Safari Attempt 2

Another early morning- this one more successful than the last. We got on a minibus early and got to the bus station earlier. However, we were still standing in the bus. I really wonder when people get to the bus station to get a seat! So there we were standing in the bus and heading out. We got to the border check and guess who was there?! Yep, you guessed it! The same officer. I got off the bus and he was like, “Oh Jenna!” as he was checking my passport, he added,” how long are you in Malawi?”. I answered, “ 3 more weeks”. I was trying to keep it brief and very little encouragement on my part. I noticed the policeman looking at me strangely so I gave him a smile. The officer went in and suspected the bus. I had not noticed that there was another officer that entered after him, but as this new officer left, he approached me and said sincerely, “I do apologize”. I didn’t understand it at first because he had a sweatshirt over his uniform. But when the annoying officer left the bus, the new guy glanced at him then me and I understood. I really appreciated this because I felt that he saw that his colleague was acting unprofessional.

We finally all got on the bus and our journey commenced. Standing in the bus wasn’t too bad in reality. I leaned against a seat and read Jane Eyre for most the way. People got on and people got off (both made for a challenge! When people get off, the aisle standers do not get off the bus they solely make room for the person and luggage to come through.) As the 4-5 hours drive continued, more people got off and we ended up all having a seat (not together). In the end, I would say that it is better to stand that to sit, especially if you are in the aisle seat. I sat in the aisle seat. Everything was fine initially until we got some more patrons on the bus. Two bigger women were standing by me- so I had a hip in the shoulder and a hip in front of me so there was nowhere to move. I was sitting by 2 mothers with their kids. The one directly by me kept laying her child’s head on my arm, which generally wouldn’t bother me. However this kid’s head was not only heavy but HOT! So you take into consideration the fact that on my left I can’t move at all and on my right I can’t move either because I have some kid’s head on my arm and my shoulder is pinned by the mother- this makes for a bit perturbed passenger. I understand that this is a situation that you just “make due”, yet the woman whose hip was in my left shoulder she had about 2 person’s worth of space behind her!

Thankfully within a few stops, seats opened up and Casey, Annie, and I were sitting together peacefully. We finally arrived at our stop thanks to the nice guy who had been on the bus with us the entire time. We arrived at Liwonde and found the sign for the Hippo View lodge, which is where we caught our 45 minute boat ride to Muzuu Camp Lodge and Safari! Yeah!