Thanksgiving at Lake Malawi

 Zach and I spent Thanksgiving at Lake Malawi with some of friends (as you all know). We drove about 5 hours north to Chintheche, the third part of the lake we've visited. The lake is awesome - it's much prettier than I'd expected. The beaches are smooth white sand that slope very slowly into the lake, making for shallow water with perfect sandy bottoms near the shore. The water is a beautiful blue color, clear, and there are cool fish to look at when you snorkel, which is always a bonus. It pretty much feels like paradise. Best of all, the closest part of the lake is only an hour from our house so it makes a great weekend away, though we've only gone out there three times.

Early Friday morning we packed up our roommates, Bay, and some baking supplies and headed out. We had rented a 4 bedroom house for the 14 of us to share (4 of us, including Zach and I, camped). The food was delicious and the company was good. The weather was perfect - hot enough to want to swim but not humid. (A few thunderstorms passed by us, much to Bay's chagrin, but they didn't hit us - we just watched the lightening while we swam in the lake, which was an interesting experience.) Here's the house we stayed in:

We spent time walking along the beach, swimming, cooking, reading, and playing boardgames. Bay also had his first go at swimming. Definitely different from Thanksgiving back home - and we were both feeling a little bit homesick - but a great experience anyway. Here are some of our friends wandering down the beach:

One of the coolest things about Lake Malawi is that it's not a tourist spot. The locals still rely on the lake for food and water and children hang out on the beach everywhere. They found us pretty entertaining (especially when they saw us playing ping pong) until Bay ran out of the house and scared them away. I'll leave you with a picture of our audience, pre-panicked screaming and running.

I love coming back to the internet on a Monday and seeing how my friends around the world spent their American holidays. Thanks to those of you who posted your pictures!