Lake Malawi and the attack of the mosquitos

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So Friday comes and I have no idea what to do for the weekend. The clinic will be closed, so there is no need to get up early for work. As I am talking to one of the Baylor doc's about a patient, she stops in the middle of everything and invites me to come with them to Lake Malawi. The lake is one of the major tourist attractions in the country. Needless to say, I am excited about the invitation. Lake Malawi was definitely on the list of places to see while I'm here. The water is supposed to be beautiful. We finish up at clinic by 4pm, and I try to hunt down someone to take me home. The public transportation system consist of a minibus system. I have yet to master it since everyone has been volunteering rides home. I've been meaning to try to hop on the bus, but everytime I start to ask about which one to catch folks just offer me a ride home instead. One of these days I'll give it a try. The fact that there are no desiginated bus stops makes the system kind of confusing.

So I finally get a ride home with one of the docs. I am exhausted. I fix noodles for dinner and get in bed by 6:30pm. The next morning it's time to head out to the Lake. Chris, one of the baylor docs, picks me up from my place around 8 am we make the rounds to pick up the rest of the folks and get gas. I clearly did not budget appropriately. To fill up the tank of his SUV is 10,000 Kwacha or approx 72 US$. I hand over 5000Kwacha and pray that I can afford to actually stay at the lodge. We take off down the M1, a 2 lane highway, for Nkata Bay in a SUV with 300,000 miles already logged and no air condition. By the time we arrive 4 hours later sweat has plastered my body to the seat and my legs are stiff from sitting in the back seat. It's all worth it when I finally see the lake. My initial intentions were just to sunbathe at the beach, but after riding in an inferno for 4 hours, I'm all about jumping into the lake. Hopefully, i don't get shistosomiasis. At night, I stare up at a majestic orange moon. I try futily to capture the moment with my camara. At least I have sounds of the waves and the moon shining over the Lake are imprinted in my mind. I settle into bed under my mosquito net with a few golf ball sized holes and sleep.

The next morning, I awake at 5am in time to capture the sunrise over the lake. The morning light is so peaceful and calm. I snap a few shots then run to the deck to read. By 8 am the sun is high and the heat has once again become unbearable. I run into the lake burning my feet on the sand along the way. We play catch with a Mango found along the shore. While showering I realize that I have been attacked. My porous net has betrayed me. I now have a line of mosquito bites along my right butt cheek or scabies. Time will tell.

Pictures are coming soon. I promise!

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Photos

Lake Malawi
The view from the deck

Ahh refreshing
view from my room

night on the deck
see the tiny orange moon. that night it was HUGE

Comments

[melissa]

travel bug
hi delene! so happy to see your blog! i am a mosquito target as well. we're going to kauai in december and i've already done all this internet research as to the best mosquito repellents out there. i cannot repeat what happened in fiji (41 bites on my right foot alone). i don't know if i'd rather have mosquito bites or scabies. you did take your malaria prophylaxis didn't you??? anyway, can't wait to see pictures and read more! i definitely miss being on the road. and stop jumping in lakes, will you? you really could get schisto! but whatever, i eat street food every time. ETEC and dysentery just come with the territory, right? have a great time, and be safe!