After a six hour car journey we arrived in Nkhata bay where
we would get the ferry the following morning to Likoma island. Because space in
our bags was limited (largely due to the amount of booze and Christmas nibbles
we had packed) we decided to give each other our presents before we set off and
then leave them in the car while we were away. We’d set a fairly harsh limit of
2500 MKW for the gifts (about £3.50) but that goes a fair way in Malawi and
although not quite the same as Christmas back home I was chuffed to bits with
my Nkhotakota pottery stew pot that Nat and Judy got me!
I should mention at this point that Judy has been pretty
unwell for a few weeks now, like me she has been in and out of the clinic and
was very nearly not able to come along at all. Fortunately though because Nat
is a nurse the doctor allowed us to take some drugs and drip lines away with us
so Judy could continue her antibiotics. NMH (Nat’s mobile hospital) was erected
in the car, at the lodge in Nakarta bay and later in a beach hut on Likoma
island – pretty surreal!
We got up the following morning at around 4am, Judy had
another bottle of metronidazole and Nat and I had a coffee. We then set off
with all our gear for the beach where we had been told the ferry left at 6am.
When we arrived there was a hoard of people jostling to get
on small fishing boats that were taking
them out to what appeared to be a half sunken ferry in the bay. Taking a
deep breath we threw ourselves into the chaos and clambered aboard a boat with
five others, several sacks of maize, two chickens, three huge bunches of
bananas and a dining room chair! Naturally the small fishing boat was grounded
at this point and took four very strong Malawians to pull us the fifty yards or
so out to the ferry.
As soon as we got close to the ferry things started being
thrown aboard with no concern for who owned what or where their belongings were
going. At some point our bags disappeared into the boat, not to be seen again
until Likoma. We were last off and scrambled aboard to find there were no seats
left which gave us two choices; either sit on the bow of the ferry or find a
spot on the lower deck amongst the livestock and grain. We opted for the bow
and after several more impossible boat loads of stuff and people were brought
aboard we set sail.
After a couple of minutes we’d all re-grouped from the
boarding ordeal and started to enjoy the ride; the wind was cool, the lake was
flat and someone below us was playing Malawian pop on a stereo that set a
fitting soundtrack. The landscape was beautiful too and for a few short moments
I felt very lucky to be part of the experience… Then it started to rain.
The weather in Malawi is often very localised and you could
see the storm coming from a mile away, we knew we were heading straight for it
and being completely exposed on the bow of the boat knew we were in for a
soaking. Suddenly the waves picked up, the wind went from cool to cold and the
rain was torrential.
After about ten minutes Nat was fed up and started praying
for the storm to end and the sun to come out. He must have listened because as
quickly as it had started we were suddenly though the storm and the sky was
clear again. For about thirty seconds we celebrated, then we started to realise
just how strong the sun was. Within another ten minutes we were getting very
badly burned and begging for the rain to return. Eventually we reached the
ferry’s first stop, Chizumulu island and managed to negotiated some space
inside the boat where we spent the remainder of our ten hour voyage nursing our
sunburn with liberal quantities of after sun.
No journey in Malawi would be complete without a breakdown,
so when the ferry came to set off from Chizumulu
we did just that. For an hour and a half it looked like we weren’t going any further.
Likoma was only an hour away at this point and we could have maybe phoned the
lodge for help but naturally none of us had reception so we just had to wait it
out. Eventually the Capitan managed to restart the engine and we made it into
Likoma at around 5pm.
Getting off the ferry was much the same as boarding only now
the entire boat wanted to unload at the same time and get ashore as quickly as
possible. For a couple of minutes we just stood watching the madness not quite
knowing what the best tactic might be, then a young lad appeared from nowhere
and asked if we needed help. He managed to find us our bags and carried them
all to the back of the ferry where we could board another little fishing boat.
Bearing in mind that Nat and I could barely lift our own bags the strength of
this guy was truly amazing.
Finally ashore one of the staff from Mango drift was waiting
for us and drove us the twenty or so minutes across the island to our lodge
The gin I had on arrival was one of the hardest earned I’ve
ever had!
