weekend at Cool Runnings

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Weekend at Cool Runnings
Friday we worked in the morning and left at 12.30 for lunchtime of chips at Lumbadzi market. They are cooked in shallow pans in the open air and are wonderful. A portion is 200 kwacha which is about 30p. A nearby shop sold wonderful 'tingling ginger beer'. We arrived at the backpacker's hostel called Cool Runnings on Sanga Bay on Lake Malawip and some of us went straight to the clear blue lake at the back of the garden and wallowed in the wonderful sensation after hard I'm a dusty environment, and a long drive in a rattling van on a bumpy road.
The food here is marvellous: fresh fish from the lake, caught by the local fishermen. Sam, the owner of Cool Runnings will only buy fish from those who have sustainable fishing practices, and is a force to be reckoned with in the local community. She came here some years ago in an articulated caravan and set up the hostel. The caravan, without its cab in still in the garden with brick pillars to short where the CSB used to be and climbers trailing over the sides. I am sleeping in it and feel quite snug in it, though as usual I woke with light and was up at 6am. People throng past on the beach to greet the fishermen bringing in their catch. Most of us took a motorboat out to a small island, and swam from there. We had some fish for the fish eagles, but they took some coaxing to come and get them. They sat stolidly side by side in the tree, black with white waistcoats, while the boatman whistled and waved a fish in the air. Eventually one of them deigned to retrieve a fish from the water, and we give up and go back for our lunch.
In the afternoon after dozing on chairs with cushions*, or loungers we swim again, and Caroline, of the voluptuous curves causes a stir among some of the young men frolicking in the water.
*Cushions on chairs are an absolute luxury. At the project we sit on huge lorry tyres, which means we all slump and get lower back ache.

Close encounters of the furred kind
It's lovely to have a proper shower, that's hot. At the project site we have two solar showers in bags, or a bucket of water from the borehole. There's a square bamboo screen round a couple of boards on the ground with a large bucket and a small bowl. You hang your towel over the side of the screen to show it's occupied, and splash about. After a dusty hot day working it can feel wonderfully invigorating. I had a nasty moment the other day when a huge black furry insect buzzed angrily in. I jumped away, nearly out of the cubicle which might have been a problem: too much flesh is frowned upon here. Shorts need to be below the knee, and upper arms covered, so me leaping out in the nude would have been extremely unseemly. Luckily the insect went out, so I didn't have to.
Rich also had a nasty moment in the shower when he heard footsteps of someone approaching. He called out a warning and a goat peered round the screen at him. There's Rich standing in the bucket in the buff trying to shoo the goat away. Given the propensity of goats to eat anything, particularly anything within reach, I reckon he was lucky to keep his tackle intact.

The group is a really great bunch of people. Everyone has an interesting story to tell, or to recount. We've had political discussions too. Bill and Matt are from Scotland so we followed the referendum result with interest. In spite of the fact we're all knackered and in bed by 9pm, if not 8, we've still managed to play some games, which showed we also have a healthy sense of competition.
Sunday morning there was a strong wind blowing which prevented the fishermen from going out and whipped the lake into rough breakers, great fun to jump into.

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