Malawi

October 12 – 16

Lake Malawi (rating: 5.5/10)

It’s hard to believe that this is a lake and not an ocean. Throughout our entire drive through Malawi, we were treated to never-ending views of the lake meeting the horizon. We stopped at a few of its beaches along the way, and only when we swam in its fresh water were we sure that it wasn’t an ocean. One member of our tour group even did a night dive in the lake, as it contains the largest variety of freshwater fish in the world.

Malawi Marketplace (rating: 8/10)

Malawi is known for its wood carvings and also for the method you go about to get them: bartering. At every stop in the country, we had the opportunity to barter our used goods for unique wooden sculptures, boxes, chairs, chess boards, etc. Make sure you stock up on hotel pens, cheap toothbrushes, airplane pillows (is it legal to take those off the plane?), old socks and other clothing – pretty much whatever is of no value to you any longer. Someone will give you a nice carving if the trade is right.
_____________________________________________

Useful Tips

We can’t stress enough how happy we were with the Acacia tour we did. We bumped into many independent travelers along the way, and there’s no way we would have been able to kick off our world trip navigating Africa on our own. Sign up for the longest Acacia tour you can afford then don’t worry about anything except showing up with the right stuff – you won’t regret it.

Also, as previously mentioned, bring lots of old junk with you. On your return flight from the country, you will have plenty of souvenirs to fill the void from the junk you bartered off.

And if your looking for the next answer in the Puzzles for Postcards hunt, you’ve come to the right place. “O”