are fluffy and the police are helpful. After a policeman checked our ID at a road block, he sent someone to fetch water for us from his house! A man we met along the way brought us sandwiches on our lunch break.

In the centre is the kindly man who came searching for us in our lunch break. It took him a while, we were well hidden.

I must take up this habit of being so welcoming to strangers. It’s a pretty incredible experience to be so consistently welcomed in every culture as we travel.

However, fuel is expensive, and I am paying, so camel style we have filled Cleo up in Mozambique and she will have her next drink in Mozambique in 5 days time. I like our mini challenge to make it across a whole (very thin) country with no fuel stops.

Mike back on the bike for a bit

Cooking breakfast at the side of the road

Too many sticks suffocate the fire. And yes, that is a blow torch on the ground. That’s men for you. I like to use a single match if I can. And no, Lukasz doesn’t always look that odd.