Journey to Malawi

Flying across Africa can be very long winded, especially when flying West to East or vice versa. You often end up having to go up to London/Brussels/Middle East and then back down again, or down to South Africa and back up. To get to Malawi I had the option of going from Abuja to Cairo to Addis Ababa to Lilongwe, or to go to Addis, stay overnight and then fly on to Lilongwe. The second option involved less time in the air, less waiting around in airports, and proved to be cheaper...

So at 10:30 on Sunday morning I wheeled my brand new four wheel suitcase (always wanted a four wheeler!) into Abuja airport with excitement, only to find out my fight had been delayed one and half hours! Luckily for me I had my very Nigerian snack pack - groundnuts and bananas - to keep me entertained! 

The flight to Addis was very nice; quiet, comfortable, and I watched a couple of films I had been keen to see. We arrived a bit late though (due to the delayed departure) and the queue for immigration took ages, so it was well after 10pm Ethiopian time when I got out of the airport. The company that organise our travel had booked me a hotel room, and I had arranged a hotel service pick up directly with the hotel. However, this did not quite go to plan. Firstly, there was no sign of my hotel pick up (possibly as I was so late) and secondly, the airline had given me a second hotel voucher for a different hotel that was apparently all part of the scheduled layover package. The transport was right there, and they were offering dinner as well as breakfast, so I decided to just go for it. 

The hotel was fine, nice enough, but unfortunately my daydreams of a nice Ethiopian meal were dashed. As dinner was part of the package I ended up with a strange list of food options to pick from, ranging from fish to goulash and beef burgers. Not a doro wat or injera in sight! So, too tired to really eat, I picked at some fried fish, had a hot shower (very welcome) and went to bed. 

I managed to get about 4 hours sleep before my wake up call, so the Ethiopian coffee for breakfast provided me with the energy I needed to get through the airport! 

Coffee and sweet paratha - delicious

View from the hotel this morning

This made me smile

Getting from Addis Ababa to Lilongwe was smooth and uneventful. I met up with my colleague on the flight and we were collected by our driver at Lilongwe airport and taken straight to the office. 

We are staying in the office guest house which seems nice - a couple of bedrooms and a lounge with TV, fridge etc. It's all very peaceful so far.  

First impressions of Malawi is that it is beautiful! Lots of nice trees, flowers and hills, and the sky looks so blue! I think this is in comparison to the hazy white hot heat of Abuja. I'm looking forward to the two weeks I have here. A lot of it will be office based, but we get to go out to the field from Thursday to Saturday to meet with coffee growers which will be great. 

But for now I am chilling out with a cup of tea and a biscuit. You can take the girl out of England... 

Catch up post

A big delay in posting. I blame work! It has been keeping me so busy, but a lot has happened outside of work too. Here's a bit of a random catch up:

Making friends 
I made a friend! We met at yoga. I should point out that I do actually have other friends, my colleagues are great and I hang out with some of them quite a bit outside of work - especially Kingsley who has become a very good friend. But this friend felt like a milestone as it was the first person I had gone through that 'you and I don't know each other at all but are in a similar situation, so would you like to be friends' process with. She is nice. She also lives in an amazing apartment, with a pool and gym, close to my office... bonus! Her apartment is technically a boys quarter, known as a BQ. In most places the BQ is a pretty small room / extension / building at the back of the compound where the house help live. Hers is the fanciest BQ I have ever seen, an open plan duplex apartment... quite something. I haven't invited her to my little place. I'd feel like the poor relation. 

The pool and gym behind

We went out for wine and icecream  one night and I found a great place to take a selfie... in the ladies loo. Unfortunately the sign was just a little bit to high to actually get the selfie under the sign, but you get the idea.

My Birthday 
My birthday was amazing! Kingsley and my work colleagues organised a proper party, with food, a purple and green cake, and a juicer and blender as a present! I was quite choked. David, another colleague also had his birthday in the same week as mine so we cut the cake together - I am laughing especially hard because we did it in the style of cutting a wedding cake!  

Elections
The election period was truly fascinating. No one really knew what to expect, but based on the 2011 elections people were worried about violence. We were told to stock up on water and food, and advised to stay home. Travel was also restricted, no cars allowed on the road between 8am and 5pm on polling days, and the office was closed on the Monday that the results were expected. In the end, the results finished coming in on Tuesday but by then it was felt to be calm and safe. I was riveted to the news and twitter feeds throughout the process, and felt truly proud to be living in the country as it unfolded so democratically and peacefully. 

Election stockpiling

Including the essentials...

Fruit and veg / food
My blog is rarely complete without pictures of food - here are some fruits, vegetables and meals that have been causing excitement in my life... you know me - I am easily pleased. 

Bananas from my landlady

This brought a lot of joy

Udara - a cross between a gooseberry
and a plum - sweet and sour
at the same time