Oh So Much Driving.

Today was a driving day was a driving day was a driving day. Ick.

After a breakfast of bread and jam and coffee, we left our adorable campsite at 5:30 am to head to...Lake Malawi!

The day mostly consisted of...sleeping, reading, watching movies, listening to music, coloring, sleeping, eating, rest stops, sleeping, reading, etc. etc. etc. One thing that made it QUITE different from the rest of our time in Africa so far was that it RAINED. A LOT. Like, torrential downpour. And because of that it was COLD. Like, really cold. Like, see your breath cold. We all thought the hot weather had been bad, but the cold was so much worse!! We definitely didn't bring enough clothes to cover ourselves from freezing rain!

It stopped raining around 1:30, just in time for lunch! We stopped at a school about 5 kilometers from the Malawi border for lunch. Some of the kids must have been having recess, because there were about 50 outside staring at us. A bit awkward considering we were about to be eating our lunch basically in front of them. Several of us wandered over to the school to see if we could use their restrooms and by the time we got back... well...

It was mayhem! Marcus was "attacking" all the children as if he was a monster, running after them as they screamed with glee. It was ADORABLE. He continued running around with them as I quickly ate my delicious lunch (avocado and green bean pasta salad) and then quickly grabbed my camera for a few shots. The kids were SO cute. They delighted in using their English skills ("How are you?" "I am fine thank you." "What is your name?") and LOVED having their pictures taken! They kept inching closer and closer and closer until they were basically a foot away from me as I showed them the pictures I'd taken of them.

By the time we got back on the bus, we were all MUCH more awake than we had been prior to lunch (especially Marcus, who hadn't even touched his lunch!) Overall, a beautiful break in the middle of the day punctuated by delicious food and lots of smiling faces :)

Then came the border. Around 3 pm, we reached the border between Tanzania and Malawi. We got to the Tanzania side and it was a complete breeze - only about 10 minutes for all of us to get stamped and be on our merry way! Then came the Malawi side. Calisto had warned us that this particular border crossing would be tough, and that how much time we spent their was completely dependent upon the moods and whims of the immigration officers. When we arrived, there was a large group of Australian tourists already in the office (they'd stayed at our lodging last night and left 45 minutes before us..so we were a bit disappointed to see them still there...and none of them with their passports...). When we got to the counter, I was surprised to see customs agents behind the desk! Mark had told us sometimes they go out to lunch for hours on end, or just sit outside looking at you while you wait. It was a pleasant surprise that they were located where they were supposed to be! We handed in all our passports within 10 minutes.

And then waited.

And waited.

And waited.

After TWO HOURS we finally got all of our passports back! But unfortunately the truck also needed to be cleared by customs. At this point, it was after 5 (the office closed at 6), and the truck of Australians was ALSO still waiting for their truck to be cleared. Roger spoke with some of the other truck drivers (as there were probably about 50 commercial trucks parked within the borders confines) and some of them told him they had been waiting for their vehicles to clear inspection for TWO WEEKS. TWO WEEKS!!!!!!!! WHAAAAAAAAATTTTTTT????

The thing is, it wouldn't have been terrible if you could tell that the people behind the counter were working. Or trying to work at least. But for at least an hour while we were waiting, the ONLY two women who could clear trucks to pass the border were on lunch break with no one else around to do the job!

So we continued waiting.

At 5:20 we FINALLY got the all clear (ahead of our Australian friends!) Needless to say, they were NOT too happy about this (especially since they'd woken up at 4:15 to leave our lodge this morning!)

After passing through customs, we entered Malawi, and man, what a beautiful country. We drove from 5:30 (now 4:30 as Malawi is an hour behind Tanzania) for another three hours before arriving at our accommodations for the next 3 nights on Lake Malawi :).

When we arrived we were all EXHAUSTEDDDDD. And in pretty amazingly awful moods. Which meant that I was just a PEACH when they showed us to our room. Which was two twin beds. The THIRD time this mistake had been made so far on the trip. I was NOT thrilled. Luckily, Jodi had received a room with a double and graciously agreed to switch with us. Thanks, Jodi! But of course, we got to our new room to find out, it was actually a MUCH older room. With about half has much space and a much, much worse bathroom. With no tap for hot water (the other one had had one) and the toilet seat unattached from the toilet. And no soap. Or towels. Or separate area for the shower (the shower water goes directly into the whole bathroom). Awesome. I think it goes without saying, but I. WAS. PISSED.

It's not that the conditions were terrible. They really weren't at all. In fact, they were much better than I had anticipated. Rather, it was the fact that we had paid the exact same amount as everyone else, and yet the conditions were NO WHERE close to the same. Not to mention we'd woken up crazy early, been travelling for a full day, spent a good portion of the day at the border, were super hungry, and just NOT in the mood. Everyone was in such awful moods we all contemplated seeing if we could leave this place tomorrow! Ack!

After putting down our things and taking quick COLD showers (ya know, since hot doesn't exist in our new room...), we ate a quick dinner and headed off to bed.

Here's hoping this place is absolutely beautiful when we wake up tomorrow...

Jess' highlight of the day: taking pictures of the adorable kids at school
Jon's highlight of the day: finally getting off the bus and having a beer