Sun-N-Sand

~ Saturday 2nd August

Two days at Lake Malawi is far from enough. I could live there...waking up to sunrises over the water, taking walks across the beach, being surrounded by beautiful scenery - I mean, who wouldn't?!

We left Thursday evening (we were meant to leave soon after lunch but we didn't leave till after 6pm; it's no secret we have timing issues) so we didn't get to the cottage we were staying at till after 8pm. Going to the lake is a family ritual; whoever goes to Malawi, whenever they go, a trip there is always written on the cards. And although I've been there three times in the past, the beauty of it never ceases to amaze me each time. The cottage overlooks the water and as we pulled up, we could hear the waves and faintly see their outline in the moonlight - it was perfect.

We couldn't do much though considering it was pretty late so we just unloaded all our luggage, ate and settled in. I'll admit, I hate going to the lake because the thought of lurking lizards and cockroaches freaks me out. (I'm terrified of anything that moves. Period). Everyone knows that. And takes advantage of it. So my cousins thought it was hilarious to randomly shout "lizard!" and I fell for it. Every damn time. God they're evil.

There was one time when I last came, I was sleeping in the room downstairs with my two aunties and my grandma (who sadly is no longer with us), and my aunty went to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, and she went to flush the toilet and a frog jumped out. That's happened quite a few times when my other cousins have stayed over because the water supply comes directly from the lake, but now do you see why I have issues?! I spent half the time with my legs pulled up to my chin so nothing could come in close proximity to me. I was actually scared to sleep but all the girls were sleeping in one room on this huge king-sized bed so I sneakily made sure I slept in the middle so a reptile or insect couldn't creep up on an unsuspecting me.

*Pun intended*

We set one alarm for 5am (Shaz was in charge of this) so the plan was she'd wake up and then wake the rest of us up to watch the sunrise from the top balcony. The alarm went off, and I vaguely heard it, and no one was getting up to switch the stupid thing off and I was thinking "Shaz, please just get up and shut it off" whilst simultaneously having the thought cross my mind that no one was getting up, and we were going to miss the sunrise. Bummer. Sleep vs sunrise. It's a tough call.

We did somehow sleepily stumble out of bed and we donned our hoodies (it is so freaking cold in the morning here!) then we tried to get on to the balcony, but basically, the upstairs corridor and the balcony are separated by a security door that has those gaps that you can see through, but it was padlocked. And we couldn't get it to open. There were seven of us women, and we were turning the key left, right and centre, but the door wouldn't budge. And we could see the sun beginning to rise and we were trying (in vain) to not miss it but it seemed like the sunrise was going to slip from our grasp. Eventually we decided to be horrible beings and go wake my dad up just to open the door for us. He did. Bless him.

And we did catch the sunrise! Just about. So here are the pictures that are internet-worthy but cannot come even remotely close to watching first-hand, such a stunning display of sheer beauty.

Sunrise - Video Maker

We then fell back to sleep. Naturally. By the time we got up (again) it was 10am so we had breakfast then took a walk along the beach and took more pictures (see below). Then it was time for lunch and after that we went back down to the beach but the water was too cold to swim in so we just chilled on the sand and spent time with each other, although those who were able to brave the cold waves did go for a dip. We then went to Sunbird Livingstonia Beach, which is this lovely hotel on the beach so we took a walk by the water at sunset before having cappuccino in these little huts on the sand. By the time we got back, it was early evening so we got straight to preparing for our barbecue dinner on the balcony and ended the night with toasting marshmallows and trading stories of the past.

Beach - Video Maker

I'm pleased to tell you that we got up a whole half hour early (hurrah!) and we got to watch the sunrise from start to finish the following morning. Wait, that's today. Yeah, sorry, my mind's a little disoriented (I'm struggling to keep my eyes open) but these pictures are of today's sunrise. The water was really rough today and the winds were quite harsh too so we didn't swim but we did go for a walk before packing up and heading home. On the way back, we watched the sunset; we stopped the car on the side (no, it wasn't a hard shoulder, we just parked up randomly) and then got out, ran to the other side of the road and took a picture of the blood-red sun.

Sunrise, Sunset & The Beach of Lake Malawi - Video Maker

African road trips are second to none. And nothing compares to the stunning sunrise over the lake. 'Twas an unparalleled beauty.

Oh. Quick side note.

Happy Birthday to my beautiful mum! :) I love you so much <3

P.s. the slideshows have a soundtrack to them so just hover the mouse over the little screen and enable the sound - enjoy!