Is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful – massive plateau, part of rift valley I think – old capital, grand boulevards, good uni, great food (cold enough for rasps & strawberry), pine forests & bottomless pit that old dictator used to throw political opponents down (allegedly). We stayed at a lovely lodge with no electricity – all paraffin lamps, log fires, great food and a dog called Obilix.
Looks so much like Scotland up there its almost not worth us visiting – Effect added to when A, the weather Johna's, presence caused it to start pouring as it does back home and we headed down the mountain again in search of sun.
Found it, together with a great beach, good lunch and one or two G&Ts at Club Mac near Mangochi. Ended up being a very big treat for us both but it was so peaceful and orderly and spotless it was probably worth it, just about, maybe.
Got a bit lost on the way home (tourist map bears no relation to what the roads actually do!) and found an unbelievable road up through the mountains – it would have been brilliant to run the MG up there if we could suspend the laws of physics long enough to actually get it through Malawi in the first place.
Its been a great few days away, really got our bearings and fab to see this beautiful country at the moment, whilst it is at its greenest. I've begun to get a sense of the ruthless poverty outside the city (just a sense as we zoomed past in our borrowed 4x4) and now Blantyre looks very cosmopolitan & feels actually quite like home. Some western guilt creeping in (esp after paying for Club Mac) but mostly just an overwhelming sense of gratitude.
A definitely needed that break, its been a real slog for him since Christmas and me, well, I'm now finally caught up on my sleep, ready to get my suit back on and get down to some business - at least for 6 weeks until Mum & J come and the next holiday starts!.
Fx
PS – cherry on top – discovered that shudderlingly massive & hairy spider I spotted in back garden is harmless Golden Orb & that nearly all spiders in Malawi are not 'lethal' to man – hurray! I can start to relax a bit!
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