Home » Zambia » 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.

Days 31 - 33. Mon 17th - Wed 19th May Lilongwe and home.

DaveMidgley
2005-10-22 11:43:32

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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 Jen Sonke's house. The owner of this remarkable building is, if I have got the story right, a Dutchman who became a naturalised Malawian, became deputy finance minister before retiring. I am not sure if the house is supposed to be a football, golf ball, or just a weird shaped house, but it is certainly eye-catching.

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 have 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