Getting sweaty in Majete...

spot the elephant...

zebra and impala

the falls, with Rach and N

A swarm of hippos

more elephants

Adansonia Digitatus (Baobab tree) with Adamsonia Digitatus infront

First, I’d like to write a word for our sponsors:

Mr R M Ward Social Enterprises unlimited (and associates N&H incorporated) were the very kind sponsors of our weekend of luxury, details below. We are incredibly grateful to them for their unlimited kindness, and would like to thank them for the best weekend yet in Malawi (and introducing us to a great coffee shop!).

Additional sponsors who helped us to get here include all of our lovely lovely friends and family in the UK and abroad, as well as the South Down Trust, and Fisher and Donaldson - Bakers and Confections of Excellence.

Now for the update:

We met up with R and his colleagues at a coffee shop in the suburbs of Blantyre, and had our first fresh coffees since arriving in Malawi…mmm…yummy! It was so good to just sit and catch up with R, relaxing on a Saturday morning in the shade of the trees outside Mandala House (the oldest building in Blantyre – possibly Malawi). The level of excitement was increased further when R produced not just the requested Saturday Guardian newspaper (which we are savouring still) but also wonderful chocolate based gifts and notes of support and encouragement from the Edinburgh gang. THANKS!

When the coffee was all drunk (N had paid for it before we had a chance, very kind!) we headed into town in search of a place to change dollars into MK and various other errands including purchase of maps. The Department of Maps was closed, but apparently it was also completely out of all stock, so we didn’t miss out, and should go to a book store instead. The bank wouldn’t change our $10 notes, only denominations of $50 or larger…which would have required a wheelbarrow for all the MK notes! We popped into a small Forex (foreign exchange) place instead, just as it closed, and got a much better rate – so all good indeed!

After such hard bargaining we decided we were in need of food, so went to a place D had recommended. The food was largely good, although the chambo was a bit on the underdone side, and the portions were very generous. R refused to let us pay, which was really kind of him.
After that, a trip around town looking for map shops etc and a wee excursion to the (by this point very hot) Blantyre market. All of which required a bit of a sit down, so we headed to R’s accommodation, and sat with our feet in the pool and drank a lovely MG&T (Malawi Gin & Tonic). Again, R claimed ‘your money’s no good here…’ drat...

Tired and content we headed home to sit and read the paper by the light of our head torches, as there was a power cut again. Very nice way to chill out at the end of a hot, sweaty day.

The next morning we met R, N& H and were whisked off in their big hired truck to go to Majete wildlife reserve (hence the photos above). We saw elephants near and far, they even strolled past while we were eating lunch. We drove around a small corner of the reserve and saw hippos, kudu, impala, warthogs, lots of butterflies, and some incredibly rough roads! Majete is down on the banks of the Shire, and contains the major waterfalls (Murchison Cataracts) that prevented any vessels from making an unbroken trip up the Shire from where it meets the swollen Zambezi near the sea, straight up to lake Malawi. (incidentally, for any paddlers out there they looked paddleableish, probably grade 5 or 5+) Lunch at the lodge, with elephants and warthogs going about their lives close by was a wonderful experience. A really fantastic trip, which again R, N &H would not let us contribute towards financially, which was incredibly kind of them - thanks so much for a lovely day!