Tuesday 9 August 2011

Day 280 Malawi 09/08/2011, Ilala Ferry to 'Big Blue Star Backpackers', Nkhata Bay. Slow boat to Nkhata Bay, a nice guest-house and a peculiar Austrian

It got really cold during the night, so we were glad of our sleeping bags. It was certainly peaceful though so we had a fairly restful sleep.

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With sunrise came the first bit of entertainment on the boat; watching the life rafts being loaded with people, animals and cargo and then being ferried off to the shore. Many of the small villages are cut off from the road network and the water is too shallow for the boat to get close. The arrival of the ferry is obviously a big event as the beaches were lined with people ready to greet the new arrivals, and the goods that they bring, and more people waiting to board the boat. It is always entertaining to see a small boat with maximum 22 passengers written on the side, loaded with over 30 people and all their cargo.

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The rest of the journey to Nkhata bay went slowly; the restaurant on board served surprisingly good food which was most welcome and the drinks from the bar were cold, if not served with any great enthusiasm. In the end though I would say that the journey we had taken was long enough. Taking the ferry all the way along the lake, for us at least, would have been too much. There is just too much hanging around involved, coupled with very little to do on the boat. A cabin would have been essential, but very expensive, as there is no real shade on the top deck other than around the bar.

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Unloading our bikes from the ferry, followed much the same pattern as loading them. This time, working together, Thomas and I managed to unload the bikes onto the jetty with something approaching ease. If a tractor driver moving a trailer full of grain sacks hadn't been so hell bent on trying to ram us, loading and getting under way would have been pretty easy. Despite his shouting and revving of his engine, I held my ground and shouted back, refusing to move until I was ready. This didn't go down to well, but as the ferry was in port for at least 6 hours, we couldn't see what his rush was. Eventually with a scowl we pushed through the throngs of people desperate to board and manoeuvred past the tractor; we had arrived in Nkhata Bay.

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As the port area and town seemed to be full of people we decided to push our bikes and head for a guest-house. Along the way we bumped into two more cycle tourists who had come to watch the ferry come in. We said hello and hoped to bump into them again. As we left the port, I was greeted by a staff member from 'Big Blue Star Backpackers', one of the guest-houses we had planned on looking at. As he was with us it seemed a good idea to go and have a look at what they were offering first. We are not sure whether this upset Thomas, but from then on he became somewhat strange. Meeting Kathy, a staff member, she showed us to a series of very nice rooms. Thomas meanwhile seemed somewhat agitated, bordering on rude. A beautiful reed hut, with a balcony overlooking the lake, had a lizard outside, was too near the water for Thomas and might have insects. The brick built hut that we had been offered was alright, but they didn't have another one for him. Once again being courteous we offered him the brick building and he seemed satisfied. To be honest the reed room was so nice that we really weren't that bothered.

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So far, since meeting Thomas I have given up two rooms, a mosquito net and my bed sheets, because his were too dirty! Worse was yet to come when he realised that the guest-house didn't provide towels or soap. We have never met a traveller let alone a cycle tourist who doesn't travel with their own towel or soap. From seeming quite friendly, his behaviour was becoming stranger and stranger. After we had got settled, we helped Thomas to carry his luggage (no thanks were forthcoming) we sat down to have a drink. Thomas meanwhile wanted to go into town, so we lent him our guidebook as he wanted to do some photocopying. Thinking that we would be helpful, we asked the staff where a photocopying place was. They told us that it might be difficult to find, but one of the staff would explain to Thomas where it was. On hearing this, Thomas' response was 'I am not a child' and he stormed off to the somewhat startled look of the helpful staff. We can't be certain what we did to offend him, but aside from the return of our book and a guarded 'I do not like it here!' we haven't heard anything else from him.

That said we did have a small moan at him when he returned with a bag of sweets for the kids. We had always wondered who the people were who were stupid enough to hand out sweets to street children, and now we know. Knowing how uncomfortable he was around the children outside the ferry port, we can only assume he is going to use them to ward off the kids by throwing them at them; a bit like meat thrown to an aggressive dog. We look forward to following him down the road and having children demanding sweets from us! It is unbelievable how irresponsible some supposedly educated and travelled people can be!

By the time we had had dinner and a few beers, we decided to call it a night. The ferry experience over the last few days had caught up with us. Tomorrow we plan to go to Mzuzu and hopefully get our internet sorted.

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