Savin' the Lake for Last--Part One of Two

Hello, again! Due to the rave reviews I've gotten on the last part of my 'trip up north last week' story (2 comments and counting ;-), I guess it's time to tell that last part of the tale-- the lake. By the way, before I start, please make note that I've made a couple of corrections on my picture captions for the "Emperor's View" and the "Queen's View" on the pix of the Zomba Plateau at left. A good Malawian friend of mine set me straight, as I was WAY OFF on my historical facts--er, guesses, on both views. Sorry about that! In any case, check it out for more details...

I also have news about the Chancellor College lecturers' strike. It ended this past week, but now there is not much rejoicing over the proposed academic calendar. More on that in a later post, but let's just say it doesn't look like I'll be teaching much, if at all, at Chanco in 2008, as I'm scheduled to leave Malawi on June 1st of this year. More on that later, too...

So, it's time for the last part of the story, now that you know we survived the 'elephant incident...' The thrill-seekers among you may find this part of the tale a bit less interesting, but I'll do my best to 'spice it up,' while keeping the details mostly accurate ;-)

So, after surviving the near-fatal elephant experience, we headed back to Mzuzu, a bit shaken up, but generally o.k. After a quick trip to bring some of Mac's farm workers from his home back to his quite impressive crop fields where they (the field hands) live, we came back to the house to review the pictures I took of our elephant adventures. Of course, there were many more shots of the happy, playful elephants in the water than of the big bull elephant shortly after our 'Jurrassic Park-esque' ordeal. As you know from my last post, those pix should be up shortly... patience, my friends, I'll get them up, I promise!

The next morning, Gillo took us to visit the secondary school where she works. Even though classes were off for the mid-term break, the Form 4 students were there to study for their secondary-school final exams, so we coaxed them into letting me take a couple of pictures of them in the classroom during a break between study sessions. Several teachers were also there to give class sessions focused on preparing students for their final secondary school certification (MSCE) exams. Of course, those pictures will also be posted to the left this weekend, along with the fabulous elephant adventure pix.

After visiting the school, we went to the fabulous Mzuzu market, featuring several nice goods from Tanzania, especially clothing that can't be found in other parts of the country. Of course, this was a highlight for Deliwe, who (like many women around the world in her age group), loves to shop, especially for clothing. We also managed to find some nice shoes for her younger brother Movuto to wear to school, as well as a good suitcase for Harold, our gardener. Deliwe got a new jacket for the 'cold' months of June and July, and I got a new blouse and a skirt, though due to a lack of 'fitting rooms,' I realized upon my return that the skirt was WAY too small, so it now belongs to Deliwe's already expansive wardrobe. So, after about 2 hours of shopping (a good hour too long for me), we headed back to the house to prepare for our trip to our first stop along the lake, Nkhata Bay.

So, after saying our quick goodbyes, we headed down to Nkhata Bay, only about 50 kms. southeast of Mzuzu. Of course, we expected a nice, short trip, but then again, this is Malawi. and Me. Remember? This means that we ended up taking a few detours before making it to our final destination. First of all, when we took the famous M5 highway into Nkhata Bay, we hit a dead-end and had to turn around. Of course, I took the dead end to mean we'd taken the wrong part of the highway (my lousy travel guide map was no help at all, as usual), so we went back to the main highway (about 15 mins back down the 'bay road spur' as I lovingly refer to it). Once we got to the main M5 highway again, we headed further south. Of course, those who know me will not be surprised that I continued driving for a good 20 mins. or so before I realized I'd gone WAY too far, and had to turn back. I was blessed not only with a lousy sense of direction, but also a lousy sense of distance... the two combine to make me a perpetually lost traveller, unless I have an incredible map, preferably with a guide and compass to go with it... This, of course, has never been the case here in Malawi, so we were in for another 'lost Jen in the wilderness' type of adventure.

After Deliwe asked a nice guy walking along the road in the rubber tree forest (more on that later) which way we should go, we turned around, and then asked a couple other guys for confirmation of the direction/distance about 5 mins. later. Those guys actually needed a ride to the bay (we were actually staying in Ilala Bay), so we let them get in the back while they gave us directions.(Ya, a la "Amazing Race"-- I'm embarrassed to say I sometimes watch that T.V. show back home, but usually don't make it through the hour due to the irritating nature of the people it features)... but I digress...

So, as you may have guessed, these guys directed us right back to the original 'Nkhata Bay road spur' that we were on earlier. Ya, a typical mistake of mine... I never stay on the original path, and trust my instincts. I was pretty sure it was right, but couldn't figure out exactly how... Ya, should've asked for directions back then--duh!

In any case, we headed back in the same direction we'd gone before, and then when the guys told us where to turn right, of course we saw all the signs for several lodges and resthouses, including the one we'd booked, the 'Butterfly Inn.' At that point, we knew we were going in the right direction. So, we headed down the somewhat sketchy, bumpy, muddy road (conditions which no longer make me flinch after all the driving I've done here). As we continued up the road, it started to get muddier, and a bit bumpier, but I felt we could get through it without too much trouble, so we continued. Eventually, we started going up a hill on the edge of the bay, and the road became rocky. No big deal. The roads all over the Zomba area are extremely rocky too, so I just kept going. Then, it got rockier, and bumpier, and I started to get a bit more hesitant. Eventually, we came to a part where there seemed to be a huge boulder sticking up from the road, I shifted into first gear, and tried to gun my little Toyota over it. That's when I heard it. The sound. You know the one. That loud, screeching, scraping sound that makes you think you've completely destroyed the bottom of your car. Ya. That one. AAAH!

I immediately stopped the car and called the "Butterfly Inn"-- or was it the 'Butterfly lodge'? One of the signs said 'Butterfly Place'. In any case, I was wishin I were a butterfly at that point cuz flyin was the only way I was gonna make it there. Of course, I had a funny conversation with the woman on the other line, which I'll chronicle here:

"Hello, Butterfly Lodge (or Inn, Or Place, or Somethin...)"

"Hi, this is Jennifer, the woman who called you earlier this morning."

"Oh, Hello. How are you?"

"Well, not so good. I'm standing in the middle of the road up to your lodge (or inn, or place, or somethin...)"

"Oh, what happened?"

"Well, I tried to drive up this road, but it's pretty bad, and I'm driving a small Toyota Carina. Do your other guests drive on this thing?"

"Yes."

"Really? Do they have 4-wheel drives?"

"Well, some do, but some just come in regular cars."

(The Malawians will like this next one...)

"Are they Malawians, or Mzungus?"

(Calmly) "Well, both, actually."

"Wow, I can't imagine how I could get my car up this thing. I think I'd better turn around and park in town. Are you far from there?"

"No, it's just about 10 minutes walk from town. Not far at all." (HA! As you'll see later)

"OK, we'll have to find a place to park in town, and we'll just hike up."

"OK, see you soon!"

"OK, bye!"

So of course, we turned around (which also was a bit harrowing), with the 2 guys still in the back, and made our way down the hill again.

Once we got back into town, we found the police station, and decided that would be the best place to park the car. So, that's what we did. Of course, we did have to ask permission, and sign a book, and even had one of the officers ask for a ride to Salima the next day (though he changed his mind later), but in the end they let us park it there. Which was good, as we needed a secure area for it.

On a sidenote, both Deliwe and I needed to use the toilet at that point, and let me just say one thing. For people back home, have you ever seen that scene in the movie Trainspotting where the guy needs to use the bathroom urgently, and it's in the back of this pub, with a sign that reads something like, "The most horrible, disgusting toilet in Scotland,"? Well, that's nothin compared to the toilet at the police station at Nkhata Bay. I can say without a doubt (after using several very horrible toilets all over the world) that the toilet we used at Nkhata Bay is the MOST DISGUSTING TOILET IN THE WORLD! I challenge anyone to find a worse one, anywhere. I could've taken a picture, but I was too traumatized (perhaps even more than I was during the near-trampling by the elephant a day earlier).

So, eventually we took care of our business, headed up the hill (about 30 mins., NOT 10 mins.), and found the lodge/inn/place. Of course I was exhausted from the stress of getting lost, finding a place to park, dealing with the disgusting toilet, and hiking up the hill. Once we got up to our little 'stick house' (see pix at left), I told Deliwe I'd PAY her MK500 (about 3 dollars) if she'd go down to the bar (a bit of a hike down the hill) and bring a few beers up. Which she did gladly, without need for payment. Aaaahhh, that was more like it.... We had a great view of the bay from our balcony, and a couple of cold beers, some snacks, and a chat. It was almost worth all that other stuff (gettin lost, using awful toilet, hiking, ya, you know the drill...)

The rest of the stay was relatively uneventful... typical backpacker lodge/inn/place, met some nice people, but most of the people didn't really talk to us much. There was one nice British woman who was living and teaching in Zambia, trying to get a work-visa, so had to stay in Malawi for a bit while that was being processed. Other than that, not much else to tell about Nkhata Bay, except that there's virtually NO BEACH since the water has risen so much in the past few years, I guess due to increased rainfall in the area. Well, one more thing (I just remembered). After my evening shower (around 9:30 p.m.), I saw the most amazing sight... lights from fishing boats filling the bay. This is something I've seen on other parts of Lake Malawi, but not as impressive as it was in the bay.

So, the morals of our Nkhata Bay adventure are... Don't try to drive up the crazy boulder-ridden roads, avoid the police station bathroom, but head for a lodge/inn/place by the bay, have a beer or two, and enjoy the sight of the stars and shipping boat lights at night. Spectacular!

We headed out of Nkhata Bay the next morning, this time back down the coast of the lake to Nkhotakhota (Ya, say that 10 times fast--just like it looks n-KO-ta-KO-ta). This is a good story, and shorter, but I'll have to save it for next time, as it's 12:30 a.m. now, and I've gotta get up early for another trip to the lake tomorrow with my aerobics group (just for the day)... Details later on that!

Tiwonana Mawa or Sunday! ;-)