So it begins

Kande Beach

Published Date : January 9, 2005

Today we left Chitimba behind and continued south to Kande. 

It has been decreed that tomorrow night we’re having a “Bad Taste” party.  Drawing names out of a hat, we each were tasked with buying a hideous outfit for another person in the group to wear.  So when we stopped in Mzuzu to stock up on food, we also fanned out to search for horrible clothing.  It was quite interesting to see all the floral print and polka dot dresses that were so popular back in the 1950s.  I suspect there will be a lot of us dressed up like grannies tomorrow!

Finished with our shopping, we had another short drive to the nearby wood carving markets.  There were chief chairs, Malawi tables, animal sculptures and masks in abundance.  Deciding to worry about how to ship it home later, I bought a Malawi chair, table and two masks.  I just couldn’t pass up the chance to buy authentic furniture, especially at such an affordable price.  I paid a total of $50 plus a Swiss army knife for all four items.  Pieces like these would sell for well over $100 each back home!

We arrived at our campground on the beach in Kande just in time for a spectacular thunderstorm.  Toto was on to something when they sang about the rains in Africa…

Bad Taste

Published Date : January 10, 2005

This morning it was all about SCUBA.  Six of us signed up with Aquanuts to dive off Kande Island.   The day was overcast and visibility was poor, but it was still fun to be in the water again.  The highlight of the dive was sitting in a jeep 12m underwater with fish swimming by!

I spent the afternoon looking for wood carved coasters in the local market.  There are plenty around, but they all have the Big Five game animals on them.  Since everything I bought yesterday has animals on it, I’m hoping for something different.  After coming up empty, I spent an hour or so chatting with Derrick, one of the local artists.  While we were talking, he taught me to play Bao, a popular board game throughout East Africa.  Sometimes called African Chess, the game is played using a wood carved board with small pits in it and pebbles as game pieces.   The object is to capture your opponent’s pieces.  It was a nice relaxing way to pass the afternoon.

On cooking duty for the first time on this trip, I made up a simple spaghetti for the group dinner tonight.  It had been a challenge to find decent ingredients in the market yesterday, but I think we managed to pull together something edible.

After dinner it was time for the Bad Taste party.   Tristan chose my outfit for the night, a blue floral short sleeved dress.  Apart from being dated it was actually quite nice.  As I had predicted, most of the girls were given granny dresses.  The guys were given a mixture of skimpy lingerie or ultra-tacky dresses.  It was a fun night that ended too early when another thunderstorm rolled through.

Chasing spiders

Published Date : January 11, 2005

Today was quiet after a rough night.  Not long after turning in last night, I was hit with a terrible fever and chills.  For about an hour I grew steadily worse, feeling more and more nauseous.  After finally being sick, I immediately felt better.  Very strange, and something I’ll definitely have to keep an eye on. 

After a bit of a sleep in, I felt fine this morning apart from being a bit lethargic. Another hot and still day, I spent the morning reading.  After a light lunch, I passed the afternoon chatting with Derrick and playing Bao again.

Dinner tonight was a fantastic affair.  We went for a drive to a nearby village for a traditional meal.  The residents prepared a feast of rice, catfish, spinach, beans and cassava for us.  I wasn’t expecting much from the catfish, so I was pleasantly surprised.  It was much better than I had expected.  After dinner, the drums and singing started as we all danced around the fire. 

The real action took place back at camp though.  I felt something land on my back as I walked under a tree. Thinking it was just a falling leaf, I continued on to my tent. I zipped myself in and took off my t-shirt, getting ready to bed down for the night. The tent was pretty dark at this point. I hadn’t turned on my flashlight because there was a fair bit of light shining through from outside – not enough to see clearly, but enough to make out shapes and shadows.

My shirt was light in colour, so I was curious when I saw a large dark shadow in the middle of it. Turning on my flashlight, I was more than a little startled to find this clinging to the back of my shirt:

I have no idea what they’re actually called, but in Malawi, they’re known as “chop-chop” spiders because of their pincers. They can grow quite large, about the size of your fist. They’re also highly aggressive spiders and very fast.

My little hitchhiker was thankfully not a large one. He was only about the size of a mini disc. However, as soon as the light caught him, he went apes**t trying to get out of the light, and scurrying towards me at the same time.

So there I was, half naked scrambling around my tent trying to get dressed and keep eyes on the spider all while fumbling to open the tent door. After I got outside and got my heartrate back under control I went back in to hunt the little bugger down.

By this time he had gone to ground and found himself a hiding spot, so I had to go through everything in the tent to track him down. I eventually found him under my pillow. As soon as I exposed him and the light hit him, he went fricking nuts and came at me again. Luckily, by this time the tent was empty, so there was nowhere left for him to hide.

I used myself as bait and lured him out of the tent. Once he was outside, he decided I was no fun anymore, so he scurried off into the bushes.

Definitely not the best way to wind down before bed!!