Back 2 a border
Trip Start
Jul 05, 2006
1
6
33
Trip End
Ongoing
Lilongwe, Malawi
Friday, August 25, 2006
Once again never a dull moment.
Lovely weekend but before that, I went to immigration to extend my 2 week visa for Malawi to another week on friday. Your normal smelly, dirty, immigration center, however this immigration officer was preoccupied while I was explaining to him why I wanted to stay in Malawi (and I slipt up and said zambia to him forgetting where I was....oops). Anyway back to his preoccupied status, there was a woman standing to the left of me with a bag full of Hugo Boss shirts with me seating next to her and the immigration officer on the over side of the desk, whilst I was filling in forms, he was choosing which 'gifts' he wanted for 'favours' I am sure he has done. Another classic example of a corrupt world!
Anyway he asked me where my return ticket to UK was, good question I thought. Told him I don't have one and I will be going back to zambia next week, he then choosing 2 shirt he likes from the woman at the same time, and stamps me for a month, big smile on his face and on mine. His for other reasons I am sure.
Saturday night myself and Mick and the extended gang went camping at Kuti Reserve. Was very nice, I decided to go horse riding and asked the guy for the one with a bit of spirit, and I got 'racer'. I should have thought at time not a good idea, with that name. Anyway this thing I had no control over it was all over the place. Riding with others, my horse kept hassling the other girls horse to the point where, mine started racing, I had to duck under a very low branch at high speed, my horse then sniffed the backside of the other horse, obviously the other horse wasn't impressed. So the other horse tried to kick my horse but kicked me instead on the foot, and it hurt like hell. Whilst dealing with the sheer pain in my foot, which felt broken, my horse galloped into the bush through tree's and your normal African bush into a load of Zebra. I jus continued to grit my teeth and hope I would be back to the place I started soon. Wasn't soon enough but it was fast enough as I didn't bother slowing my horse down anymore I jus let it run, having to the whole time strain my injured foot to keep my feet on the horse.
Well after that experience I think I will have a rest from horses. Or jus ride alone in future. My foot isn't broken just bruised and in lots of pain. But there was many times today I could have definitely come off very badly.
21st august
well being the clumsy ben I am I ended my evening very well last night after my horse ignuring. Whilst walking to my tent in Mick's garden it twas a wee dark. Well Mick has a huge hole in ground with a old bath in it which the washing machine water goes to, to water the plants. Well I ended my in it up to my kee's in the dark in the middle of the night. It was lovely.
Today I met up with Sean (Esther son) we went to a Golf club as he plays golf. Only when I got there I didn't realize how strict it would be. It was harder than trying to get a visa to play golf on the course. I had no collared shirt nor trousers. So I was told after paying I had to go to the managers office. I felt like I was going to headmasters office. I explained or begged some what that I really wanted to play golf with my friend (sean) who has played here often but I am not kitted out enough. Can I play? Well the man in the white shirt very prim and proper eventually said yes okay. Then after that another office gut told me I had to have a bag to go on the course which I could loan for 300 kwacha. I knew instantly he was trying to make a quick buck, so I said I am not paying will go talk to manager again and ask him, well on my way he stopped me and said it was okay.
So yes eventually I got into the course. And it was a proper course, proper players dressed properly. And there is me, in my jeans and t-shirt and being told to tuck my t-shirt into my jeans which doesn't do a lot for my fashion statement. Anyway I swung at the ball and took a huge hole out of the course, with everyone watching. I really did at that point wish I was playing crazy golf in some stupid area in England where no-one cares how bad u r. but this wasn't it. Anyway I got the hang of it by the 4th hole, and I few destructions of the golf course later. I then sat in the golf club bar and had a few pints with Sean. Laughing at the past couple of hours.
August 22-24th
Heading to Zambia tomorrow to do some photography in the park, looking forward to seeing lots of it, and hopefully some leopards. Website close to completion.
Went out with Sean last night and drank far too much Malawi Gin, felt terrible this morning.
I will end this Malawi travel entry, on some, interesting or shocking things.....
I asked Mick if was fine to use his bike and cycle around Lilongwe and after his shocking story of a friend of his 8 months ago in broad daylight being chased with a machete and hacked on his arms, I thought maybe not. Nice scary story for you. Makes me feel somewhat a little more vulnerable in my wee tent outside.
Every morning I get woken by a woman shouting 'tomatooooo, toma, toma, tomatoooooooo' continuously with a bucket on her head selling tomatoes. Its extremely annoying. Today she shouted, 'chinesse rape, chinesse rape, toma, toma, tomatoooo', over 10 times stopping for a second then doing it again, from 7am.
Now for those of you who don't know what chinesse rape is, I mean not to affend. It's a green type vegetable similar to spinach.
Now I know I am in a city but at times I wonder where I am each time. There is loud dogs barking most nights, and hyena's living wild in the city. Most evenings I can hear the hyena's calling in the road. Which is really weird in the capital hearing hyenas down people's streets. Well they come out for a reason, which I learnt a week ago but heard it myself last night. There are many stray dogs, and the noise I heard last night was horrific yelping sounds of a dog, then laughing sounds of hyena. So you can work out the clean up operation the hyena's do each evening, that and any refuse lying around is gone. If only we had something like that in England for all the yobs on the streets, hyena's could keep the population down.
Anyway off to Zambia this morning, I am driving one of the landrovers, Mick driving the other one, and one I driving is open top for 5 hours, should be interesting, well windy anyway and also suntan time: - ).
bye for now.
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