Entering the Warm Heart of Africa

My trip started off with an obscene amount of nonstop travelling. Three flights totaling 28 hrs from Seattle to Lusaka, Zambia followed by 2 full days of nonstop busing (hot, extremely dusty, and cramped as hell) to finally reach the site of the Lake of Stars music festival near Mangochi, Malawi.

A view from the bus ride. The immense trees are the sacred Baobob

But it was well worth the trip. I spent the next 3 days at the festival with Graham, one of my best friends who is serving in the Peace Corps in Zambia. The quality and diversity of the music blew me away even more than the beautiful site of the festival right on the beach of Lake Malawi, one of the largest lakes on the planet.

Meeting friendly Malawians is a nonstop affair. The people were consistently the nicest and warmest I have ever encountered anywhere in the world. Malawi is truly deserving of its title as “the warm heart of Africa”. People came up to me all the time just to meet me and have small conversation. People shared food on buses and on numerous occasions I was invited to stay at peoples houses.