Armed with our trusted GPS and map we headed out of Blantyre on a sunny October morning, destination: Cape Maclear, which takes its name not from the crystalline colour of its waters but from a British astronomer royal at the Cape of Good Hope Sir Thomas Maclear who happened to be David Livingstone´s friend and therefore got a Cape named after him.
The kids were very excited as it was half term and their (as well as our) first chance to visit the lake. Although we knew the journey would take around 3 hours, we were all in good spirits and chatted animatedly throughout the trip. In fact, so animated was our conversation that we momentarily ignored the GPS’s instructions and when we noticed we were at Malawi’s western border with Mozambique – exactly the opposite direction which we intended. We had missed a turn near Balaka and this had added 100 Kms to our journey. We managed to find a mountain road that would lead us to cross country to Golomoti and then onwards towards Cape Maclear. What we saw along the way was both amazing and disturbing. Lost in the dry, rocky, scorching mountains were villages so remote, so out of everyone’s way that we couldn’t help but wonder how these people survived in these harshest of environments. The dwellings were primitive rounded mud huts with thatched roofs, no water, no electricity and very little arable land to cultivate around them. Needless to say we saw no local school or clinic and we thought the whole scenery was perfectly medieval, stuck in time. How would these villagers ever do the quantitative leap into the 21st century? Not in our lifetime and probably not in our children’s either.
Finally we arrived in Chembe, Cape Maclear´s last village on its western coast. It is a fishing village with approximately 15.000 inhabitants. Tourism has now started to play a role in the local economy as well with several lodges and back-packers hotels found on the bay. We had chosen Eagle’s Nest (
www.chembenest.com/) as our Lodge for the next two nights. It is a small, basic but very comfortable lodge situated on the eastern edge of the bay. It has an enclosed private beach with clear still waters and white sand which gets swept every morning to remove any leaves or weeds which may have littered it during the night. As a result the beach is immaculate and inviting to snorkel, relax, swim or even just take a nap in its shady areas.
The next morning we decided to take a trip to Thumbi island. We hired a local boat to take us on the 20 minute journey across. We had heard that the snorkelling there was very good but nothing prepared us for the amazing variety and quantity of fish that expected us. It was like being in a coral reef but with fresh water. Our boatman had also bought us some fish from his grandfather (a Chembe fisherman) that morning and then proceeded to barbeque it while we snorkelled. Martim and Mariana spent hours in the water swimming amongst the fish. Lunch was delicious; we had juicy sweet mangos for dessert and then learned how to catch fish by hand with the leftover rice. Not as easy as it sounds…
After this Johanes (our boatman) took us around the island to a spot where he knew African Fish Eagles usually can be found, he whistled at them and then threw some small fish into the water. The eagles flew out of their branches and came to collect their catch right next to the boat where we watched in amazement while we tried to zoom in our cameras quick enough to catch them mid-air. These beautiful birds astounded us with their grace and precision flying. We could hear the flapping of their huge wings as they manoeuvred in to the point where the fish lay waiting.
Cape Maclear is a unique place. The quietness and the beauty of the bay makes one feel calm and relaxed. Indeed it’s a magical place. We are lucky enough to have been in some beautiful places in different parts of the world, but Cape Maclear did prove to be one of the most amazing places we’ve visited. No doubt, we will return.
www.go2africa.com/malawi/cape-maclear
The following day we left Eagle’s Nest and headed to Club Makokola on the lake’s western coast, closer to Mangochi. The hotel which awaited us was an immaculately kept resort by the beach front with perfectly landscaped tropical gardens, a lovely large pool and practically no other tourists. The rooms are simple huts facing the gardens and the beach with all mod cons (though no AC). The decoration is truly African and in the best possible taste. I was surprised that there weren’t bigger crowds, then I remembered, this is Malawi and mid-week so even the weekenders are still at work back in Blantyre or Lilongwe. We spent two amazing days here enjoying the beach, the pool, the gardens and the Spa, again we would recommend you try it too.
www.clubmak.com/
