*
Even before we were ready for breakfast the locals were setting out their wares to sell to us. As we ate they maintained a reasonable distance but almost as soon as we were finished they clustered around us. As we bartered the others started arriving from their mountain trip. They were tired and hot and dirty and not at all pleased to find that in addition to the power not having been restored the water supply had now also failed. However they soon realised that there was a river nearby and went off to bathe in its icy waters. By the time they had returned the buying and selling were in full swing. I had brought a CD rack and a table similar to the one we had seen at Zomba but, as Geoff had predicted, both nicer and cheaper. Sheila had bought what seemed like dozens of carved wooden boxes. Barry had also bought a table. Sometime during this market a group of local teenagers came running up with a chameleon on a stick. Sheila had particularly wanted to see one and they had gone and found one for her. It was a strange looking thing but harmless enough to allow it to walk on our bare hands. The Malawians though are very superstitious about them and would not handle it at all.
The salesmen were persistent and even when it was clear that no-one was going to buy anything else they were reluctant to give up. Fortunately a car arrived at one of the other houses further along the road and sensing better sales prospects they all hurried away after it.
Soon we were under way. Today was almost completely a travelling day. The journey was long and dull and covered much of the same route we had come by. It was late afternoon by the time we arrived at the Nkapola Lodge Hotel. This is a modern and well laid out up-market hotel owned by the same group that own the Ku Chawe Inn at Zomba. It is situated right on the shore of Lake Malawi. The rooms are well furnished with every bed having a permanent and spacious mosquito net and with a large fan lazily circulating the air to keep the temperature down.
I spent the rest of the afternoon having a long soak in a hot bath, wandering around the extensive grounds and having a drink on the terrace bar. Outside the hotel rooms, which opened directly onto a tree covered rocky hillside, a large group of rock hyrax were constantly keeping a watchful eye on us. These animals look like large chipmunks and are friendly and inquisitive. On the roofs and the ground vervet monkeys were a little shyer of human contact, scurrying around happily until anyone approached closer than about thirty feet when they would run and leap away with amazing speed and agility. It seemed a nice enough place for an interlude but, animals aside, the atmosphere was too much like any other beach resort with teenagers in swimming costumes playing volleyball on the sand and youngsters being entertained by a disc jockey playing loud disco music to them. While I was glad enough of the chance to use civilised facilities I was also glad that we would only be spending one night there, more than that would send me crazy.
We had arrived on a day when the hotel had organised a beach barbecue for the evening so that our meal was taken at a long table beneath the stars, The food was excellent with an enormous variety of vegetables, meat and fish as well as soups and salads for a first course and trifles, cakes, fruit salads, ice cream and such for dessert. I sat near the end talking to Geoff and Charlotte. Little Kenny was feigning sleep on a mattress behind them.
Barry was irritating me again. He had been spouting off rather pompously about wine and had ordered several bottles of quite expensive white - apparently to prove a point. So much had he ordered that there was a bottle and a half of it still in front of him when everyone else was ready for bed. I sat and finished my beer and listened to him complaining how he was buying all the wine and no-one else was paying for it. I pointed out rather too sharply that as I wasn't drinking the stuff I felt under no obligation to contribute towards it. He seemed a little put out at my brusque tone but I also felt no obligation to be polite.
I finished my beer and left him alone with his bottles.
The salesmen were persistent and even when it was clear that no-one was going to buy anything else they were reluctant to give up. Fortunately a car arrived at one of the other houses further along the road and sensing better sales prospects they all hurried away after it.
Soon we were under way. Today was almost completely a travelling day. The journey was long and dull and covered much of the same route we had come by. It was late afternoon by the time we arrived at the Nkapola Lodge Hotel. This is a modern and well laid out up-market hotel owned by the same group that own the Ku Chawe Inn at Zomba. It is situated right on the shore of Lake Malawi. The rooms are well furnished with every bed having a permanent and spacious mosquito net and with a large fan lazily circulating the air to keep the temperature down.
I spent the rest of the afternoon having a long soak in a hot bath, wandering around the extensive grounds and having a drink on the terrace bar. Outside the hotel rooms, which opened directly onto a tree covered rocky hillside, a large group of rock hyrax were constantly keeping a watchful eye on us. These animals look like large chipmunks and are friendly and inquisitive. On the roofs and the ground vervet monkeys were a little shyer of human contact, scurrying around happily until anyone approached closer than about thirty feet when they would run and leap away with amazing speed and agility. It seemed a nice enough place for an interlude but, animals aside, the atmosphere was too much like any other beach resort with teenagers in swimming costumes playing volleyball on the sand and youngsters being entertained by a disc jockey playing loud disco music to them. While I was glad enough of the chance to use civilised facilities I was also glad that we would only be spending one night there, more than that would send me crazy.
We had arrived on a day when the hotel had organised a beach barbecue for the evening so that our meal was taken at a long table beneath the stars, The food was excellent with an enormous variety of vegetables, meat and fish as well as soups and salads for a first course and trifles, cakes, fruit salads, ice cream and such for dessert. I sat near the end talking to Geoff and Charlotte. Little Kenny was feigning sleep on a mattress behind them.
Barry was irritating me again. He had been spouting off rather pompously about wine and had ordered several bottles of quite expensive white - apparently to prove a point. So much had he ordered that there was a bottle and a half of it still in front of him when everyone else was ready for bed. I sat and finished my beer and listened to him complaining how he was buying all the wine and no-one else was paying for it. I pointed out rather too sharply that as I wasn't drinking the stuff I felt under no obligation to contribute towards it. He seemed a little put out at my brusque tone but I also felt no obligation to be polite.
I finished my beer and left him alone with his bottles.
No comments:
Post a Comment