7 quick takes...

1. Sophie and Doris are sleeping in the bed next to me. Hartmut is out trying to catch some cell phone reception and I am on my bed under the mosquito net. The best place to be when it's evening because I don't like getting bitten. Noisy crickets and loud birds seem to be having a competition to be heard. A perfect moment to write a quick blog about things that happened in the past while. ( I usually take notes in the week so that I only need to work out the notes when I have time to write.)

2. I am reading but look up every few minutes to stare over the headlands. No boat yet. With every minute that it comes later, chances increase that the rumours are true. On the lake is a ferry, a big old steamer that goes up and down the lake once a week, connecting cities and villages. It's the lifeline for many villagers, the only reminder that the world is bigger than the few kilometers between the school, the church and their cassava field. But the big steamer, the Ilala, is in for maintenance. The Chilimbwe is making the rounds instead, a smaller boat, much faster but also much more expensive. The people are waiting for the Ilala to come back but it has been a few months of disappointment. Every week the whispers travel along the coastline. This week the Ilala is back! Everybody seems to have a relative in Monkey Bay (the harbour where the Ilala leaves from.)  who has phoned to confirm; "This week it's really true, the big boat left the harbour!". Hearsay travels fast. The coastline is buzzing, people are preparing their bags to take the steamliner. There is no way to confirm, and the relative has spoken, that should be confirmation enough. I look up from my book again and see a boat coming around the headlands. It's the Chilimbwe. The relative lied and rumours won. Again.

3. "A taxi to Karonga? No problem, we are leaving now now!" We get in the minibus that he shows to us. Half hopeful, half sceptical. Nownow can mean anything. In this case it meant two hours. After two hours of waiting the bus filled up and there is some movement. Finally.  Getting out of the taxi park is harder than a game of tetris. At least; that's what it appears to be to us. The driver has less trouble with the labyrinth. Cars are stronger than people and the goods they sell so when the driver slowly pushes forward, vendors of clothes and food are forced to quickly grab their stuff to make way for the merciless tires of the slow minibus. It works, 10 minutes later we are out on the road and ready to go. The minibus is full but can still get fuller. We stop for every potential customer and more space can be made for the new people, chickens and luggage that needs to come along. Their is worship music, traditional music and an occasional r&b song. The driver's choice of play list is bearable. Two chiefs stand alongside the road, we recognise them by their traditional chief heads. Nobody lets a chief wait snd people shuffle to make space, climb onto each others lap or stand uncomfortably under the too low ceiling to make space for the two elderly man. We are excused from the shuffling game. We got the two front seats for us four and arrive in one piece and in fairly comfortable positions at our first destination for the day.  Now on to the next one. We have no choice but to climb in the back of a van that looks like it's even too old for a scrapyard. No panel is without dents, the sliding side door is missing, the back window is replaced with tape and the back door itself can't close but is held in place with a rope. The back seats are taken to create more space for luggage. Or people, we learn. We sit on top of our backpack, holding on to the girls and our luggage for dear life. The car is only 6 months old, the driver says. 6 months in his hands, after years of service for several other owners, we assume. 17 hairpin bends on a steep bumby road later we arrive. Alive. Another adventure added to our books.

4. The sun has set. Ten minutes ago the evening sky had turned into a canvas with bright splashes of pink and oranges but that has faded. The first stars appear. People light their fires to prepare an evening meal, those who are lucky enough to have a electricity or a solar lamp switch it on and continue with their day. Hartmut and I are sitting on the deck, playing a cardgame. I drink my rooibos tea, Hartmut his beer. The deck is build on cliffs on the edge of a sharp escarpment and the views are magnificent. Sophie comes running to us, pulls our hands excitedly, we have to come!  She shows us the lights below us, clearly lining the lake shore. Cars move, fires flicker. Her face beams, she has tears in her eyes. "This is so beautiful, everybody needs to see this" she says as she runs up to the upper deck where other lodge guests are enjoying their evening. We hear her chat "I have seen something beautiful and I think you want to see it too because it's very pretty." Sophie is a special one, sensitive and bold. Always looking for beauty, always wanting to share her finds. One man came to look with her at the lights. He made her day.

5. It's a little bit frustrating when your child does not want to listen despite your best efforts, despite you knowing exactly what's best for her. Sophie and Doris learned that lesson. They had a bongololo (milipede) child that they build a nice house for. Stones became walls and pebbles and leaves were the bed. They tried to be nice and talked some sense into the milipede, it really was time for bed and he should not crawl out all the time. They showed him how soft the bed was, and comfortable. But their dear child walked away. Having 1000 legs comes in handy when you want to make a quick escape. Reasoning did not help, neither did screaming nor threatening with punishments. Sophie rolls her eyes. "Kids can be so difficult"  I quietly nod in agreement.

6. We had wonderful days in Livingstonia. We met great lodge owners, saw beautiful views and really relaxed. But now it's time to go. Bags are packed but we are not quite sure yet how we wil reach the village almost a kilometer below us. We walk to the road, I have Sophie in the carrier, the other carrier is in the backpack and Hartmut is carrying our big backpack while Doris sits on top of the backpack on his shoulders. It works, but only just and definitely not for 11 kilometers. We walk to a nearby little hole in the wall shop next to road and decide to wait to see what comes first. Either a vehicle (any really) that can give us a lift, or a strong guy who is willing to porter our backpack down while we walk. The latter wins and we walk. We pick the wild flowers that grow in bright colours on the side of the road. We sing songs from the Sound of Music. We try to not slip over the rolling rocks and slippery clay, we only succeed most of the time. But 2,5 hours later we are at the bottom of the escarpment.  17 hairpin bends, sometimes made quicker by steep shortcuts. The views were worth it, the fresh mandazi when we reached the bottom of the road too. Sophie tells me that she really likes hiking because she loves sleeping in the carrier. I also really like hiking, but I prefer te sleep after the job is done. Oh, and we did not see any vehicles going up or down while we hiked. I am glad we did not wait for that.

7. It's half past 8 and I will probably go to sleep soon. We rarely make it past nine, nobody does here. Tomorrow we need to get up early. We have a big journey ahead. We need to hike 60 kilometers and hope to do that in 3 days. Samson, a lovely man from our village is coming with us and has organised meals and beds with some of his family members along the way. I know it will be challenging,as the terrain is not easy, but we are up for it. Enjoy your week!