The girls in my dorm at Mabuya got up at 6:30 but I stayed in bed cause my taxi wasn't coming for a while. French toast & fruit salad and yoghurt for breaky. Started to feel really ill so I asked Edward the chef to put it in some foil for me to eat later on my journey.
Amos the taxi driver took me to the AXA bus station to get a ticket and left me at a cafe with my bags for the 1.5hour wait. A young woman came and sat next to me asking me to do a survey about my transport on the bus and filled in her little sheet for her company. After chatting for a bit she asked if I had whatsapp, I sadly lied and told her my normal phone was back in England, and my temporary local one doesn't have it. So instead she insisted for my local number and told me she'd call me later and we could chat more tonight! Oh god...!
I tried sending a text from my new, (yet very old) phone and ItAllCameOut.LikeThis
Went over and waited for the bus where a small child was having a an amusing tantrum.
Used my backpack as a seat- minutes later I realised I'd been joined by a little girl and her older brother, he looked bored and fed up. But she was happily tapping away on the buttons and playing with the strings hanging off my bag. Cute!
Warning- socks & flip flops spotted!!!
When the bus arrived there was a quite a hustle and bustle to get onto it- I didn't get why there was such a rush. A few minutes later I realised... I got onto the coach and squeezed past people in the very narrow aisle, only to find there were no seats left. As I said, it's about a 6/7 hour bumpy journey up to Mzuzu, for which I was stood pretty much the entire way, clinging onto the top of the seats so I wouldn't tumble on top of anyone.
Bus left at midday.
During the long journey I had an enjoyable staring competition with a baby and listened to huge contrasting music, from reggae to the weirdly karaoke-styled Christian worship music (actually quite catchy); to a random inclusion of 'All Of Me' by John Legend!?
2hrs in: Legs are surprisingly feeling absolutely fine so far.
Saw a big sign saying "Drive responsibly" - it was sponsored by Carlsberg! Haha
3.5hrs in: Ok I spoke too soon- feet are going a bit tingly and dead.
There's no actual physical space to sit on the floor cause the aisle is packed with about 20 people and kids sitting at my feet.
A friendly local man (who seemed much more western than everyone else) came up to me and we started chatting and he gave me loads of tips and places to visit. He was interested to know what I thought about the EU and the footy! Apparently everyone here watches the premiere league and all the English footy. He supports Man U.
We made a stop at a little town for a few people to get off and then when we got on the road again I managed to claim a little space on the floor to sit... score!!!
My tummy started to feel a bit funny so I dug out my squished French toast, or eggy bread as I call it, as I detected it was most probably due to my incredibly sporadic (and sometimes non-existent meals) over the last couple days. I guess travelling sets everyone off kilter for the first few days anyway. Looking forward to my dinner at the Butterfly Lodge tonight! Hopefully I arrive in time, don't know how reliable these "matolas" or minibuses are from Mzuzu to Nkhata Bay.
4pm spotted my first chicken!!
Made a stop in another village and I lost my sitting space :/ looks like I'm standing again for the last couple hour. On the bright side- good for the legs!
Very bumpy last hour, clinging on for dear life! There was a gorgeous amber sunset but I couldn't get a good shot, I'm sure there'll be many more to come. It turned very dark very quickly and I started to think about how on earth I was going to find a matola or minibus in pitch black in Mzuzu. Well there was no need for me to worry because as soon as the doors opened the calls of "taxi taxi taxi" flooded in. As I neared the front of the bus they caught sight of me, a young white girl, clearly in need of a taxi. A sea of hands reached out to grab me shouting "do you need a taxi?", "where you wanna go?" or "I got you first, I will take you". Once I was finally able to actually get off the bus I was left with three persistent taxi drivers. I joked and told them to fight it out between them with Rock Paper Scissors and they thought I was being serious and started a game! Another taxi driver came over and told me which one I should go with because it was fair to go with the man who came to me first. I didn't see so I just took his word for it and went with "Chimwemwe". It was rather a scramble to get my bags but luckily I'm small so I could squeeze through the gaps in the crowd :)
About half an hour into the journey we got stopped at some barriers and the car was checked. I asked why and Chimwemwe told me it's because we were entering the Forest area, and some people come and illegally steal coal because they can't afford it themselves.
The stars were incredible. I now see why it's called the lake of stars! I've never seen so many (and so clearly) in my life! Thousands of them, like someone had chucked up a load of glitter and it got stuck up there.
Some men were dancing just off the road by their hut and then Chimwemwe spent about 10 minutes explaining through fits of laughter that "Kachaso" the local cheap spirit, ages your face about 15-20 years.
Arrived at the Butterfly Space at 8pm ish
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