Hello from Cape Maclear! We are having a day's break before going to Lilongwe to collect supplies for our visit to Kamanzi-Chifuka village.
I really want to back track a bit because there is so much to tell! Back in Johannesburg we were completely taken aback by the temperature! It was 7C when we got off the plane in the evening and only 3C when we got up in the morning! Fortunately, there was a lovely heavy blanket for my bed but my feet never did warm up. Another complication to this weather was the fact that our luggage had been checked through right to Blantyre. The warm clothes "but not too many" were sitting at the airport ready for the flight in the morning!
Back to the airport and on to the big bus which takes you to the plane. Some of the waiting time was passed in conversation with two young students from a school in England - near Kent. There were 17 students and two teachers heading out for two weeks of volunteer work at a feeding program. There were 18 more students going in a following two weeks. Sounds admirable doesn't it! I'll explain this comment later.
The small Blantyre Airport was a welcome sight but then it was time to manage our Visa applications. A lovely young woman at the entrance saw that our papers were already filled out so, we were guided through the crowd directly to the officials taking the fee. Weren't we fortunate!? Well, then there was another line to go to on the other side of the reception area. Then, yet another line to stand in to have a picture recorded and for the three questionable looking gentlemen, thumb prints!
At last we were through and seeing Faye's familiar face and meeting the names we had been seeing in emails, Fatsanawo and Steve. Steve is the Regional Team Leader for Southern Africa (Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia). Fatsanawo's title is Bridger which means she facilitates all the needs of teams like ours. After a quick drop off at the Chilembwe Lodge, we set out on the visits which I described in an earlier post.
I think there's food coming again! But the local restaurants definitely have there own sense of time!!
I really want to back track a bit because there is so much to tell! Back in Johannesburg we were completely taken aback by the temperature! It was 7C when we got off the plane in the evening and only 3C when we got up in the morning! Fortunately, there was a lovely heavy blanket for my bed but my feet never did warm up. Another complication to this weather was the fact that our luggage had been checked through right to Blantyre. The warm clothes "but not too many" were sitting at the airport ready for the flight in the morning!
Back to the airport and on to the big bus which takes you to the plane. Some of the waiting time was passed in conversation with two young students from a school in England - near Kent. There were 17 students and two teachers heading out for two weeks of volunteer work at a feeding program. There were 18 more students going in a following two weeks. Sounds admirable doesn't it! I'll explain this comment later.
The small Blantyre Airport was a welcome sight but then it was time to manage our Visa applications. A lovely young woman at the entrance saw that our papers were already filled out so, we were guided through the crowd directly to the officials taking the fee. Weren't we fortunate!? Well, then there was another line to go to on the other side of the reception area. Then, yet another line to stand in to have a picture recorded and for the three questionable looking gentlemen, thumb prints!
At last we were through and seeing Faye's familiar face and meeting the names we had been seeing in emails, Fatsanawo and Steve. Steve is the Regional Team Leader for Southern Africa (Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia). Fatsanawo's title is Bridger which means she facilitates all the needs of teams like ours. After a quick drop off at the Chilembwe Lodge, we set out on the visits which I described in an earlier post.
I think there's food coming again! But the local restaurants definitely have there own sense of time!!
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