We left the bay at 06:00am to ensure Don & Scotty returned to Lilongwe by lunch. We took the scenic but more risky in dry season M5 route. This time young master Scott was in the drivers seat banging us over bridges, swerving primates & sometimes gaggles of children. Perhaps this record pace could be down to the fact the poor lad seems to be having a bit of insomnia at the moment & has taken to day time napping.
Four hours later we approached Kuti. There phone wasn't working. Super troupers started up the track to try & drop me at the main gate. They didn't get far. Rain stopped play if you will. So about halfway up I grabbed by bags & set off on foot. This was utter madness, especially in flip flops. Soon after negotiating a huge pool of water blocking the road. With the help of an old woman with her plough. I made her go first, & didn't help her with her plough. I was over & plodded on. Much to the amazement of the villagers who all stopped as I walked by. Sweating tired & extremely hot I reached the main gate. A change of footwear & I was off again. The whole walk only took about an hour but when your carrying everything you brought to Malawi, wine, gin, sandwiches it was pretty hard going. When I got to reception, the lady spoke English but was so amazed that I hadn't come in a car she asked her friend if I had really walked here. Patrick showed up to show me to my room. His first question of were is my car that prompted another bout of Chichewa chitta chatta. Patrick lent me a bike to get to the room. He even took my heavier bag leaving me with the back pack. Now everyone knows the saying it's just like riding a bike. They obviously haven't tried riding a bike in a mixture of mud, hard road, clay & sand. While passing a cart led by two oxen, when it's 30+ degrees. Still I got there, just.
The cottage was nice, out in the middle of no where which I had wanted though it was quite a walk to the bar & then onto reception.
So what does one do when your in a game reserve & you have already walked for an hour in the blazing sun. Some more walking after a cold shower, of course! Not wanting to venture too far from base camp I explored the surrounding roads. This was quite difficult to do as there was no to scale map. Just a photo in the reception. I even managed to plough through a closed road. Late afternoon after a couple of cooling beers & water of course, I went to the sunset deck.
Now your going to ask why didn't I wait till sunset. Well the answer of course silly is that it was so far away from anywhere if I had I would have been lost wandering in the dark. It's a great spot & when the bar is open fully & you have a car to get back to your room it will be great. They are hoping on opening three lake side chalets later this year that would have a great vista to look out on.
Before dinner I grabbed a quick beer then back for another shower & to the restaurant. A lot more walking too & fro. For dinner I went with the BBQ chicken with chips. I set off beer in hand as the sun had already started to set at 18:30 & only just made it home before total darkness took over. No sooner had I shut the door then I could see no further than a yard.
I was unable to get any 3G, so I opted for another cold shower, caught up on my diary entries whilst I finished my beer.