Lilongwe

JP:
I never thought I would ever be in Lilongwe, I never thought I'd be in Malawi for that matter. I had no idea Malawi even existed. So, if you're wondering where on earth Lilongwe is, here it is:

There are those travelers who want to know as much as they can about their destination prior to arrival. They buy a guidebook, or find a novel and they read about the history, the people and everything else you might want to know about a foreign country. It's a great idea but I went a different route.

What did you know about Malawi prior to arrival?

JP: Besides finding out where it's located on the map (if you missed the earlier link, here it is again), asking about Visa requirements and going to the clinic for immunization, I arrived in Malawi knowing next to nothing. This is what I did know:

1. Dan had been living in Lilongwe since December
2. Madonna's adopted son David is from Malawi (I think she even accepted an award via satellite while in Malawi. We also just missed her as she was visiting Malawi the previous week)
3. SAA flies only once a day to/from Lilongwe, no flights on Thursday or Saturday (and probably when there's dense fog and the air traffic tower has limited visibility
   

KK: * [Katy has been sacked. She doesn't like this blog. She probably doesn't like you for reading it.]

RS: Most everything I knew about Malawi I learned from Dan after he learned he'd be doing dissertation research there. So, naturally, I knew a lot about the S&M scene in Malawi but not much else.

What did you expect when you arrived in Malawi?

JP: I arrived with a blank slate, I had absolutely no idea what to expect, but I did imagine Malawi to be similar to other parts of Africa I've seen on TV on the Discovery Channel. I also developed a picture in my mind about Dan's house and other things that were influenced by Erica's astonishment that we were really going to Malawi.



So we arrive in Lilongwe and arrive at Dan's house which looks like this:


which has a backyard area that looks like this:


and a patio/porch area where we can relax, lounge around and enjoy a cold beverage like this:


we even experience a very common occurrence which looks something like this:


Amazingly, zero signs of jet lag and after our first meal of chicken and rice/chips/nsima, we settle in under our mosquito nets for some much needed sleep.

Almost forgot, we also agreed to our itinerary for the remainder of the week in Malawi. Departing Tuesday from Lilongwe:

• 2 nights at Nyika Plateau
• 2 nights at Nkata Bay at Lake Malawi
• final night in Lilongwe before departing on Sunday back to Johannesburg