It was just before 1:30 when we got to the bus station to board or bus to Lilongwe from Lusaka. We had booked our tickets in advance and were due to leave at 2pm on a journey that we were told would take 10hrs. We decided to get there early to avail of the front seats again and imagined the journey to be just as luxurious as the previous journey, considering the price. We had no idea what we let ourselves in for.

The chaos started as soon as we arrived and saw everyone waiting for the bus to arrive with tonnes of luggage everywhere. When it arrived I looked for someone to put my bag under the bus but couldn't see anyone doing their job. I asked an employee who took my bag and told us to go and find seats. We waited in line for the doors to open and after 45 mins or so I noticed the employee walking round and round with my backpack still on him, strapped into it properly and everything. I began to get frustrated as he kept disappearing so I told him to put the bag in where I could see it. I was worried it wouldn't make it to Lilongwe. When the doors finally opened, the mob of people pushed their way through the doors to get a seat which confused us. Surely there was enough seats for everyone? When we finally got on, there were no seats left and there were people jam packed down the aisles which left is panicking and claustrophobic. We squeezed our way out and began venting our frustration at the various employees to find us a seat. We had paid a ridiculous amount for this ticket and to have no seat for 10 hours was out of order. It seemed that no one could tell us what was going on or even give us an answer at all, leaving us more and more angry. We watched as they loaded juice crate after juice crate onto the bus to fill every bit of space but yet they couldn't give us any space. Outraged, I ordered the employee to give me my bag and as I went to put it in the bus they asked for 20 kwacha more. I couldn't believe it. I denied of course, and rushed onto the bus. We were stood in the only space available at the front by the driver, until we were ushered out of the bus and into a taxi and told to leave our belongings behind. Angry, I rushed down the aisle and grabbed my bag, not knowing where the taxi would take us.

We drove in the taxi for about 15 minutes before being left at the side of the road at some 'station' to wait for the bus that could now possibly have space. Which it didn't, of course! Once again we got back on the jam packed bus and I was out sitting on a metal railing while Elise was sat on a crate on the stairs. We sat like this for 6 hours believe it or not! I took video after video to document the entire scenario and by the end of it all we couldn't help but laugh about the chaotic situation.

Along the way, a woman, squeezed to the front, walking funny, and got off the bus in a hurry. When she returned, we could smell her before we could see her. It had turned out that she had shit all over her arm and while walked back to her seat, she had wiped it onto Elise and a poor man sat near me. Both their faces looked on in horror as they both reached for water, tissues and disinfectant to wipe away the disgustingness. The whole bus was in shock that this had happened but nevertheless the bus carried on and we suffered with the lingering stench. We couldn't help but feel sorry for the people sat next to the lady. We hoped that she wouldn't get off next and they would give us her seat.

We carried onwards and stopped a few more times for roadside toilet breaks and food. We were bombarded with songs on repeat from James Blunt, Celine Dion and believe it or not.. Westlife! We couldn't help but try and forget what had happened and just sing along for the whole bus to hear. After 6 hours of pain and a numb ass, we finally got offered seats at the first major stop, close to the border. We took the seats and before long we were ushered off the bus to complete immigration check points etc to enter Malawi again. Once back on the bus around 2am, we had been in transit for almost 10

hours as it was and we were due to be in Lilongwe at this stage, but we hadn't even left Lusaka until 3:30pm. We at in our seats for a few hours before we got to Lilongwe which no one ha even told us. We woke up as the bus was stopped and realised that we were in Lilongwe at 4:30am. We took a taxi to Mabuya camp where we would hopefully sleep for a few hours and then take a further 7hour trip back to Mzuzu with our friend Renny in the back of his landrover the next morning (which wasn't so bad even with no windows or fresh air). When we arrived in Mzuzu the next day having had a few hours sleep in one of the dorms for half price, we were thoroughly exhausted but our bodies were still functioning not knowing what rhythm or routine we were currently in! We calculated that we had taken at least 25 modes of transport during the whole trip to and from Zambia and by far the 'Zambia to Malawi' company was the worst! Nevertheless we are safe and sound and even with a bruised ass, I can now look back and laugh at the situation.

Malawi I'm glad to be back!

Having spent a lovely day in Lusaka, exploring the most exciting mall we'd seen in a while, we were well rested and ready to head to Livingstone the next day. We had stayed in Lusaka backpackers which was super cool and we planned to stay in Jollyboys backpackers when we got to Livingstone. We spent an evening and a full day hanging out at Manda Hill mall in Lusaka city centre where we enjoyed fine dining good shopping before booking our 7 hour bus trip at the inter city bus station. The bus would leave at 6am and we planned to spend the rest of the day in Livingstone exploring the town and then the next full day at the falls.

The next day we checked out of Lusaka backpackers and reserved a room for when we returned. We took the luxury bus at 6am and were provided with the best front row seats behind the driver, right in front of the TV screen which felt like we were at the movies. The journey was really enjoyable and we had a decent sleep and ate the goodies we'd prepared for ourselves while watching one of the blockbusters they showed onscreen. The journey went pretty fast and before we knew it we had arrived in Livingstone, aquired an Indian traveller friend and checked into the pretty amazing Jollyboys backpackers.

The backpackers was well equipped with a pool, a sunken cushion filled lounge area, an upstairs chillout room, a bar and a restaurant. It was here that I ran into my Mzoozoozoo pal Christian once again and his wife who were due to see the falls tomorrow too. After a recommendation from Christian, we headed to Cafe Zambezi for some delicious food before going to the station to buy our bus tickets once again to get back to Lusaka. I had changed my plan and decided to go back with Elise to Mzuzu for a week or so. After that, we explored the town and then the Mukuni craft markets which we were told were 'hassle free' but in actual fact were more hassling than anywhere else. We bought some souvenirs and then headed back to the hostel for a quite evening out of the stormy weather.

The next day we checked out, stored our luggage at the bus station and after a quick breakfast we headed to the falls with the free hostel bus. The day spent at the falls was truly incredible and our decision to rent the ponchos they had on offer, was the best decision of the day. We walked around the park for hours and hours getting absolutely drenched by the powerful spray of the largest waterfall on earth and took some of the trails to see the falls from so many different angles. At the end, we even left the park and Zambia, to enter the bridge crossing to Zimbabwe for a few minutes to see people jump the third largest bungee in the world. We were officially in Zimbabwe even if it wasn't for long. The day brought so many amazing memories and left us in awe of the power of Mother Nature. I was worried that I would be disappointed having seen Niagara and Iguassu Falls previously but this sight blew my mind over and over again. What an amazing place.

Later on we took a shared taxi back to town, had some dinner at Cafe Zambezi and headed to the bus station to leave on our 7pm journey back to Lusaka. It was yet another luxurious journey back and it wasn't long before we arrived at Lusaka Backpackers only to be given a courtesy double chalet room because they had not reserved our dorm beds for us. We had a decent sleep before we were due to check our and head back to Lilongwe on the bus that would turn out to bête journey from hell.

It was back in Mzuzu when I decided to join Elise to South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. I wanted to go through Zambia anyway to get down to South Africa but felt that I hadn't seen enough of Malawi yet. I decided to join her for a week or so to do some exploring and then head back to Malawi to explore some more there. I started out by taking a bus Lilongwe from Mzuzu which took 3 hours to even leave the station and ended up dropping me in Lilongwe hours later that evening, leaving Elise and my Mzoozoozoo family wonderingn where I was. Nevertheless, I arrived safe and we stayed there for two nights in order to check out Lilongwe itself before crossing the border.

We stayed at Mabuya Eco Camp which was nice but wasn't the best place id ever stayed for various reasons. One being the fact that we were held back from going to the border early because reception wasn't open. Lilongwe itself was a bit disappointing and wasn't what either of us had expected. The many 'malls' we'd read about were a let down and there wasn't much else to do in the city so we decided to leave to Zambia the next day.

With luck on our side, we were only charged for one night by accident for the expensive dorm and this streak of luck continued. The next day it took 5 modes of transport in true backpacker fashion before we reached Croc Valley camp where we stayed for one night and organised our safari. The dorm was $25 each with free wifi, a pool and a restaraunt. They organised the game drive for us for the morning and evening which cost $40 each and we didn't realise this until the end when we were charged for only one of the game drives each even though we did both which should have cost $80 each. We kept quiet!

Our hut was awesome and had an open air shower and toilet at the back which felt weird at first but pretty Eco free after the first few minutes, even if the baboons were watching you from above. We left for the morning safari at 6am until 10am the next morning and had an incredible time spotting zebras, giraffes, elephants, impala and lions. The evening drive was from 4pm until 10pm where we spotted a group of leaopards hunting, hyenas, elephants, hippos and their babies and on the way home we even spotted a giant hippo right by our dorm. They were right in saying 'beware of the wild animals'. Both game drives were awesome and we had so much fun bouncing around in the land rover with the other girls we had previously met in Mzuzu. We even had the middle of the day to lay by the pool and relax in the hammocks which was so nice, especially with the noises of the wild animals in the background.

That evening we decided to leave at 3am with the girls to Lusaka on the bus, but we took a taxi at 11pm to the station in order to sleep on the bus until it left. Unfortunately for us, we hadn't enough money to pay in Zambian Kwacha having only exchanged very little from the tours at the border and instead, convinced the guy to take the rest in Malawian Kwachas which is never normally accepted. After a few phone calls we were paid up and good to go. The taxi man overheard about the money situation and didn't ask us to pay so we saved 20kwacha and got on the bus. We had 50 kwacha between us for food until we got to Lusaka whenever that may be. It was a very funny moment when Elise urged me to put the 50 in my pocket and pretend we didn't have it, just so we could have money to eat. She was well and truly in backpacker mode!

We hopped on the bus grabbed some seats, spread out and had a few hours broken sleep before the bus would leave, little did we know that the journey would take almost 12 hours disregarding the time we spend on the bus before we left. The journey turned out to be seriously bumpy and gasps were heard during the night as the driver sped fast around the corners. We would be lucky to arrive alive and hours later we finally did. We couldn't fave another 7hours to Livingstone so we decided to stay in this cosmopolitan city for a day or two to explore the malls and everything that stood out to us as we entered the big bright city. Lusaka seemed like an awesome place!