After a couple of longer days on the plateau we wind our way down the undulating road to the lake again. When applying the black market exchange rate (something that feels increasingly like cheating) we are paying about 25 euros per night for our cute little cottage. Our door doesn’t quite open straight to the water (a sore spot for Ben) but we still enjoy one of the most beautiful views Lina has ever had from her natural habitat (a cozy bed).
On our day off we don’t get to sleep in for long though as we are trying scuba diving for the first time. Life is quite hard sometimes. The wet suits highlight Ben’s scrawniness and Lina’s big cycling thighs quite nicely. Our wise dive master Jason is the best teacher we could have hoped for. Patiently and with a great sense of humor he explains all the skills necessary to breathe under water without dying.
It is definitely an unnatural thing to do. Rule number one is not to hold your breath. Not panicking is also an asset. Lina quickly develops a fear of taking the regulator (quite an important piece of equipment) out of her mouth. This has to be done only to practice for an unlikely emergency, but her brain seems to conjure up emergencies constantly.
Ben, as usual, is overthinking things. While contemplating how to breathe properly he somehow manages to breathe in and out so deeply that he is using up way more air than he should. After some undignified flailing around in the shallows, Jason slowly takes us a few meters deeper. We try to enjoy the colorful fish but are a bit too focused on staying alive. Our classmate Melissa cruises along effortlessly and we’re very quick to acknowledge the natural in the group.
At 9.something meters Lina is starting to feel quite uneasy. She signals to Jason and he leads us up to the surface (at an agonizingly slow pace). While rejoicing in the simple act of breathing in the free air again, we learn that we would have needed to come up soon anyway, as Ben has used up almost all of his tank. With our buoyancy control devices inflated we paddle back to shore and Ben makes a dash for the toilet.
We enjoy some tea, coffee and peanuts and chat with Jason about his time in Japan. He sends us off with the promise of a discount for a second dive and a recommendation for a dish to try: Kondowole. As diving has transformed us into two hungry hungry hippos we head straight for the next restaurant and order the weirdly sticky and elastic dough ball made from cassava flour. It quickly makes the top three of dishes we’ve had on the trip so far.
After much discussion, snorkeling practice, breathing exercises, some kayaking and wolfing down lots of food, we decide to try another dive. Neither of us wants to give up on learning a skill (supposedly like riding a bike) just because we can’t get out of our heads. Fortunately for us this means having to stay another night.
To give our wallet a bit of a break we go for lunch at Onelove Restaurant. Naturally it’s run by a Rastafarian woodcarver who also offers us meditation cookies. Thankfully we decline as we later find out that the amount of meditation per cookie is set by his tolerance. We’re not sure how he gets any work done but his restaurant/shop is filled with beautiful wooden sculptures.
We’re particularly enchanted by a chess table with animal pieces. It seems like the ultimate souvenir, especially because Lina has started to learn chess a week ago. The price (100€ including shipping to Germany) is unbeatable. The break for the wallet was pretty short. Here’s to hoping the chess table makes it back to Europe before us.
On our second dive we are much more at ease. It still feels slightly wrong to trust the equipment and our own breathing. But we each make progress with our individual challenges and can finally enjoy the colorful fish swimming past. Apparently Cape Town is quite a popular diving spot so, who knows. Towards the end of the trip we might be meeting some big sharks in a kelp forest.
The journey south along the lake continues, sometimes right next to the water, other times through jungle, high grass or rubber tree plantations. Most of the time it feels like we are on our honeymoon, given how many beach front campsites we are staying at these days. But thanks to our black market exchange rate magic we’re still not over budget.
It’s interesting that when you first started your trip I didn’t like what was happening to you but as you seem to be getting more settled into the African way of life I’m enjoying your trip more as well. I’m beginning to look forward to the next episode without worrying about your health or safety.
Glad to hear you tried diving – and persevered with it! Enjoying the update, as always.
So beautiful! Have to say your trip is looking like the most amazing holiday at the moment. Those lakeside lodges look fabulous, I’m really enjoying your sketchbook pages as well Ben. Where next?
PS I agree with Carolyn too!
Heading inland to the capital Lilongwe. Looking forward to some nice cafés.