The inspirational 6

Wednesday 12th March

The past three mornings have been pretty fishy and today could have possibly been the fishiest. The fishermen are all up at the crack of dawn with their daily catch so by the time I'm cycling through the villages at 9, the fish have been laid outside on the market tables and filling the hot air with their scent for a good few hours.

I couldn't find anywhere for breakfast so had to make do with roadside doughnuts. This would prove an ingredient to add to a day of unhappy cycling. Today the begging was relentless. I've used that word alot with regards to Africa but today was especially hard. It was a tough reminder for me of the hard times Malawi is going through right now. I've tried to block it out with ear phones but that doesn't help Malawi and that's not what I've done for all the other countries.

One of the factors of my ride has been to give people a view/opinion from a cyclist enduring every part of a country via this blog. When I think of Malawi I can't just talk about and remember the two amazing days I've spent in "paradise" on the lake as that is merely a small luxury percentage of my time here. The majority of Malawi, especially in the north is unemployment and poverty. 90% of every village I've cycled through is shut down. Shops are there but none are open and the only things being sold are fish, rice and maize. How does this look for the future? I've struggled to buy water in every village I've been to and I've had to buy hot fanta or coke instead. Stocks are low and people are sat around doing nothing.

Today was a very hard day for me and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get out of the low. Calls of "Mazungo, GIVE ME MONEY" shouted from EVERY child and even some adults can only be deflected for so long and today they battered me more mentally than Ethiopia. It's not said with conviction or desperation but its said every 2 minutes and there's no easy way to handle it.

My motivation hadn't been that low since Ethiopia and despite being close to home, its not fair just to bypass the few countries I have left. Yes, Malawi is idyllic in some areas but as is so common on this continent, you can't ignore the poverty not just on the doorstep of paradise but on the front garden, the back garden and on the road leading up to the house. The people won't let you ignore it!

I stopped for a fizzy drink, I was clock watching and getting nowhere. As I sat outside the only shop open, a man came and sat next to me for a chat. He confirmed the problems that were evident from just cycling through. There were no jobs, and unlike in Kenya and Ethiopia where there was still opportunity to start their own businesses, there didn't seem to be that option in Malawi. I found that difficult to understand seeing as there was no variety. Everybody sold only fish, bananas, maize or maybe tomatoes, surely it would be easy to grow something new to sell and start your own business?!

It sounds easy doesn't it but with no money to start with, no idea of how to grow crops and therefore no sustainability, everyone that wants money has to get involved with a business that everybody else already knows about. The man wanted to be my pen pal, I had to be brutally honest and say no. Despite all this I think Malawi on a whole is developing and my ride has just taken me through some of the worst areas. The gap between rich and poor is still an African mile like the rest of Africa but i was filled with hope at the end of my horrible day by 6 individuals that were/are the inspiration I've been missing.

At 100kms I came to a T junction. There was an ok looking guest house right in front of me, Salima 7km to my left and Lilongwe (tomorrow's destination) 97km to my right. I initially started to cycle towards to Salima to find a place to stay then after a mile I turned around as I thought, its on one night, I'll just stay at the guest house on the junction. (plus I was too lazy and fed up to carry on cycling to Salima). I popped into the petrol station next door to the guest house to get some water and asked if there were any other places to stay towards Lilongwe. The guy at the counter said no and warned me away from the guest house next door. I then asked two security guards at the road block if there were any guest houses nearby and they recommended going toward Salima for 2 miles and both openly warned me away from the nearby guesthouse. 

Now I've stayed at some pretty grotty places and i would put this guest house nowhere near the bottom but seeing as 3 separate people had said so, I thought I should just suck up the extra two miles and find a place called Village Plaza Lodge on the road towards Salima. Little did I know that those extra two miles would turn out to be two of the most influential miles to my mood of possibly the whole trip.

When I arrived the lodge's looked far to expensive and so I met a lady on reception called Rose, who let me camp in between them. I asked if I could eat in the restaurant and Rose said I would rather go into town as the food on site was too expensive and so she recommended a good restaurant in Salima. Rose was clearly not working on commission and probably couldn't be bothered to cook so I jumped in a taxi and good old Rose had recommended a belter.

When I got back to the site I then met 6 guys from England that were working for a Christian Organisation called Tear that educated the local people about how to grow crops sustainably. How not to just input a water system but how to fix and maintain the system and how to do all the things I have recognised previously as problems in Malawi. David, Nia, Ben, Jonathan, Laurie and Lois were all inspiring to me because they were only 18-21 and instead of doing the standard gap year thing and travelling/partying with a bunch of friends, they were all using their knowledge to make a huge difference in a very poor area of Malawi. (I know I sounded very old just there) On top of this, they were 6 great individuals, 5 of them off to very good universities this year (Lois already graduated) and they had only been a group for just over month but had bonded like a real family. All of them made me feel unbelievably welcome, all of them much more intelligent than me and all kind enough to sit and listen to the old man's boring stories!!!

We sat and had dinner together and stayed up till well past my usual bedtime chatting. It was the best end to an extremely hard day and it didn't just improve my day but it helped me to regain focus for the rest of my ride. I may only have a month left but i know more than anyone that there's a lot that can happen in a month . I now also know that i have better armour to help me cope with the toughness of getting over the finish line and Zambia, Botswana and South Africa are not just a means to an end, they will be savoured and enjoyed probably more than any other country! 

All I can say is one big massive thankyou to the "6 mazungos" because I don't think they realised how much they influenced and inspired me in such a short space of time.

Saynotakota

Tuesday 11th March

Another good breakfast set me up for a decent days riding. Not a fan of the hot milk with cereal which is common in Malawi but it went down anyway as I needed the energy for what was going to be another 100 mile day.

I was heading for a place called Nkhotakota which was down the side of the lake but the route ventured inland so I was expecting a few climbs aswell. I had perfect conditions to start the day, good weather, good tarmac and good music. I put both ear plugs in again and felt a bit rude as I couldn't hear a thing the locals were saying. Malawi has been getting on top of me and the locals are saying things whether it be begging or hello, how are you? around every two minutes. When I'm cycling for around 8-9 hours a day sometimes 10, every 2 minutes can get really hard to deal with so I just had to shut them away today.

My tactic today was to take the ride in two chunks of 50. This meant having a decent lunch of egg "flied" rice to keep me going the second half of the day aswell. My tactic worked well, both halves of the day were strong and I didn't have a grump on when I arrived in Nkhotakota.

My extra energy meant I was a little more active and a little more inclined on finding the best place in town. Unfortunately I was left with hardly any option and unless I wanted to cycle off the beaten track to expensive lakeside lodges then I was gifted with a choice of two motels. Neither were any good and both were overpriced for a town like Nkhotakota which is quite frankly, an average at best "town." I ended up negotiating with the manager of Grace Motel to letting me camp on a tiny patch of grass that they had behind a lodge. They agreed to that but it was still overpriced for camping so I asked about toilet and shower facilities. Gordon Ramsey would've had a field day on this place, the restaurant had no power, all the rooms and lodges were empty and they had nothing to sell as I had to give one of the staff some money to buy some water.

How this business was still going I have no idea. I had to pay upfront for food because they had to go to the shop and buy it first. The manager was kind/foolish enough to give me a key to a lodge though so I had a toilet and shower for the evening and following morning. There was nothing stopping me from just sleeping in the lodge! I didn't though, I kept true to my word and stayed in my tent next door to the comfy bed in the lodge that I had the key for. (Who's the foolish one ay?!) I could sense food was going to be terrible and take hours so in the end I asked for my money back and went to the motel next door. 

The Motel next door wasn't much better either. The whole place was derelict and their "restaurant" was made into a conference room so I ended up eating my cold rice and beef alone in a dark room along with 30 other chairs in a "C" formation around a flip chart. Nkhotakota was dire to be honest but it was another day and another step closer to my goal.

By the time i had finished my dinner, the town had plunged into complete darkness. No streetlights, no signs and with hardly any power to the nearby buildings it was lucky i didn't have far to walk. I returned back to my lodge and sat out on the porch for a bit but there was nothing to do other than blog or play candy crush. I was back to a standard 100km day tomorrow and I had a couple of route options which I would probably ask the manager about tomorrow.

For today though, an early night and a decent recovery from a long day riding. Nkhotakota, a place i will not lose sleep over if i don't have to visit again!

Malawi says "relax"

Monday 10th March 

Last night it rained with some serious intensity. It wasn't like the storm in Albania but it was enough for some droplets to come in through my air vent which the wind kept blowing open. I was completely starkers due to the humidity in the tent being 100% so I actually welcomed the occasional cold spray on my bare skin. My sleeping bag was already soaked through due to sweat so when I woke up to check how dry the tent was, a damp sleeping bag was a given. The rest of my tent was dry and even the porch section kept all my bags dry so I couldn't complain really.

I went for a morning swim at 7am, I could really get used to that. It was the calm after the storm and the temperature of the lake was perfect. I took a bar of soap with me to kill two birds, (wash myself, not throw the bar of soap at two birds) and not for the first time on another beautiful beach of Lake Malawi, I was completely alone. 

Breakfast was being served pretty much when I asked for it and I was treated to a decent one. A full English with cereal! The breakfast was better value than the main meals and they even had proper tea and decent peanut butter! I had a great start to the day for my rest day but it wasn't a total rest day as I needed to do a few odd jobs on Nigel.

Tiny things that have accumulated over the last few days/weeks that I haven't been bothered to change at the end of the long days I've been putting in. The rear rack needed tightening, rear brakes changing/adjusting, rear wheel adjusting, handlebar bag holder tightened and its make shift secondary strap (piece of string) changed to some parachord so it doesn't disintegrate in the rain! I don't know how I've done it but I've managed to bring everything that I've needed and also managed to use everything that I've packed. 

When I was packing for my trip I didn't really know where to start and how can you possibly know what's going to happen? What does my first aid kit need? What tools will I need? What spares will I need? The list goes on. The truth is that you don't know because you've never done something like this before, but call it what you want, beginner's luck or good research, preparation and planning (I obviously prefer the latter) but there is nothing that I can get rid off because I've used everything quite regularly, actually tell a lie - bike lights. I haven't used them but they can double up as a torch so il'l let them off. Out of all the equipment in my odds and ends bag, parachord has played an exceptional role. It began its life as straps to turn my pannier into a rucksack when the front rack broke. Then it held my rear rack together in Sudan, which it continues to do and now it's keeping my Handlebar bag from falling off its holder when I go over bumps!

After all my little odd jobs were finished, I was feeling very satisfied with myself and on top of that, the weather was perfect. It was hot in the sun but there was a slight breeze to take the edge off the heat and the lake was calmly brushing against the sand. I didn't really want to continue with operation "even tan" so I just chilled on the sofas in the open planned, open aired communal room. They had fixed the signal issues with the TV for long enough for me to enjoy a few movies and at the same time feel so so relaxed from the sound of the lake.

All the staff were zonked out on the sofas aswell and we were just like a family on a Sunday evening. It felt like I had been off Nigel for ages. I guess that's what you call a quality rest day, I was lapping up the present but also looking forward to getting back on him now I had adjusted a few things. After all the adjustments I do to him, i still get that "new bike" feeling after. Even if I'm just doing something small like cleaning the chain, I still get a little buzz from it. I guess it must be love!

One of the members of staff helped me sort out the Internet, I needed to pay for "airtime." I messaged home quickly but annoyingly couldn't access my emails. I'm blocked from hotmail and blocked from my yahoo which hotmail emails with a code when they block me. I have a security question which i created and answered when i opened my account at the grand mature age of about 11. My security question is "who is gay?" Granted i haven't matured much since i was 11 but i can think of alot of people i might of called "gay" in 1997! I still haven't received my money from the insurance company either which is a tad annoying now my overdraft has come a knocking. I know its been worse for my dad as he's been calling them the whole time but its been nearly 2 months now, really? Specialty Group Insurance! Come on!

I had the rice and beef for the fourth time in 2 days. Lunch-dinner-lunch-dinner. Last night I ordered extra meat as I told them I needed the energy. Today, i think the "more volume" message was proactively taken as it seemed like they were trying to rice me to death. Just as the movie that I was really getting into was coming to its Hollywood climax, the signal went and I ended up missing the last 20 minutes and crucial ending of "White House Down." I can give an educated guess by the title of the film at what happened at the end but its always nice to know the nature in which it happened. (Plus I have a slight bromance for Channing Tatum)

After that the signal came back on but the staff family turned it onto a Malawian soap, that was my cue for bedtime! I've had two lakeside rest days in Malawi and they've been right out of the top draw. Tomorrow sees me putting in some more heavy mileage and heading more inland towards Lilongwe. I have only got 4 maybe 5 days left in Malawi but at least I've had some quality time off!

Send in the clouds

Sunday 9th March

Last night absolutely chucked it down and it was still looking pretty grotty in the morning. I had plans to sleep in this morning but they were dashed when I received a knock on the door at 7 telling me that check out was at 9 o'clock.

As I moved Nigel and my bags outside I spotted Kennedy the manager, packing the breakfast things away. "Oh is there free breakfast?" "Ah yes" he said. Just in time I thought, if I hadn't of caught him I would've been none the wiser! After my surprise breakfast which was always going to taste good no matter what it was (it was boiled egg and bread...standard) I gave Nigel a quick oil.

The drizzle then started as I began my search for the bank. The search was pretty straight forward as they were all lined along the main road heading the same way I was cycling. I used my magic bank card and got my money so was singing in the rain for the rest of the day.

Mzuzu is situated on a hill and there is a long winding 40km road down to the lakeside to a place called Nkhata bay. My planned stop was a further 40km from there at a place called Chinteche. The clouds were very low and very thick so I knew this ride was going to be a wet one. As I descended, I must've cycled through 4 separate rain clouds, all hitting me with hard downpours. I had to be really careful as the road was patchy and I really wasn't keen on crashing around the date of my 8 week anniversary of a shattered collarbone.

I was absolutely soaked and its strange when it rains in beautiful places like this because you really don't mind so much. You know things will clear into a beautiful day and you just take it as nature. When it rains back home its horrible and its as if nothing will get better but when you're in paradise, you almost embrace it!

My music was back and I was enjoying the tunes as I cycled through walls of deep heat and humidity every 100metres. When I got to the bottom, the humidity really kicked in and it was very hard to breathe. Muggier than the staff room at a PG Tips factory it was, and I was just hoping it would all clear for my rest day tomorrow. I hadn't cycled that far compared to previous days but I was still really tired. It was more a feeling of relief when I saw the first signs for Chinteche and with 50 miles done before 2pm I was in good stead for a long recovery period. 

For the last two days I've had the Chinteche Inn in my head as my proposed place to stay, I think this was after Mark from the Sanctuary recommended it. That was my goal today but literally 100m before the inn, i spotted Sambani Lodge and was dragged in by their promise of Internet. I can't remember the last time I've been on the Internet, around 10 days ago I think, and its coming upto my mum and niece's birthday so the Internet was a real selling point for me.

I had to wheel Nigel 2km to get to the lodge and half way down I said to myself, "I've done it again haven't I! I'm caught in a trap again where the prices will be high and you know they won't have Internet and now I'm too far to be bothered to turn back!"

I arrived at the lodge and there were no staff to be seen (not for the first time I've been in this situation) so I took a look around and checked the drinks prices. Fanta was cheaper than water! Yes! And food was pretty reasonable so needless to say, I was a happy chappy. I eventually found a member staff and paid for two nights camping. £3 a night to camp in paradise is never bad and I set my tent up just feet away from the clean white sandy beach.

After lunch I had to wait until 6pm for the electricity to come back on and guess what, their Internet wasn't working! The TV wasn't much good either as the signal kept going every 10 minutes so I spent the majority of the evening trying to fix the sites Internet and fix the TV's signal. All the staff were very laid back and they really didn't seem to mind me trying to fix the Internet etc. They were more than happy to fall asleep on the sofas in the communial area and let me get on with things. If there wasn't a key on the fridge, I'm pretty sure I would've been allowed to get my own drinks!

One of the lady's made me laugh. Just before i went to bed, I asked her what the weather was meant to be like tomorrow, considering today wasn't amazing. I had it in my head that she had seen the forecast on the TV. When I asked her she just looked up to the starry overcast sky, "I think it will rain later" I laughed. I suppose the job of weather reporter for Malawi is about as varied as the job of painting the Golden Gate Bridge!

Due to technical difficulties with the TV and Internet, I hit the hay pretty early. I was looking forward to another rest day on the beach as it will probably be my last in Malawi. I'm only 4 days from Zambia and time is really speeding up so tomorrow is my chance to slow it down again.

High climbs

Saturday 8th March

Last night provided me with quite a spectacular electrical storm. The clouds were so low and thick I couldn't see bolts of lightning, just lots of flashes but it was enough to keep me awake. As this was all going on, I was creating the thunder myself. Something from dinner was fighting with my stomach and so in the middle of night as the rain threw it down I had to run to the toilet in complete darkness. The security guard was asleep and lying across the steps that led to the toilet. I didn't have a clue he was there obviously and so as I bounded up the steps I woke him up and in turn he almost cleared my stomach right there on the pavement. It's always nice to know that your security guard is awake and ready to stop any midnight toilet roll thief!!

I sat for quite a while in the bamboo and straw roofed toilet as the clouds flashed and the rain battered down. More proof that Africa is in fact Jurassic Park I thought. I was just waiting for the wind to blow the walls down and T-Rex to eat me in one go.

Mother nature's lightning and my thunder did eventually stop though and i got a bit of sleep before my alarm woke me at 6. I was pleased I had made the decision to keep the tent's waterproof skin on but had forgotten about my cycling shorts that I had left to dry on Nigel. They were soaked so that meant pulling out the fresh new and unworn ones. I've had two pairs since the start but only worn one pair this whole time. That's disgusting you may think, but who's laughing now? I now have a fresh padded bum section which feels like a perfectly plumped cushion compared to my other old, damp, paper thin mattrice ones, that I have worn holes in over the last 7 months.

The fresh shorts could be the answer to my saddle sore problems!! I walked down to breakfast feeling like a newborn Teletubbie and enjoyed another quality full English with David and Mark. We said our goodbyes and i got stuck into my first task of the day which was pushing Nigel back up the stinking steep hill.

I was initially worried about the wind direction but when I got back to the road it turned out that it was giving me a slight helping hand as it blew diagonally across me. After about 15km of coastal cycling I arrived at the bottom of the one and only big climb of the day. The 10km up took me an hour and a half and I have to say that it was one of the most enjoyable climbs I've ever done. On one side I overlooked the lake and its stunning beaches and the other side of the road overlooked thick green forest that covered undulating hills.

When I got to the top I had a gradual descent into Rhumpi which felt strange as I was cycling closely by a river but in the upstream direction. I didn't complain about it though, and the slight tailwind enabled me to maintain momentum for long periods before I needed to readjust my seating position. Yesterday my music threw a fit so today I had no music at all. I was initially dreading the constant bombardment of words shouted at me that I had no clue what they meant. As it happened, the road ran through large areas of just farmland and my Haribo people were less spread out and more centred around villages. This made them alot easier to digest and I could enjoy my long ride alot more.

I said to David yesterday that I thought that south Tanzania was one of the best scenic roads I've ever been on, he told me to not talk too soon before I gave Malawi a chance and today proved that he wasn't wrong!!! It was really beautiful and I'm sure I would've enjoyed it even more if I had been in his land rover because with 15 miles to go, I hit the wall again. It got tough and climbs felt never ending but as always, I told myself that it couldn't last forever and kept going.

When arrived at the outskirts of Mzuzu my first impressions were of drunk people. They had clearly been enjoying an all day Saturday session and it proved that Mzuzu was a much bigger town than I've been used to. Drunk people are not as easy to spot when you cycle through small villages because half the time they can't afford to drink and the rest of the time they stay inside.

I still had a good 5 miles before I got into the city centre and I was too tired and too late to look for a bank so I just looked for a reasonable place to stay. I found it after 3 attempts. The first, I entered the driveway of the motel and the curtains looked a state, I had a bad feeling aswell so I did a sharp u-turn before getting caught by anyone. The second was two expensive but they showed me to a cheaper third who's eventual deal clincher was a new bed and furniture that made the whole room smell of fresh pine. The thought of sleeping in DFS did it for me and on top of that, fanta was the same price as water.

I have turned into a raging fantaholic since starting this ride for 5 reasons. 1. The fanta orange flavour is much stronger out here than it is at home. 2. Blackcurrant flavour 3. Mango flavour 4. Passion flavour and 5. Pineapple flavour which on some occasions gets the nod over orange because it tastes like the clear Gummibears.

When I eventually got to my room and got Nigel in safely I was longing for a shower whether it was cold or hot. I didn't care about the temperature but today was definately an "imperial leather" day. When I stayed at a fancy hotel in Kenya they supplied me with two small bars of Imperial Leather. I took one with me for times when a plastic bar just wouldn't cut it and today was one of those days. I dug around my handlebar bag to find it, it had gone! Then I remembered that I used it at the overpriced campsite past Iringa and I even remembered carefully putting it back into its packet but leaving it on the bench!! Gutted I was, I just had to make do with a cheapskate bar that I got in Ethiopia instead, which produces about as much lather as a Lego brick.

I ordered food (chambo and rice) which I thought was rice and beef but when the plate arrived with a whole fish split open and looking at me I knew I had maybe got choma and chambo mixed up! I've mentioned before how they love to fry chickens here until their bones turn to dust, well fish are no different. How much of it is edible? What bit tastes good? I had absolutely no clue so I ended up eating the whole head. The eyes were actually very nice. When it came to the body, some fins went down and some were like eating finger nails so I didn't quite do the whole fish but there wasn't much left for the local cats to feed on that's for sure.

The lodge had advertised DSTv which is African "Sky" basically but they hadn't paid their bill so I had one Malawi channel to keep me company for the rest of the night. I was happy with my days ride though. I had teed myself up for a fairly short day then a rest day and then another long day which I think is better than 3 average cycling days. First things first tomorrow though, I need money!

My kind of A-rrest

Friday 7th March

I woke up at stupid o'clock due to the extra hour I received with the time difference. The weather was still the same (boiling) but it all happened an hour earlier so I was up and out the tent by 7 for a morning swim/shower in the lake.

It was great having the place to myself, the chef came out to the beach, "would you like breakfast now sir?" Oh go on then! A full English breakfast on the beach with the whole private cove to myself, mega! For the first time in ages Nigel didn't need anything doing to him so I actually managed to rest on my rest day and not need to tinker or find new parts etc.

After breakfast I got my tan on and tried the impossible task of evening up my horrendous lines! I have brown fingers and white hands from the fingerless gloves, and brown arms up to my shoulders with a bright white torso...nice! As I sometimes pull my cycling shorts up quite high, I have a wonderful phased colour chart from white to brown going down my leg which ends abruptly with my white feet. I really don't want to know what I'm going to look like when Beirdre goes! I imagine it will be like the carpet from an old derelict house when you move the sofa!

It didn't take long for the sun to do its work so after another swim it was time for lunch. Homemade chicken pie with potatoes was a welcome change from rice and beans and after that it was reflection time on the hammock. I managed during the course of the day to sit in pretty much every area of the "sanctuary," but the hammock was my favourite place to reflect in.

As I laid there contemplating more on life and the future and ending up getting nowhere (as usual) Mark, the owner had arrived and came over for a chat. At the same time he arrived, so did two guys from Kansas and so I was all of a sudden surrounded by people after being alone for 24 hours.

It was nice to have a decent chat and after asking about a "long way down" sticker on the fridge, I found out that Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman had stayed here for 4 days. The long way down has been watched well over 20 times and it was the last DVD in my player before I left. Mark said the sanctuary was featured in the series so I will have to watch the DVD's again when I get back home as I couldn't believe I didn't remember it.

Mark and the other guys disappeared for a bit so I took another swim and caught up on some more blogging. I don't think I've been so relaxed in all my life. It really was a perfect place for a rest day. I tried to think if I could stay longer, I think I would give it three nights on my own before I got bored but if I had friends and family around and we took over the place, I wouldn't leave at all!

The two guys from Kansas came back and we had a good chat and had dinner together. David was based in Lilongwe and Mark had flown over for a vacation. The two of them had a land rover and David was taking Mark to Tanzania for some serious animal watching. They were two very nice guys and it was nice to have a bit of company for a change. 

We didn't stay up late. They wanted to be up and out by 8 as they had a long drive and I needed to do the same if I wanted to ride to Mzuzu. Mzuzu was 100 miles from where I was and I had a decent climb to do to get there, but I didn't have to go there if I didn't want to. Rhumpi, which is just 60 miles away is my planned stop but my money has run out on the Santuary and Mzuzu is the closest place that has my bank. I have enough to stay in Rhumpi and stop off at Mzuzu the next day but I like to arrive in a place that has what I need so if I have any issues, at least I know I have a place to stay the night etc

Back in the tent for another night and thankfully it was a little cooler than last night, I may get some sleep this time!

Island life

Thursday 6th March

Last night I woke up a few times in a ball of sweat. This is not for the first time and it probably won't be the last but the first thing I wanted to do in the morning was have a shower. I can understand places not having water in the evening as its been used throughout the day but no water in the morning? Really?

I had to make do with pretending my sweaty damp clothes from yesterday were freshly damp from clean water today, although the smell did make that quite hard to imagine. Next on my list of things to do before setting sail was to find a bank and get some money out. 

In every African country I've been to so far I've had issues with Natwest not giving me money so you could imagine my lack of surprise when I went to Malawi's national bank and the ATM denied my card. Not again! I thought. The time to me was 8:45 and the bank was open at 8 but for some reason it was shut. I then found out the time is different in Malawi compared to Tanzania, I can't really see why, but it is. I had to wait outside for 15 minutes and as I did, I tried to work out why my card wasn't working. My only lifeline was that the ATM did not say my card was blocked, it said it was denied so I still might be ok. 

As I stood alone near the front door of the bank, racking my brains, going over possible solutions and praying I didn't have to ring Natwest for the 5th time in as many countries, a big man came up to me and said "money!" I replied with, "sorry mate I haven't got any, my card isn't working." "No" he said "MONEY!" I then repeated, "I can't give you money, I don't have any," as I said this I thought to myself, hang on a minute, am I getting mugged here? because if I was it wasn't going to end well for either of us I imagined. He would end up with no cash and maybe my phone and I would end up feeling probably quite distraught and phoneless. I had a bit of a sick feeling growing quickly in my stomach until he said again, slowly and more clearly, "Morning!" Oooooooh "morning!" I replied "and thanks for scaring the crap out of me at search an early hour"

He then walked back down the steps to where he was originally waiting for the bank to open. Now is it me or is that just weird?! I know he's probably only trying to be friendly and it completely backfired but maybe it would've been a more successful greeting to start the day if he had said it whilst casually walking past me, or said it when we were all walking into the bank together. Instead of what he actually did, which was to walk 15m out of his way and approach me with it and then walk back to where he was standing previously. I don't know, maybe I'm the weird one!!!

Anyway the bank opened and we all queued for a ticket just like at the cheese and meat counter at a supermarket. I was number 11 which took 15 minutes to get through. The man at the counter said it was the bank's problem and the only other bank I could use visa in was Standard Bank which was very handily, just around the corner. I didn't go in, I just went straight to the ATM and hallelujah money came out! I could only get so much so I will have to get some more in a few days but for now I was happy and clear to move on to the next stage of my day which was breakfast.

I spotted a nice open restaurant behind a petrol station. They had menus so I knew I wasn't at the cheapest joint but the prices were ridiculously low so I knew I couldn't of been far away from the cheapest. The menu wrote: "breakfast: chips, egg, sausage and cereal" that'll do me I thought, makes a change from the usual rice/beef or rice/beans, lovely jubbly. The waitress said that unfortunately they had no chips or cereal but they had oats. "Ok, can i substitute rice with chips and have oats instead?" "Yeah, but we charge more for oats" "Ok, is two slices of bread a fair swap for cereal?" "Yeah, ok" "Great, so that's rice, egg, sausage and some bread then please for 950 kwacha" I'm now very thorough with my ordering and prices due to countless situations of misunderstanding and incompetence (all on their part obviously...) "yeah" she said "but if we haven't got sausage do you mind having beef instead?" I laughed, "no I don't mind" so I was having rice and beef like I normally do with the added extra of egg and bread which is a hotel breakfast "buffet" special. The breakfast came 25 minutes later (I actually didn't mind, I spent the whole time watching a man struggle to undo a nut on the wheel of a Toyota Yaris) When the breakfast arrived they had forgotten the egg! I started my breakfast anyway and then saw the lady walk into the petrol station shop, buy 1 egg and then walk back into kitchen. THEY HAD NOTHING ON THE MENU TO BEGIN WITH!!! I had finished my breakfast by the time my oily fried egg arrived, but I really didn't care, I was enjoying the atmosphere Malawi was giving off.

I had refreshed a little since last night's painful tiredness and I enjoyed the "island lifestyle" of Malawi. In the road there was hardly a car to be seen, everybody was walking or cycling. By being so close to the lake and having lots of tropical plants and sand around, you felt like you were on an island and obviously the weather helped with that too. I pushed Nigel up onto the road and blended in with the slow pace of the local cyclists. I say blended in, I was like the white line down the middle of the road but at least I was travelling at the same pace as everyone else.

The road was ok but my rump needed more than a sweaty nights sleep to recover and the wind off the lake was strong and full in the face. I sort of made a plan in my head to find a decent place to stay and maybe take a day of rest tomorrow considering I had a few in the bag. The kids were out in force today, I checked the date, it was a school day but like I said yesterday, I think Malawi must be just as bad as Ethiopia for schooling. Alot of begging ensued and i battled against Mr Grumpy for much of the day. Saddle sores are not nice, you may find a decent position for 3 minutes tops before you have to reposition yourself. I didn't have many highlights in the first half of my day other than a lady almost dropping something off her head. She found the funny side also but it then led me to wonder what would happen if they did drop something. Obviously initially she would end up with bruised bananas or broken tomatoes but did they have to put money in jar or pay a "fine" etc. I made up whole circumstances in my head which helped pass 5 minutes of buttock battering.

Other than that, there really wasn't much to declare. Alot of flat farmland and alot of cows made for pretty boring cycling. I found the same things going through my head as they have done for the last 7 months now. It's harder now as I get closer to home to think of anything but home but I must try. I needed a lift like yesterday but this lift needed to last 30 more miles!

Sure enough I found my lift in the form of a young man named Mweeza. He was cycling as well and was transporting water in a cool box that was strapped to the back of his bike. He didn't know it but I hadn't had a race against an unsuspecting stranger in ages! I cycled alongside him for a bit and then pushed a bit harder to get in front of him, that's normally all it takes to beat the locals at a made up cycle race that only you know about. Somehow though, Mweeza knew my imaginary race and he pushed a bit harder to get back alongside me! He stared at me for a while, I could see him out the corner of my eye but I didn't look at him, I just got my head down against the wind.

After a while of being neck and neck, I turned to talk to him. We had a quick chat but the headwind was too strong to hear much so we both just concentrated on the cycling. Then Mweeza starts to egg me on, "come on!" he says, and gives off a grunt as he pushes hard to get a few metres in front. Oi Oi, I think we have ourselves a challenger here! I could feel that this wasn't your average "easy win," Mweeza certainly wasn't M-wheezing if you know what I mean, this guy meant business!

Right, I thought, my legs maybe tired, my arse maybe on fire but I am not letting some whippersnapper make the three of us look like pushovers. It was England vs Malawi, Age vs Youth, Experience vs some white guy that decided to start cycle touring thanks to a bet made two years ago! If you're going to be technical about it then yeah, I probably had the better bike but I was carrying more weight and was much less aerodynamic (Beirdre for a start acts like a wind anchor). We cycled side by side for a good 10 miles, over an hour! There was nothing between us, I knew eventually I would win because I was stopping in Lesotho but I didn't want to win like that, there's no pride in winning a race when you set the finish line over a month away. In my head the admission of defeat would be when either one of us sits back on our saddle or clears from sight. (Again, Mweeza didn't know this but for the last hour he had been head down all the way so I knew if he sits back on his saddle and lifts his head up, he's thrown in the towel)

The wind got stronger but I sensed Mweeza was struggling, my legs decided to wake up and I chose my time perfectly. Boom! Stick it up a notch and get those quads pumping. If I had Chris Hoys for thighs I may've burnt out by now as the past 6 days have been more long distance/endurance but Wiggo and Froomy came up trumps today. Mweeza was left for dust as I powered through the headwind and got myself to an area where I would be happy to find a campsite.

Two minutes later another local eyed me up. Come on then I thought, I've crushed one boy's dream of beating a mazungo, I've got another 10 miles in me. Instead, this guy took one glimpse at Beirdre, started laughing and turned around back to his friends. I don't care how I win them, I'm taking that one aswell.

After that, the road improved and I enjoyed a few downhills with no headwind. I got to 50 miles which I was happy with, it was a well earned 50 in the end. Next challenge was to find a place that was on the lake, cheap and away from the locals. I passed a few possible contenders in the hope I would get grabbed by one shining light, which has normally been the case. The next thing I know, the road started to veer away from the lake and I wasn't keen on a big trek down a long sandy road to find a place on the lake so the next sign would have to be the one. 

You can tell alot from a name I've found. The further down Africa I've travelled, the more hotels have turned into "lodges" with cabins etc. A lodge is where a tourist stays so I'm already looking at a fee in dollars. This could be ok as I am treating myself I thought. If I stumble across a "Retreat" then I can add a bit more to the food and drinks bill but if I find a "Sanctuary" well, I may aswell apply for a loan and make future honeymoon reservations at the same time!

What did I find? "Sanctuary lodge" just 1km off the main road. If it said 2km I wouldn't of bothered but it was only 1 so I thought screw it, I've deserved it! I pushed Nigel down a sandy road through a tiny village and looked down a steep rocky road to Sanctuary Lodge that was nestled away in the forest with its own private beach. Stink, I've picked a right bandit here! I thought. I've only stumbled across paradise, how much is this going to set me back! I'm probably the only person that has looked at this absolutely stunning location and been annoyed! I carefully wheeled Nigel down the steep road to the gates.

I was greeted with great smiles and shown to the camping area. "How much is it a night?" I asked tentatively. "$5" he said. "Ay?! 5 bucks?" Happy? You bet I was happy. Much to my delight they tend to charge the cabin rates highly and camping rates reasonably low. The food and drink were all 300% the street price but I could handle that for where I was. I fear I may have used paradise already for Diani Beach, well Diani Beach does not have anything on this place!

It's owned by an Englishman named Mark who wasn't in at the time which made me the only white person there. In fact, I was the only resident there and so i had the whole workforce as my personal staff. It was amazing! I was going to definately stay another night, not just because of how beautiful the place was but because there was no way I was going to push Nigel back up the hill as soon as tomorrow morning!

I didn't even bother with the tent initially, first things first, swim. That's another reason why this beach beat Diani, someone spilt salt in the water at Diani! I was well happy with myself, the decision to keep going in Tanzania had paid off massively. I set up camp and then walked back down to the beachside restaurant for lunch. They call it a "Bistro" which I take as fancy for "overpriced tiny plated restaurant" It wasn't overpriced at all, it just wasn't street food. All the food is freshly cooked and made by hand and I have to say, it was pretty darn good. Handmade samosa's for lunch, they were small but boy were they decent. I would have to train mentally now into thinking I was eating alot. I felt like the bald guy from Masterchef and even used a knife and fork to cut up and savour my samosa's.

After lunch I chose to relax on a hammock. I felt very sophisticated with my fancy paradise and my tiny plated lunch so clearly the natural progression was to relax on a hammock and evaluate things through the medium of blogging. First thing I had to evaluate was, are hammocks actually relaxing? It's all down to how you start it, its not like a chair that you can just collapse in and work a nook for yourself. If you collapse in a hammock you're going to end up doing some damage. What's more, if you manage to successfully complete the first step by mounting a hammock but you're not quite comfy enough, theres no telling what might happen if you start to wriggle, so you're better off not taking the risk!

I ended up mastering the hammock which prompts me to say yes, hammocks are relaxing but that's the same as saying swans are elegant. Just because something is relaxing or elegant, doesn't mean that it can't break your arm! After my exceptional dinner of Ratatouille to start and Spaghetti Bolognese for main, I relaxed a bit more before heading early to bed.

If today's ending has set the standard for tomorrow, then I'm not sure I will want to carry on with my ride! Pure relaxation in a pure location. Bliss!