From Cape Maclear we headed off north a short way along the lake to Senga Bay. From the border all the way to Cape Maclear there was no diesel to be had anywhere and we knew we wouldn’t have enough to make it all the way north and out of Malawi. There was still no diesel at the first few places we tried on our way to Senga Bay, however at one of the police roadblocks the officer told us he thought we might find some in Salima. Sure enough, the third petrol station we tried in Salima had received a delivery just that morning, so we joined the short queue and managed to fill up, which was a bit of a relief. (We had planned though to make sure we were at a really nice place on the lake if we got stuck and just had to wait until there was diesel again – I could think of worse places to be stuck!) It must be a right pain in the neck for the locals with the constant fuel shortages. We’ve been told that they will run out of petrol one day and be out for a while, but will have diesel and then the reverse happens. Because of it, the price of diesel is a ridiculous 260 Kw ($1.70) per litre, although it is the same price everywhere.
Today our car window shopping whilst we were in the queue for fuel, consisted of some eggs, which we thought were uncooked, but turned out to be hard boiled. No problem, I had them on my sandwiches for lunch. I guess it is the African version of drive through take away.
We spent the night at Steps Campsite on the lake’s edge. The campsite is quite nice with heaps of sandy beach, lots of grass and really hot, clean showers. It has a large bar area and 
you can order food from the hotel, but it was a bit too pricey for us. Unfortunately it was also really windy, and whilst the wind wasn’t cold it still made it quite unpleasant. The wind also stirs up the lake and forms waves just like on an ocean beach, and because the lake is so huge you forget it is a lake. We spent some time chatting to one of the locals, but it was an early dinner and into the tent to read to escape the wind.
