I live on the shores of Lake Malawi, which on my side is called Lake Niassa near a small one horse town called Cobue. It takes about 3 days to get here by bus, ferry and boat from Lilongwe and about 3 hours by plane then boat from Lilongwe. This by the way is the quickest way to get here. My new home is located in the Manda wilderness reserve a piece of land that was set aside for conservation and to improve the livelihood of the locals through sustainable tourism and other self sustaining projects that provides the villagers with income while they play a big part in conserving the land. My part in all this is marketing the lodge and getting people to come and visit and enjoy themselves while I enjoy myself at the same time. It's quite satisfying knowing that I am working to make other people's lives better. I also manage and train the Guest Relations department upgrading their skills and raising the level of service. And when it gets hot; I have my own private beach to swim and frolic in! This is the last leg of my year of self discovery, travel and experimenting in different living environments, food and way of life. But for now, life in the bush (and now beach as well!) continues!
Daily visitor
Am curious to know what all this experience will have made out of me in the end. Living by water my head is clear as the blue waters. Waking up to waves gently lapping a snow white beach that "squeaks" when you walk on it makes me lucky to be alive. I wake up some mornings to find leopard spoor on my front door leading to the spot were I peed in the grass the night before. At lunch time I sit outside listening to the African fish eagles calling in the distance and a monitor lizard slides by camouflaged by rocks that sparkle in the sun. And for the moment I can't think of any other place I should be or anything else I should be doing except look forward to opening a nice bottle of wine in the evening with my new friends Maaike and Odin and shoot the shit on the beach.
My Beach
My Hut
We have no electricity here so am getting used to working with the sun, unfortunately I have had to limit my writing and night reading but at the same time I have so much more around me to inspire me. I am looking forward to spoting Hohm's bee eater and Pell's fishing owl rare elsewhere but common as pebbles here. Our food consists of whatever the locals bring in from land and lake but thank God Mozambique produces coffee so I can still get my hot cuppa every morning.
Every morning the fishermen and farmers come to the lodge and dump their wares on the verandah sometimes the fish is so fresh its still jerking around expelling its last breath and the bananas are still bleeding sap from where they have just been hacked off from their mother trees. Eggs are a bit of a problem going for 45 Meticals each, gotta think twice before having an omelette. We tried to raise chickens but the leopard and snakes got to them before we could. I have a new respect for instant noodles which I get from Lilongwe from begging and pleading guests coming this way to stick some in their bags. We are very good about keeping ourselves well stocked with good wine and beer though for obvious reasons.
Menu tonight: tomato soup
Menu tonight: deep fried fish
And the adventure continues!
2 comments:
How much will a vacation like this cost for a european family of four for week. I have always wanted something like this but do not know if we can afford it.
hi!
Typically it costs $290 for 2 per night and kids under 12 are about half that but as long as I am working here you get to come for free..just have to pay for flights. us-jhb-lilongwe-likoma where you get picked up by boat across to Mozambique!
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