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!
No comments:
Post a Comment