Day 17. Sat 26th August.
Cape
Maclear
I
have arranged to meet Leon in the bar at 7:30, and he arrives promptly,
but has to pick up a parcel before we go, so we don't get of until
9:15. It turns out that Leon owns the dive school at Cape Maclear, and
his wife is the doctor at the Billy Riordan clinic.
It is a long drive. We stop off in Mangochi, which is situated right
between Lake Malawi and the tiny (by comparison) Lake Malombe that lies
just south of it. I buy delicious bread at the baker's. 40Kms or
so north of Mangochi we turn off towards the lake, and the road
deteriorates rapidly. By the time we pass the turn off to Monkey Bay it
is just dirt track.
We finally arrive at Cape Maclear at around 2 o'clock - nearly five
hours, much more than I had expected. I still underestimate travel
times in Malawi.
The Lake is beautiful, bordered by the huts of Chembe village
which are interspersed with guest houses in an odd juxtaposition of
traditional and modern. I have been recommended several places to stay,
of which the Gaia sounds the best, but it is full. However, there is
not shortage of tourist accommodation here, and I end up at the Fat
Monkey, which seems to be the "in" place for tourists. I find a crowd
of people there whom I have already met at Doogles, and when I take a
walk up the beach I run into Emma and Donna the two girls that I met
on the plane out, and have a chat with them about our experiences in
Malawi so far. Then who should pop out of the next door chalet but
Carl, my German friend from Doogles.
My
only concern is that Cape Maclear is well off the main roads, and
having got here I'm not quite sure how I am going to get out again.
There is apparently a bus from Monkey Bay to Salima once a day, but
matolas seem very few and far between, and just getting the 10Km to
Monkey Bay could be tricky. However, I decide not to worry about that
for the moment and to spend a couple of days relaxing.
It seems that there is a big party being held tonight in one of the
guest houses - a combined birthday party and leaving do as far as I can
gather. There is a private meal first but then, I am told, the party
will move to the bar and everyone will be welcome.
I call in at the Billy Riordan Project office and meet some of the
girls who work for Mags Riordan. I am very pleased to hear that she is
in Cape Maclear at the moment, and in fact will be at the party
tonight. The clinic is closed at weekends and the volunteers are taking
a well earned break. A couple of the girls have hired a canoe, which
looks like fun.
I return to Fat Monkey's for a hamburger, and get chatting to a
charming couple and their young son who have just returned from
England. He has been doing a PhD. at Liverpool University. I am so
pleased to see a Malawian returning to his country after getting higher
education, as so many who do manage to get away, quite understandably
do not come back. He is very honest, and tells me that if it were not
for the fact that his research is into Malaria he would probably not
have come back, and that they will probably not stay after his work is
complete. (Unfortunately I did not write down their names. My diary
seems to have got a bit sparse during this period - too relaxed I
think).
Around
nine, I head over to the party. They are still eating, so I chat to
Darren and his girlfriend Cecilia, who is apparently going to be
working in Bangula.
Shortly afterwards the celebrants emerge from their dinner and head for
the bar. It turns out to be a fancy dress do. Martin the fish man is
there, and Darren Bruessow who runs Chingoni Lodge at Liwonde N.P. I
have met him once before in Doogles, and Gaynor knows him quite well.
He is a real character, and is dressed as a woman for the occasion.
I also get to meet Mags Riordan, who runs the Billy Riordan Memorial Project.
This remarkable Irish woman visited Malawi for the first time in 2000
to place a stone in memory of her 25 year old son who drowned in the
lake in 1999. She ended up returning to Malawi to set up a clinic in
Cape Maclear, dedicated to the memory of her son. She is a tiny,
vital, blonde woman, who is revered by all who work with her, and I am
so glad to have met her.
Before I know it, it is 11 o'clock, and I retire to my chalet.