Weekend in nhakata bay.

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For the weekend we decided to take a trip to Lake malawi’s beautiful nhakata bay, one of the favorite weekend destinations of last year’s interns. Starting the morning with heavy rain, I had planned to get some work done before leaving town, but failed due to a power outage. To get to Nhakata bay we took a Minibus where I sat beside the chief of Nhakata bay north and had a pretty good conversation with him. I tried to find out as much as possible the various roles and responsibility of the chief, the chief was also very wise and friendly. In the back with our backpacks, there was also a live chicken sitting in wooden cage. Our driver was very fast and f@cking crazy , dodging the people, traffic coming the other way and a transport truck stuck in the ditch.
Arrived into town we were thankfull to be alive and have amazing weather. Some locals escorted us to the Mayoka village resort. There we were greeted by the owners and some of the foreign travelers from all around the world. The lodges there were mostly made of bamboo sticks, our room consisted of a huge dorm with 3 bunk beds and two single beds, this was the first experience I had sharing a room with a bunch of foreigners I’ve never met.
First we chatted in our room with a guy from Estonia, and later on, chatted with two older American men, who where smoking weed all day in the sun. The first impression I got from the two reminded me very much of ben and jerry or a modern cheech and chong duo, I later got to know one of these two a little better. The power outage that we experienced that morning in Mzuzu made its way across northern Malawi and to nhakata bay. This was a huge problem: it was the opening game for the world cup in Africa, and we had no power to watch the game. We decided to hit the beach for our first swim in lake Malawi. From the edge we could already witness the beautiful tropical fish of the lake. We swam to a nearby floating platform were we’d rest and dive off. From there we noticed the lodge’s boat full of all the travelers and staff who were headed into town to watch the soccer game. A local bar had a generator and therefore had electricity for TV. We decided to walk into town to catch the end of the game however, on our way there we could hear extremely loud cheers that were coming from outside. Right beside the bar hosting the world cup game, there was a local soccer match underway on a beat down and mostly dirt field. About a thousand local spectators came to support their team during the semi finals of the presidential cup. I’ve never seen such an energetic and enthusiastic crowd in my life, the fans all lined up ON THE sidelines and five to six deep all around the field and the children sitting on the brick walls behind the nets. Every time a play would happen, the crowd would get exited and kept invading the field while the play was still going on. The Police and guards tried to control them at the side lines, but their effort s were no match for the crazy die-hard soccer fans from Africa! After the final whistle had blown, the team from Nhakata bay had won 1-0. The crowd had gone wild and within a split second the field had filled up with thousands of fans, all picking up dirt and launching in into the air as a means of celebration. I was happy there was no riot this time! I headed to the bar next door to catch the end of the world cup game. The back of the bar led to another large and dark room with wooden benches, a projector, speakers and a hundred local and foreign fans inside. By the end of the game, I’d have to say that mostly everyone was drunk except mike and I who arrived a little late. After the game we took a boat ride back to the lodge in full darkness. Because of the power outage no outside lights where lit, this made the star sighting on the lake so spectacular. Arrived at the lodge we waited a for a large BBQ buffet cooked by the staff, for about 8$ it was the best meal I’ve had in a long time. After the feast, the soccer celebrations continued until early morning.

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Comments

[Julie]

WOW
SOunds like you are getting the full meal deal in Africa. It is easy to make jugments here about work ethics but when you are dealing with random power and crazy drivers ..... I wouldn't be in a rush to get anywheres! We are thinking of you Justin.