Malawians have converged on a tourist’s facebook page to rebuff allegations made against their treasury Lake Malawi.
The tourist, who owns a Facebook page by the name On Her Bike, posted on Wednesday that she contracted Bilharzia followed by other infections after swimming in Lake Malawi when she visited the country.
“I haven’t had a good run with my health for the last couple of months. One issue led to another…It started with Bilharzia (as a result of swimming in Lake Malawi) which led to a bladder infection, followed by a urinary tract infection, and on top of that I got the shingles,” she posted.
However, the post did not go well with many Malawians who think her health complications have no link to swimming in Lake Malawi.
The tourist was quickly lambasted by many Malawians including known celebrities like Gwamba.
In disagreeing with her, Gwamba commented, “Thousands of people have posted about swimming in lake Malawi before, you are the first one to ever get shingles. Perhaps it’s not Lake Malawi? Perhaps you had the infection already before visiting Malawi”?
Another angry Malawian, Joy Mumderanji Chinyama commented, “You lost your health somewhere else. Not because of the beautiful waters of Lake Malawi. That lake is our treasure don’t talk bad about it….Bilharzia, Urinary track infection plus shingles, you are blaming it all on Lake Malawi? Go and have a blood test. Don’t come to Malawi again.”
Also defending Lake Malawi was radio 2FM’s veteran DJ Mike C saying, “Bilharzia? in Lake Malawi? Did u get the Lake Malawi water tested? And the shingles? Your story is not adding up……Mwadwalikatu Chemwa”.
According to the overall comments, it showed there was indeed no way the tourist could’ve contracted the infections in the way she described.
Lake Malawi is the ninth largest lake in the world. It is a fresh water lake and forms most of the eastern border between Malawi and Mozambique. The lake is the third largest lake in Africa. Its maximum depth is some 704 metres (2310 feet), making it the fourth deepest lake in the world.
Lake Malawi is a meromictic lake, meaning that its water layers do not mix.
