7 quick takes from the boat

1. Hills and mountains. Every now and then a small village or hamlet. People in boats. Lots of lake, cassava fields and forests. Views from the window. In front of me to me sits a lady with a chicken. Legs tied together, anxiously waiting for what is to come. I need to keep my feet close to me or else I will kick the poor thing. Next to me a mother with a baby. The baby is not wearing a nappie and I wonder how the mother knows when nature calls and what she will do. Further to the back some men, taken captive by their heated discussion, fueled by strong opinions and stronger drinks. It feels hot inside but after a quick walk to the open deck at the rear end I discover that the air conditioning is on because outside it is even hotter. It is only my second time on this boat but the sights and smells start to feel familiar. Familiar enough to not just stare in amazement but to post a blog, now that we are finally connected to the internet again.

2.Days became weeks and it's hard to imagine that we have been in Ruarwe for three weeks already. Life here, although exciting, starts to become normal and normal is good. Today we shake up our normal a little bit as we are traveling for a week. We need to renew our visas in Nkatha Bay and even if we did not have to do that we would probably travel. Part of our work is building relationships with all the other lodges around the lake and advertising our lodge and that is what we will be doing. We will take the boat to Nkatha Bay, stay there for the night and then go to Mzuzu. Mzuzu is the biggest city in this area where we arrived three weeks ago and I am looking forward to explore the markets and shops to see what I can buy there. It will be nothing like Cape Town but I am especially excited about the herbs, spices and lentils that I hope to find and that I plan to use to update the menu here. After that we drive back to the lake to take the boat to Usisiya. This is about 20 kilometres from our village and there is a German lady who owns a lodge. Word travels fast around the lake and she had obviously already heard about the 'german family' (us) who took over the management of the lodge closest to hers. We are looking forward to meet her and plan to stay with her for a few days before we go back to the world without internet and electricity (but with lots of lake views and undistracted evenings).

3.'We'll first play Dorothy and Todo (Wizard of Oz) and then mamma and baby, ok? And after that I am the prince and you are the princess' And of they go. On a journey through their imagination. Sticks become dogs and babies, pieces of fabric are skirts, beds and houses. They usually speak Dutch with each other but most of their role play is in English. It sounds realistic. Sometimes so much so that I start to believe that the fights and the crying is real. The game is over. There was some misunderstanding about who played what, imaginary shoes were stolen and there were tears. Now the prince is making a drawing to make the fallen princess happy again. Sophie and Doris. Best friends and best enemies.

4. Tree branches start moving vigorously, long tails swoosh through the trees. Babies hold on the their mom's fur. I hold my breath but hands and feet skilfully grab branches, never missing one, never falling. There are screeches, little fights over fruit, fast attacks and quicker retreats. Watching the monkeys has become one of my favourite ways to pass time. They fascinate me and not only me. There is one specific kind of monkey in our valley that is very endangered, and people suspect that the species here is a new, undiscovered subspecies. A primate centre is making plans to come to our lodge for a few weeks to research our monkeys and I really hope that it works out. It would be so interesting the learn from the experts!

5. Most of the time we know when guests come because they have booked in advance but also because most guests come on the boat and there are only a limited amount of boats that arrive each week. But we have been surprised twice this week with both times groups of 3 girls who came hiking to the lodge. The mountains around our village are beautiful with steep rocks and beautiful lake views and the different hikes are something we want to explore and make maps for so that hiking to the lodge in one or more days can become a more popular, better organised and safer option. Any volunteers who want to try a route?

6. When we left Cape Town we left a dry region but we did not expect to be met with a lot of rain as the rain season in our new home was supposed to have ended. But global warming and the weather changes tgat it causes are real. So real that we have had rain and thunder storms almost every night since we got here. Yesterday was the worst (or the best) so far. Thunder and lightening came closer and closer as we were eating our supper and by the time we had finished our food it had started pouring. The girls danced in the rain and loved it but the rain grew stronger by the minute. Eventually we were stuck in the restaurant area until 9:30 while we played games in the only dry bit while rain was leaking through every little hole that the water could find. Outside the restaurant the water was almost 10 cms deep. When we found a gap we ran home so that the girls could finally go to bed. Back in our home everything seemed fine until Hartmut stapped into the bathroom that had flooded completely... I wish we could send this rain to Cape Town because we have had more than we need.

7. Many people asked for our address and I can tell you that old fashioned snail mail will be highly appreciated, especially because modern mail, that is supposed to go fast is not terribly speedy either on this side of the world. You can send your mail to Fam Jagau c/o Matthew Harper

po box 389

Mzuzu Malawi. There is also a po box in Nkatha Bay but they say that this one is a little bit more reliable and post does not go missing. A hopeful Hurray!