Inglis in Africa: Malaria Monday

Side Road Market- Zambia

Malaria Monday. April 2011

Monday is Malaria day and called Malaria Monday. We religiously take our meds and for the girls the incentive has always been an ice-cream until, that is, we hit the bush proper where a cold Coke has to suffice. The girls all take weekly Mefloquine and I take daily Doxy, mainly because I got 3-day insomnia on Mefloquine and figured that at least one of us should try not to go psychotic. We are now ‘camped-out’ at the bottom of Lake Tanganyika in a town called Mpulungu in Northern Zambia. We are having a fairly drawn out negotiation with various cargo ships to get us and the car up the Lake to Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi. Lake Tanganyika is the longest lake in the world and the second deepest after Lake Baikal in Siberia with a maximum depth of 1 395m, which is 642m below sea level! It is part of the Great Rift Valley, the tail end of which we were near in Zululand. The Lake is absolutely stunning with perfect clear fresh water and apparently over 200 known species of fish and many more yet to be documented. We have been feasting on fish most days and have fun striking a deal down at the fish market where the many boats pull in every morning having been out fishing all night. Swimming has been fine too thanks to an absence of crocs, at last, and, I think, Bilharzia. We are staying in a little lodge called Nkupe, after the local fish, which is back-packer-ish but lovely and only one field back from the lake. The owners must have taken pity on us because they insisted that we take a thatch chalet for the same price as camping, so we are enjoying relative luxury with electricity, a light and even a fan. Thank goodness we brought our mozzie nets because the mozzies here are hungry and despite nets, coils, mozzie-mats, the fan and mesh on the windows, we still managed to get bitten! This is slightly concerning given that malaria is pretty prolific here and our host has only just recovered from a bout.

Poteholes in Zambia!

One thing about this itinerant life on the road is that one becomes pretty organized. Everything has its place and we have become expert at erecting and striking camp which we can knock off in about 30 minutes. A typical morning would involve waking up with the dawn and stuffing the girls into the car in their sleeping bags while Ilda and I packed up the tents and then enjoying a drive through a game park at sunrise and breakfast at a suitable view point. If we are not moving on then we would return to camp for a few hours of school after which the girls would find a nearby termite mound or tree or rocks and become engrossed in their fantasy world. Our life has certainly become simple and we are enjoying this escape from the complexities of our ‘normal’ lives. I can’t remember when we last had meat to eat and instead we enjoy fresh fish and vegetables from the local market and are surviving just fine without our Lattes and Lasagnas. The girls have embraced reading with determination and it is not unusual to see them curled up with a book and Zara is impossible at lights out when her torch seems to burn longer than the rest. Margot is now reading what I would call adult-level novels and is presently absorbed by “Elephant Whisperer”.

Family pics- Mudimondo- Zambia

Using last bit of fuel in Zambia

After our amazing stay at The Lion House in Lusaka we made a pretty rapid traverse of Zambia in order to get to the Lake for the scheduled ferry. As it turns out we could have taken our time but c’est la vie. We did stop at a beautiful place called Mutinondo Wilderness where we had a spectacular camp site in the bush near a crystal clear stream and amongst dramatic granite domes. We enjoyed a fabulous walk along the river with swimming, plunging into waterfalls and even a bit of canoeing. That night we lay on our backs on the granite dome gazing in wonder at the carpet of glittering stars before turning in for the night and snuggling up next to our crackling fire.

Market- Mpulungu (Late Tanganyka) Zambia

Today is Labour Day so of course no one is working! My Burundi ship chief engineer, Mr Dismas, assures me that once the tonnes of cement are loaded into their hold he will be able to put our car on top. The crane looks dubious and we are still haggling about prices but with a bit of luck we will be in Bujumbura by the end of the week and then on to Rwanda and a month of work!