Marula Lodge suited us perfectly.  Our tented chalet was very comfortable, the open air communal dining and lounge areas overlooked the river, and the deck chairs strategically placed along the river edge made easy work of enjoying a chosen beverage whilst watching elephants, crocs and hippos go about their business.  An innovative spiral ablution structure made of bamboo stems provided four private, open roofed and very well appointed bathrooms.  The weather was very pleasant, the swimming pool was refreshing and the staff were friendly and helpful.

We met an American couple who had been travelling to Malawi for many years.  As missionaries, they had spent time in South Africa, but realised their calling was to help the education process for school children in Malawi and Zambia.  This couple are the inventors of the Portable Academic Lapdesk – “an innovative educational tool that provides a solution to the shortage of educational materials for both students and teachers.  Joel and Jackie Wells, consulted with teachers, health providers and child development specialists to produce the Lapdesk. The copyrighted graphics contain the alphabet, numbers, a ruler, mathematical times table, a world map and much more. The PAL is lightweight, waterproof, UV resistant and easily portable”.

We were super impressed by this couple who’s Mission “is to impact impoverished emerging and developing nations by empowering teachers with educational resources that enhance their ability to teach and instil in students a lifelong desire to learn.”  They invited us to join their entourage visit a local school where they were to check the condition of the PAL’s they had donated some years ago, and donate a skipping rope and non-puncturing soccer ball.  They had been told that the girls particularly, were encouraged to attend school just because it had a skipping rope.  Check out their website - http://www.lapdeskpal.com/

We visited a very industrious textile factory.  As I need to return home for a few weeks (family business), we decided to take the opportunity to bring back something special from our travels … something a little larger than a beaded zebra keyring.  Wet calico is laid out on large work tables.  When dry, a mix of flour and water is used to draw their designs which include geometric patterns, images of African animals and animal prints.  Coloured paint is applied by the artists before the fabric is rolled through a long oven to “cook”.  When the flour and water cracks, a mottled painted effect is left on the white areas of the designs.  Once “cooked”, the fabric is wet and the flour and water is scraped off. The sewing team skilfully produces a range of products from table clothes, cushion covers, bags, trinkets, children’s items etc.  Each member of staff, we were told, can be supporting another 10 family members.  One day, we’ll be able to reminisce our African Odyssey whilst dining at our table covered in zebra, leopard and giraffe prints…

We took a ride into the local village of Mfuwe to stock up on fresh vegies from the market.  Dale, with his keen eye for the unusual, spotted in the distance, a mustard coloured Land Rover with a Camel Trophy logo.  Red rag to a bull, we went over and struck up a conversation with the Zambian fellow driving the vehicle.  Dale had some idea about the famous vehicle-oriented Camel Trophy competition best known for its use of Land Rover vehicles over challenging terrain.

“The Camel Trophy originated in 1980 with three Jeep-equipped German teams exploring the Amazon Basin. After that first event, the organisers turned to Land Rover and over the course of the next twenty years, all of the Land Rover vehicle range were used. Range Rover, Land Rover Series III, Land Rover Defender, Land Rover Discovery and Freelander vehicles all appeared in the distinctive "sandglow" colour scheme.  The vehicles were heavily modified by Land Rover Special Vehicles with a range of expedition, recovery and safety equipment”.
This particular vehicle included “Tierra del Fuego ‘98” painted on its side.  The Camel Trophy is well known for its brutal treks through steaming, malaria-infested jungles and punishing deserts.  In 1998 the Camel Trophy returned to South America, where the great adventure began, but this time in winter. With temperatures expected to reach minus 30 degrees in Patagonia, this was to be a gruelling event very different to all prior events.

Sometimes you wish you had a professional video recorder to hand.  Carlos told of his personal journey and how he came to now be the custodian of this unique vehicle.  Carlos is one of those humble, hardworking, determined, innovative and savvy young fellows.  His journey began working for low pay for an American called James Willard Colston, the owner of the vehicle.  At one point Colston loaned Carlos money to attend agricultural college.  Carlos knew the amount of money would only cover one year of a three year course, so he jumped right in the deep end, scraped through and passed year three of the course, bypassing the other two years.  There is a lot more to his story than what I can tell here, so cutting a long story short, Colston, whilst having his heart in Africa, is now ill in the States and unable to travel.  Carlos meantime has set up an agricultural training foundation with some land he was gifted, and Colston has donated the vehicle to this foundation.  Was a good story to be told by a genuinely lovely local fellow. We wish him all the very best in life.

A few of the tented chalets were only four metres from the bamboo bathroom structure.  A young and very excitable Spanish couple in the tent next to ours, told us that a hippo had wandered between their tent and the ablutions in the middle of the previous night.  That night, we ended up being woken at 2am by an odd sound.  The hippo had returned and, being vegetarian, was munching its way across the grass two metres from our heads!  The next night, he/she did the same, but this time traversed along the edge of the tents, meaning that our heads were within a metre of this great lump of a beast with only a sheet of shade cloth separating it from us!  Were the instructions to make a noise and it would go away? Or keep still and don’t move??  Frozen in a crazy mix of fear and amazement, it was easy to not move nor make a sound and just simply take in what was actually happening!

One evening after returning from a very short walk, we saw elephants about to cross the river to our side.  We sat in some deck chairs and marvelled as the small herd ambled their way across the sand bank, climbed up right next to where we were sitting, then stroll unperturbed through the camp and across to feeding grounds beyond.

It was time to pack the Guzzi and head towards the Zambian/Malawi border crossing.  We’ve had so many memorable moments during our African Odyssey, and when leaving our campsite, were provided with yet another memory which will be etched in our memories forever.

Most animals will become protective and sometimes aggressive when separated from their young.  As we rode out along the gravel road, we saw a couple of giraffes in the distance.  Then we noticed it wasn’t a couple but three adults to our right.  Then we noticed two babies near the road on our left.  Mmm…this could be tricky, so we stopped and turned off the engine.  What looked like the mum, stopped and stared at us for ages.  We daren’t move.  It became a bit of a standoff, but we were happy and fascinated just observing the babies, mum and the others.  She tired before we did, and ambled towards to other two adults.  We thought this a good opportunity to move away from her babies and leave the family in peace.  Wow…

The Zambian/Malawi border crossing was chaotic.  While Dale stayed with the Guzzi, I fortunately found a female admin officer who was happy to explain the whole process – where to go, what to pay, where to buy insurance and which offices to go into and in what order.  We had to pay some fees in local Malawi Kwachas not USD, so she helped me negotiate a conversation rate with one of the many, many fellows milling around with wads of cash in their hands. I had written down her instructions which were thankfully spot-on and I was able to manage the process on my own, while Dale made friends with a local security guy interested in the Fury Road Interceptor.

There are many police check points in Malawi and often, we have been told, have their hands out for “just that little bit extra”.  The first police officer we encountered spent an eternity looking over the Guzzi and asking questions.  He then asked Dale if he had “anything he would like to give him”.  I interrupted by saying that I had something for him.  I said we were from Australia and asked him if he knew what our most famous animal was.  He didn’t know, but when I said the kangaroo, he said yes, he knew of the kangaroo.  I said I had a GOLD kangaroo for him and proceeded to pin a little lapel pin to his shirt.  He was chuffed and waved us a hearty farewell.  The Aussie kangaroo is always a bit of a hit!

I now need to leave my hubby in Lilongwe, Malawi whilst I head back to OZ to deal with some family business.  A male friend of ours suggested Dale might get into mischief with some local dusky maidens.  His wife bet Dale would most likely be doing some maintenance on the bike, catching up on some reading and building some software…