7 quick takes...

09 August

7 quick takes...

Good morning! Time for a new blog, from our new house. Yup, you read that right. Last week we moved from our house in Senga Bay to our new house in Monkey Bay. The house is great, we have settled in well, and it really starts to feel like a home. There are a few things that still need to be put in place, like we don’t have a fridge yet and right now, a builder is installing some shelves so that we don’t have to keep our clothes in suitcases. But otherwise, we are very happy here, and we feel like we could not have got a better spot for this next chapter.
‘To boat, or not to boat.’ That was the question for a long time. We had decided that we would use the ferry to move, because we moved from one ferry stop to another. It was the cheapest way, and pretty fun too. But when the day of the move came, the lake was stormy and wild. Not ideal boat weather. We have definitely seen worse (more about that later) but when you want to move all your belongings, you don’t want big waves lapping over it and damaging all you have. We were hopeful that the storm would calm, and the strong gardeners carried our boxes and suitcases to the beach. The next step was trying to find a boat that was willing to come out, but all the boats were safely pulled up on the beach. And as we waited, the waves became more vicious. In the end, we decided that hiring a truck and moving that way was going to be the better option. All the stuff was carried back from the beach and loaded on the truck, and off we went. Because we had a truck that was going to drive back to Senga Bay in the evening, all the staff decided to join to ‘give us a push’ and to see Monkey Bay. Most of them had never been there, and it was really fun to have them join us, as their excitement made it all a bit easier. It was also the best farewell. We will really miss all of them and being with them for a little longer was perfect.
Sophie and Doris are happy with our move. Leaving the old place was not easy, but the new place has loads to offer. The tar road behind our house is great for (finally) learning to cycle, the ducks and chickens seem to be happy to be even closer to the lake and the shops have a little more for sale than those in our old village. Win!
Talking about a wild lake; a few weeks ago, the girls and I went to Likoma Island to visit a Dutch family who are currently staying there. We have made the journey many times, but never before was it as stormy as this time. We knew a storm was coming, the government even issued an official warning, but when we got on the boat, the lake was pretty flat and friendly. That changed overnight, and it got so bad that the boat could not go further. The captain lowered the anchor in a bay, and we waited for the worst of the storm to pass. The bay was relatively calm, but we were still swaying heavily, so we could only guess how bad it was outside the bay. After more than 24 hours, the journey continued, going through the worst storm I have ever been in. It was so bad that afterwards, videos of sick people were doing their rounds on social media, and I am glad that the girls and I got strong stomachs. We spend most of our time in the cabin. Played games, read, watched movies and just waited to arrive. Fortunately, the destination was worth it; Likoma never disappoints, but it’s a journey we won’t easily forget.
I am so happy we don’t have many things. It would have made packing up and moving a lot more stressful. And because we did not need to spend all our days packing and organising, we had time for other things. Like the last weekend before our move; one of the best lodges in Malawi had asked me to come for a few nights and take photographs for their website, and I could take my family along. What an amazing request, especially since a visit to this place was very high on Sophie’s wish list because of the rich bird life. It did not disappoint. And now they have their pictures, and we had an amazing and restful weekend away before a very busy week started.
Hartmut especially needed a break. Never has he worked as hard and carried as much load as he does now. The old project hasn’t finished, and the new project is in full swing. He works long days and even slept on the building site last week so that he would not ‘waste’ time driving. He is enjoying the work, but we are also looking forward to when the first project is finished so that he can concentrate on one job and have a bit more time to rest.
One of the things that I really need to do this week is buy a bridesmaids dress for Imke’s wedding. For the longest time, I was nervous that it would not happen, so I never bought one (also because I feel like this online shopping thing is not for me) but with only a few weeks to go before we plan to fly to Namibia, it seems more and more likely. We are starting to allow ourselves to get excited. If it all works out as we hope, we have a few good weeks coming up.