Thursday, June 20 and Friday, June 21
Nkhata Bay, Malawi: Njaya Lodge
Our plan was to get up early and take the speedboat back, towing the kayaks behind, so we could get back to Nkata Bay in time to take a mini-bus to Mzuzu to go to the bank to change money so we could pay Kumba and Giros. That didn't happen. We did get up early, but by the time we had breakfast and got organized, we were already off to a late start. In addition, when the Israeli couple who we'd met the night before had walked to Ruarwe from Usisya, two of the dogs from Usisya had followed them on the two day journey, so we had to take the dogs in the boat, and drop them off at Usisya on our way back.
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Randy and Paul |
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| Me, Nicole, Kumba, and a dog from Usisya | Giros |
Our ride started out very pleasantly, but soon enough it started to rain and got fairly chilly. By the time we got back to Nkhata Bay, we were drenched and cold. Randy, Paul, and I got dropped off in town so we could check out the ferry schedule. We had been told that the ferry to Tanzania would leave on Friday or Saturday. Given that we'd have to go to change money the next day (Friday), we were actually hoping for a delay. We were in luck; the ferry was supposed to leave on Saturday, and the harbormaster told us to check back in on Friday, and he'd have a better idea of when the boat would be leaving.
So far, we'd been lucky. We'd eaten anything and everything, including all kinds of street food and loads of raw vegetables, and had not gotten sick. Randy's luck, though, was about to come to an end. We spent the rest of the day lounging around at Njaya, and after lunch, Randy's stomach started bothering him. Without going into the gory details, the problem got worse, not better. Our bungalow, which we loved because of the proximity to the lake, was unfortunately at the bottom of a large set of stairs that separated it from the bathrooms. Later that night, Randy gave up on the idea of even trying to make it to the bathroom, and just hung himself off the porch, over the lake, about every 10 to 15 minutes. Although I tried to be sympathetic, I could not contain my laughter when, at about 3:00 a.m., he came back after one of his porch excursions, and had to towel off because he'd been hit by a wave that came crashing up on the porch.
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Click on these photos to see bigger versions |
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On Friday, we went into Mzuzu in the pouring rain, changed money, checked e-mail (very, very expensive), and, on the way back into town, stopped at the ferry dock for an update. We were told that the ferry would arrive at 9:00 the next morning, and that it should finish off-loading around 11:00, and we'd leave shortly after that.
Surprise of the Day: Being the only people in the mini-van on the ride from Mzuzu to Nkhata Bay