Four weeks have passed

We have been here for four weeks now. Time has passed quickly and amazingly we have not missed anything from our old lives.

Last weekend there was a dance competition in Mala village. Here are some pictures. Peggy was adopted by a load of small girls, who all wanted to hold her hand at the same time.

I tried to teach some of the small ones to wink with one eye. We had fun, they just blinked and blinked, probably still trying. The dancing and the drums were amazing!

This weekend we are going on a longer walk, to Mbueca village, about 1 and a half hour walk. Elias, a carpenter has invited us to the village to see his house and meet his family. He is 43 and has 7 children. He has a really great smile and sense of humour. We are really looking forward to it. He asked if we eat Nsema (the local staple diet) so I think we will be having lunch as well. Interesting! There will be more about that next week.

Yesterday I started growing stuff at the farm, I have 2 small raised beds and planted Squash, Butternut Squash, Beetroot, Pansies, Marigolds, Red hot pokers, and a couple of other flower types.

I also had my teas break with the farm staff, we had a laugh and they started my chinyanja (local language lessons). Planning 30 minutes a day from now on. That will be great.

We also have some ginger roots and are going to work on propagating that. ( it will take a year until we can harvest.)

They grow some little red chillies, I tried one, wow!!!!!!!!, was it hot.

Today the lake is not as flat as it has been but I am going to give snorkelling a go again. The couple of times I have tried it were great, lots of fish, many colours and sizes.

Search on Google for cichlid and see them.

More soon….

Lake of a Thousand Stars

is what Livingstone called Lake Malawi, the third biggest lake in Africa, so wide you can’t see across it.

About 700 feet deep. It’s a large body of water and provides food and a means of transport for all the people living on its shores. Each morning we walk from our hut a few minutes and then down to the lake shore, fine white squeaky sand. Every day the lake is different depending on the wind and the light of the sun as it rises. The rocks have a white banding near the base and this takes on the colour of the light, some days pink, some days golden. We prefer the offshore winds and the lake surface is calm and still. Other times the lake has an onshore wind and then there can be a heavy surf running.

But the lake is as big as many seas, and also needs respect. We heard this week of a tragedy on the lake, a boat has sunk, it was carrying some 40 people and 16 women and children drowned, 3 missing.

He boat was probably designed to hold 12 or 15 people. No health and safety laws here.

But the lake also provides food for people, a fisherman has just come to the lodge carrying 3 enormous catfish.

This weekend there is a dancing competition in Mala Villages, many local villages sending groups to compete. Everyone in their Sunday best, the ladies brightly coloured outfits, sunglasses, some of them would look at home in London. Children of all sizes, with sweets, biscuits, fanta and coke.

Some little girls "adopted" Peggy, all wanting to hold her hand. From time to time they take a few dance steps, learning the traditional dances at an early age. All so happy to have a photograph taken and see themselves for a few seconds in the camera screen.

After we returned from Mala we sat on the beach with a beer each, reading and watching two pairs of African Fish Eagles patrolling the lake looking for a meal. And another evening by a fire, under the 1000 stars.

Now the dust has settled a bit!

Unbelievably its 3 weeks since we left the UK, time has flown by and we are settled now into a new routine.
This time I want to focus on some of the local people we have met. There is about 60 local staff here at the lodge and on the farm. The most striking thing about them all is the good natured humour they all have. They are paid between $1.5 and $2.00 per day. Having a good reliable income here is unusual and the lodge provides a stable source of income for these people from the local villages.
They mainly walk to work, some of them 2 hours each way. There are different departments, Guest Management, Housekeeping, Builders, Carpenters, Boatmen, Kitchen, Watchmen, (Day and Night).
All are friendly, cheerful; some are good in English, some limited, all interested to learn.
We went to Mala village, (1 hour walk) weekend before last, Stuart brought a football and we had one of those bubble blowing kits. The excitement those items caused and the joy of the children in the village. Simon, Samson, John, Veronica, and many I can’t remember. They all wanted to have their picture taken and see the images in the camera. Some of them are here in this post. We went past the church, just a brick shell with a tin roof and mud floor, a concrete altar, no paint. And the children with us went in and sang a little, beautiful voices!
Francis at the lodge lives in Mala, he is 22 and head of the family, his parents are dead and he has younger brothers and sisters. IN the 3 weeks since we arrived 2 members of staff, in their 30’s probably have had deaths in the family, both lost sisters. We forget how privileged we are and how much we have.
Both Peggy and I agree that we love the simple life here. We are not missing anything at the moment. Next week we are going to Likoma Island, we have to exit Mozambique every 30 days, and we are combing the trip with an overnight stay, and an expedition to sell the clay stoves made on the farm. Boils water 2 times as fast with a third of the wood. Let’s see how we get on…..

Wherever I lay my hat....

Or The Lake of 1000 Stars!Another busy week passed, helping a bit on the farm but 3 days spent working on the Internet connection and the satellite dish alignment. It seems that this is now better understood, by me at least and the connection is more reliable.It’s time to let you know how we live. And where! In this post there are images of our hut, very nice and spacious with large windows and a veranda. We go to sleep with a view of the sky and stars through the trees and wake to a cool breeze through the hut and the sound of the lake lapping on the beach some 50 yards away. We have a large double bed with good mattress and a good mosquito net. There are shelves with good storage and we have made hooks to hang our rucksacks so we can keep things tidy. We are woken at 6, wander 20 yards to our outside hot and cold shower. Then we get dressed, and prepare for the day. Then we walk about 7 minutes to the lodge and have breakfast at the lodge veranda meeting table. ( A roll with butter and jam and tea or coffee. ) Then 7.00 is morning roll call for staff at the lodge and the day starts.This morning as we came across the beach we saw the tracks of the local crocodile where he had come out of the lake and went into a pool left as the river has dried up. (There were Italian guests yesterday who has seen him, and had images, a mean looking guy. ) We took a couple of pictures and hastened to breakfast. Will we snorkel later today, Maybe!We are not missing the UK, Tesco, shopping, driving, laundry, vacuuming or any of our old lives so far.We spend our days on our work and at 5 to 5:30 while there is light go and shower and get ready for a couple of beers on the beach and then eat either with guests, or just the volunteers sit on the beach with a beer and a simpler meal, (bean stew and rice usually with some real strong chilli!)Anyway that’s this week’s update. We are looking to weekend, snorkelling, catching up with reading and a walk to the Beobab tree, it 2000 years old and 29 metres in circumference.

Arrival and the first few days

We flew from Heathrow on Wed 29th July. A 12 hour flight, a change in Johannesburg and then about 3 hours to Lilongwe. Henry was there to meet us at the airport and then there was a 20 minute trip to the Kiboko Town Hotel.
By the side of the road there were loads of vendors sellin g “African Sausages” – basically mice that have been trapped and roasted. Mmmmm!
We settled into the hotel and then went to the restaurant downstairs – Don Brioni’s. The food was excellent and Stuart said it was the best curry he had ever had, might be stretching it a bit but overall very acceptable.
In the morning we were up and had breakfast, then a wander round town. The market area was full of local chancers selling wooden objects and necklaces, beads etc and paintings. Overpriced and just lots of copies of copies. So we didn’t buy anything. Then we met Henry and were off to the airport to collect some guests and then on to the Ilala Ferry.
The Ilala is everything it was promised to be, old, grimy, charming, and an opportunity to relax and rest for a day or so. Chipoka where we met the ferry has a dock so the stay was relatively short. There was a local choir singing on the quayside as we left. We saw our first “lake” sunset, magical, with local beers on the top deck. Then we had dinner in the saloon, amazingly good, chambo (local fish) and chips or steak and chips. A few more beers then an early night.. Some brave souls slept on the deck.
In the middle of the night we stopped somewhere and the boat unloaded and loaded passengers and freight, using the lifeboats, a chaotic process which they seem to have off to a T but which takes a few hours.
Next morning Peggy was up to see the sun rise, I took a more leisurely approach to the day. We breakfasted well and then watched the world go by. Lunch came and went and at about 2 we were in sight of Mozambique and another village where the exchange of passengers and freight continued. Then we were off again to Likoma Island.
There transfer from the Ilala Ferry to “Miss Nkwichi” boat took place, in a chaotic manner, but we all made it and no bags were lost, then a 1.5 hour trip to Nkwichi lodge.
Finally there, so dinner and to bed.
The next morning we had our first view of the lake and the beaches, amazing, even more beautiful than the web site. It was Sunday so we had a chilled day, meeting people and getting to know a bit about the lodge and our way around.
Monday morning I joined some of the lodge staff who were busy burning firebreaks ( the grass and scrub had been cut earlier ) in a controlled fashion, using watering cans to damp the edges of the path we were burning.
The firebreaks provide protection for the lodge and chalets from bush fires. (It has not rained for 2 months and will not for a further 3). This is tough and hot work, we started at 7 and broke for lunch at 12. Again in the afternoon but finished at 3, everyone was tired.
Aching and hot I lay in the lake for a good while then a rest I our hut and sundowners on the beach followed by dinner. A pattern is established.
Peggy is taking over some of the teaching and will be picking up when Trish another volunteer leaves.
Next day we burnt more firebreaks, and again finished by about 3. Wednesday was more of the same, and Thursday. BUT, we had burnt many kilometres and the team had a final 20 metres, to burn on a flat next to the lake, long dry grass, and a bit of a breeze. The fire was lit and then it happened, a gust of wind and suddenly the long grass next to the break had caught light, flames 20 feet high, fanned by the breeze took off at amazing speed, no one could get near it. The bush fire was burning. We ran with watering cans along the edges to try to control the path but it was fast and hot.
The alarm was raised and the lodge staff turned out. The fire ran into rocky areas and bit by bit it was controlled. Everyone was happy but exhausted. We went back to have lunch. After lunch I had planned a quiet afternoon to relax and rest, and then the call, the fire has re-caught, fanned by the breeze, we were off again. This time there was no chance, fortunately an earlier fire break was between the fire and the lodge site so a fire was lit along the edge of the firebreak on the side that the fire was on, this burns towards the bushfire and the 2 eventually meet and extinguish each other as fuel and oxygen is used up. A large area, many square hectares had burnt but the firebreaks had proved their worth.
Now it’s Friday and I’m resting have been looking at objectives for our stay.
We’ll have a weekend and then it’ll be a new week developing new plans and getting involved with the farm and training the local people in improved methods.
Amazing week but relaxed and looking forward to the future here. It’s great, cool at night and warm in the day. We have a double bed, hot shower (shared, about 15 m from our hut) near the long drop. The food is fresh, simple and good. Outdoor activity and exercise, no hangovers for more than a week. And we have only just started.
We have seen baboons, fish eagles, bee eaters, amazing fish, snakes, lizards, geckos, weird and wonderful insects, wasps, stick insects, butterflies, all sorts. And we haven’t even been looking.
We are looking forward to the weekend and time to catch up with ourselves and reflect a little, and maybe see some of the sights – Oh and swim a lot in the amazing water of Lake Niassa!!!!