I was debating what to do for Christmas with the office closed for a week, limited funds, and no desire to spend too much time on busses. There are 2 other Crisis Corps Volunteers who did their Peace Corps assignments in Malawi. They invited me to join them for a trip to Malawi. Bill, Meghan and I left Lusaka at 6 a.m. on Christmas Eve to head first to Chipata, still in Zambia, then to take a shared taxi to the border, to take another shared taxi to the nearest town, and then a minibus to Lilongwe. A bit gruelling, but we reached our destination before dark and settled in to the Peace Corps transit house after a Christmas Eve feast of burgers and chips. The house was empty aside from one volunteer whose planned trip to Zambia was postponed due to stomach troubles.
Bill and Meghan had turned in when this other volunteer came in with a wide eyed look and a question of what to do about a certain guest hovering near his backpack. It was a hairy, fat tarantula, probably 4 inches long. I watched to make sure it didn’t make any moves into the backpack, while he went and got a security guard who used his club to bludgeon it to death. Thank goodness for security!
The next morning we hit the road around 7 to head to Senga Bay. This involved taking 2 minibuses packed to the rim with people and goods, then hopping into the back of a pickup truck, followed by a bicycle taxi. This was my first time to experience the latter. Skinny boys with rickety bikes have a padded plank on the back of the bike and they transported us with our packs and all for about a dollar the final kilometres to the lake. I have to admit, I was pretty terrified and felt really bad for the poor guy straining to transport my bulk! Unfortunately, the first place we went to had no rooms available so we had to take the bike taxis one more time. On the sandy potholed roads with speeding cars passing occasionally, I was really not sure we’d reach our destination. This was Meghan’s first time away from home for Christmas but she pointed out it didn’t really feel like Christmas lugging our packs around in sweltering heat. We finally were checked into a room which we were given at a substantial Peace Corps discount, cleaned up a bit, and headed for something to eat.
We apparently had found a very popular place for Malawians to have their Christmas dinner. After 2 hours and multiple enquiries, we finally had something to eat, by which time I was really grumpy! My festive entry was vegetable curry (green bean and potato) with rice. They had no dessert, no chocolate, no ice cream---nothing. IMAGINE! Christmas without sweets!!!! I had a 15 cent box of stale animal crackers for dessert. Talk about not feeling like Christmas!
We walked on the beach for a little while but before long it started to rain so we went back and watched tv in the room….a rare treat although we lost reception through much of the film we were trying to watch due to the storm.
Bill headed back to Lilongwe the next day and Meghan went to her Peace Corps village to see some kids she is supporting to go to boarding school. I went to see about some activities on the lake, particularly hiking and sailing. On my way, I encountered a hotel employee who was so concerned the people would overcharge me for a sailboat. He connected me to a friend who said it was $40 for 3 hours….out of my price range. Instead I went hiking with another friend of his for $8. This is a lot of money in Malawi. Later I found out I was being scammed, but luckily it was just for the $8 and not the $40! I went on a really nice hike in the hills with stunning views of the lake. Bouldering down the hill in the heat wasn’t quite so much fun. The guide took me to his sisters for lunch of nshima (corn meal porridge), fish and beans. What I really wanted….a bowl of ice cream! A hot lake shore without ice cream just didn’t seem right! No diet coke either although soda water sufficed on that one.
I was really tired by the time I got home but did stop and book the one sailboat (catamaran) in the area…which is $10 an hour….for the next day. So Tuesday I went for a quick morning sail before hitching a ride to town to catch a minibus to Blantyre and Mount Mulanje. Also on the bus were two German aid workers who were also headed to Mount Mulanje but a day after me.
I reached Blantyre around 5… a backpacker with a popular bar and good food but really smelly dorm rooms. I shared a room with a chatty Peace Corps Volunteer from Namibia. Despite the smell, I managed to get a good nights sleep before heading to Mount Mulanje.
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