Back to Nkhata Bay

By Elise.

It was a Sunday morning and we awoke for the second, and probably not the last time, in Nkhata bay. We headed down to breakfast to be greeted by our friends who live and work at Butterfly (the best place we have stayed in Africa, at least for now). We spend most of the day eating, swimming in the lake and sunbaking on the deck.

Our regular breakfast seat

In the afternoon we smarten up and head to the local beach to watch the world cup at the beach bar and sneak a few of our own drinks. We make it in time to see Will Smith performing, followed by a series of creepy Russian scenes, possessed children singing etc. It was uncomfortable. At some stage Reo (or Leo, not sure, Malawians switch L's with R's) a large golden Rottweiler cross Ridgeback, one of the dogs from the hostel. He has followed other people from the hostel to the beach and his owner/ mother is not impressed. He spent the rest of the game being quite naughty, running off and barking at dogs, being dragged back to the bar, punished for his unruliness, but all with a huge smile on his face. He was just so happy to be part of the festivities.

There were at least 50 people crammed under the rotunda in the background watching the football

It seems most Malawians are going for France. Surrounded by Brits we seem to be going for the other side, I want to say Croatia? Something European. Something about France beating England in the semi finals. I'm sure that’s incorrect but does it really matter? Anyway goals were kicked, players faking falling over. The usual. Innocence (yes his real name), one of the receptionists from the hostel, is just so happy when France kicks a goal. It was entertaining for soccer.

By the time the game is over, there is almost 20 of us from the hostel. Our mate Shauna is all over it, ordering taxis and shooing people in them. We head to dinner in town, and then second dinner of chicken and chips at our mate Oli's request. The night ended with a crowd of us piled into Shauna's bed watching Harry Potter.

Long, slow sunsets over the bay

The next day we head to Mzuzu, a large town in the north of Malawi, a sort of hub or thoroughfare for surrounding areas. We spend the next few days hitting the charity shops to stock up on warm clothes, trying to find internet to upload our blog, and eating delicious Korean food at our hostel, Joy's place. The food and access to internet (very rare in Malawi, let alone Africa) entices us to stay longer than we expected.

After a few days in Mzuzu, we take a share taxi to Livingstonia for a few weeks working in a permaculture garden at the Mushroom Farm.