Relaxing in Africa

We headed out of Faulty Towers in time to get a taxi to town to use the internet and get some breakfast before the our bus left at 9:00.  As we got at the bus stop, our bus was already there so we could leave our big luggage and go search for some grub and internet.  Our usual internet place wasn't open so Bill went in search of groceries to take on the bus and I went to another interenet.   Unfortunately, Bill didn't find too much in terms of breakfast food as the store didn't have much food left.  Probably because many Zimbabweans cross the river to get food from that store and take it back as there isn't much food in their country.

The bus itself was rather comfortable since we were in the business class executive bus.  However, there really wasn't any good stops for food but they did pass out some cookies and a soda as part of our trip.  Something different for a bus.  We arrived in Lusaka at the extra large dirt parking lots that is called a bus station around 4:00.  Bill went in search of our next bus to take us to Chipata. There were so many bus stalls with ticket booths but those were all for traveling to other countries in Africa, and so trying to find a domestic booth was making us walk in circles with all of our luggage.  Bill was finally pointed to a green booth with NPS spray painted all across it, what an attractive sign.  Should of been our first clue to keep on walking, but we didn't see any alternatives at the time.  And so, Bill found a spot for all the luggage and left me to procure some tickets.

Once that was complete, our next task was at hand, to find a room for the night.  We found a bench and Bill left me to find a pay phone to call the two places in Lonely Planet.  He came back successful and all we needed was a taxi to take us 3 km.  However, once we arrived, Bill checked in and we were told to wait. And then we kept waiting and waiting until he finally showed Bill the room.  Apparently, part of the room was just painted and the workers were cleaning up so we could have the room.  And so finally, we were allowed into the room to discovered that it had a built in ceiling fan, but there wasn't any way to turn the light off while keeping the fan on.  When we pointed this out to the staff, we were basically laughed at because who doesn't want to sleep with the light on.

We decided to cut our losses and just head to town to get some food and use the internet since we had time to write on the blog.  We tried to get a taxi but by the time we saw one, we were so close to the town area we kept walking.  As soon as we found the internet place listed in the book, we knew we were in trouble.  It was closed of course because it was after 5 and we were in the capital city of Zambia.  And so we tried to go for pizza, but they were just closing up as well.  This is about the point I just lost it and started yelling at Bill more because he was the only person their but I was just so fustrated with everything.  And so after calming down, we found a place we could eat some burgers at, but of course, no fries to go with it.  And so, we returned to our lovely freshly painted room that smelled of paint but didn't look like a fresh coat to discover that no hot water existed in this hotel even though they say they have it.  Just turn the tap all the way and wait.  I could still be waiting until today and still no hot water.  And so, to bed we went just to get out of this place.

Before we went to bed, we asked for the continental breakfast assuming it would be something we could take with us.  She had to check with the cook because it was so early.  And so, we were eating breakfast as 6 in the morning with cereal and toast.  So much for taking it with us on the bus.  And so, we get to the bus around 6:30 because NPS claims they are leaving at 7:00 am.

We sit on the bus as loads of vending come off and on squeezing by trying to sell us nuts, shoes, sunglasses, sodas, cookies, actually you name it, they'd probably try to get it for you if they didn't already have it.  But the big topper with the traveling Reverent or whatever he was that stood on the front of the bus for over 45 minutes preaching with a huge lisp that if we eat we sin because we don't have faith.  Instead of using a period or taking a pause at the end of a sentence, he said amen. He also gave his sermon in English and the native language, lucky us.  He must have used the word at least 200 times in his sermon.  And then at the end, he passed around his plastic bag.  Bill numerous times almost got up to take him off the bus and give him money not to come back on.   I guess religion is taken very serious here or everywhere here is just like a street corner in downtown LA.

People kept getting off the bus because the competitor was leaving, wish we knew about him before we bought our ticket.  We didn't leave until 9 because we were waiting for the bus to fill. But when we first got on, the bus was almost filled, they just lost all their customers.  Had we not prepaid our tickets, we would have walked too.  Bill tried numerous times to go yell at them to start to bus to no avail, but he did get one customers to go to the competitors trying to show what he would do if the bus didn't leave soon.

Finally, we were off for our 7 hour ride to Chipata.  It's such a same that we didn't have breakfast to take with us as there were worse stop than the day before to get food.  We finally arrived in Chipata hoping to find our connecting bus to South Laugwa Game Reserve Park.  No bus to be found, but there was a minibus we could take.  So we got a taxi to that location to realized that for more than the price of the bus, we could ride on the back of a truck loaded with lumber as it was starting to sprinkle.  We obviously passed on that offer, and went towards the first guesthouse we'd seen.  Though our driver took us to the government guest house first because it was cheaper, but there was no way we were staying there.  And so, he finally took us to the right one Gelma's.

We were told the internet would be closing soon, so we took to finding it.  Only to discover, the directions Bill had gotten didn't seem to match the streets.  And so, after walking in circles as the sprinkles started to get larger, we got a taxi who said he knew were one was.  It wasn't the one we were told about but they were willing to stay open a bit longer for us as they did already close.  After that, we headed back to our guest house and had the dinner they offered.  It wasn't bad except for the part that our piece of chicken looked like it came for an anorexic chicken, and we had a whole bowl full of cornmeal.  But we were so hungry, it didn't really matter.

And so, we tried the breakfast that came with our room to discover that it was only two pieces of untoasted bread and some coffee.  We waited 30 mins for it because our cook was trying to arrange a taxi with his brother for us to the park.  Though Bill had told him not to bother if it was over 150,000 and when he showed, he quoted 500,000 which is roughly $100.00.  And so instead, we headed out to get our 9:00 bus down to the game park to discover that the bus was in fact there, but it wouldn't be leaving until it was full.  And that could take all the way up to 2 pm, and we still had no idea how we would get back, and so, we got right out of that bus and headed straight out of Zambia and hoped that Malwai had their stuff together.  I will not miss Zambia though Vic falls was spectacular but suppose to be better from the Zimbabwe side so who knows.

What a day for crossing the border.  We had to get a taxi to the border which wasn't too bad as it was only 30 km but the driver was a bit crazed as he was tailgating a truck that was spraying mud until his windshield making visabilty about zero.  And just kept going trying to pass him as numerous cars came down the otherside, but finally we made it to the border.

As we got inside, the rain started.  Not those baby little drops but the heavy kind that get your soaked in say about 1 minute flat.  And so, after getting our blurry exit stamps, we sat and sat waiting for the rain to lightened up a bit.  It finally did and we took our chance to run to the other side of the border.  Luckily, it wasn't that far because some of the roads between two borders have been quite long when we've been on the bus or the safari with Tongai.  And so, we got our entry into Malawi and luckily, there wasn't a fee this time.

Bill left me with the stuff to find a taxi to take us to the next town.  He found a shared cab that said, we'd have to wait for 4 other people before we could go.  Keep in mind that this taxi was the size of a toyata corolla and two people were expected to fit in the front seat together.  So we paid a bit extra as no one was in sight for him just to take us.  It was only about 11 km where we could get a minivan to Lilongwe.  We got into a minibus that they filled to the rim before we could leave, and finally, we were on our way.  It was about 100 km away.

We decided to take a break before heading to our next location and got a taxi to the Checker Inn Hotel area where we'd seen a pizza place and knew there was internet.  We headed straight for food, and as I was waiting for Bill to get money, I saw Pita and Dom from our river rafting trip.  They'd just stopped for some food as they were going to drive another 6 hours that day.  So Bill and I gorged oursevles as he ordered way too much food.  And then we headed to the internet before getting a taxi back to the minibus area to get one to Selma.

Just as we got inside a minibus, the rain started pouring and pouring again.  We knew with this rain it would take time to fill us, but finally it did and off we went.  When we arrived in Selma, we needed to get yet another minibus to Sengi Bay.  By this time it was dark, so Bill offered to pay more so we could just get going.  Though once we were on the road, they seemed to pick up enough passangers that only two seats ever sat empty.   And this is were we met Peter who was going to take us to a lodge he worked for that had double rooms with AC and not far from anything.

This sounded better than the descriptions from Lonely Planet and we had no idea where we were.  So we blindly followed Peter once we arrived our 30 km to this area, and kept following him.  He'd said it was only 400 meters which turned out to be over 1 km.  Bill was getting very testy for being lied too, but as it turns out, it was only the distance he lied about.  As we finally arrived, and Ingrid came out to meet us and show us the room.  It actually didn't look half bad.  She'd said we missed dinner but could take us to a restuarant, the Red Zebra, where she'd just dropped off another young couple.  By this time, we'd met her husband, Leon as well.  And they both took us to the restuarant and the six of us ended up eating dinner together.

We started by sitting outside until the rain came swishing in with the wind hitting us even though we were under a cover.  And so, we all went inside where the rain hit the tin roof making it hard to hear, and the power went in and out as we lit and unlit candles.   But after all the adventures we'd had traveling the last few days, it was nice just to have a chance to relax.  And by the time, the bill finally came, six people was just too much for this guy to handle, the rain had stopped and we all drove back together as they only had a pick up truck.  Though the rain had altered the road in our short departure and everyone had to help push it out before we could make it back to the lodge for a good night's sleep.

However, after everyone said goodnight, Bill and I returned to find ants crawling in the bed.  As soon as we wiped them away within a minute they were back, and we couldn't even tell where they were coming from.  And so, Bill had to go get someone to change our rooms.  Ingrid and Leon happily gave us a new room, but unfortunately, this one didn't have an attached bathroom, and the price of the room never did change.

In the morning, after we finally got out of bed, we properly met Sam and Thomas.  We briefly talked them across the table the night before but they were mainly talking to Ingrid and us with Leon.  They were planning on going on a trip to Lizard Island for snorkeling and a bbq.  It sounded like fun, and I considered, but my only goal for the day was to do nothing and maybe read as I was just tried.  And so, we declined.  Sam wondered if we'd go the next day and I said we probably would, but they ended up going later that day.  Bill and I lounged around doing nothing and actually ate our left over pizza from the day before as we did get breakfast with our room and could get dinner but lunch was a bit different.  We did walk to "town" to the little internet cafe we saw posted to find a cement room with one desk and one computer.  He used a dial up to get our connection but actually it was better than some we'd been on, but within 30 mins or so the power altogether went out.  So we headed back to our hotel in this heat.

The one distance Peter didn't lie about was how far the beach was, it was right outside the inn and we could be in the water.  Many of the locals also hung out as well as the fishermen bringing their fish which actually turns out to be a problem in the middle of the night as they are loud and working hard as I guess that's the best time to bring them in but makes it hard to sleep.  That first night, we had fish and chips for dinner and where joined by two Norwegian guys who were working in Lilongwe doing social work as part of their training.  After dinner, we stayed up until after midnight talking with everyone and meeting all the pets. They had a cat with one eye who was brought to them and shortly after she was with them gave birth to two kittens.  They had two dogs, one being a chiwawa and the other being a puppy mutt who liked to bite everything including butts and feet.

We woke up the next morning knowing we had one more day to enjoy especially because it was Valentine's Day and we weren't going to travel on this day.  So we started by getting in our swimsuits and heading out for a morning swim before asking for breakfast.  The Norwegian guys were already lounging in the chairs also enjoying their break.   Sam and Thomas came out later, and I had assumed they'd be leaving but they thought it would be too late to get a bus and just decided to stay another day. They were taking 6 months just to traveling around Africa.  Bill was a bit jealous of all the time they had here, but I replied we could just spend the rest of our time here, and he laughed and liked our plan better.

In the afternoon, Leon invited us all to join him at the Sunbird because he was signed up to take some guests on a cruise around Lizard Island.  (Leon has a contract to do all the watersports for the hotel and is working on upgrading all the watersports of this area.)  We could take a look at the hotel, have a drink, and join the cruise if we wanted.  The drink ended up costing more the US prices for a really bad drink that should of be blended, but oh well.   When it came time for the cruise, we decided to go as Thomas and Sam were also going.  These two are from Sweden, Sam had just finished up with her school and was dying to travel more and Thomas was more than happy to quit his job and travel right alongside her.

We went for a swim to cool off before the cruise left and then spent the next hour going around the island though we have no pictures because Bill didn't think we'd need the camera.  Tip: always take the camera. There were drinks and food for the passangers of the hotel and we were on the wrong side to get any as we weren't actually paying customers.   The boat was actually a gaint pontoon that Leon help build himself which had railroad tracks connecting the two with a wooden deck on top.  It sat outside our inn, and I had no idea it was the same boat because it looks so different without all the shade/curtains to decorate the boat.

When we arrived back at the hotel, I had to run to the bathroom and ran into our waitress who was scared that we weren't going to pay for our drinks.  But the bill was settled and we returned to our inn where Ingrid had a nice chicken dinner for us.  After dinner, we all played bulls*** but got bored.  Ingrid brought out the poker chips they had and we were playing texas hold'em.  Though I think playing on the ipod has hurt my game because the ipod rounds go so quickly and these go so slowly that I get impatient and bet too soon.  And so, I was the first one out and became the dealer and some people weren't that good a shuffling my poor little panda cards.  They did take a beating this weekend.  But Bill came out the winner even though at one point it looked like he'd take fourth place.

In the morning, we awoke planning to leave, but the day before Leon had mentioned that we might try to have a picnic on the island. I figured if Sam and Thomas were staying, then we would too because it sounded like fun.   However, the boat was ready but when Leon's friend arrived which was one of the reasons for the trip, they just sat on talked all day and before we knew it the boat was being taken apart never being used.   We were let down, but Ingrid had served us bread, tomatoes, and avocado for a nice light lunch on the house which was nice.  The day before she made us pancakes for lunch with a sugar syrup which was great just because she liked having people around to cook for.  So instead of a bbq on the island, we went of a swim with Sam and Thomas and just took it easy.

That night we had a feast as Ingrid had the guys bbq some chicken and made all the sides to go with it.  By now, the Norwegains had left, and we had a table for the four of us and one for the three of them.  After dinner, we sat around as Leon shared war stories with us as he'd been a private contractor in Iraq making tons of money.  He sure liked to talk, and when Bill joined the conversation, he seemed to talk to Bill and ignore his friend.  It was a bit strange.  There were a few touchy subject that came up as any war conversation would bring, but soon it was time for his friend to leave and off to bed they went.  Thomas and Sam were still wanting to play cards and so we were up playing s***head and a**hole.  I, of course, not remembering how to play a**hole became one immediately and never really left.  At least, the next night I became President for a few rounds before Bill took me out.

And again, the next morning we thought we'd be leaving but Leon pointed out that he'd be driving to Lilongwe the next day and could take us with him.  And so, we decided to stay another day.  Though first we went back to Sunbird to use the internet to figure out some of our travel plans.  The only problem with the internet was how much it cost and the power kept going out.  So we'd been using it a while when the power went out; it stayed out so long that we went to sit by the pool and have them come get us when it was ready.  She wouldn't let us pay until she saw how much time the computer said we were on.  And so, Thomas was done with the computer but we still had stuff to do.   So we tried to go back on but the power cut again, but came back on right away. She had to reset the log in.  And the funny part, when I was down, I hit the stop botton to stop the time like I would at other places and that cleared the time from her computer.  So we had to guess how much time we were on, I guess only power outages lock the time.

We went back to our inn, and later Leon invited us to the Safari Beach Lodge so we could have a change of scenery.  The four of us happily accepted.  It's actually been nice having another couple to hang out with and other people to talk with for a change.  It turns out Ingrid an Leon had only been married a few years and met on the internet to find out they went to the same high school.  Small world.  Sam met Thomas right as she was swearing off all men, it always seems to happen like that right when you're not looking. But we enjoyed our side trip as we got to longe around a real pool, order some food and drinks for a reasonable price, and get some views of the mountain, good thing I brought the camera.

And so, we had our last night where we had steak pasta since Leon got some meat when we were at the Safari Lodge, they work together to help each other out except for the Cool Runnings.  There the owner is trying to hurt Leon's boats and possibly even drive him out, who knows.  After dinner though, conversation started and Leon kept going, I was too tried knowing we'd actually be getting up early so I headed off to bed.  Sometime later after being part of the conversation, Bill joined me.

In the morning, around 9 after breakfast, Sam, Thomas, Leon and us left for Lilongwe.  This was after we paid our bill to finally realize the name of this inn, Wanuai, as there were no signs since they'd only be open a month and still working on getting on posted.  Sam and I rode in the front of the truck while Bill and Thomas sat on camping chairs in the back getting hit full on by the sun when it wasn't raining.  Glad it wasn't me.  We had conversations about all the improvements Leon was trying to make to his place and suggestions we might have, as well as many about death, who knew.

When we finally arrived, Leon first got our bus tickets sorted, and it was going to be another long one, 24 HOURS.  Though we had to drive through narrow dirt streets to find this big green bus that would take us to Dar Es Salam, the capital of Taszania.  Then it was off to the golf course where Bill opted to not play after being in the sun too much already and seeing all the rain puddles on the course.  We had some lunch, and Thomas and Leon were off to play golf.

The rest of us went in search of internet.   We found one spot but there weren't enough computers, but plenty at the second stop.  Though my first computer didn't have a stroll bar on the side, so I actually couldn't read anything. My second computer had a sudden error that called for a restart and by that point I had had it.  Though after calming down, Bill offered to go get groceries for our trip while I worked typing on gmail for our blog.  Everything was going fine until we were about to leave and I got to save and an error comes up.  I just lost all my work even though i'd saved two times before. The connection was too slow for the autosave to work.

And so, I went yelling and screaming complaining about the computers and I made such a fiss that they told me not to pay.  Sam tried to comfort me as we went outside to wait for Bill who had brought back some grogeries but had to go do something else that I missed because it was in between me learning that I'd lost everything once again.

So we headed back to the golf course to meet up with Leon and Thomas who had a decent game, but one of Leon's clubs where missing and there was nothing he could do about it.  He was upset, but he just kept saying "This is Africa."  He used that phrase a lot to remind himself how things are so different though he is from South Africa and moved here to get away from all the bad crime.  After that, they dropped us off at the checkers inn area again so we could use more internet and eat more pizza.  We said our goodbyes and they were off.

It was almost 5, so internet was closed, so we just went for pizza.  And we actually had a good time talking as we had more conversation of stuff to share since we weren't together as much the last few days.   It was a good little break though it was much longer than we intended.  And so, we got a taxi over to our bus.  And bordered our bus, to have it leave 45 minutes late.  That's going to suck on the other end of the 24 hours....

Michelle