Met Lots of People at Mabuya!

I headed to Mabuya on Saturday morning!  The lodge was packed!  Hence the list below!

I stayed in a chalet the first night, a tent the second, a chalet the third, and a dorm the fourth!  I enjoyed the weekend and did client visits with our loan officers in Lilongwe on Monday and Tuesday.  I will post about that experience and the visits tomorrow!  

I arrived back in Kasungu late this afternoon!  There were numerous power outages for prolonged periods of time and the water to the district was cut off at certain times of the day so I did not shower for four days!  I also did not bring nearly enough clothes with me as I was planning to stay till Monday not Wednesday!  I also did not take into account that I would be motor biking through the dirt roads of Lilongwe with the loan officers.  Just imagine, no shower, not enough clothes, I can't even describe what I looked like! 

Enjoy Reading

Jimmy

Viola- Viola is from the the US.  She is working on her masters in natural resource management.  She is currently researching agro forestry in Malawi through funding from USAID.  She has lived all overt he US since her father was in the military and has a few friends in Philadelphia so we talked about how awesome it is!

Dave and Lisa- Dave is from Australia and Lisa is from Texas.  They are both married and are traveling around Southern Africa together.  They just climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro!  Spent a lot of time with them.  They helped me ant proof my tent because there were no chalets available on Sunday night!  I hung out with them by the pool and spent breakfast talking about our trips thus far in Malawi.

Rina and Emily- Rina and Emily are both here with a  group volunteering for Habitat for Humanity building two houses here in Lilongwe.  Their project was two weeks long and they leave for their safari in Zambia tomorrow.  Rina went to George Mason and now works for the government.  Emily went to NYU and now is back at school studying economics.

Jamie- Jamie was the same age as me.  He was from the UK volunteering in Malawi for the next three weeks.  He had such an awesome assignment, soccer coaching!  He brought jerseys and soccer balls with him and gave them out to the village children he was working with every day!  We dormmed together on Tuesday night!

Jam and Leanne- Well I pretty much already new both of them.  Jam is the owner of Club Zanzibar.  I met him there and we took a great picture together.  It was great seeing him.  He bought a round of drinks, so I was happy.  Leanne i have heard so much about but never met her.  She is caretaker of the house Paolo stays in.  She is currently working with a couple from India to start an eco lodge in Lilongwe!  What a neat idea, first of its kind in Malawi!  She told me how all the produce would be organically grown and sourced, the furniture would be all locally crafted, eco cleaning products would be used, and a recycled water system would be in place.  She is set to open towards the end of July so I think I will spend a night at her place rather than Mabuya!

Tom- Tom was a 17 year old from the UK.  He and about 30 of his classmates were camping at Mabuya for a few days before they spent the next month volunteering and then finishing with a safari.  Learned a lot about the UK from him and his friends and played a bunch of card games, that included 'shit head.'

Tom and Janey- The owners of Mabuya!  They were just back in the UK visiting their family and friends.  They live in Malawi year round.  They purchased Mabuya when then were traveling around Southern Africa  together six years ago.  They are now marred and have a two year old boy.  They are so helpful, they know how to get you to anywhere you want to go in Malawi!  

Erin-  A Canadian who has liven in Malawi for the past six years.  She has two children, one Canadian and one Malawian.  She works as a primary school teacher a pristegious international school in Lilongwe.  She is leaving in December and will continue teaching at another international school, to be determined.  Her and I spent Monday night at the bar with nice cheddar cheese, whole wheat crackers, stuffed feta red peppers, and some beers! 

Rory and Lucy- I met them at the pool on Sunday.  I had a fly fishing magazine I picked up in Nkhotakota at the Fish Eagle Lodge and saw them reading a magazine so I offered them my magazine as I had just finished reading it!  Once they accepted we introduced and spoke about what we were doing in Africa.  They explained how they bought a van in England and fixed it up then drove to France where they boarded a ferry to Morocco!  From there they have traveled all over Africa and landed in Lilongwe on Saturday!  They are off to Zambia in the morning!  They will end in South Africa!  Please check out their blog, their pictures and stories are amazing.  Rory and Lucy's Blog

Lewis- Lewis and I met at the pool on Saturday!  He asked what I was reading, "Bottled and Sold."  Lewis has been traveling for the past five months.  He is from the UK and started his journey in Ecuador.  He backpacked his way to The Cape Horn and then took a boat to Antarctica!  After two weeks in there he then sailed for 50 days to The Cape of Good Hope and has backpacked his way to Malawi where I met him.  He left on Monday to continue his journey in Zambia!  He actually hitched a ride with Rory and Lucy!

Nina- Nina was one of the volunteers that came to work with her boyfriend Peter for MicroLoan in May/June.  She continued her trip volunteering with orphans in Nkhata Bay.  Well I ran into her on Saturday at the bar in Mabuya.  She was spending the night before she headed back home to the UK!  What a small world!

Bee- I met Bee on Monday night at the bar.  She finished her final exams on Friday and then arrived in Malawi on Monday!  She is from the UK and just finished her masters at Oxford!  She studied economic development with a focus on agriculture.  She had so many friends from New England and said I was just like her friends!  She told me about her friends from Stanford, Rutgers, Penn, Harvard, and Brown!  She is doing agriculture research in Malawi.  Her work is concentrated in Blantyre.  It is in the south of Malawi!  We both want to climb Mt. Mulanje, the 4th highest peak in Africa!  I am going to pitch up at her place and then we will split a guide and trek for three days together.  I have her email and we are going to plan it right before I leave for my safari at the end of July!