Day 21. Wed 30th August.
Lilongwe
My next task is to try and find a lift up to Chinteche for the
festival. I can always take minibuses, but that involves at least one change in Salima, and anyway it would be nicer to find
someone who is travelling up. I have met a couple of people in DB's who
have made suggestions (most people say "oh, there will be loads of
people going up", but then can't actually name anyone specifically!),
including a nice lady called Caz Cranko who knows of a large email
mailing list for lift seekers, and promises to send one out on my
behalf.
Monya, Ken's office manager, rings in the morning and suggests that I
go out to Chipiti for lunch, and to see Ken who is now back from his
safari. I don't relish the minibus ride out and the 2Km walk at the
other end, and somehow a taxi seems like an extravagance, but as luck
would have it I run into Ken and Monya in ShopRite, so that's that
problem sorted. I nip quickly into Land and Lakes Safaris where a lady
called Mary-Anne (also a friend of Ken's and, I think, the same
Mary-Anne who writes the Bradt guide, although I don't find that
out until after I'm back in England) has promised to look out for
lifts for me, and also to say a quick hello-goodbye to the beautiful
Sarah, and then jump into Ken's Land Rover and head out to Chitipi.
Ken has done a lot of work since
I was here last. The old outbuildings have been converted into a
restaurant, the construction of chalets and the tented camp is
well under way and he is already getting some guests.
I
am not having much luck getting a lift to Chinteche. I have been told
that Chameleon, a bar/restaurant in the new town (I really must get
round to exploring these other haunts rather than spending all my time
in Don Brioni's) are laying on a coach, but when I finally manage to
contact them it turns out the coach has been cancelled due to lack of
interest. Lorna, the girl I speak to, suggests I take the minibus and
stop off at the pottery in Nkhotakota on the way. This is the sister
establishment to the pottery in Dedza that I visited last year, and the idea seems like a good one.
I
also ask Ken about tents for Sam and her gang (you thought I'd
forgotten, didn't you!) but he only has the big heavy ones, and doesn't
think they'll get anything much better anywhere, although he gives me a
couple of suggestions. All to no avail though, as I seem to have
written Sam's number down wrong, because when I ring it I get some
African who doesn't speak English. Ah well, I tried.
Feye's wife Janneke picks him up every day at about 4:30 on her way
back into town, and says she would be happy to give me a lift too, so I
stick around until then and chat with Monya and Ken.
Back in town Feye and Janneke drop in to the Kiboko with me for a beer
and then I spend an hour sorting out my gear. One of the reasons I have
stopped off at Lilongwe on my way up to Lake Of Stars is to lose some
of my luggage - there is no point in carting the laptop to a music
festival for example. Leaving it at Ken's could be problematical if I
find myself in a hurry on the way back (getting back from Chinteche is
a problem yet to be be tackled), and the Kiboko has a locked store
room which the staff assure me will be safe. Then it's down to DB's for lamb
chops (nice, but not like home, and very pricy at MK1250 - but then
again, just a few days before writing this I paid a posh
restaurant in Altrincham £12 for a miniscule piece of lamb served
with 3 green beans and some orange gunge, the whole of which would fit
on the ring in the middle of a saucer, so who am I kidding).