Day 12. Mon 21st August.
Blantyre
An uneventful day spent
almost entirely on the Internet at Doogle's trying to send the entire
set of pictures to the UK by email, a task which I
finally manage to complete around 4:30.
While waiting for the interminable transmissions to go through I chat
with various people, including Rob and Ruth from London, who are holed
up in Doogle's while Rob recovers from a nasty bout of Montezuma's
Revenge. He has been to the private hospital in Blantyre and was full
of praise for the cleanliness and standard of service which he said was
much better than in England. He received a consultation and some pills
for a (by UK private health standards) very modest price. Mind you, I
have discovered since that if you have to go in as an in-patient the
costs can be horrendous.
Martin, the fish man, is heading for Dedza tomorrow and offers me a lift. I did want
to visit the pottery, and I do seem to have time on my hands, but I
decide that it's a long way to go and I shall have to be back again on
Wednesday, so I pass up the offer.
I also manage to download a Windows 98 driver for my memory stick,
which will have to be transferred to a floppy if I am to install it on
the PC in the Lengwe office. I don't really want to buy a whole box
full of floppys, as I only need one (I know they don't cost much, but I
don't need the extra bulk in my rucksack either). However, a very nice
lady tells me that she has a box full of used ones that she doesn't
use, and promises to drop them in.
The evening is spent in the bar (where else?) where I run into Owen,
whom I met in the Bohemian Cafe in Lilongwe. He is with Sylvia
Avgherinos, a wonderfully dynamic lady in her 60s who is apparently a
major mover and shaker in the Wildlife and Environment Society of Malawi, so
we have a good chat about WESM and PAW and I put her in touch with
Gaynor.
Doogles
has been invaded by a party of overlanders. The vehicle that they are
traveling in is amazing, practically a mobile hotel. The luggage
compartment underneath is huge, and as I pass they are hauling out
camping gear, cooking utensils and a barbeque. They are obviously
entirely self sufficient, which is just as well, as there must be
thirty or so of them, and I doubt that Doogles kitchen staff would be
able to withstand the onslaught if they all ordered burgers at once.
After a few beers I get chatting to a guy called Carl. He has had
even more beer than I have, and claims to be German, but has absolutely
no accent. I speak to him in German but get no response other than
a rather disparaging sneer, and I suspect that he is taking the piss.
It has occurred to me during
the long afternoon that I might be able to do the transfer from the UK
on Max's computer at Lengwe NP, so I get in touch with him. He is happy
to oblige, but points out that he only has a modem. Nevertheless at
Lengwe I would be only a stone's throw from Bangula, and this could
allow me to reclaim a day of lost time, and seems like a good plan as
long as Jon is not going to send too much stuff. I contact the UK and
explain the plan, and they agree to let me know as soon as anything is
ready. Lorraine is actually not meeting with the kids until
Wednesday evening so I request that the stuff is sent as soon as
possible on Thursday, or even Wednesday evening if possible, so that I
can get to Bangula with it and show the kids before the weekend.
Having taken no
photographs on the 21st I have included the four winning pictures from
the drawing sessions on this page instead.