Catching Up

After we got back from Mulanje, I headed off to Mangochi to finish the analysis of the baseline survey I had started the last time I was there. As usual, I really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere of the town - people walking everywhere or taking bike-taxis, friendly faces and the lovely mosques and veils from the high population of muslims in the area.
While I was there, I had dinner with one of CADECOM's new volunteers, Lisandra. CADECOM has two new volunteers, though neither is to be based in Lilongwe. Lisandra is in Mangochi working on gender and HIV mainstreaming and Vi is in Zomba working on cooperative development. Since I am working to monitor and evaluate our performance in those areas, I expect we will be working together despite the distance.
In the morning, I walked to work - when I did this, I walked past the prison for the first time. The inmates gave me friendly hellos from the other side of the chicken-wire fence separating the prison from the sidewalk. Things are definately more casual in Malawi - people were handing things in through the fence while the inmates greeted walkers-by.
The next night, my roomate Heather joined us on her own visit to Mangochi, and Cole also dropped by on his way back from Mulanje. We had a nice dinner together and some drinks in the gorgeous back patio of the Villa Tafika (my favorite hotel in Mangochi).
Once I finished my work on Thursday, Cole and I headed back to Lilongwe, but my driver was nice enough to stop a couple times on the way back for us to see the lake. It was my first visit to Club Makokolo (most exclusive hotel on the lake). The beach there is breath-taking, and the pools and bar luxurious. Cole and I had a drink with a South African couple celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary (yay them!), and I bought some salt pots from one of the vendors that paddled up to the beach while we were there.
We also visited Cape McClear while we were up there - it is a little sliver of land that sticks up into the lake in the southern part. Since it juts out, you can see the sun set right into the lake, which Cole and I did while taking a quick swim. After that we drove back to Lilongwe.
Friday I was up early, as we were planning a surprise birthday party for our roomate Heather that night. I made a chocolate chip banana cake and picked up all the groceries we needed for the party, which was to be held at Claire, Cole and Heidi's flat.
The party was a huge success - we had told Heather that we were having dinner for Cole's last night, so she had no idea that the party was for her. We had a blast and went dancing later at Chezntemba - a dance club here.
Saturday was low-key. On Sunday we went for a drive to Kasungu National Park to try and see some elephants, zebra or giraffes. Unfortunately, we were only able to see 3 antelopes. But the lodge we visited while we were there is gorgeous (though expensive), which is good to know for future! Then we stopped in Kasungu town for a really nice lunch where the menu declared that they served 'English Food'.
On the way to Kasungu, we realized we were low on gas and not being sure of where the next station was, we contemplated turning back to Lilongwe. When we saw a transport truck on the side of the road, we pulled over to ask, figuring the driver would know all about where to find gas. He directed us 3 km back down the road, but when we got to the small trading centre, we couldn't see a station. We asked the locals and were led to a lot with a bunch of derelict cars on it. One of the people there went over to one of the cars and pulled out a juice bottle, asking if we needed 5 litres or 10. We went for 10, then I took some photos of these guys filling our gas tank with juice bottles of fuel! It was totally awesome - sometimes I just can't believe how much I love Malawi!