As with so much of Africa, the contrast between the excruciating poverty and the beauty of the landscapes in Malawi is incredibly uncomfortable.

I started off in Lilongwe experiencing what I would regard as the ‘authentic’ side of the country. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world and the poverty is ubiquitous.

There is the rubbish piling up on the streets and beggars on the street as you sadly see in a lot of African cities, but the image that is etched into my memory is the collections of people everywhere who are just sitting around on street corners in the middle of the afternoon.

In places like Zimbabwe there were few large industries but a lot of self-employed individuals selling everything they could lay their hands on but in Malawi with locals having no money to buy even basic goods there wasn’t this opportunity – people just didn’t work.

Some call Malawi the warm heart of Africa for the famed friendliness of people, but the longer I have spent in Africa, the more I find wealthy westerners praising the friendliness of Africans living in poverty quite patronising and more than a little malevolent.

There’s no benefit in romanticising their poverty and the friendliness and community spirit they exhibit; their circumstances are truly dire and there isn’t a positive spin on it.

Of course there is another side to Africa than these images of poverty and Lake Malawi gives you some of the finest views in the world.

My first image of the lake was going to Cape Maclear. A large part of the journey was via a public bus which was as hot and cramped as I have quickly become accustomed too!

I then got to Chembe but was still 30KM away from my hostel. There were no local buses or taxis nearby so the only option was to take a ‘motorcycle taxi’ which was an experience that I won’t forget in a hurry.

The rickety old motorcycle had by backpack balanced on the front which caused the bike to sway from side to side as we headed off along the dirt roads to our destination. The prudent option at this stage would have been to go slowly and carefully but of course time is money so that wasn’t an option.

Instead we went racing along these bumpy roads overtaking HGV’s who couldn’t see us, often within inches of other vehicles in moves that would make Lewis Hamilton wince!

Remarkably we did eventually make it to the hostel in one piece and the view was well worth almost losing my life for!!

Lake Malawi was nicknamed the ‘Lake of Stars’ by David Livingstone and I quickly understood why. In my first evening I sat by the bar and watched the stars twinkle brightly in the sky and the lake shine as fishermen light their lanterns ready for a midnight fishing expedition.

The lake is peaceful and during the day is incredibly tranquil. I somewhat ruined the ambiance by leading a group of an American aid worker and 2 German girls in a rendition of ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ but I had a phone and they had a Bluetooth speaker so what else could I do!

The lake is the 9^th largest lake in the world. I’m not sure quite what makes it so stunning. It might be the contrast from the poverty and madness of the big cities, the tropical wildlife, the calmness of the river, the stunning sunsets or the bright blue colour of the lake.

It might be a combination of all of the above.

I continued up the coast to get up to Nkhata Bay to get another perspective on the lake. At this point I was a bit further north than the area populated with tourists so I sat watching the fisherman get to work whilst woman washed clothes by the banks of the river as kids collected shells to sell in the local market.

A reminder if it was ever needed of the juxtaposition of beautiful landscapes and ugly poverty in this remarkable continent.