Mista Chris Visits

Pagizis,
I'm sure I have not made this abundantly clear in my previous blogposts, but I have had the distinct pleasure of a week and a half off from work with the arrival of my father in Malawi. Desperate to experience the bush, the beer and brazen bavardry of the local rastafarians, he and I dove headfirst into a whirlwind tour of Malawi in 11 days.

First I gave him the city-scoop: Lilongwe and Blantyre. We conquered these cities with timely stall-outs of my freshly introduced hands to the British-style manual driving and ice cream. We subsequently left my areas of comfort for the massive Zomba Plateau. The plateau could very well be a scene out of a movie based in Montana. Something with Liam Neeson being hunted by baboons and leopards, written by Stephen King. The Plateau rises like a marshmallow in the microwave beside the colonial capital of Zomba. It is covered in pine trees and other deciduous shrubberies with two vast dams gleaming like plates of mica on its green surface, but it also shares the distinctly African animal life of baboons, monkeys and exotic birds tramping about. For two days we marched around in the mud and clouds (Elevation 2000 meters above sea level) looking out across the lands like bizarro Lewis and Clark. In our final hike we met up with a local who promised us a shortcut back through the woods and took us down steep slick paths and past illegal woodcutters and farming.

Finally we stayed up in fervent anticipation of the Superbowl with a stream of constant reminders to the hotel staff that we would like to watch the game on an easily accessible channel for them. They responded in kind words, assuring us that they would accommodate our impending misery. Luckily enough, this is Africa. The staff screwed up, we missed the game (despite our screaming and whining), a night of sleep and the chance to be thoroughly depressed. All-in-all, just an OK day. Honestly, it was a very nice place except for the massive screw up and the baboons running across the tin roof all during breakfast.

I promise to give more updates on where else we have traveled soon (Cape Maclear, up the coast to Nkhata Bay and tomorrow into Nyika national park), but for now, I am basking in free food, accommodations and the whipping flow of my father's Kennedy haircut.

In Secretarial Services we trust,
Steven