_{Now we write this sitting on a picturesque lakeside bungalow while monkeys play in the trees and lizards the size of my forearm sunbathe nearby. The lake here really looks just like a calm ocean and is a beautiful tropical clear blue, it takes up most of the horizon.
Yesterday was a 5 hour taxi ride from Lilongwe to Mzuzu, where we had very good Indian food with two students and a man from Likoma island who all ordered the “Chips & Fish” from the menu. We did manage to get one of the boys to try our orange rice, though he refused to believe us that it was rice. These are the two star students that our predecessor organized to have sent to a private school on the mainland. We will try to keep up with them to see how they are doing, though they have no phone and forgot their email so we must go to the boarding school in person and track them down.
We then drove the last hour to Nkhata bay, where the ferry to Likoma will take off from. We have all of our luggage, plus 3 bins of food and big things of water and the path to our bungalow was very tiny, uneven and narrow steps. While Ryan checked in, someone came up to me in the parking lot to sell carved wooden games. “I know why white people come here, to help us. Help me by buying this so I can feed my family.” He knows our type. I told him to not assume we have money from the color of our skin, and so he offered me a bargain. Someone from the hotel came to help carry our bags, and he stood waiting for our salesman to finish talking. When I finally interrupted to say “no Thankyou” he politely left, which is more than you can say for most salesman. We were brought to this little bungalow and were very excited about the beautiful outside shower with warm water with a great view of the lake, about the flush toilet up some steep steps with no door so you can still wave at the person on the bed, and about the Frenchpress.
We went for a Kayak ride to watch the sunset. They had traditional hollow out canoes, and promise that if two people can sit inside it and make it around the buoy and back without falling in, you get a free nights stay. We leave that as a future challenge. We had some Belgian waffles for dinner and fell asleep listening to the waves.}

_{The next morning we awoke to the sunrise and had another delicious breakfast at the lakeside. we dipped our toes in the water, and rented some snorkels. It is true- there is a very diverse population of very colorful fish! We went in to town to find bedding and sheets. While in town we decided to check in on our sailing reservation for later in the evening to Likoma. We found out that not only had our sailing time been pushed back by a day, but they could not find our reservation. I guess it doesn’t pay to book in advance!} It looks like we will be sleeping on the deck. We found this blog that seems to explain it quite well. Here we come first class! (You will have to copy paste into the browser, I am posting from my phone which lacks the same editing tools)

The Ilala Ferry, Malawi – My Best Worst Journey Ever