Day 24. Sat 2nd September.

Lake of Stars

I doze until 7:30 and then get up and have breakfast with Tony. TJ was well sozzled by mid-afternoon yesterday, and is not in evidence. Tony eventually gives up his seat to four charming young ladies called Corrina, Elly, Helen and Lucy, so I spend an hour or so chatting to them. Lake of Stars - Hannah, Sam, Hannah

There are several stalls set up selling food, drinks, T-shirts and trinkets, as well as several charitable organisations. Children In The Wilderness is one. Their Malawi branch is actually based at the Chinteche Inn, and I had intended to visit them. I have already exchanged emails with Mai Ensmann, who works at the Chinteche office (actually she may not be called Ensmann any more, as she had just returned from a trip home to the US to get married). CITW specialise in providing local children with the opportunity to visit the wildlife which, in the normal way, they would never be able to afford. I know from my time in Bangula that most African children have never seen an elephant or a giraffe, and CITW, do a marvellous job rectifying this, and regularly take groups to Mvuu camp in Liwonde, as well as to other reserves. One of the things I very much want to do (and that I have already discussed with both the teachers in Bangula and the game wardens at Mwabvi), is to provide ways and means for the children in the area round the reserve to visit Mwabvi and see the wildlife there, and indeed this is also one of PAW's aims. I am glad to meet Mai and tell her about Mwabvi, and I expect I shall be in touch with them again.
Lake of Stars - Darren Bruessow

Patricia Kalliati, the minister for Information and Tourism, is officially opening the festival today, and I am hoping to meet her. In the meantime I chat to Cindy Lou, a reporter who lives in Belgium, and take the opportunity to tell her about PAW in the hope of getting an article in some influential publication. Lake of Stars - sleepy audience

I see the Minister (opposite in photo), meeting and greeting visitors with her team, and just as I am trying to think of a good way to introduce myself I find myself right in her path. Before I can say a word she shakes my hand and asks me who I am, so I quickly give her some information about PAW. She listens to what I have to say, and at the end of it she she asks me to come and see her at her office in Lilongwe on Wednesday and moves on. A good result - and somewhat easier than arranging a meeting with a UK minister!It occurs to me that it would be a very good idea to have a consultation with one of the PAW directors, either Gaynor or Ken, before the meeting on Wednesday!
In the afternoon I listen to the music, but it is mostly DJs and very boring. However it is great for photographs, everyone is so colourful, and there are some wonderful characters about, including Darren Bruessow, who has divested himself of his frock, but is otherwise enjoying himself as much as he always does.
Lake of Stars - excited audience

The star of the festival is a singer named Yewande, an American despite her name (which apparently means "reincarnation of Grandmother" in Yotuba). She has a lovely soulful dark-brown voice and is a welcome relief from the sound of vinyl records being scraped backwards underneath a blunt needle. At the end of her act she invites some of the people nearest the stage to come up and join her, which turns out to include Sarah and Sam and the two Hannahs, so I grab lots of pictures for them. Lake of Stars - Yewande

I end up back in the bar where I chat with Cindy-Lou and also meet Becky, Vicky and Sophie. I also get to meet Yewande, and have a chat to her, and even get my photo taken with her, although by this stage I have had a few beers, and also apparently caught the sun, and am not at my most photogenic (but hey, when she's famous maybe my photos will be worth something!)

Before I know it, it is 1 o'clock, and I stagger off to my tent.

Lake of Stars - Yewande with Hannah, Sarah, Hannah and Sam

Lake of Stars - Mai %28CITW%29 and others

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