Travel to and from Malawi

We traveled to Malawi for Christmas spending a couple days at Lake Malawi and then a few more with friends. Our traveling was....interesting! It's about a 12 hour drive through the beautiful countryside or 'bush' as it's called. We saw countless huts and villages, hundreds of people walking, riding bikes or sitting by the road selling things - mostly mangoes. Keith had to avoid hitting people, baboons, tortoise, cattle and cattle boys but mostly goats! We would be clipping along at a nice pace only to brake suddenly when a herd of goats ran out in the road. I bet that happened 15 times. It got nerve racking for poor Keith and we had a few close calls. We also saw many ox carts pulled by a pair and driven by men or boys with sticks. I regret not getting a picture of them but they were too close to the road and we were breezing by. I bought a figure of an ox cart because I liked seeing them so well. People love Coke everywhere even in the most rural area!
We had two instances of radiator problems on the way there but Keith fixed the thermostat when we arrived. He is always prepared with tools and water so we were on our way soon. Gave us a 'bush' potty stop! One potty stop we took at a gas station and Kelly went in and said there was a big cockroach in there. (Not surprising - lots of bugs and spiders, no seats or TP in any bathroom) So I went in to see and thought I saw a snake hiding by the trash can. Keith went in next and shooed out a small monitor lizard - seen in picture. Really- the head looked like a snake and it even has a forked tongue that goes in and out.
We had one big obstacle at a bridge construction site. The main bridge was being built and the old bridge had collapsed under the load of a semi truck & trailer. Men directed us through the supports of the new bridge to the other side where a bus and a straight truck were stuck in the sand because the makeshift ramp was too steep. Amazingly, there wasn't any water in the creek. We barely had room to pass and about 50 men were standing around or trying to get the other two vehicles out. If we got stuck the whole area would have been blocked. Keith had to lock in the 4-wheel drive hubs and plow through the sand and up, also avoiding foolish people standing too close. Whew - great driving Keith!