I had been recommended a hostel to camp in Cape Mclear, and I was not disappointed. I set up my tent right on the beach, beside Paul from Holland, who I would end up hanging out with for the next week. It was quiet at the hostel, other than a group of volunteers who had just built a school or something along those lines. Running into volunteers and UN type workers was already becoming pretty common for me- more common than meeting other backpackers at least. The next night we were joined by another solo traveler, Nadav, from Israel.

Cape Mclear is a really nice spot on Lake Malawi. It’s really a fishing village, with a few tourists (and I do mean a few. Apparently the riots are not helping Malawi’s reputation for tourists). The villagers definitely outnumber the tourists, and they can be seen washing their dishes and clothes constantly. Being on the beach, I would hear them as soon as the sun came up, around 5am. Luckily, I still have earplugs!

One of my first days in Cape Mclear it was cloudy in the morning, so I decided to take advantage and hike the mountain to get a better view of the lake. Unfortunately, the clouds burned off pretty quickly and I ran through my water too quick, but I got to the top, got a photo and scrambled down before going for a swim. After that very hot experience, I decided to limit my exercise to swimming and walking the village for the next four days.

A bit more rested, Paul, Navad and I kayaked over to Djembe Island from Cape Mclear, where we camped for two nights. It’s a private island and you can camp in pre-set up tents or huts and have all your meals catered for you, for a price. We went the true backpacker route, bringing our own food and cooking and camping. Besides us, there were about 7 others. It was an amazing two days, with clear skies and water and great snorkelling (on a lake!). The meal highlight was probably the shukshuka that Navad made for us!

After a couple of days of tranquility, we kayaked back to the mainland and spent one more night in Cape Mclear. Paul was staying on, volunteering in a local school, and Navad and I headed to Monkey Bay for the night. Navad was hoping to catch the ferry to Salima, but it turned out to be in a couple of days, and I was heading South to Zomba for some hiking.