Leaving Dwangwa

We returned to the Lodge after the Board Meeting and went right to our rooms as everything was closed at the Lodge. I was tired so I went right to bed but at 3:30 am was awaken by a big storm. The wind was so strong coming off the lake it was blowing the rain right into my room; it was coming through the screen as a fine mist. The wind lasted twenty minutes then went away just as quick as it came, but while it was blowing I thought it was going to blow the room over. When it was done I was treated to a great lightning show over the lake, you gotta love the rainy season in Malawi.


When I got up for breakfast it was still raining but the Lodge left an umbrella on my porch so I made it to breakfast without getting wet. I met Sandy and she stated that this was only the second time she has seen the wind that strong since she moved here 18 months ago. She also said the wind swamped their boat it came to shore and is full of water. 

The boat after the sorm

baling the water out of the boat


The rain stopped around 8:00 am and the sun came out and it got humid. We packed up and waited for Davison he didn't show up until 10:30 am since the bridge washed out he travelled down to the Kotta Kotta game reserve to see if it was passable. He said there were two spots that we were going to have to get pulled through by a tractor. Bruce and I decided not to take a chance going through the game reserve so the only other way back to Lilongwe was through Mzuzu. So rather than spend the whole day driving down to Selima where we were booked into we thought if we could get into the Sunbird Mzuzu we would stay and visit with Dennis and Niki. So we said goodbye to Chris and Sandy and started for Mzuzu.


We stopped at the junction between Nkata Bay and Mzuzu to barter for some souvenirs, I bought a few items and it seems if you buy volume you get a better deal which holds true in Canada but I didn't think it applied to souvenirs. So I am bringing home a few of the same items.

I had forgotten how amazing the drive from Nkata Bay junction through the mountains to Mzuzu was that 46 km stretch of road if the most beautiful drive I have seen. I took lots of video of the drive which has some good music playing in the background from Davidson's stereo.


We were able to stay at the Sunbird so we checked in and went for lunch with Davison. Niki and Dennis were actually at Nkata Bay for the day so Bruce and I walked down to the markets to explore. It had not changed much from last year, the good thing was the hotel staff made me take an umbrella since as soon as we got down to the markets it started to rain. We found the leisure centre we visited last year and stopped in again.


We got back to the hotel and Niki and Dennis showed up shortly after and we went for supper and had a good visit with them.