Mummy: Eleanor, we really need to get the blog done about Malawi. It has been ages since we did a blog, and we left Malawi ages ago.

Eleanor: urrrgghhh

Mummy: Come on, how about we write it as a play. I’ll ask questions, and you answer.

Eleanor: urgghhhh…..ok.

M: Do you remember crossing into Malawi?

E: Yes, it took about 45 minutes, so really quick. There was a little boy who asked us for sweets or pens. Then we went to Floja. It was a campsite right by the lake. There is normally a preschool there but it was school holidays. I found a scorpion in the sink!! There were pigs and cows on the beach!!

M: Where did we go next?

E: We went up a windy road to a place called Livingstonia. It was settled by Scottish missionaries. We went to a church with a stained glass window of Dr. Livingstone. Then we went up the bell tower, but it was a bit scary as Daddy said he nearly fell through because of the dry rot. We bought a globe made of ebony and in the middle is a secret compartment!

E: Then we went to Lukwe farm campsite. It was an eco camp, so when you went to the toilet you had to cover it with ash and leaves. We also saw a really big moth, and it’s wings looked exactly like leaves! We went to Manchewe Falls, but we could only stand at the top of them and lots of people tried to follow us.

E: Then we went to Vwasa National Park. There were lots of flies in the car – horseflies, which bite. We saw lots of elephants though. We stayed in a little house with a mosquito net over our bed. We saw a crocodile and there were lots and lots of hippos. We could hear them grunting! Vivi had her favourite dinner – pesto pasta!

M: Why did Genevieve have pesto pasta?

E: Because Genevieve turned 6!! I made her a card with a unicorn on it, and I gave her a heart shaped bag with sequins that change colour. She got a new barbie doll, and some colouring books and some reading books. She also got a fish mouth game where you press a button and try and get some rings on a hook.

E: Then we went to Nkhata Bay.  They made Vivi a birthday cake with real candles on it. Daddy went diving, and we went swimming in the pool. When Daddy finished diving we ate all the popcorn!

M: After that we stayed at Cool Runnings for a night, then went to Majete National Park. What was that like?

E: I loved Majete. It reminded us of Burnham Beeches. It was next to the Shire River.  We saw a waterfall and a dam. We saw more hippos and crocodiles. We saw, zebra, giraffe and a hyena. We saw lots of impala and water buck. We went and sat at a hide for an hour and we saw elephants come and drink. I took lots of photos.

E: Then we went to the Zomba Plateau. It was a good view and we stayed on a trout farm, through Daddy wasn’t allowed to go fishing. We had a big campfire.

M: Then we went to another national park, called Liwonde.

E: Yes – we were hoping to see some black rhino, but we didn’t see any. We saw lots of antelope, but everything was near the river and hard to see. We did learn to play Bau, a game with a board with 32 holes and 64 seeds. And there was a good pool.

M: After that we went back to Lake Malawi, to Monkey Bay.

E: Yes – we went swimming and found lots of snail shells! There where cool mosaics in the toilets. I cut my finger though.

E: Then we went back to Nkhata Bay. Daddy did an advanced diving course, and he took my barbie doll with him! It was really fun, we went kayaking on the lake and we went swimming and saw lots of fish.

M: Why did Daddy take photos of your doll?

E: I am writing a book called ‘The Adventures of Overlanding Barbie’. It is really good, I have taken photos of her all around Nkhata Bay!

M: After that we went to Cool Runnings Campsite. Can you remember one of the good things they were doing there?

E: Ohh. They do a swap shop. Kids bring in plastic rubbish, and it gets weighed, then they swap it for clothes, footballs, and toys. It is a good idea, there is a lot of rubbish. Especially little blue plastic bags – they call them the rose of Malawi.

M: Then we went back to Floja, what was that like?

E: We went back to Floja when the preschool was running. I helped you make lots of finger puppets to give to the children to play with. The preschool was like a real school. The children did lessons and learnt numbers, and letters and shapes. They wrote on a blackboard with chalk and I had a go too. They had a really cool playground, with swings, seesaw and merry go round. And the best was a zip wire!

M: What happened when we were leaving Malawi?

E: We went back to Shoprite in Mzuzu and there was a protest. Lots of people were on the street and we got locked in the carpark. Some of the guards had guns. There was loud music, but we realised we could sneak out the back way, then we went back to Zambia.

M: Did you like Malawi?

E: Yes, I liked swimming in the lake, but it isn’t my favourite country.

M: When is ‘The Adventures of Overlanding Barbie’ coming out?

Eleanor has gone, jumped back in the pool….