Escape from Tanzania, and more

Hello from Malawi!

As it rapidly approaches the one year traveling anniversary of myself and World Traveler Kirschner (4 days from today!!!), I wanted to start this blog by thanking all of you people out there in the world. You, who have remained loyal to the blogging, even though I write less than once a moon cycle; you, who have given your constant support and well wishes; yes, even you, who laughed at our unfortunate water-drinking episode in India, and then still sent us cameras over the winter. You have made being away from home easy (and, please, I mean that in the best way possible) – knowing that I have such wonderful, caring friends and family sending love daily and sharing in our adventures has only increased the enjoyment of this past year on the road. Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart.

And to my one and only world-traveling companion, WTK– we made it! Big Fat Oprah Tits, WTK – when we landed in Tokyo, and waited in that pouring rain for hours; when we ate kethcupy-chicken-ham sandwiches on the Great Wall and dreamt of BLTs; when we achieved freedom on the train in India, and drank way too much vodka in Tbilisi – did you imagine, in your wildest dreams, what greatness we could achieve?! Me in Malawi, you in (or on your way to Berlin) – and all the adventures in between (read ‘em at ekirschner.blogspot.com! You rock, Face – and it better be ice cream splits in 4 days, not just some half-melted sandwich deal. Love ya!

So, now into the saga of the past however-long-it’s-been since I last wrote. Did I mention that I can’t keep track of time while traveling? Especially in Africa – the only days I wear a watch are days when I have to catch a train/bus at some prescribed time, and I really only wear it as a hopeful gesture since I know that “punctuality” has no actual meaning here. It’s good to live by the sun – wake up early, go to bed when it’s dark, and eat whenever the urge strikes me (quite often, I’m afraid). As for days of the week – well, I spent most of last week thinking it was definitely Tuesday, and then as soon as Tuesday came around again I thought it was Sunday for a few days and was convinced the post office wasn’t open. By the time I realized it wasn’t Sunday, it was Saturday, and the post office was actually closed.

Anywho, I’m in Malawi. That’s a little country between Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, with a huge portion of its eastern coast taken up by the aptly-named Lake Malawi. It felt good to be leaving Tanzania, as I had spent 6 weeks there (albeit all in the company of great friends, both new and old, and 8 days on Zanzibar to boot). I’m currently in Nkatha Bay, staying at a lovely little spot called the Butterfly Lodge with a new friend called Rian, who I met a few days ago at the Mushroom Farm near Livingstonia. Now, to backtrack slightly...

I spent a bunch of days prior to leaving Tanzania in the company of a great CSer, Tamara, who teaches at an international school in Dar es Salaam. We ate delicious Thai food twice (twice), making this one of my most culinarily (and interpersonally) pleasurable CSing experiences to date. (If, after all this time, you have yet to check out this Couchsurfing thing I do, take a second to visit www.couchsurfing.org and have a gander – it’s a highly worthwhile way to spend a few minutes. I’d also suggest joining up, but I’ll leave that one up to you). I also spent those 8 aforementioned days on Zanzibar, meeting up with one of zee Germanszz who made an earlier appearance as caravan companions, accompanying the Swedes and I in their massive truck as we drove through Kenya. I made some headway in the development of beach volleyball skills, and spent an extraordinary amount of time trying to explain why the entire 5’2”of me can’t possibly ever succeed in spiking a volleyball, so people should stop expecting it of me.

I departed Dar on a train, southward bound for Mbeya and Malawi. This was a slightly daunting undertaking, since this train is better known for breaking down and taking upwards of 3 days to make it the estimated 24-28 hours to Mbeya than it is for actually getting to Mbeya (and then onward to Zambia). However, approximately 26 hours after we left Dar we arrived in Mbeya (wonder to behold, I’ll tell you), and I spent the evening in the company of another new friend, Netta, who would journey down to Malawi with me.

The next day, bright and early, we set off for the border, an estimated 70KM away – took us 3 hours in a dala-dala. We crossed the border, took a taxi 45 minutes into Karonga, Malawi, and then yet another mini bus to Chitimba (90KM, 2 hours). By early afternoon, we were sitting under a tree with two Japanese people from the train, waiting for a ride up a mountain. We were heading to Mushroom farm, a little bush-forest retreat 10KM uphill (15KM uphill was Livingstonia), and were hoping to hitch a ride up in any passing transportation. Lucky for us, barely 90minutes passed before a pick-up truck, hauling a few ladders, turned off the highway onto our little mountain road, eliciting excited clambering and waving (not that he could have possibly missed spotting us, 4 non-Africans and our collective pile of shtuff). We got a very bumpy ride up to Mushroom Farm, and I immediately fell in love.

No, it wasn’t a boy, I’m afraid. It was with Mushroom Farm, and its stunning view over the lake and northern Malawi; its home-cooked meals supplemented by freshly-grown produce; the solar electricity and composting toilets; and the intelligent, friendly Aussie (Mick) who ran the place. This is also where I met Rian, who’s blog I highly suggest reading for a fuller picture of the Mushroom Experience and the characters involved, because frankly I’m too lazy to type it all myself (Rianinafrika.reislogger.nl she’s Dutch, so use Google Translate). Let it be said that I never knew that so much fun could be had before 730pm, and that a party of 5 (though dedicated) people could cause such a bad hangover the next day. Of course, lest you think it was all just fun and games, I also took the opportunity to hike up to a beautiful nearby-ish plateau, followed the next day (that of my departure, sadly also that of the hangover) by walking the 10KM back to Chitimba, all for funsies. The next day I spent hobbling around on my very, very sore legs, also for funsies. For future note, I’d like to come back to Mushroom Farm again in the relatively-near future, and am even considering managing the place for a while while Mick goes traveling. We shall see.

Rian and I traveled together to Nkatha Bay yesterday, I had my first swim in the lake, and now we’re finally at today! I think I’ll stay here for a week before moving on, but perhaps for longer – I’m living day-to-day, the best way to do it (in my opinion), and have no plans beyond eating a delicious sandwich later.

Though, I suppose that’s not entirely true. For those of you who have actually made it this far, the reward is thus: you get to know my future plans! Later today, or perhaps tomorrow, but definitely in the next few days, I will be purchasing my return ticket home. While it frightens me to make such an irreversible decision, I believe I will return to NYC on July 20^th (plus or minus a day or two). Following a week in Lewisburg, during which I will design some sort of wicked awesome multimedia summary of my trip to be posted on the WWW, I will depart on an epic east coast roadtrip, designed to make a stop in every major place on/near the eastern seaboard where YOU reside. I shall (fingers crossed) be accompanied on this roadtrip by John, my more-than-just-friend (and future housemate) from Lewisburg. So, mark your calendars, let me know where you’ll be between the 27^th of July and 14^th of August (you know my email address), and let the countdown commence!

Love and kisses to all you people out there. This is WT Scott, signing off to go get a samosa. Peace.