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23.Aug.03 Today is the day. Julia has to fly home and we will continue on our journey. Around 7.30am Albert, our faithful driver, picks us up at the hostel. As Julia's flight ticket is still inside Christian's hotel safe, a stop at the hotel is necessary. Then we make our way to the airport to put Julia on the plane and then go back on the road without any further delay. Half the way our convoy is stopped by another flat tire on the black Vespa. Despite a good routine in fixing we send Albert and Julia ahead to the airport, in order to avoid the risk of her missing the flight.
After arriving at the airport we find her already being inside the security area. A glass wall between us makes any verbal communication impossible. Everything seems to be alright, as she is already standing in the queue in front of the check-in counters. While the time for departure comes closer we spent our time by waving goodbye and taking a further look around the busy hall. But after some time Julia obviously becomes more and more nervous and starts moving around from one counter to another. As she finally leaves the security area, our growing fears have become true. The flight has been overbooked and she will not get a seat. To make things worse KLM's ground stewards claim she had been at the check-in counter too late! Although Julia finds a faithful witness in person of the Dutch ambassador at Harare, who had been arriving at the check-in the same time as she did, it does not help her on this plane.
So we put our hopes on the next flight, which is going to depart from Nairobi in the evening. In order to get a seat, Julia is told to put her name onto the stand-by list after 5.00pm. In the meantime we settle down at a coffee shop around the airport that offers a good view on our scooters with the luggage on and spent the time by teaching Julia 'robber rummy', a very special version of rummy, which has become our steady game of cards to play throughout the entire journey. She proofs to be a good pupil and beats her masters right from the start. Back at the check-in at noon Julia again is not given a seat on the evening flight. Due to the riots that shook Kenya some days ago all flights seem to be overbooked that day and the late flight at 10.00pm departs without her as well. We have to go back to the hostel and check in for -at least- another night. Although facing a short night we have to be back at the airport at 6.00am and look for another chance.
24.Aug.03 At 5.45 in the morning the ordered taxi arrives at the hostel and we start for another convoy to the airport. While Jan takes position at the coffee shop again, Christian finds a quite corner for a short nap and Julia enters the check-in counter for another try. 'Surprisingly' she is told just to wait and be patient. So we all settle down at the coffee shop now, playing cards and having breakfast. Around 8.30am Julia moves over to the check-in again, as the next departure is destined for 10.10am.
To make things short: only minutes before the departure she has to rush over the airfield to the plane and finally can start on her way back home. After all there had been no chance for a warm goodbye, and it even takes us some time to find out that she really got onto the plane and left.
While still waiting at the airport we get approached by two Italians, who want to know if we really came by Vespa all the way from Germany. One had been working as a chief mechanic at a Piaggio Store and is constantly collecting 50cc Vespas. Besides others he calls a model dating from the first year of make his own. Of course that calls up the enthusiast inside Christian, the vintage man. The other guy as well has a special relation to Vespa scooters. His Italian born father had met his German born mother during a Vespa trip to Germany. Following a long conversation and a serious invitation to Italy we finally start for our next destination, Tanzania.
Around noon we look for a place to watch today‘s Formula 1 race. What we find are two hotels with Sat-TV, but both do not start their generators before the evening. No TV without electricity, so once again we are depending on phone reports by Christian's brother Andreas.
Still in Kenya we fill up at the most beautiful gas station so far. Handmade pictures showing local themes are decorating the gas tank. The friendly employees show a lot of interest on our scooters and present to us their personal object of restoration, an antic Arial motorcycle.
There are some regional differences in Kenya. The North does not have roads but beaten tracks. Still there is electricity in most places. The South does not have electricity but the roads are well done. We prefer the southern version, despite another missed race by Ferrari ace Schumacher.
Reaching the Tanzania border earlier than we had expected we find enough time to spend on the usual transit formalities. For the first time since we left Turkey we cross a border that shows tourist qualities. So things are quickly done. Hence we wonder about a long convoy of trucks by the Red Cross. What are they doing here? Shouldn't they better be in Ethiopia or Congo?
On the Tanzania side of the border a local guy offers insurance service to us. We decide to follow him and walk inside an insurance agency led by his brother. The most enthusiastic welcome does not remove our mistrust at first. But as we get offered an insurance that includes all of our future destinations in Southern Africa (Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana and South Africa) as much as many other African countries we think it to be a good deal though. 66 USD for two months seem to be a reasonable price. We had crossed Ethiopia and Kenya without any insurance - unnecessarily, as we know now: the so called Yellow Card would have included these countries as well. In fact all relevant travel guides do not mention the range of this special African version of the green insurance card we know from Europe. We do not leave the agency without being blessed by a friendly local reverend who had entered the place. With the Lord on your side there is nothing to fear!
The first miles in Tanzania we ride alongside the Kilimanjaro to our left. Smoothly it faints in the dusk of the evening. We reach Arusha at dark and build up our tent at Massai Camp, a favorite drop in for Africa travelers. We move over to the local hotel, a comfortable place, and enjoy an Italian dinner. Since Nairobi eating good kitchen has become more regular again.
25.Aug.03 We leave Arusha on top range roads. Our destination is the Kilimanjaro. While crossing a little town we make a stop and enter the local Highway Supermarket to buy some food for a picnic. They got everything! Tanzania generally has a good infrastructure. But as the tourist areas around Africa‘s highest mountain are not far away, most price are distinctively above the average here.
For a rest we leave the road and ride down some track into the wilderness. White bread, jam and tea in the middle of the African bush, what a feast! Yet our tires did not appreciate the little off-road trip. Right on the start back to the road Jan‘s Vespa has a flat tire and later on we still find several spines sticking in the rubber.
Nearly all of the year the Kilimanjaro is hidden behind fog. Although we get quite close to it we can only see its top gleaming in the sunlight. As we find out later, most other travelers did not get a better view on it.
As it becomes dark, we start looking around for a place to stay that night. What seems to be a hotel at first really is a just another restaurant. Thankfully a waiter recommends a motel to us which is not too far away. In fact the slightly hidden Elephant Motel and Camping proofs to be a nice and comfortable place with a neat cocktail bar and rooms with showers that pour warm water on us! That certainly is not too common down here.
26.Aug.03 At a restaurant alongside our route around the Kilimanjaro we meet the Red Cross convoy again, which we had seen at the Tanzania border before. William, the african owner of the restaurant, tells us that his dad had been living in Cologne for eight years and later on used to ride a Vespa himself. That way Tanzania is kind of a phenomenon. Even in rural areas our scooters are clearly identified as Vespas. Still we do not see a single Vespa on our entire way through the Country - strange. It seems that Piaggio is making money from it's well known brand only at the capital and around the coast.
Just before we enter a village it is time for Jan to have his next flat tire. We take a look around. Little shacks, no electricity, no drains, only few machine made things - people surely live a plain life out here. And all that with the great African Highway just crossing by. Well, which one had been here first, them or the road?
We make our next stop in another village of little shacks made from loam and straw. A boy is riding a handmade wooden scooter, just like the one we had seen in a travel guide. People are warm and open-minded here. Giveaways like balloons or cigarettes help to make children and grown-ups pose for a couple of pictures we take. You will be able to watch those in our online gallery that we are going to establish in further future.
As soon as darkness falls down riding becomes more and more risky. Bumps and holes are hardly visible, lots of people are swarming all over the street and most vehicles drive without any lights on. In a larger village we enter a gas station and ask for the nearest lodging. A boy selling bananas gives a signal to Christian that we should follow him. Still carrying the fruits he keeps running for a mile or two with us keeping up on our scooters. At the hotel we finally reach he is so out of breath that we simply have to reward him by buying some bananas and paying him a generous price for it. Like so many times before we park our Vespas just in front of the reception. Then we end the day by drinking a couple of beers and having some small talk with a truck driver from Kenya, who works for a German company.
27.Aug.03 The first road construction we pass this morning offers a rather horrible sight. Despite a couple of barriers two trucks had been crashing right through that night and dropped into a river, while the bridge was still under construction. One driver had been severely hurt, loosing one of his legs. The other one's fate remains unknown to us.
At Morogoru we make a stop at the central bus station, which is also in use as the city's market place. Right in the middle of all that bustle we get aware of a guy selling music tapes. For transport and display of his goods he has got a vehicle that looks like a giant version of one of those shopping carriers we know from supermarkets. But the speakers beside it burst out loud the sound of Africa!
All of a sudden it happens. We see the first travelers on motorcycles since we met that globetrotter from Japan all the way back in Turkey. It is a bunch of BMW riders. We stop alongside a machine that carriers an Italian license plate. The rider tells us that they are traveling from Johannesburg/South Africa to Dar es Salam in Tanzania. Since most of the roads they took were covered with asphalt, the trip had been without serious problems so far. He had met his Italian girl friend Barbara during a Safari in Nairobi two years ago. Needless to say that both developed the same enthusiasm for this Southern part of Africa.
Only a few miles later we meet a convoy of four ordinary Volkswagens with german license plates on. The last car in line carries some stickers we can read. It seems they all belong to an aid project working around here.
The area gets more and more beautiful now. While we use a fill up stop for a little rest and a snack, we catch some friendly attention by a young Massai. We stand him a slice of bread and jam. As his face shows so much joy and curiosity, we decide to give him the remaining bread, butter and Jam as well.
We get to a sign that reads Mikumi National Park. It is one of only a few National Parks with a public road running through - no barriers, no limits for motorcycles (and scooters). We pass elephants resting maybe 15 yards away. Even a regular Safari barely offers anything like that. We take several pictures that show us and the Vespas alongside apes, giraffes or zebras. It is a marvelous landscape we pass. If only every stretch would be that great.
We make our next stop at the Kilimanjaro Lodge. Here we meet Josef from Switzerland. Josef had been going on a journey around the world a couple of years ago. Tanzania was the Country he started from - and that was where he stuck. This must have been one of the shortest world tours ever. He now runs the Tan-Swiss Restaurant and earns his living mostly from tourists, that travel the Mikumi Park. We decide to stay here and arrange to meet him at his restaurant tonight.
Just as we want to ride our scooters to the inner yard of the lodge, Jan's Vespa -the more reliable one until now- is breaking down. The starter works, but the engine keeps quiet. What can it be? We check the fuel supply, change the spark plug and the ignition cable. Everything is alright. There is an ignition spark, but that doesn't make the engine run. Now we become suspicious about something else. We change the entire ignition plate from Christian's scooter to that of Jan - and the engine works. Now it is time for a serious phone call to Germany. We tell our friend Heiko at Piaggio Schrader about the problem. Like we do he supposes the so called pick-up being the reason for the ignition problem. The pick-up is a small electronic part, that can not be fixed but only changed. Fortunately we carry a pick-up for replacement with us, but its contacts have to be soldered to the ignition plate! As it is already evening time now, we decide to look for help the following day.
With only one Vespa running and no passenger seat we make the two miles to the Tan-Swiss Restaurant on foot. Half the way we pass a police station we had already seen, as we entered the town. Three police men hang around in front of the office. Now comes the incredible: by waving a pocket light they show a car, that already passed them by, to stop and come back. Of course none of them is even standing up from his chair - what a laugh. But believe it or not, the driver stops and comes back to the police station! Even in Germany something like this could never happen.
As we already expected, Josef's restaurant is a well arranged place that offers some fine kitchen. Only Swiss specialties are rather scarce. Josef is going to change this, as soon as his restaurant is logged to the power system and the freezer works day and night. There are Electricity poles standing on the other side of the street but to get on the net takes some time here. His request to the power company is in the queue for several months now.
The long time we spent without German speaking fellow citizens around us made our habits become a bit 'rougher' than usual. As we start making jokes about a person sitting at a table next to ours, we immediately receive some angry looks as response. Well, you should not do that, anyway.
Fire is another thing you should handle carefully. Like so often Josef tonight is worried about some fires burning around his straw covered house. Local people start these fires to gain fresh ground for cultivation and cattle - and then they walk away. Being without control these fires sometimes burn down neighboring houses. Yet an incident like that is considered to be nothing else but collateral damage.
28.Aug.03 We are lucky. Next to our lodge there is a school for future technicians. We drop right into a lesson and immediately catch everybody's attention. Teachers and some of the advanced pupils take care of our problem. They need some minutes to find a soldering-iron that works. The soldering is done well, but unfortunately one of the teachers ruins the thread by stripping it. Additional solder is used to fix the threat. Although we do not think, that this will make it for long, we willingly put some money into class cashbox.
Before we leave the Kilimanjaro Lodge we collect our clothing from the laundry. Cleaning of quite a number of garments cost us about 1 Euro, and that includes a lot of handwork. For Europeans this is cheap work, here it feeds a family. Than we put back together Jan's Vespa. With the new pick-up fixed the engine starts work now. That is quite a relief, as other reasons for the ignition problem could still have been possible.
Back on the road we again get rewarded with a most beautiful scenery around. In the evening we reach River Camp Site near Iringa. While checking in an employee offers Christian some fresh meat for barbecue. Christian agrees in a somewhat hurried mood and so we get supplied with a lump of beef that surely is going to feed more than just two hungry travelers. A fire place is set up for us, so after all we find an opportunity to use the grill that we carried with us all the time. The day ends with a lot of talking by the fire site. We get to know the other few guests, that are around. Some of them, a group of guys from the United States and a woman from Switzerland, are staying here for a couple of month now to learn Suhaheli. Yes, and Vespa is known as well - a friend over in America rides one.
29.Aug.03 We say goodbye to our American friends and ride to Iringa for the next gas station and to change money. The latter one always proofs to be a lengthy matter. First we have to find a bank, that honors a travelers check or, even better, pays cash on credit card. The fourth bank we enter today, finally is willing to cash our check. Now it is time for the usual proceedings: we have to enter three different counters, fill out four different forms and wait another 45 minutes to cash a 50 USD travelers check for Tanzanian Shillings! It may be laborious and time wasting, but we got used to it.
About 20 miles south we make another stop for some cultural activities and take a visit to the Ismalia Stone Hedge. It is an excavation site, where prehistoric tools have been found. Most exhibits, like hand-axes or arrow-heads, are completely made from stone. We still wonder, how archaeologists manage to find these little treasures between a load of boulders.
Following this intermezzo we travel on and stop at the Old Farm. In our travel guide it is recommended for the quality of its home grown food. We definitely feel like having some delicious and fresh meal now. And our hopes are not dashed, as the Old Farm proofs to be an oasis of quiet and tasty food. Thanks to Gerreth, a young man from South Africa, we get access to the farm's dining room. Gerreth works on the farm and generally has a big heart for all traveling cyclists - and scooterists too! As the owner tells us, lunch really is exclusively served to guests of the house and not to people just passing by. After a most refreshing lunch break we continue on our little summer trip and finally check in for the night at a simple but clean hotel. Some more games of 'robber rummy' end our day here.
30.Aug.03 While taking a break on top of a hill we enjoy a view over wide tea plantations and, later on, make some tea ourselves. Soon we reach the border to Malawi. Still on the Tanzanian side we literately come under siege by countless money dealers. As they all keep on and scream at us the same time, we do not understand a word. What kind of business school trained these guys? We manage to make clear, that there will not be any deal with us under these circumstances. And really, the situation cools down a bit. We flick through our travel guide to find out about the exchange rate, haggle with one or the other and finally hold a bunch of Malawi-Kwacha in our hands. Well, as we find out later, the exchange rate we got was not really reasonable. It seems that our travel guide is a bit outdated in this connection. But since it is weekend with no banks open, changing 50 USD this way is alright. Just as we start our engines to leave, two of the money dealers nearly have a fight with each other. We are told, that this quite normal here.
For the first times since Egypt we have to pay for our carnet, but with a German passport we do not have to spend money on a visa. About 60 miles behind the border we stay in a neat motel close to a lake. For some time now Jan is not pleased with the sound of his Vespa's engine. We take a further look at it and quickly find the reason. Due to the stripped thread the pick-up has worked loose from the ignition-plate and now rubs against the fan. We fix it again with epoxy glue.
In the evening we let ourselves be driven to play pool billiard. Of course it is a complete disgrace, since we both have not been playing pool for years. Fortunately a soft porno on the television distracts the amused audience from our weak performance.
31.Aug.03 Right after breakfast Jan installs the ignition components into his Vespa, while the hotel staff is curiously paying attention to our mobile phones. Fortunately the pick-up has not been damaged, so we can continue on our journey without further technical problems. We collect our phones - and off we go. The route along Lake Malawi is a dream. We pass small villages, were fishermen let their haul dry in the sun by laying out the fish on large bamboo mats. We enjoy the winding road and let our gaze wander across the lake watching young men in their canoes.
While we make a roadside stop and fill up gas from the spare cans, we attract the usual attention from a group of children, maybe between 3 and 14 years old. As Jan notices that they have a ball made of rags in a net, he makes them passing it over. Being unsure first they soon find out that we do not bite and joyfully surround us. We build up two goals, using the spare cans and parts of our luggage. Now the match can start. Of course there have to be two teams. To make things easier each team is equipped with one of those large, clumsy white men. We spend the next hour playing soccer right in the middle of the road, sometimes being interrupted by a passing vehicle. The match ends 7:3 for the team that includes the slightly stronger built white nose.
Following this physical strengthening we have to answer all the questions about us, the Vespas and where we come from by using hands and feet. Question time comes to a sudden end, as soon as we demonstrate the use of the horn button. The following concerto of horns and screams carries on for several minutes - it is not to believe, how noisy thirty children and two Vespas can be! Finally Jan offers farewell tours on his Vespa. Again an initial shyness has be overcome, but as the first children mount the scooter they all want to have a ride. Therefore Jan has to make clear that - with all the luggage on - 9 kids and a driver are a bit too much for the Italian two-wheeler. Agreement is found at a figure of 6 and a driver. Accompanied by loud howls Jan spins a couple of rounds before changing the passengers for the next tour. To everybody's regret the third tour has to be cancelled half the way through - the fixed rear tire does not stand the additional loading any more. We offer compensation by demonstrating a professional tire change. Of course each of our movements is watched closely and commented on. After 1 1/2 hours we now say goodbye to our friends. They give a farewell to us by running alongside our scooters, screaming and yelling.
The next destination we go to is Chipita Beach Camp Site. Gerreth (the guy of of the Old Farm) had recommended this place to us. And really, it is worth a visit. Chipita Beach Camp Site is directly seated at Lake Malawi and has a marvelous sandy beach. The cocktail bar offers a beautiful view of the entire scenery. We set up our tent right on the beach, as one of us is so enthusiastic about the idea, that reservations like 'no protection against the sun' or 'tons of sand inside the tent' do not meet any response.
In the evening the owner comes up with a fine barbecue, offering tasty sucking pig and chicken wings. That is were we meet Lee, a young man from Brighton/England. This poor chap now has to listen to countless tales and stories about Vespa. Especially Christian - pushed by someone named 'Smirnoff' - runs into top form that night. As Jan knows most of Christian's gossip already and barely gets a chance to speak himself, he moves over to the bar and gets into further contact with John, the owner of the camp site. John turns out to be a former scooter boy, who had been an active member of the British scooter scene throughout the Eighties. With sparkling eyes he talks about his PX 125 that he had equipped with a Polini 177, drop bar, a PM up & over exhaust and several other gadgets. He is rather stunned when he finds out that we came on two wheels all the way from Germany. After all he has been seeing quite a number of strange travelers and vehicles in his camp site so far: Hikers, Bikers, London taxis, a globe-trotter on a Yamaha R1 (a former Vespa rider, see our link side) but definitely no Vespa!
In the meantime Christian has joined the conversation as his previous listener had suddenly suffered from a serious attack of tiredness and went off to sleep - obviously to escape from his torrent of words. While all the other guests leave one after another, John, us and buddy 'Smirnoff' have an illustrious night, talking about all and everything. At 1.00am Christian says good night and rolls out of the bar - only to be found sleeping on the beach later on by his companion. He is so many miles away that Jan can not persuade him to move over to the tent. Usually Jan would not bother much, since it is a warm and tender night. But as this is a malaria area, it seems to be more advisable to stay at a place with less mosquitoes around. Jan at first tries to move his friend over to the tent by using the 'Rautek rescue hold' (well known from every first aid training). However, Christian is so fast asleep now that his relaxed body refuses an easy transportation and slips out of the hold again and again. Finally poor Jan grabs his fellow traveler's feet and drags him home trough the sand, in order to save him a mosquito free night!
01.Sep.03 The morning after creeps up as cruel as expected. By 6.30am the tent has already turned into a hot sauna. While Jan leaves this unfriendly place to find some more sleep in his hammock among the trees, Christian is too knocked out to get up early. Much later he finally moves over to the lodge to calm down his hangover. When Jan orders some water at the bar he is being asked by a concerned employee, if his friend was really alright. Jan's trustful assurance that nobody should be worried about Christian makes the man frown. He tells Jan that several people in and around the camp site were seriously worried at night because of moans coming from their tent! Nevertheless Christian is able to eat some breakfast later on. The rest of the day we study the news and simply relax.
As there are only a few guests in the area, we are nearly on our own. Things change rapidly in the evening when two overland-trucks arrive. These overland-trucks have chairs and benches built on their loading spaces. That way lots of tourists can be shifted through Africa. Two women from Austria and two guys from Germany arrive with one of those trucks. Four people to play cards with. Of course we do not hesitate to introduce them to 'robber rummy' at night. Since Kenya we meet German speaking people more often again.
Malawi's own inhabitants belong to one of the most friendly people we met on our journey so far. Nature here as well is nothing less but beautiful. Interestingly quite a lot of Malawians tell us, how poor their Country is. Compared to what we have seen elsewhere, we cannot really verify this position. As we find, Malawi has a good infrastructure. Fishing, a vital agriculture and enough water secure the Country a good standard of living, even though it is far below the European level. But as we are assured several times, the situation in the Southern part of Malawi is significantly worse compared to the North.
02.Sep.03 It is time again to move on. Experienced as we are, we pack and stow our luggage quickly, in order to leave this friendly part of earth southwards. Before we take off we run into the owner of the camp site. At 9.00 in the morning John has already smoked his first joint and washed down yesterdays intoxication with a fresh beer - good boy!
The route we take keeps being as dreamlike as the days before. We ride through the hilly landscape around Lake Malawi to Mzuzu, where we look for the next bank to increase our fainting cash balance. Surprisingly we can make use of our credit cards here, although the bank takes it's share. But what really makes us wonder are two long-haired Dutch. After only 20 minutes of waiting for their cash they already start whining. These guys have been working in Mozambique for a year - how did they get along all that time?
We check into Hotel Meridien Mzuzu, as we plan to update our homepage. Soon we find out that going online at the hotel is not really of much use. Access to the internet costs a fortune. Besides the only computer works rather slow on the net and is generally reserved for the hotel manager.
Christian spends the evening at the bar, while Jan hangs on the phone. A telephone company offers phone calls from here to Germany for the incredible amount of one Cent per minute! Of course Jan takes this opportunity for exchanging news and information with his family and friends extensively.
03.Sep.03 Early in the morning Christian does some business work, making the most out of the lowest telephone charges between Africa and Europe. In the meantime Jan enjoys a Japanese gay comedy (!) transmitted by a TV channel on the African DSTV. Afterwards we enter the next internet cafe to supply our readers with new reading matter. We have to pay 12 USD per hour, pretty steep. Again every movement on the internet takes a lot of time. The owner of the internet cafe tells us that Mzuzu barely has access to broadband cable, as this costs about 1.000 Euro a month! Not only for African conditions this is a considerable high price, which only large companies or banks may be able to pay.
To our surprise one of the Norwegian girls we met in Nairobi turns up out of the blue. As we find out, they both live and work here. But Mona, that is here name, is very busy and has to say goodbye soon. We carry on forcing us through the net until the next well known face comes in. This time it is Marte, the other Norwegian girl, and she is not too little surprised to find here. Marte offers us to stay at their house. But as we still plan to move on to Nkhata Bay today, we do not promise that we will come yet. Soon Marte has to leave as well and we go on working at the keyboard again. But only half an hour later there is another hello. Lee (see 31.Aug.2003) enters the place! He does not let his fright show, and while we talk to him, nobody else but camp site owner John drops in. Within a short period of time we met quite a number white people we got to know so far.
As we wrote several times before, most African computers and internet ports do not have the same standard we know from Germany. So we make only slow progress with our input. And to make things worse a power cut stops our work half the way through. We decide to stay and wait, since we do not know, if our texts have been damaged or lost. What are travelers doing in case of waiting: philosophize, study, discuss? No, they play cards! Yet one hour later power is back again and we are glad to find our texts complete. The friendly internet cafe owner allows us to work on until it is dark outside. Now it is too late to go to Nkhata Bay today and we decide to fall back on Marte's offer.
By 8.00pm we leave the internet cafe and ride to the St. John of God Hospital. We reach the place the same time as our hosts arrive in their Suzuki Jeep. Marte and Mona live in a separate little house in the hospital area. St. John is a psychiatric hospital, as they tell us. Two other women join us this evening. Linda, another Norwegian, works as a nurse here at St. John and Michelle from Australia is a medical doctor at the local general hospital. They all meet here today for a pizza dining date. So we enjoy an entertaining evening with four ladies and homemade Italian food, only disrupted by Jan trying to present some 500 photos on Marte's notebook. We finish off the day by arranging to meet at Harry's Bar in Lilongwe the following Saturday night.
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