🇲🇼 Malawi
We spent 95 days traveling around the world and returned with one single souvenir—a wooden carving depicting the “Big Five,” acquired along the beach in Malawi, Africa.
We’re not big souvenir people, usually opting for a single fridge magnet for each “big” trip (a tradition we only occasionally remember to participate in). And since we were carting this stuff—quite literally around the damn world—we knew that collecting souvenirs was out of the question.
And besides, we would be traveling through a number of countries, each of which might prohibit importing a piece of wood like this (a not uncommon issue when crossing borders). But because our African experience was so memorable, we decided to give it a go anyway, accepting the possible fate. Luckily, it wasn’t a problem. Had we not been so rushed to return home early, we probably would have snagged another souvenir in Australia. But alas, we returned with just the one. -S
Short stops to break up the long days on the road
To break up the long days on the road, we had several short stops for tours: a rubber farm in Malawi; a coffee plantation in Tanzania; and in Zanzibar, a tour of Stone Town (the capital) and a spice farm. -J 🇲🇼🇹🇿
The Malawi rubber farm
The Tanzania coffee plantation
Tour of Stone Town, Zanzibar, and its markets
Zanzibar spice farm
More photos can be found at: www.icloud.com/sharedalb…
🎥 Recapping our 24-day overlanding safari of Africa
Here’s a video recap of what we thought about our 24-day overlanding safari tour of Africa. What did we like? Dislike? Would we do it again? Find out below.
And here’s a short montage video someone on our tour made for his students—focusing on the first few days of the East Africa portion of our tour—using a 360 camera.
And if you missed it, here’s more on the overlanding truck we used:
https://adventuresaroundthe.world/2025/01/07/a-little-bit-about-the.html
-S 🇿🇦🇧🇼🇿🇼🇿🇲🇲🇼🇹🇿
🎥 Recapping our wildlife experiences in Africa
A video discussion of our wildlife experiences in Africa. Did we see everything we wanted to? What were the game drives like? Find out in the video below. -S 🇿🇦🇧🇼🇿🇼🇿🇲🇲🇼🇹🇿
🎶 …Everybody was kung fu fighting… 🎶
Some vervet monkeys playing around our campsite at Lake Malawi on New Years Day. It was fun to watch these two chase and wrestle around; should have stayed longer to get more shots!
Uncomfortable in Africa
The primary constant during our time in Africa has been the feeling of being uncomfortable. I’m referring to physical discomfort, not the discomfort that comes from traveling as a privileged person in a land that lacks it (we’ll write about that another time).
Humid beyond belief. Hot, intense sun. Omnipresent insects, especially at night in our tent or room. Bumpy roads. Long drives. Constant sweat. Frequent rain. Fleeting internet access. Sporadic electricity. Unnecessary delays. Cold showers. Warm beer. Unending stickiness. Long lines. Terrible toilets. Ubiquitous mud. Reliable unreliability.
Africa is a challenge because everything is a bit uncomfortable. Everything.
It’s an adventure, not a vacation, and so this was expected. But it also gives us a glimpse into daily life on this continent. We will eventually return to air conditioning, roads that don’t resemble minefields, and bug-free hotel rooms—while the locals continue with life as-is.
-S 🇹🇿🇲🇼🇿🇲
Many of our meals on this African tour are made by our guide/chef from the side of the Nomad truck. We have been pleasantly surprised by how tasty they have been. Last night in Malawi, some locals joined us and cooked us some of their local dishes, which were delightful. -J 🇲🇼
When we renewed our ASU football season tickets in early 2024, it was beyond our wildest dreams that we’d be listening to a radio broadcast of ASU going into a second overtime of a playoff game while we laid in our bed, in the dark, under a mosquito net in Malawi, fighting off swarms of bugs. 🇲🇼
Rainstorms have been a constant thing here in Africa. Here is yet another storm approaching—this one brewing over Lake Malawi earlier this morning. We managed to get the Nomad truck up the hill and out of the campground before it hit. -S 🇲🇼
Happy New Year from Malawi! -J 🇲🇼
And we’re off on our 24-day safari thru South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania!
Here’s our vehicle for the journey! -S 🇿🇦🇧🇼🇿🇼🇿🇲🇲🇼🇹🇿