I had one of the best showers of my life this morning. After three days on the road, a hot shower and shaved legs felt glorious. I put on make-up and even went so far as to look for an outlet to dry and curl my hair. Turns out, the outdoor outlets don’t work. Even so, it felt great to “put my face on” along with some clean clothes. Mark and I pulled out our laptops and used the wifi internet code a Dutch girl had given us the night before. The connection was slow, but connected none-the-less. We caught up on emails until the connection ended. One of my emails was regarding a response to my grad school application. University of Hawaii, Shidler College of Business wanted to schedule a Skype interview. I was excited and a little nervous. I’ve been going through so many changes personally and professionally, I hoped I wouldn’t screw it up by saying that all I cared about right now was travel. I do care about my future, but at the moment, my mind is on holiday.
Mark and I agreed to have a chill day of catching up on blogs and settling into Old Town. We tore out some local map pages from the Lonely Planet Guide, grabbed our backpacks, and headed out by foot into Old Town. Old Town is known for being a little seedy, particularly at night, so we stayed on the main roads and kept our packs locked. As we rounded a non-signed corner, Mark asked a local if we were on Colby Street. I could tell from his stance and eye contact, he was drunk and possibly high. Crap. I got a street confirmation from another guy on the street, and we tried to clip along, but the drunk had attached to us. He bumbled along, following us, looking for money, but not outright asking for it yet.
I was hungry, so when we approached the MacDouds near the Internet Café, I motioned for Mark to try to ditch the drunk by going inside. No such luck, he followed us and plopped down at our table. He ordered himself a water and meal off the menu while we attempted to explain to the waitress that our Cokes would be separate. I was uncomfortable. How were we going to shake this guy? How was I going to get breakfast? Was this going to escalate to violence? We decided to pay for our Cokes and eat later. The waitress was confused about why Mark was only paying for him and I because this other guy was sitting at our table and had said “Thank you very much.” We stressed that he was not with us, had just followed us in. We quickly left and were followed again, but it appeared that he had someone else with him now. I was stressed. Was this going to end badly? Mark made his way toward some police men on the side of the road. “Can you tell us where to find an ATM?” “It’s right there, Love,” I pointed to the obvious bank directly in front of us. Why on earth would he want cash while we’re being followed? Sometimes I’m so literal. He was buying time and bluffing the drunk. Mark pointed to the drunk, “Is the ATM in THAT direction?” “Which particular branch do you want?” the cops inquired. Seeing that we were talking to the cops (possibly about him), the drunk waved and passed. We circled back to MacDouds for brunch. The waitress laughed when we entered, and the owner told us that he had sent his manager to make sure the drunk didn’t disturb us any further, which explained the guy walking with the drunk. I felt better knowing that the locals were looking out for us. I could eat in peace now. I ordered the chicken tiki masala which was absolutely delicious, enough savory chicken and rice and chips for two people to share. I added a chocolate milkshake for dessert.
We continued on foot to the ATM, then on to the I-café. The first one didn’t have wifi, so we kept going through the markets until we found one that did. We passed a watch repair-man, a shopping mall, and the Shop Rite (essentially Lilongwe’s Wal-Mart for the upper class). We checked our bags at the door, tucked the claim ticket in our pocket, and meandered through the beautiful air conditioned market. When it appeared that we may be loitering, we paid for my newly acquired chocolate stash and headed down the complex toward a sign that read wifi at Nando’s restaurant. There was power and wifi available, so we plopped down and settled in for an afternoon of loitering. We stayed from about 2:30-8pm resizing photos, writing blogs, and checking facebook. I had a tasty cappuccino, and we ordered a small pita for supper before we left. Outside, it was dark, so we took a cab back to Mabuya Camp. The driver informed us that there were problems with armed robberies (knives and guns) in Old Town, so it was best to hire cabs after dark. Petrol was expensive, $12 a gallon (paid by the liter), so the fare was high, $3.33 to go just a kilometer or two. But, when it comes to safety, I’m more than happy to pony up.
In addition to the crime and corruption factors, there were some other stats and fun facts about Malawi that I had recently discovered. For example, it was a landlocked country, 85% rural, with 1/3 of its GDP coming from agriculture, and 90% of export revenues are from agriculture. Malawi is among the world’s least developed and most densely populated countries which made it dependent on aid from World Bank and IMF. It was filled with charities from around the world. A large portion of Malawi is covered by Lake Malawi, also known as Calendar Lake because it is 365 miles long and 52 miles wide. It was a country known for its friendly people. I looked forward to experiencing it in person, to make the stats come to life.
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