Nkhotakota

A final night by the lakeside, and an attempt to spot wildlife in the nearby national park. We got up at daybreak – hence the pictures of “kwacha” (sunrise and also the name of Malawi’s currency – and see the lovely flag!) – and drove all the way up to African national Parks, but nope, just like two years ago not a single animal although the park is said to be rich in ellies and then some. It seems they want to keep it very exclusive, and the animals are only found with the heklp of a guide (to be booked in advance) and near the really expensive lodges, where we as ordinary mortals were not allowed to drive. Eish …

Fish Eagle Bay Lodge where we stayed the night is run by a white South African couple, and though they are totally friendly, I do not know what it is, there is a distinct feeling of South African whiteness there – in the tone, in the behaviour, and I am struggling with it. It materializes in the fact that their sockets have the South African standard, not the Malawian one. Why? Somehow I was reminded me of those awful experiences in full-on colonial bushcamps in Zambia in 2015. Not that anything like that is happening here, I don’t think. Still, white supremacy, I have come to realize, is often a very subtle fissure in the contact between people, almost too subtle to notice, but still there. You can feel it in the air.