Day 107
Robert sponsored an ultimate frisbee game with some of the secondary school
kids. Christian, Ian, Rob and I whomped
them hard! But I was impressed with how
well they knew and understood the rules of the game. They picked it up quickly and they started
getting more aggressive by the third game.
108
We woke up early at Rob’s to hike the mountain that is just near his
house. It was like climbing a stair
master for 15 kilometers! Our guide was
a man who worked with the forestry office and he was running up the sheer
hills. I couldn’t believe how out of
shape I was. Before we reached the top,
it started to storm and lightening crashed right by our heads so we headed down
the mountain early. We ate tuna fish
sandwiches and hot cider at Rob’s. We
were cold and wet, but very happy. I’m
going to miss these kids.
109
Christian and I headed up to Nkhata Bay so that we could start our holiday
at Lukwe a few days early. When we got
to Christian’s house, we passed out almost immediately from the hike the day
before. We were in bad shape. Movies and taking it easy were the only
things on our agenda.
110
We learned that Christian’s good friend Robert’s wife, Nancy, was in the
hospital so we decided to visit her. She
was in bad shape, suffering from Malaria for the 4th time since we
had known her. We splurged on a cab to
take her and her family home from the hospital.
Since I had suffered from malaria once before, I know how painful it can
be. The hospital was 8 kilometers from
her house and I didn’t want her to have to walk that whole way, so I was happy
to go with her. Unfortunately she only
speaks Chichewa so I tried to tell her to feel better but all I could do was
give her a hug. I think she understood.
111
Christian and I got lucky on our way to Lukwe – generous rides all the way
to the top! When we arrived, we were
greeted by the incredibly friendly staff and given a gorgeous room with a
view. Cold beer? Yes, please.
112
Christian and I explored Lukwe’s beautiful, lush gardens (where the
ingredients for our fresh salads at every meal were growing) and made our way to
the waterfall. There was a cave behind
the waterfall and we climbed behind it and I wished so badly that my camera was
not broken. The view was incredible from
the top – you could see all the trees and villages all the way to the
lake. At dinner, another couple was
sitting nearby. They were being attacked
by giant bugs, so we invited them to sit at our table, which was not as close
to the light. Turns out, our friendship
was meant to be! They were a really nice
Dutch couple our age and we chatted late into the evening. I walked away with a little bounce. Our first “couple friends” that we met on
vacation – how perfectly cliche!
113
The next morning we met with Arjan and Dominique for a hike to the
waterfall. They brought their camera and
we took great shots. Our friendship was
effortless. We drove up to Livingstonia
to see the old mission town and I felt like we were in a twilight zone. The village felt like a small town in New
England. There was a beautiful church
and even a university. I couldn’t wrap
my head around it – this was nothing like the Malawi I knew. We ate ice cream and scones for lunch in
town, but for Valentine’s dinner we devoured steaks and drank wine and played
bao until it was late. I felt like we
had known each other forever.
114
The travel back to Nkhata Bay was easy-going, thanks to Arjan and Dominique
taking us most of the way. We caught a
ride to Mzuzu, stocked up on groceries and headed to Christian’s house. Such a flawless vacation, even though my
camera broke we ended up making very good friends.
115
We spent the day in the bay using internet and I was able to get a lot
done. My favorite place is Aqua Africa –
free internet and cold beers overlooking one of the most beautiful places in
Malawi.
116
We spent another day in the bay getting things done. I feel so nostalgic now that time is coming
to an end here and every time I say good-bye to our friends, it feels harder
and harder. I am so bad at good-byes so
I pretend I’m just not leaving.
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