Chintheche – Thursday / Friday August 23rd / 24th

The sun rose over the glistening lake at about 6:30am and all was good with the world. You could sit for hours and just gaze into the distance in the same way as you would a fireplace in winter back home. I had been looking forward to returning here for some time and it was wonderful to just be in the moment.

The glow of the early morning sun filtered through the trees lighting up the cottage porch and taking the chill from night air that still lingered inside. And on the lake local fishermen were already out in hope of an early catch.

I made some coffee, toast and boiled egg for breakfast and, along with a glass of mango juice, sat listening to the early morning bird chorus in the trees above. And this was how it would be for the next couple of days.

I sent a message to Mariette with one of the local men that I would drop up to her house later in the afternoon and went on to spend the rest of the day (in fact next two days) unwinding. Over the couple of days I just lived and breathed, taking strolls on the lakeside and watching locals in their daily routine.

At the same time each morning this girl would appear with her little bit of washing, spend a while getting it done and then slip off into the distance. Life seemed to happen at a slow and steady pace, which is such a contrast to the survival mayhem of the towns and cities.

A man pulled up his fish laden canoe and sold a couple of big ones to the local man who hailed him in off the lake. Transaction done and off both men went.

These canoes are dug out from tree trunks and are patched together with whatever is handy. They are functional but not altogether safe and these young men occasionally forfeit their lives in pursuit of their work. But they provide valuable food product to the local economy which gives employment to them and a regular supply of fresh fish to the surrounding communities.

The beach just to the north of me seemed to be the main centre of activity for fishing.

The cottage was sheltered from the hot sun by these magnificent trees which kept it cool and pleasant during the day. Sitting on the porch was the ultimate in doing nothing and the couple of days just slipped slowly by.

I called up to Mariette late in the first afternoon and we enjoyed gin and tonic (just for the quinine of course!) and chatted for a couple of hours. The electricity was off for the evening but, for me at least, that wasn’t any real inconvenience.

She invited me to have dinner with herself and a couple of friends on the second evening and this turned out to be most enjoyable. Her other guests were an Austrian man and his Malawian wife of seventeen years. The discussion and debate ranged A to Z and it was nice to spend time in conversation with someone other than myself for a change. He had fascinating stories about travel and it was especially interesting to listen to him describe his adventures through the Sahara Desert which he has crossed four times in his lifetime – and that was during times when there was no sat nav.

His wife was a delightful woman who offered an African perspective to our discussions about African politics and race issues (and not just between black and white, but also between different African nations).

The evening was crowned with a most delicious crispy based pizza cooked by Ellen who is Mariette’s housekeeper. In the background we were serenaded by the Dubliners, played on a record that Mariette had kept since her student days in the 1960’s.

As ever, she had been the perfect host. Attentive to the needs of a guest, willing to share her time in conversation and yet respectful of a desire for privacy. Perhaps I will return some day….