A lot has happened since the last blog and I have had no wifi until today.
We had a hell trip to Malawi, both feeling unwell and travelling with smaller African airlines which weren't that comfortable. Very hot and airless planes and 3 hours in transit at Nairobi where the airport is hot then 45 mins on the ground in the plane at Harare. Pete still had the flu and no energy and I had a cold and was becoming very nauseous. Tried to make it to the toilet on the last leg and woke to find I had fainted on the way down the aisle. The cabin crew lifted me off the floor and settled me in a cooler spot and fanned me. Not fun.
How we envy Great Aunt Evelyn her slow travel. Easy acclimatisation, no customs, money changing etc etc. We arrived at our accommodation without further mishap about 2am and I slept till 8ish.
All of our arrangements have been totally on time and amazing given what we had been prepared for in Africa. Lilongwe has a big police and military presence with lots of scary road blocks and young soldiers with semi automatics strapped to their fronts. The gun is almost as big as the person.
The Malawian people are quite small and being a Christian country the costumes are not as varied or as colourful as the Kenyans.
We collected Lawrence from the airport around midday after being taken to the supermarket, the money machine and the pharmacy. Drugs are cheap here and Pete bought antibiotics and cough mixture and we replenished our paracetamol. We headed off on the 4 hour drive to Cape Maclear. I was barely able to keep my eyes open and had to stop to throw up. By then I was starting to suspect my malaria meds.
We had been met by our driver and the brother of the house owner. It seemed as tho we got Peter as part of the deal which leaves us with the dilemma of what to tip him. Peter has been here to meet our every need although Pete and I have been too sick to do much. We also have Alice, the sister,doing our washing and our housework. Every morning she bends at 90 degrees and sweeps the sand outside our house. Such an odd posture and so unnecessary.
Cape Maclear is a beautiful place, the lake meaning there is water for washing and recreation and personal hygiene. Activity starts at daybreak, 5 ish, when women and children start their daily chores. Baskets of washing, dishes and buckets of water are hoisted onto the women's heads and carried to and from the lake. They even fill 10 litre buckets with sand and carry them up the beach on their heads
At dusk the kids all come out to play. There is a group of kids with a mobile " beach band". For a few kwatcha they set up their drum set made from old junk and do a really good singing and dancing performance. Jane Venus would love it.
What I saw of the drive down here showed extreme poverty. The houses are tiny and built of bricks made on site using clay from ant hills.
The only wild life we have seen so far is monkeys on the side of the road.
By yesterday I knew the meds were intolerable and Peter said he would take me to the clinic so we trooped slowly across barren wasteland with rubbish dumped and going nowhere. On the way Peter told us that the clinic had been set up by some Irish people whose son had drowned here in the Lake about 12 years ago. It cost me US$100 but that is pretty much what an out of towner pays in Golden Bay and the money went to the clinic so it felt good. Pete found it hard seeing all the poor sick people and the basic facilities to treat them. I was almost too sick to notice. The nurses and doctors mainly came from the UK volunteering for about 5 months. They were so kind. I had to lie down in the ward for a bit as I was about to pass out again. The ward had 4 ancient hospital beds with vinyl mattresses and nothing else. The lovely Brisbane nurse went off to get something to elevate my legs and came back with a basket. No such luxury as a pillow. I had to give a urine sample in a squat toilet with no soap to wash hands. These medical volunteers are so amazing. The clinic had a lab and a dispensary and catered for something like 17000 people. I felt so privileged. Peter had to call a taxi as I couldn't walk home in the heat. My diagnosis was right and I have changed my meds and am feeling much better today.
It is pretty hot and because of our illness we are not acclimatising that well.
Anyway, this is our last day at Cape Maclear and tomorrow we join our Safari. Health on the up and up and all is well.