Hello!! I'm back, after a 2-day hiatus... wow, feels like a lifetime, doesn't it? As it turned out, after Friday, we had major server problems here at Domasi College of Education, which prevented me from updating this blog over the weekend. I'm eternally sorry to my faithful readers, and I'll do my best to make up for this lapse during this coming week, especially today (as you'll see...). Since my weekend was relatively uneventful (due to not feeling so well on Saturday, thus not attending the wedding after all), I'll cut to the chase, and tell you all about my fabulous weekend on the lake, Nov. 23-25). I'll try to get a few pix posted today as well, but I may need to save that portion of my post for tomorrow, as I'm getting started a bit late this evening (6 p.m.--ya, this is late for me in Malawi, ;-), and this posting itself could take awhile.
So, without further ado, back to the details of our weekend on the lake. Let's see how much I can remember one week and one day later???... Hmmm... Well, first of all, I can say that this excursion went a million times better than the weekend before (Remember? Got lost, then car trouble, then accommodation trouble, but then got our new kitty Willy, some baskets, some fish, some baskets of fish, yadda yadda yadda). This time, I arranged things with my class at Domasi College so that we completed our class meetings on Thursday night (rather than Friday morning), which freed me up to leave first thing after lunch on Friday. Thus, we got a much earlier start than the previous weekend. Instead of leaving at 4 p.m., we actually got out a bit before 3 p.m. (though I was hoping to get out by 2 p.m., but oh, well...)
Of course, this time we knew how to get there, and I had also received directions to our hotel via e-mail from the manager. This time, it looked like we'd made all the right choices... better accommodation, new battery in the car, detailed directions. What could go wrong? Nothing, right? I know what you're thinking... This is the part where I tell you about some big problem we had, and I get into all sorts of gory details, making it sound embellished and exaggerated (though none of my stories ever are--especially here in Malawi... here, you'll find the truth, and only the truth, so help me Great Spirit...)
HMMM... that was a good digression, even for me...
But seriously, we had NO PROBLEMS!! Not-a-one! We never got lost, we never had car trouble, we never felt like we were going to die out in the wilderness. Even the "terrible road" we were warned about by Simon, the hotel manager, wasn't half as bad as I suspected. Based on his description, I thought it would be wrought with huge boulders, potholes, and sheer drop-offs (all of which I'm somewhat accustomed to navigating on the roads in the Zomba area). No, no... it was just basically a loose dirt road that was not very well-graded, so extremely bumpy in parts, and some recent rains had caused major drainage 'arroyos' (the word is better in Spanish-- what is it in English?)-- I'm trying to describe those gullies that are created in sand or dry dirt when it suddenly rains heavily. Anyway, those things were running through several areas of the road, so it required a bit of maneuvering to get around them at times. But really, the entire time, I kept saying to myself, "I wonder where the bad part of the road is..." I guess this means I'm "Africanized" now. No goin' back, so I hear... I'll keep ya posted.
The other lucky bit of this tale is that we arrived at our destination without making one wrong turn, and just before the sun snuck its little way behind the horizon. This meant that we were able to arrive at the lodge, order a beer, sit in the open-air lounge on the beach, and enjoy the sunset. Wow. Finally, a trip going without a hitch!! At this point, I was getting nervous, waiting for the sky to fall. Still, it never did (not yet...).
While enjoying the sunset, we had a small chat with Simon, the manager of the lodge (called 'Gecko's), who informed us that they offer services to travelers, and try to employ local people who will charge reasonable rates, and who are trustworthy. This of course is a concern in a place like Lake Malawi, as many of the villagers (The village is RIGHT on the BEACH... very cool) have their own boats, and want to make an extra buck, but not all of them are qualified or experienced enough to take travelers around the lake. So, of course we agreed to talk with one of the tour guides who works with the lodge by the name of Peter. The trip we were interested involved a short boat trip across the lake to a small island off the shore, where we would be able to snorkel and swim around see the various species of fabulously-colored, famous Malawi Cichlids (Ah! What's the Chichewa name for them? Help me, Malawian readers!), eat a fish brai (which is an open-fire barbecue--mmmm--no, we didn't eat cichlids, don't worry!!), and feed the diving fish-eagles... all for only around MK3,500 (about 25 bucks). That was an awesome deal. Not only that, but they'd fill a cooler with drinks (beer, sodas) for us, and we'd only need to pay for those drinks we actually consumed. Ah, my dream vacation had finally arrived. They couldn't sign us up fast enough.
After booking the boat trip, we had a quick bite to eat (the place was a bit pricey, so we went for the old grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches and chips--er fries for the yanks), and called it a night. I think we were sleeping by about 8 or 9 p.m. We were exhausted, so much that we had to pass up the 10:00 p.m. 'boogie' that some of the lodge staff had told us about earlier. Maybe Saturday night would do.
Our accommodation was interesting, as we'd decided to book a dorm, rather than the much more expensive chalet rooms, which are really set up for 4 people. Luckily for us, there were no other guests in the dorm either night, so it was essentially like being set up in our own room, but much, much cheaper. We did find out later on that there was an even better set-up down the beach (Gaia Lounge), which I think I'll try the next time I go down to "The Cape."
So, the following morning, Deliwe was up with the sun as usual, and had a nice swim before I even cracked an eyelid open. We then got our swimming gear on, and headed to the lounge area for a light breakfast. Actually, we had our own food, as Deliwe had cooked up some fabulous potato samosas for the trip (they're very popular here, a favorite Indian import--did I mention many Indians also live in Malawi?). We still had about 6 of them left, so that was our breakfast. Again, considering the prices at this place, we were glad we'd brought those along.
So, at around 9:30 a.m., we headed out on the water with Peter, and 3 other guys (the boat conductor, and 2 other staff from the lodge--Leonard was the only one whose name I remember... I think it's because he really liked Deliwe, so he was talking to us a lot.) I'm not sure whether I've mentioned how Deliwe could be a hands-down winner of one of those 'phone number collecting' contests people sometimes have when they go out on the town. Everywhere we go, some new boy is asking for her phone number. She's quite popular with the young men in Malawi, but also very careful, and keeps a distance at the same time. She handles all this attention quite well, I must say. Anyway, it's always a big joke between us... anytime the phone rings, I'm always saying to her, "Which boyfriend is that?", to which she always replies with hysterical laughter, and then of course tells me who it is. It usually is some boy who's been chasing her for awhile. They appear to be rather patient, however, so I'm not too worried, as I know she is a strong person who will stand her ground and remain cautious. Another quality I highly admire in her.
Wow, that was a REALLY long digression, even for me.
So, we got on the boat, and had a short trip (about 10 mins.) to the island, where we unloaded, and then quickly jumped into the rocky, slippery water. No, this wasn't a sandy beach, which in this case was a very good thing, as it would mean the likelihood of seeing the cichlids would be minimal. Once I got in, those little guys surrounded me like I was a big piece of bread. Wait. Maybe that's what they actually thought I was. My bright, white skin likely resembles some type of favorite tropical fish cuisine... maybe a huge brine shrimp? Hmmm... I'm bankin' on the bread.
Even though we had snorkels, we almost didn't need them, as you could see so many fish just from the surface (see pix at left). Still, I took the honor of trying to figure out how to fit the snorkel tightly onto my head (It's been a couple of years since I've snorkeled, and I've only tried it twice before)... so, it was a bit slow-going at first, but eventually I got the hang of it, and got some great views of big groups of amazing, brightly-colored fish. Incidentally, I found out from our tour guides that the American guy who was exporting the Malawi Cichlids to the U.S. (and maybe elsewhere) for fish-tank lovers just died in September. Though his passing is sad, of course, it got me thinking... who's taken over that enterprise? Hmmm... I guess there's a widow involved, but in any case I'm thinking about looking into that... I'll keep you posted...
So, we spent the afternoon floating in the water, enjoying a few drinks, eating our fish brai (this was a much bigger fish than chambo... Kamparo (???)-- eek... I'll need to check my Malawian sources for the correct name and get back to you)-- very very tasty, and beautifully cooked (see pix at left).
After our meal, I of course attempted to lather on a bit more sunscreen, as I was starting to "feel the burn." My experience told me at that point that it could be too late, but I still jumped back in, had a few more snorkels, swims, and beers (don't worry... not all at the same time), and eventually decided to put my T-shirt on as my shoulders were definitely getting crispy... I'd really feel it later, as all you mzungus out there can attest... the real curse of sunburn is the fact that you don't really feel it until it's too late, and then you suffer for days, and I did.
In the meantime, Peter had hooked up with some of his buddies on the other side of the island, who came over to chat with us for a bit while we hung out in the water. A couple of these guys were living in North America... one in Halifax, Nova Scotia (Ya, that's in Canada for the geographically-challenged), and another guy had lived in Chicago for awhile, (which is near where I grew up--well, sort of). It was nice to talk with a couple of Malawians who'd lived in North America, especially to get their perspective on what it's like for them to adjust to our culture... Of course, somewhat opposite to what I've been experiencing. So, all of us shared a few beers, about 3 or 4 of the guys in the group flirted with Deliwe, and off they went. They'd invited us to go dancing with them later at our lodge (the 'boogie' place), but in the end we were too tired to go, and due to my sun-scorched state of being, I was in bed by about 9 p.m.
Shortly after the group of guys left, we also headed out, and got to feed the eagles. Basically, this consists of throwing small dead fish in the water, and watching them dive for them. One of the eagles actually resembled a North American Bald Eagle... I tried to get a pic of it (at left), but it's a bit hard to see. In any case, these guys were a lot of fun to watch.
So, all-in-all, it was a pretty good day. In the morning, we saw a few of our friends from the boat trip the day before again walking up the beach, so we decided to have a bit of breakfast together (see pic), and since they had traveled from Blantyre, we had a small 'convoy' on the way back. This time, it wasn't my car we were worried about. It was the car Juffah (the guy living in Canada) was having with the car he'd borrowed from a friend. One of the tires was going flat, and parts of the car seemed to be falling off (kinda like the old police car driven by Jake n Elwood in the 'Blues Brothers', but again I digress)... In any case, they showed us the car, and we offered to let them borrow our spare tire just to get into Mangochi (the nearest town) to get the tire fixed. It was then I learned an important lesson about tires--not all have the same number of bolts... ours had 5, and theirs had only 4. So, they couldn't use our spare. Luckily, they did have a (very old, very bald) tire to use as a spare, so they put that one on, and then off we went down the road.
At first, they decided to follow us, but we changed that plan right after their rear bumper fell off, and I lost them in the dust before I realized they weren't behind us anymore. Wow, that was a sight to see... I stopped to wait for them, and received a call from Juffah on my cell phone explaining the problem. Luckily, MacDonald (his friend sitting in the back) had seen the bumper fall off, or they wouldn't have known at all. When they caught up to us, MacDonald was sitting in the back with this huge bumper. We then decided it would be best if we followed them to pick up any other spare parts that might drop off along the way.
Eventually, about 1/2 of the trip into Mangochi, we stopped the cars to see how things looked, and I offered to put the back bumper into my car, since we didn't have anyone in the backseat, and my seats also fold down, so we could put the bumper into the trunk and lay it on the back of the backseat. This was a much better situation. As we continued down the road, no other pieces fell off, so all was good. Then, when we got into Mangochi, we stopped to have the tire patched, bought some Chambo to take home, and off we went.
When our convoy reached Domasi, we returned the fated bumper back to the three guys (Juffah, his younger brother Titha, and MacDonald), and sent them on their way. Juffah later told me his friend's uncle (if I remember correctly), a typical Malawian who can fix any car from birth (just something I've noticed about most men here), managed to re-attach the bumper without too much trouble, so all was well in the end.
So, there you have it. A bloody good trip. No major mishaps, and we actually helped a few locals avoid their own near-tragic meltdown in the middle of nowhere. So, I guess kharma was on our sides this time, and we still have some good stories to tell...
With that, I leave you for now. Tiwonana mawa! (Ya, I'm BAAAACCKKKK!!)
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