It’s Saturday, and we’re back in Blantyre now. I am sitting on the khonde, it’s cloudy, and I think I’ve even felt a couple of drops of rain! A perfect time to think back over the last week, and all the amazing experiences I’ve had on the real holiday part of my trip.
We packed a lot into a week – a visit to Dedza pottery and the ancient rock art just up the road from Dedza; a couple of days at Cape Maclear by the lake, a brief visit to Mangochi, also on the lake, a safari at Mvuu Lodge, in Liwonde National Park, and finally an adventure on the Zomba Plateau. There were 4 of us till Wednesday, as Mari’s friend Amanda joined us for a few days – we dropped her off at Liwonde town before going into the national park. There were so many highlights, it’s quite hard to know what to write about!
When I think of the rock paintings, what I remember most are not the paintings themselves; to be honest I agree with my nephew who commented, after seeing them, something along the lines of “Well they’re impressive if you’re impressed by something being over 2000 years old, but otherwise….” But the scramble up the hill, with Lin lagging behind to take photos, and our guides, Jones, Dennis, who were primary teachers, and Francis (aged about 8) leading the way, was full of interesting plants and birds and breathtaking views. It wasn’t only the views that were breathtaking – Lin didn’t quite make it to the top, as the climb was so steep, and Jones went bounding down the slope we had struggled up, like a mountain goat, bare feet and all, to rescue her and take her back by an easier route. He even offered to carry her on his back!
Arriving at Cape Maclear was also memorable. We turned off the tarmac road and drove for about 20 kilometres down a dirt road which, for some reason, seemed to have an almost rippled surface, like when the wind and rain make ridges in wet sand on the beach. I was driving, so had the steering wheel to hang on to, but everyone else was rattled about rather. As we finally drove into Chembe village the sun was setting. We drove along the village street, which is basically part of the beach, with trees growing out of the middle of the road, and houses and shops everywhere. The lodge where we were staying, Tuckaways, is behind a bamboo fence, and it is like going from one world into another-a feeling I have had a lot here, especially this week doing touristy things.
Even the beach has a fence going almost down to the water’s edge – this was particularly striking the next morning at about 6 a.m. when Lin and I were sitting on the clear bit of beach outside the lodge watching the lake, and on both sides, the other side of the fence, we could see the village women washing themselves, their pots and pans, and their children, in the lake water. A few men crossed the divide, and walked along to greet us, and tell us about their boat, or jewellery, or pictures. “My name is X, remember me” became a familiar cry. Mostly they went away when we said we were not looking to buy anything just then, but even though they were polite – “Good morning, how are you? My name is X. What is your name?” it did become a bit wearing.
Later, after breakfast, we did commission a few things from one of the wood carvers, to be carved and delivered later in the day, but this was done under the watchful eye of one of the Gecko Lounge waiters, who wanted to make sure his customers were not being ripped off TOO much. Mari and I spent most of the day in the Gecko Lounge, which sticks out over the beach, reading our books and ordering the occasional snack or drink, while Lin and Amanda went kayaking and snorkeling.
The next day Mari, Lin and I went on a boat trip for a couple of hours. This included a visit to Otter Point, where we didn’t see any otters, but did see lots of baboons on the beach. We also fed the fish eagles, both there and at Thumbi island, which was our next stop. The men in the boat, Oliver and Boyson, had brought fish along which they threw into the water, and the eagles swooped down from their perches on the top of the trees to snatch the fish from the water. Lin and Mari now have a whole series of photos of eagles’ feet, artistic water splashes, and one or two of the eagles themselves!
Oliver and Boyson pulled the boat up on a rock at the island, and Oliver dropped bread in the water to feed the fishes. There were hundreds of them, little brown, blue and yellow fishes about 4 inches long. The water was clear enough to see them quite clearly. Lin and I swam off the rocks, and Lin did a bit of snorkeling while Oliver caught several fish with his hands, and dropped them into my hands.
On the way back to land we had a rendezvous with a fishing boat, for Oliver to buy more fish, presumably for later trips, and, inevitably, they got out some jewellery and paintings for us to look at! We did buy a couple of things, probably more or less making up for the reduced rate Mari had negotiated for us for the boat trip as we only went for 2 hours, not half a day.
After lunch we set off again, down the lake to Mangochi, looking for a lodge to stay in. We went into one, but for some reason none of us liked it – it felt rather creepy for some reason, like the Bates Motel with palm trees.
So we found another one in the book which sounded really nice – Nanchengwa Lodge, and Mari rang up and booked us into it. We drove into Mangochi town for a brief look around, and then back up the way we had come, until we found the lodge. It was really lovely, with A frame huts on the beach.
The dinner we had was the best food I have had in Malawi – fried chambo (fish) with salad and veg. In the morning, Mari and I got up at 5.30 and sat on the khonde watching the sun rise above the mountains of Mozambique on the other side of the lake. Further down the beach the villagers were towing out their fishing nets – already the beach was a hive of activity.
Later Lin and I swam, and we sat for a while, watching the fishing, and absorbing the peace and quiet, until it was time for breakfast.
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