After I made my post last night, my stomach (and intestines) decided it was time to rebel. I spent a difficult night in the beautiful hotel in Ethiopia. I wish my first impressions of the country could have been better, but I survived. But I got almost no sleep before our 6:00am wake-up call arrived.
We skipped breakfast and headed outside to catch the shuttle bus to the airport (we were told that it would come every 15 minutes, and that we should be there for the 7am bus). We arrived to join the queue at 6:48am and it was already a long line.
The first bus showed up at 7am, right on time, but alas, instead of the bus we had arrived in, it was a mini bus, that could only hold 10 or so people… there were probably 80 people in line. No worries, we knew another bus would come at 7:15am. So we waited. Meanwhile, scoundrels and ne’er-do-wells began jumping the line, putting us all further and further back. The 7:15am bus came, and of course, we didn’t make it on, again. So we waited for the 7:30am bus and contemplated our options. We could see about getting a cab… we could see if Uber was even a thing in Ethiopia, or we could walk.
When 7:30am rolled around and no bus had arrived, we decided it was time to walk to the airport… probably another 15 people did the same thing at the same time. We never did see the big bus come back our way, I sure hope all those folks made it to their gates in time.
I was feeling marginally better this morning, but I was concerned about getting motion sickness since I was already on the edge of nausea, so I took a Dramamine. I’m glad I did. I slept through most of the flight to Malawi (we had an hour or so layover in Lubumbashi, DRC).
Immigration was a breeze this time, especially since you no longer need a visa to enter Malawi if you’re from the United States (there’s a whole list of countries that they did away with the visa requirement).
We were greeted outside by Cephas Chapamba, his son George, and Haiton Thungula. They were a welcome sight. We drove to Mchesi (where the Lilongwe Church hall is located) to outline our itinerary while we are in Lilongwe, before heading off into the night toward Nkhwazi (where Cephas and his wife live and run a medical clinic).
We were greeted at the Chapamba home by Dalles (Cephas’s daughter) and Patricia (Cephas’s wife). They made us a delicious meal of rice, nsima, fried chicken, chips, soup, and cabbage. I spilled 1/3 of a bottle of garlic Nali hot sauce on my plate before I began eating… I ate most of it.
I’m exhausted, but glad to be here.
L & L Shenanigans 