"Malawi Gin" Franso's photos around Lilongwe, Malawi

Preview of Franso's blog at TravelPod. Read the full blog here: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/franso/1/1270504550/tpod.html This blog preview was made by TravelPod using the TripAdvisor™ TripWow slideshow creator. Entry from: Lilongwe, Malawi Entry Title: "Malawi Gin" Entry: "1st of April, Chitimba Beach, Lake Malawi It's an enjoyable place, the beach camp at lake Malawi where we have our rest day, one of the highlights of the tour. It is run by a Dutch guy called Ed, who bought the place three years ago, and the setting is perfect. Right on the beach, a big bar overlooking lake Malawi, a mountain ridge on the right-hand side, a lovely campsite and wooden cabins, cold beers, a pig roast, what more do you want. The five day stretch we have cycled to get here took us through the most beautiful scenery we have seen so far. Iringa was already set on the rim of the rift valley, but continuing southwards to Malawi we had to cross some descent mountain ridges. Especially the third day into Mbeya includes a serious climb to the plateau where Mbeya is located. But higher up also means cooler temperatures, and after an uphill comes a downhill. The fourth day is incredible, we start with a climb to 2500 meters, and after that its mostly downhill rolling into Malawi. Along the way you can see lake Malawi deeming in the mist, looking back the part of the rift valley we came from. There are a lot of tea plantations on these mountain ridges, corn fields and corn drying on the sides of the road, banana trees, and descending into the wet lake Malawi plain a lot of rice fields. It is extremely fertile here, and it shows in the size of the bugs here. They are big, really big, and weird, I have seen them the size of a hand with long legs and four wings, crazy stuff. Alongside the road a lot of workers are digging a trench, at first I think it is for irrigation purposes, but it turns out to be for a fiberglass cable, a connection from the north to the south, for the Internet highway which is also spreading its tentacles in this primitive part of Africa. It is hard work, in the sun and with simple working tools, the workers can do about 10 meters per day, and earn about 2000-3000 Tanzanian Shillings per day, that is 2,5 euros. The trench runs right beside the houses, some of which have partly collapsed because of the digging, and through the gardens and fences. Health wise I am struggling a bit again. A small scratch on my arm from a long time ago, the Kenya Lava rock camp, has gotten infected again and my arm has swollen up overnight. Even a mosquito bite on my foot is infected, and since three days I am on drugs again, the fourth time I am taken anti-biotics. Luckily one of the sectional riders is a Dutch doctor, and I had a proper investigation and some good tips. I guess my misfortune started with falling in the manhole in the second week, and the anti-biotics I took then killed the germs but also my natural resistance. Anyhow, I am still riding and I hope to regain some strength on this rest-day, there is a Mando day coming up in two days and I would like to feel strong again and be able to race. 4th of April, Kasunga, Malawi This morning was one of those magical African moments. Its eastern, and Malawi has a large Christian population. We were camping on a schoolyard, next to the soccer field, with a few community buildings around. We woke up at around 4am with the singing of the women in the background, just beautiful. They also came into camp while everybody was busy with the morning routine, dressed on eastern best ('paasbest'), singing and dancing. I force myself every morning to take a pause, look at the sunrise, smell the air and the earth, breath Africa. Its so easy to get caught in the routine, feeling hasted about getting your luggage in the truck, or getting breakfast, or start racing, that you forget to feel and enjoy. You should have a look at the TDA blog, there is a posting of the different rider blogs with a small snippet: http://www.tourdafrique.com/epictours/tourdafrique/blog Its so obvious, the different way in which this trip is perceived by its participants, depending on the background, the likings, et cetera. A young guy tells about his first enjoyable taste of a cold beer, a gay couple rambles along about ..." Read and see more at: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/franso/1/1270504550/tpod.html Photos from this trip: 1. "Chitimba beach camp" 2. "Lake Malawi" 3. "Pig roast in Chitimba" 4. "Pig roast" 5. "Volleybal 'Mix Master Mike' in action" 6. "Volleybal Chitimba" 7. "Pig roast 2" 8. "Soccer with Malawi kids" 9. "Soccer 'Steve' in action" 10. "First Malawi camp" 11. "Soccer 2" 12. "Sunrise malawi camp" 13. "Dirt is good!" See this TripWow and more at http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-0120-f126-35c3?ytv4=1