(Cont. from Holiday Travels Pt. I)
I spent the night in Zobue and made my way across the border into Malawi first thing the next day. I headed towards Blantyre, where I was hoping to meet up with a fellow 18er, Mary Kate and another volunteer, Vanessa, whom I had still to meet. During my trip, I carried a little notebook in which I jotted down notes, but also whatever random thoughts were passing through my head. Here are some of those excerpts:
"Estoy sentada en frente de un minibús
en camino para Blantyre, una ciudad al sur de Malawi. Siento una alegría
indescriptible ... muchos pensamientos me pasan por la mente... me siento afortunada.
No tengo mucho dinero, pero mi proyecto me ha traído a un rincón del mundo que
muchos nunca ven. Estoy en Malawi y dicen que es 'el corazón de África.'
A veces se me hace difícil creer que estoy
aquí… en África… donde comenzó la civilización, la raíz de nuestra humanidad.”
2:55pm
Doogle's Lodge, Blantyre
Sitting at the bar area... It's open and overlooks the pool. It's raining....
I arrived at the hostel a little after 10am. I figured it was too late to catch a minibus out to go to Mangochi/cross the border back into Mozambique. I arrived hoping to find Mary-Kate here, but no luck. Since I don't know the area, I figured it was best to play it safe and chill in Blantyre for the night and head out first thing in the morning.
I check into the hostel, dropped off my things and went into town to exchange some money. I took a 500 mt. bill and my bank card with me, leaving the larger bills behind. I went to 2 different banks and 2 ATMs. The banks did not exchange meticais and my bank card got declined at both ATMs. "I'm fucked," I thought to myself... First of all, Mozambique is your neighbor, Malawi! Why the hell can't I exchange some mets?!
Second, I thought 'what the fuck was I thinking beinging 1,000 met bills while traveling through a different country?!" Even if I found a place to exchange mets, I did not necessarily want to exchange up to 1,000 mets and there's no guarantee that they would have change.
At this point, my frustration was mounting, I was sweating like crazy because of the humid heat and I just felt as if my day was taking a turn for the worse. I decided to head back to the hostel and try my luck with the street exchange (I know, not exactly legal... but what was I suppose to do?!! keep wandering around this city that I had never been to before and didn't know?) "I'll exchange the 500 mt bill that I have. That will cover my lodging and leave me a bit for transport tomorrow. I think I will skip dinner," I thought to myself...
I was walking back to the hostel when I saw a white couple crossing the street. I called out to them and caught their attention. "Hi. Do you speak English?" I asked. I introduced myself and asked them if they knew where I could exchange Meticais.
Don, the husband, explained to me where to go but stopped himself when he saw my look of confusion ... he caught himself and said, "Have you had lunch?" I stumbled over my words, explaining that I didn't have much local currency and that I was actually on my way back to the hostel to pick up the larger bills I left behind. Don and his wife then generously offered to treat me to lunch, drive me to the hostel to pick up what I needed and then drop me off at the exchange place.
I couldn't believe my luck. I think I almost cried. Ahaha. Just kidding... but I was really taken aback by this delightful turn of events.Turns out that Don and his wife were from California! San Diego, to be exact. What are the chances?! Meeting a missionary couple from southern California on the random streets of Malawi?
UNREAL.
During my lunch with Don and his wife, I found out that they had been working and living in a rural village outside of town and were involved with projects that supported OVCs (Orphans and Vulnerable Children). We had a pleasant lunch in which we asked each other about our work, our past, and all those general get-to-know-you questions. When Don and his wife found out that I had traveled alone into Blantyre and once I told them about our usual habit of hitch hiking- they were surprised. At one point, Don's wife said "if I were your mother, I would not like this," with a worried look. Don and his wife are parents to a teenage daughter and I think their parental instincts kicked in when they ran across me. That or they pitied the random american girl running around Blantyre. Whatever it was, Don and Elaine (?), if you are reading this- Thank you so much for all your help! I truly appreciate it and thank you from the bottom of my heart.
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| Don and his wife |
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| Doogle's Lodge, Blantyre |
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| Dinner at the hostel |
Later that day, I managed to get in touch with Mary-Kate. She and Vanessa would be in Blantyre in that afternoon. The girls came by my hostel and we made a plan for the next days travel back into Mozambique.
The next day, Mary Kate, Vanessa and I caught the early chapa out to Mangochi. From Mangochi, we headed towards the border. Overall, it was a fairly easy trip. The roads in Malawi are in much better condition that those in Mozambique and this definitely makes for easy traveling.
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| Making our way through Malawi |
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| Back on Mozambican land |
We made our way back into Mozambique by the early afternoon. We crossed back into Mandimba, a small town and Mary-Kate's site in Niassa Province. I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with Mary Kate and her dog,
bandida, in their "Doll House." After the day's travels, Mary-Kate and I were both starving so we went to lunch at the only restaurant in town where we split and entire chicken.
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| Niassa Province, Mozambique! |
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| Mary Kate and Bandida |
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| "The Doll House" Mandimba |
The next day, Mary-Kate and I made our way to the capital of Niassa Province, Lichinga, where we met up with a few other volunteers that were also heading up to the Lake for New Year's.
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Hanging with Norte Forte peeps!
From left to right: Vanessa and John, MOZ 20 & Jade and Victor, MOZ19 |
On the 30th, we headed to the Lake. We got to the bus stop a little bit before 7am, where we waited for almost four hours for the chapa to Meponda to arrive! When the chapa did arrive, it still took a while to load and for us to leave. We left for Meponda around noon.
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| Viva México, cabrones! |
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| We waited for over four hrs for transport to Meponda! |
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| Sights on the way to Meponda... |
We arrived at the lake about 4 hours later. From there,we still had to take a boat for an hour or so until we reached our destination.
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| We made it to the Lake! |
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| Sunset on Lake Niassa |
After multiple days and many hours of travel, I finally reached my New Year's destination: Lake Niassa.
The lake-front property that we were invited to is owned by a couple Swedish expats and friends' of the northern volunteers. In all, there was about 20+ people at the lodge, 8 of which were PCVs. We spent four nights at this secluded lodge and passed the time by lounging lake-side,swimming, drinking, playing cards, eating lots of tasty food, and relaxing in front of the bonfire at night. Although the trek to get up there was quite a mission, the Lake was stunning and I am glad to have made it up there.
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| Vanessa, Jade, Victor and Hugo to my right |
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| New Year's Day mission: slow roasting a goat |
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| Drinking games to pass the time, of course ;) |
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| Pelle & Nils, our gracious host |
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| w/ Victor & Matt on NYE |
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| Jade |
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| Dance Party in the bar area |
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| New Year's Day |
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| Potjie, a delicious South African dish |
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| bonfire |
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| boat trip into town |
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| the Lake |
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| on the shores of Meponda |
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| Kitchen area on the right, Bar is further towards the lake |
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| Cooking up some dinner! |
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| Lake side villages |
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| Claudia, Vanessa and I |
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| On the way back to Lichinga |
We left the lake on the 3rd and headed back into Lichinga. Luckily, I picked up a travel buddy while I was at the lake so I didn't have to make the trip back by myself. It took two days for me and Victor to make our way back to Chimoio from Lichinga. The trip was long and not necessarily the easiest, but after a full two days of travel, Victor and I made it back safe and sound.
Norte Forte- I give you guys mad props! The North is NO JOKE! fucking
longe, pah! Aha. Aside from the insane distances I had to travel, I had a great time and met some awesome people. Thanks again, Norte Forte, for an incredible New Year!
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| traveling back to MOZ with my new pal, Victor |
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| It's been real, Malawi! .. but time to head back to MOZ! |
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