Day 13. Tue 22nd August.
Blantyre
Nothing
to do today but hang around in Blantyre Nevertheless I am busy
all day long. While ordering breakfast I run into Carl again, my
acquaintance from the previous evening. Feeling that I might have been
rather rude, I offer an apology, but he waves it off, admitting that he
was drunk as a skunk himself, and can hardly remember the incident.
After a leisurely breakfast I head into town, pausing
only to take a couple of snaps of the craftsman making curios for
Doogles' craft shop (it occurs to me that at MK2100 per night for a
chalet, plus MK650 for breakfast and MK120 for a beer, Doogles, despite
being a backpacker lodge, is actually not that cheap. That's the price
of fame).
The promised second-hand floppy disks arrived during breakfast (rather
than a single disk I have been donated the whole box), so my first stop
is a computer shop, of which there are plenty in Blantyre. However,
like most small jobs in Malawi, this turns into a major exercise -
foolishly I only take one of the floppys into town, and that fails to
format, so strike one.
I'm not trolling all the way back to Doogles just to get another floppy
so I decide to get on with the rest of my shopping.
I start of with a visit to PAMET, the Paper Making Educational Trust,
which produces paper products from various raw materials from recycled
paper to elephant dung. I have tried to visit PAMET twice on previous
visits but for one reason or anther have always failed. This time I
manage it, and for a modest entry fee am taken on the grand tour. It is
not a huge concern, but interesting. Everything is done by hand, of
course. I also buy some cards at the shop on the way out.
I have been recommended a cafe called Temptations on Haile Selassie
Road, which certainly lives up to its reputation. I have chambo and
chips and delicious spiced indian Cha tea. While I am sitting there,
who should roll up but Carl. He joins me and we quickly patch up our
differences. It turns out that he is indeed German, and a pretty
seasoned traveller, although just exactly how seasoned I
don't discover until much later. He's a bit short of cash so I
lend him enough for lunch, which he promises to pay back in Doogles
tonight.
After
picking up a few more pens and whatnot for the schools, I head back to
Doogles for another floppy. Back into town again and this time it
works, except that I have copied the .ZIP file and I have no idea
whether the Lengwe office computers have Winzip installed. Then I find
that the computer shop who did the copying have infected my memory
stick with a virus, which has transferred to my laptop, so I have to do
a complete virus scan, which takes a while. Then
I notice that the laptop is not charging! This could be a major
disaster. I reckon I have maybe 15 - 30 minutes left in the battery,
which is no longer in its first flush of youth by any means. Barely
sufficient to show the kids the pictures from the UK, let alone
anything else.
A close inspection of the machine reveals that a pin in the charger
socket is bent - I must have pushed it in crooked at some point. It is
now four o'clock, and the chances of finding somewhere in Blantyre that
can fix it before tomorrow seem exceedingly remote. Nevertheless I gird
my loins, and head back into town, albeit with very little idea where I
am heading. There are plenty of shops that sell computer paraphernalia,
so I ask in a couple, and am recommended somewhere called the IT
Centre, and given some rather vague directions. This sounds hopeful, so
I head off in the direction given, and soon find myself heading past
the Mount Soche Hotel and leaving the main shopping area all together.
Just
as I am giving up all hope, I round a corner to discover a very smart
building, with "I. T. Centre" in big letters
outside it. It is
air-conditioned, very plush, and I am even given a free cup of coffee
(from a percolator) while I wait to be served. A very nice man
introduces himself as Prince, listens
to my tale of woe and even manages to straighten the offending pin with
a pair of pliers, but it is still not making good contact. I explain
that I am heading down to Nsanje the next day, and he agrees that if I
bring it in at eight in the morning he will have another look at it if
they are not too busy.
Doogles is having happy hour, and the infestation of overlanders is
still there, so it is absolutely packed. I run into Maureen and Pam,
and also Sylvia (who has been in touch with Gaynor already), and her
great-nephew Joe. I chat to Joe and friends for a while, but they are
young and obviously regard me as a bit of an old fogey. I have almost
forgotten about Carl, but sure enough he turns up and repays his debt
in full, and we have a drink together Funny how first impressions can
be so wrong.
A lie in tomorrow is no longer an option so I head for my chalet in
good time.