Some readers of this humble blog may have noticed that I have been rather lax in getting my posts online for the last couple of weeks. My excuse is pressure of work, but that's no excuse really. I have been having bucket-loads of issues with my laptop, and we've had many power cuts and network outages, but I'm now back and ready to update you on life here in Lilongwe, for that is where I'm based for a little while.
However, first things first. The first real week on my new project was in Blantyre, working with a couple of the clients to formulate the structure of the business plan that will be the core output later in the month. I've got an enormous amount to learn about the particular sector involved, and so it's really head down and concentrate.
On Tuesday, however, it was a public holiday in Malawi (Independence Day - 46th since independence), so Peter, Chris and I set off with Daisy for a bit of sight-seeing, and went to the Liwonde National Park for some animal spotting. I saw warthog, nyala, baboons, monkeys, elephants, a couple of crocodiles and a hippo (although the latter was across the river and was only showing a pair of eyes and nostrils). The Mvuu Lodge, where we paused for a libation, was extremely nice (but also quite pricey), but has a very good reputation. It's located right on the Shire river.
It was then back to Blantyre in time to head off to Mustang Sally's to watch the Holland v Uruguay semi-final. The overwhelming majority of the crowd in the bar were rooting for the Dutch, none-more so that Clem who has switched nationality from French for the duration of the World Cup, and dressed accordingly, including wearing multiple orange-coloured headgear.
As soon as the match ended, there were lots of phone calls by some of the party trying to see if they could get flights and tickets for the Final, but it ultimately proved to be impossible to get it sorted in anything like a practical way, however much some people were prepared to pay!
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