Lake Malawis' heavenly Cape Maclear to the incredible local life of Domasi

 Welcome to Malawi, where your life becomes infinitely better just because of this beauty that's practically on your doorstep.

Lake Malawi

 

 As the Tikondwe schools are run by the charity they do not adhere to your normal Monday-Friday 8am to 3pm working hours. Friday is 'teachers meeting' day where the paid teachers meet with Emma and other Tikondwe employees to talk about their school, the curriculum, what to teach next week, how to do it, and bounce ideas back and force on how to generally improve things. This means volunteers get the whole weekend off to explore the GORGEOUS country of Malawi. The lake is obviously the number #1 destination considering it's almost 1/4 of the countries surface area and just absolutely incredible in every possible way. Cape Maclear especially.

I was lucky enough to come here twice whilst volunteering with Tikondwe. My first weekend and my last. The first there were many of us wanting to make the 4-6hour journey (all dependant on transport) and so we hired a minibus. Usually however you catch a minibus to Mangochi then another to Monkey Bay then clamber onto the back of any pick-up truck you can find (usually filled with wood and barrels of petrol or something) heading onto Cape Maclear. It's a hot, sweaty journey full of squeezing into small places and getting cramp all over your body BUT it's a whole lotta fun, and the green (Carlsberg; the ONLY beer that's sold in Malawi that is not home brew) at the end of it is the best. thing. ever.

Cape Maclear is a slice of paradise.

It's a peninsula situated at the southern end of Lake Malawi, a tiny village turned small tourist area, yet it still manages to retain its village-esque feel and is entirely untouristy many ways! There are various sleeping options ranging from very cheap to very expensive; we stayed at the cheapest and it was the most gorgeous guesthouse I was to stay in my whole time travelling. The village is the same as any other I'd seen in Malawi; a sleepy place with dirt roads, tiny eateries and tea houses, thatched roofs and mud walls. Dogs were in the streets and women did their washing in the lake whilst the kids splashed about around them. It was pure bliss and a real insight into local lake life, a life completely different from Domasi village.
--> Lake life = fishing, living off the lake, the water is your lifeline.
--> Village life = farming, living off the land, earning your keep working the fields is your way of life.

My time spent at the lake and living in the village were also significantly different for each other. The lake was the ultimate relax, a place to lie in the sun, where you could wear shorts that didn't cover your knees, a place where you could eat food that wasn't rice or nsima, stay out late and drink alcohol like you were a Fresher at University during Freshers week. My first weekend started a little like this with so many of us there was a definite party vibe, except this kind of party was never going to be the normal type you'd experience in England. It started, for example, with a band. The Brothers Band  consisted of 3 children playing drums made from old jerry cans and wooden sticks. They were actually fantastic and got us all up having a dance (as depicted by Sam here who accompanied them with a WONDEROUS on-the-spot rap!). We were then invited to a Malawian wedding party which involved the WHOLE VILLAGE coming out of their homes for an entire weekend of dancing in the streets! It was wonderful and I've never felt more welcome in my life. The next day we spent in a local eatery called Bana Paya where your beer takes an hour to materialise, food takes about 2 hours to find its way to your table and there's no electric whatsoever. Not that this matters at all considering you're too busy chatting to the local rasta population, playing drums with another group of musicians, and dancing around the large bonfire erected by the eateries owners; right on the beach.There is nothing closer to bliss than that. However if you do ever get bored of heavenly relaxation you can always pop to another local restaurant, Gheko Lounge, which turns from 'chilling-in-a-hammock-doing-nothing-sorta-place' during the day to 'getting-down-and-dirty-on-the-dance-floor-sorta-place' in the evening. It's also by far the most touristy area in Cape Maclear.

Zuzana and Klara BBQing it up on
the island with locals

Of course the lake is not just about grabbing some greens and wasting your weekend away with a book in the sun (although this is perfectly fine as it's got to be one of the best places in the world to do so); there are many activities on offer. I've been canoeing, snorkeling, motorbike riding and on a boat trip. There's also a National Park with a bunch of beautiful hiking, however as a lone traveller with no one else wanting to hike it is expensive (hence why I did not do so, unfortunately). There are a bunch of small islands of Cape Maclear, the most obvious being right in front of the beach (its name eludes me...) which looks very close... until you try to canoe to it. My first weekend a few of us rented out canoes which is a wonderful way to get out on the lake, see the fish, swim about without a local guide and just enjoy life! My second weekend at the lake a small group of us female volunteers rented a boat from my local friend Morris which was equally as fun (and a lot less effort!). We were taken to the island once again and were lucky enough to be introduced to many locals throwing a welcome home BBQ for their friend who had moved to England. We were shown the fish eagles diving into the water to feed, we were taught how to catch a fish with your hands, and we were taken to otter point (where there were a significant lack of otters but a delightful amount of cliff jumping opportunities). The snorkeling in Lake Malawi is fantastic, the fish are thousands of different colours and are so used to your presence they just swim around you! The water is magnificently clear and because there are so many spots to see them you can swim entirely alone with no other tourist around you. The motorbike were also extremely easy

to organise and very cheap for just a quick drive around the peninsula and clamber to the top of a group of rocks for some INCREDIBLE views.
Cape Maclear captured my heart instantly and will always be a highlight of my journey. It is just so beautiful, has all the western amenities you could want, as well as being so typically Malawian it tugs at the heartstrings! It was also my favourite part of the lake, which is a BIG thing to admit considering the rest of the lake is equally is stunning.

In stark contrast to Lake Malawi, the village is a place where you are a role model, you do not drink, you wear appropriate clothing that adheres to the local culture. You eat local food and drink water that's been chlorinated by water purifying tablets Your free time is spent with the children or local families, you never sit and do nothing. It's like a job, just an awesome one. The volunteering is always incredible (despite the younger childrens' continuing insanity and craziness) and your part played in village life is extremely fulfilling, be it just playing with the children to give their mothers a break, to helping fix a roof that's been blown off by stray winds, to taking part in a traditional dance lesson in aid of the local community. This last activity was INCREDIBLE! A group of muzungus being taught local dances by some of the lads from Hayo village using objects akin to dumbbells. We stood in a circle, sometimes standing clapping the dumbbells against each other or sitting smacking them on the floor; it was fantastic! And EXHAUSTING!

Outside Dianas house with some local children and Shireen
another volunteer

The breakdancing classes continued as well as Charlie sharing his skills in separate schools throughout his time volunteering. His lesson at Mapanje came on my second week at Tikondwe and the kids LOVED it! Unfortunately the younger ones could not keep up so it was my job to keep them involved by playing various games so they did not feel left out (or piss the elder kids off by invading their extremely limited-already-dancing-space). I spent more and more time at Dianas home, the real, paid teacher working at Mapanje school, with her family who are all wonderful and extremely accommodating. They keep pigeons as a sign of prosperity despite having almost next to nothing. This is very typical of families in Africa; they will often keep pigeons, have expensive phones, large herds of cows to show wealth even if they don't have any. This allowance into a locals home unconditionally was a wonderful thing

Two of my morning crazies

to experience and gave me a real insight into local life. I've never felt so welcome anywhere in my entire life than I did in Mapanje village and would urge anyone thinking of volunteering to go with Tikondwe.

If you're thinking my work with the charity sounds easy and holiday-like, you'd be entirely wrong! Yes i'm based in a beautiful country full of beautiful people but the actual work is difficult and a lot of the time you're on your hands and knees doing various building work, painting, gardening, roof repairing, and absolutely anything else the villagers spring on you. The lake is extremely far away for a quick weekend, but there are other places you can go and explore/relax closer to home....

Sunset over Lake Malawi at Cape Maclear with children playing in the water.

Three canoes made from dug-out trees glide past our camp.