Dag 9, Saterdag 16 Mei, Inge vertel

Dag 9, Saterdag 16 Mei 2009

I don’t know about the other two, but I basically never went to sleep last night. The people were kind enough to let us use their toilets, but they had no shower…not one in a working condition anyway. Since our trip started I’ve showered every single day. Today, however we had to give that a skip, due to absence of a shower.

My hair was dirty. My body was covered in dust, my hands still had some chocolate on them and I might have smelled of last night’s Asian fried noodles. I don’t know how good a start to the day that might be, but that was how my day started. Gross.

While we were packing up, one of the DPP candidates visited the people of the place where we were camping. We bought some DPP badges and then we were on our way again. We stopped at a place just down the road and ordered some breakfast. Deep fried eggs on toast and the hottest tea you will ever have. While we waited for our breakfast, some people came and tried to sell us bangles and paintings. Lodie bought a few bangles and me and Anja bought some pretty neat paintings. As we drove on we saw a place right around the corner from where we ate breakfast that had wireless internet hotspots…oh well.

Today is my cousin’s birthday. Geluk Bella.

From Mzuzu on we drove through evergreen forests. Every now and then a little hut appears and then the amazing green landscape continues.

DESTINATION: TANZANIA

I’ve started thinking in German. I can’t necessarily put my thoughts into German words, but in my head I go from Afrikaans, to English to German in a flash. I am annoyed to report that I am still sick. I feel sorry for Anja and Lodie who have to put up with my constant fits of coughing and sniffing.

As we drove down the mountain we crossed the Northern Rumphi River and immediately looked out on Lake Malawi. What surrounded us must have been the greenest place I have ever seen in my entire life. On the GPS it looked like we were driving in the water. That was how close we were to the lake.

This part of Malawi reminded me of the scenery in Jurassic Park 2 where the people get stranded on an amazon jungle island (minus the dinosaurs). Brilliant.

We stooped at the Mbuta Lodge to take some photos of the lake. People’s washing hung over a fence on the beach in every colour. Against the blue of Lake Malawi the colours of the clothes were insanely beautiful. We decided that this is the perfect place to visit with some good friends, drink some good wine and talk about whatever. We stopped in Karonga for a few minutes so that Anja can buy us our last Kuche Kuche in Malawi.

Just before Iponga we pulled over at a spot where people were campaigning for the DPP. Trucks with people wearing blue and waving flags passed us the whole day. We responded by waving our DPP badges. We decided to get out of the car and take a few photos of the people dancing and campaigning. The moment we stepped out, the people noticed our cameras and forgot their business and a sea of blue stormed in our direction. All I could hear was “Madaaaaam! Madaaaaam! Make a picture!”. It took us a while to get back to the car. People offered their babies to be photographed, people asked for cellphone numbers and addresses. We were quite the attraction.

We had no problems at the Malawi/Tanzania border. However, when we entered Tanzania, we had to pay an amount of $25. $20 for the road fund and $5 because they had to work on a Saturday. That’s nice. Up until now I have not seen any injustice (other than the obvious poverty), but as we entered Tanzania, an impeded woman walked to our car and stood there until Anja gave her a few dollars. We watched how a few locals then just took the money from her and sent her on her way.

Upon entering Tanzania, we had to turn our watches to one hour later.

I thought Malawi would be as good as it gets. Tanzania is even more beautiful and tropical than Malawi. Banana trees grow like Jacaranda trees in Pretoria. We drove for a while and then turned off the road. A few minutes later we arrived in a paradise called Bongo Camping. I was confused by all the beauty that surrounded us at once. The mountains, avo gardens, banana plantations, ladies harvesting tea, a small cement church with blue doors, a school hall, the children staring curiously and then they amazing sunset. It takes your breath away.

We met the owner, Casper, a skinny Danish white man, and then we pitched our tents. About two years ago he moved to Tanzania from Denmark and married a local girl. While we watched the sunset, we sat on the grass with the children. There was one in particular, Thuli, who has everyone entertained. She reminded me of Mapalo (from Zulu’s Kraal in Zambia). I think together they have the potential to do great things. While we sat there it amazed me once again how these children look after each other. One girl, about seven years old was carrying, who I assumed was, her brother on her back. Here the children look after the children.

Casper later arrived with a bunch of beers (most of them Kilimanjaro beers). He called them “Kill Time”… Tonight was the first night that we ate local food. Casper’s wife, Mingwa, made us dinner. On the menu was a huge bowl of rice, a dish that resembles goulash and some kind of bean dish, with a side order of bananas. Lovely! After dinner we had a few more beers, talked about Casper, his book, his future with Mingwa and her daughter Scholastica.

In Tanzania there is a tradition. Every year there comes a time when the grasshoppers are everywhere. The local people then catch as many as possible and then they eat them. Some sort of delicacy. They fry them, prepare them with onions…they love it. In grasshopper season, the children stay out until the early hours of the morning to catch as many of them as possible. They even compete against each other. While we ate dinner, Scholastica and Emile (Casper and Mingwa’s neighbour) sat with a vodka bottle and hands full of grasshoppers. I was not too fond of catching them with the children…

We sat in the school hall after dinner. The school is what brought Casper to Tanzania. They teach the local children English. Afterwards we all went to bed.

I must mention the bathroom situation: this is the first time that I had the opportunity to use a “flat toilet”. It’s basically a hole in the ground with a seat over it. You do however, NOT sit on the seat. It think it’s merely decorative…HAHA.