Days 22 - 26. Sat 8th - Wed 12th May
Lilongwe.
On Saturday we are up at five to pack the camp up. We stop off at the gate
house to say farewell to Lester and Gracious, and then head off north,
calling in at Lengwe National Park on the way to chat to Patricio Ndadzela,
the National Parks Regional Manager.
There is also time for me to stop off and visit the museum in Blantyre.
There are several interesting exhibts, including photographs of two human
skins, one male one female, the victims believed to have been skinned alive
in southern England for practising witchcraft. Once again I wonder how
such places manage to keep going, as I am the only visitor. I also picked
up my only souvenir of the whole trip in Blantyre, a lovely clock set in
a piece of wood carved in the shape of Malawi. In typical African style
I bought it on impulse off a street trader while stopped at traffic lights,
and just had time to haggle him down from 1200 to 1000 kwatcha before the
lights went green!
Back at Barefoot HQ we receive an enthusiastic welcome home from Ken
& Charlotte, Kenny & Carla and Donner & Blixem. I am grubby
and exhausted, so while Ken chucks our left over sausage on the Braii (I
seem to have taken far to much food, and what's left won't keep much longer)
I grab a much needed hot shower and several cold beers.
Sunday is spent writing a report on the trip for Ken, and then playing
frisbee with Kenny in the afternoon - remarkably the frisbee is still there,
although Charlotte tells me that it has been over the fence several times
while I was away.
Monday and Tuesday are spent making lots more phone calls, and doing some
more upgrades on the computer, including getting some speakers to go with
the sound card I brought over. Ken and Charlotte are delighted, as is Kenny
when he discovers that all his computer games now have sound. Work tends
to stop mid-afternoon when the Kenny and Carla get back from school, and
we usually end up going for a walk around the grounds while Ken gets the
kids to do exercises.
On Wednesday Ken decides that Auxies and I should go back down to Mwabvi
again. This time Mr. Kaunda, one of Ken's neighbours who also helps with
the project, is to go with us as site foreman. Ken wants us to get
some more of the building work done while we are down, and he will be supervising.
It is Carla's birthday on Monday, and there is a party planned, but
it looks unlikely that I shall be back in time, so while we are picking
up provisions for the trip I buy her a present and give it to her in the
evening before we go.