Tourist Attractions in Malawi

One of the days we went to a local village to visit the witch doctor! It was quite an amusing performance, with drums and dance. Not very convincing, though, it was very clear to us that this was something they were doing for money, trying to sell us all kinds of herbs that would cure us for just about everything. We were followed by hords of kids and young men offering to be our private guide or our best friend, and asking for our adresses to become our pen friends. One of the guys in our group fell for this, and gave away his adress to everyone who asked! I hope he hasn't had a lot of begging letters or visitors suddenly waiting in front of his door back home!

On our way to the witch doctor we passed through a village where people were growing vegetables in their gardens. A young boy seemed to be a bit ashamed because of this, and told us that the reason why was that they were unemployed and poor, so they could not buy vegetables in the store! Well, I think they were lucky to be able to grow their own vegetables, I do too, and I am not ashamed of it!

Unique Suggestions: Just enjoy it for what it is, these people need their income just like anybody else.

Monkey Bay itself is not worth stopping at unless you have to. It has no beach, and the accomodation here is dodgy to say the least.... It is best to head straight for Cape Maclear for the great beaches and watersports.

Unique Suggestions: Have a walk around town

Fun Alternatives: Go straight to Cape Maclear!

Nkhata Bay is an absolute tourist trap. If you enjoy drinking and hanging out with foreigners, this
is the place to go! Truth is, I had a great time there...I needed a week to drink and hang out with
foreigners! Just be careful not to get stuck there. Some people had been there for 2 months or
more, and showed no sign of leaving.

Curios are very expensive in Nkhata Bay, because of the high density of tourists. For less
expensive wood carvings and other curios, check out Blantyre.

The beachboys are also extremely persistent in Nkhata Bay, probably because they score pretty
often. For those of you not familiar with beachboys, they are local men who attempt to seduce
tourists into romantic trysts. It’s not one-sided, of course - plenty of foreign women are
consciously seeking a local man to...ahem...meet their needs.