Day
27. Tue 5th September.
Lilongwe
Theoretically I have nothing to do today, but it still takes all
morning to do it. I start off in the Internet cafe next door to the
Kiboko. I have a pile of emails, and Brian from Don Brioni's wants me
to get some information of the web for him (he has been invited to a
reunion of some sort in London). In return he has lent me Andrew, his
head waiter, to help me buy some of the cotton paintings that the
locals make and sell to the tourists on the curio market. I paid well
over the odds for two of them last year, which Brian found hugely
amusing. He suggested then that I should get one of his guys to negotiate a
proper African price, and I have decided to take him up on his offer
this year. I want to buy several of them to sell on the web in aid of
PAW, so I want to make sure I get a decent price, and I'm hopeless when
it comes to bargaining.
Andrew is waiting for me at DB's when I return from the Internet cafe.
I tell him what I want, and he says he wants to go to the market by
himself to start off with to find out what is available, and to get
some prices, which sounds like a good idea. He is back in half an hour
with loads of information about prices and quality and we set off back
to the market together. I am still accosted by every trader
despite being with him, but he has arranged a price with a couple of
guys, and takes me to them. The paintings are a bit more expensive than
I expected, but still less than I paid last year (perhaps I
wasn't ripped off quite as badly as I thought). I buy an assortment of
eleven, some paint and some wax (battik) which sets me back about
11,000 kwacha (around £44). I am most grateful to Andrew for
helping me out, and slip him a gratuity (I wonder if he arranged a kick
back from the sellers too, and why not?)
Next stop, the Bohemian cafe for coffee and a cinnamon bagel. On the way
I am cornered by another guy with more battiks, and I allow myself to
be sold another two for a tenner. (I didn't take any photographs today, so I've included a couple of the picures instead).
I am gutted!! I have discovered that the beautiful Sarah was at Lake Of
Stars all the time. It had never occurred to me that she would be
there, but apparently she had been hired by Harry to work on the ticket
table. She saw me apparently - "there I was in my bikini and you didn't
even see me". I think I need a cold shower!
I also get chatting to a couple who have been travelling in Zimbabwe,
and have had some exceedingly interesting experiences, including barely
escaping from a nasty train crash. It seems that Mugabe has recently
solved the inflation problem by knocking three zeros off all the
currency! They show me one of the new banknotes - believe it or not it
actually has an expiry date.
One of my tasks is to look for maps. It seems that Stamfords, the map shop in
Manchester, are having trouble getting maps of Malawi, and we have
agreed to see if we can find a source for them. The Bohemian Cafe is
shared by the Land And Lakes safari company, which seems a good place
to start. They suggest I try the Maps Survey Office, which is walking
distance down past the bridge, and also Central Africana, which is by
Ulendo Safaris - also walking distance, but in the opposite direction.
I toss a mental coin, and set off towards the river.
The man at the MSO is having his lunch, and is reluctant to interrupt
his sandwich for me, but he is just kidding, and takes me inside where
there are banks upon banks of rolled up maps and plans. However, they
don't do tourist maps such as I am seeking so I retrace my steps and
head for Central Africana. It's hot now, and I could do without this,
but this time my efforts are rewarded, as Central Africana are the
people who distribute what seems to be the only travellers map of the
country. They do the one I have, but that has now been superseded by a
newer version, so I buy a sample copy and take their details.
I run into Gemma and Donna, my two acquaintances from the flight out,
and with whom I shared the fish truck from Cape Maclear. It seems we
will not be flying back together, however. They are leaving tomorrow,
whereas I don't fly until Thursday.
By this time it is one o'clock. I give Monya a ring, but decide
it is too late to get a minibus to Chitipi, so I go back to the Kiboko
and ask Spiwe, the manageress, about the price of taxis. She makes a
call and quotes me MK3000 for the return trip which seems a bit steep,
so I decide to give it a miss and return to my room. Two minutes later
she is knocking at my door, in true Malawian fashion the taxi driver
has rung back and made an offer of MK2000, so I decide to go after
all. I tell the taxi driver to come back and pick me up at 4:30,
and, knowing how things work in Malawi, pay him MK1000 for the single
trip.
I tell Ken about my impending visit to the Minister of Tourism, and he is quite happy about it
Ken suggests going out for a meal, so he and I drive into town to
- you've guessed it - Don Brioni's where we run into
an old friend of his - J.J. the pilot who flew Ken and Gaynor over the reserve
last year. (I'm hoping to do that myself one of these years).