Days 31 - 33. Mon 17th - Wed 19th May
Lilongwe and home.
By 6:30 we have packed up, said goodbye to Gracious and Lester, and are
ready to hit the road. Penny has had all her bits installed, the car port
is complete except for the roof, and good progress has been made on the
workshop building.
Once again the Mwabvi Taxi Service is in service, giving Falos, one of
the camp boys and casual labourers, a lift to Chekwawa, the next town north
of Nchalo.
In Blantyre I meet up with Alan Fuggle (pronounced Fugle) at Illovo
the big sugar company, and also the executive director of the Malawi Wildlife
Society Mr. Daulos Mawambete, a very serious chap who seems interested
in the project - he takes a lot of notes anyway. He seems very concerned
that we get all the legal aspects covered, and I explain that Ken has legal
training, but he doesn't seem impressed. The MWS has a gift shop, and I
suddenly realise that apart from the clock I haven't bought any souvenirs
or any presents for anyone. Unfortunately the stuff here is all terrible
kitsch, and I end up not buying anything except a book on "Chechewa for
the tourist".
There are around 46 different languages spoken in Malawi, but the main
ones are Chechewa and English. By lunchtime I can say "Ndikufuna nkhomaliro"
("I want lunch") which gives Auxies a bit of a start. I also manage "Kodi
ukufuna nkhomaliro" ("Do you want lunch?"), but it doesn't do any good,
Auxies insists on driving to Ncheu before stopping to eat.
On the outskirts of Blantyre we pass Jan Sonkie's house. The owner
of
this remarkable building is, if I have got the story right, a Dutch
architect
who married a Malawian, became a naturalised Malawian, and built
himself a four storey-house in the shape of a football - and yes
apparently he and his wife do live in it.
We make good time back to Lilongwe and go in search of Carla's birthday
party, but fail to find it, so we head back to Barefoot HQ where Ken and
the dogs welcome us home. Several cold beers and a hot shower before the
party crowd arrive.
Tuesday is my last full day in Africa and I spend it writing another
trip report and showing Charlotte a few more tricks on the computer. In
the evening, as a small token of my gratitude for their hospitality, I
take the whole family out to dinner at Buchanan's Steak House.
On Wednesday Ken takes me to the Lilongwe tobacco auction houses, but
unfortunately they are not auctioning because of the general election which
should have been today, but which has actually been postponed due to alleged
'irregularities'. The building is open, however, so we get to look at the
empty auction rooms and the sacks of tobacco waiting to be sold.
Charlotte and the kids get home about one, so I just get about fifteen
minutes to say my fond farewells before Jacob, Ken's other tour guide,
whisks me off to the airport for the long flight back to Mud Island. However
I do have some company on the way back, as I meet Anya (I've probably spelled
that wrongly) a very nice Norwegian girl who works for the EU and was in
Malawi for the elections, or would have been if they hadn't been postponed.
We keep each other company until we get to Amsterdam and she heads off
to Oslo. We are ships that pass in the night, but I give her my e-mail
address anyway . . .
The End