Day 282 / 47

Date: 19 January 2023
Sleeping location: Butterfly Space, Nkhata Bay, Malawi
Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 58 / 17376 / 2539
Estimated climb (m today/total/total Part 2): 400 / 150600 / 32600
17th century French statesman of the day: Cardinal Richelieu
Day in three words: Down the waterslide

We all awoke late and had a lazy breakfast partially ordered from the restaurant and partially concocted from our stocks. On the off chance I asked the owner of Macondo if he had a bike tool kit, and he did, and it contained a crank puller. Glory be. First I set to fixing the cleat issue and finally got to the bottom of it 

- the thread in one of the holes in the baseplate was stripped so the screw could just pull out. Hopefully rotating the baseplate and using the other holes will solve the problem. The crank however was a little more problematic. I got the bolt off but then the crank would simply not be pulled. I was wary of putting too much force through it, after the thread stripping incident in Ethiopia, but the Allen key in the set was too short to get any real leverage anyway. I decided to ride the bike without the crank bolt installed, as apparently this can cause the crank to just…fall off (whilst you’re riding of course, though I expect you’d feel a looseness before it went entirely).

With partial success in the maintenance we took the bikes to a car wash and got the mud cleaned off properly, then hit the big Shoprite supermarket in town. This was eagerly anticipated as the one in Kampala had been a cauldron of delights not available for months beforehand, but this one was nowhere near the same level. My triple hopes of cheese, biltong and some dead nice savoury snacks all fell by the wayside, though I did pick up good coffee, lemon curd and a small bottle of “Richelieu” South African brandy for hipflask emergencies, which was sampled during the decanting process and holds up rather well.* Outside we all bought handmade bracelets from a nice man, to go with my anklet from the Mushroom Farm, because I am (more of) a hippie now. Less successful was the man trying to sell us either a large ornate mirror or a shower cap whilst we were having lunch.

Just as we started to leave there was a massive rain storm, so after sheltering from this we didn’t actually set off until 3. We still had 50km to go to Nakhata Bay but thankfully it was a net 800m down into the rift.

The road was beautiful, smooth quiet tarmac sweeping through the forest, but the rain continued on and off but mostly on. This was manageable with my cap pulled down over my eyes, and my bandana over my nose and mouth to protect from 60kph water torture, apart from occasional tiny patches of megarain with massive and painful drops. Out the other side of the rain I stopped to wait for C&AC and a man called Lodi came to say hello. He asked for my phone number and when I gave it he used a stick to write it in the dust on his leg. I am yet to receive a message so perhaps this technique somehow failed.

 

Close to Nkhata Bay we hit tourist land. I watched a man paying 50 Kwacha for a banana, then asked to buy some bananas and suddenly they were 100 Kwacha. I protested with maximum umbrage and eventually was allowed to buy them for 50 each, but by then I felt bad and took 16 for 1000 Kwacha. Then I dropped my biking shorts in at a clothes shop for a repair to the previous repair, which was done on-bike so I had to strip down to my boxers and put some different shorts on. The lady went for the "you go first" school of negotiation so of course I wildly lowballed her.

In the end I had ridden 54km with Maggie’s crank bolt undone and the crank was still stuck tight. In a perverse way this is reassuring. If the bottom bracket keeps turning, and the crank remains stuck tight to the bottom bracket, the crank will continue to function as a crank and the noises are merely annoying. If either component** wears away to the extent that the crank falls off, they are cheap and relatively common components and after Malawi the bike shops are going to keep getting better.

We headed to another eco lodge, Butterfly Space, which was round the bay from the (dirty, noisy, full of unrefrigerated fish, a-bit-rubbish) town proper and up a steep hill. The lodge was then down a steep hillside so C&AC went to do a recce whilst I guarded the bikes.*** Here I met a British couple, Dom and Hannah, coming back into the lodge after a trip out. We talked until C&AC came back, saying that the place was nice but it would be difficult to get our bikes up and down the steep staircase. I immediately circumvented this problem by asking Dom and Hannah if they could carry my panniers down the steep staircase, which they did because they are very nice. 

After a sweaty job moving all the luggage and bikes to the rooms we went to see the bar and restaurant area. However the power was off and the rain was bucketing down so I couldn't really see anything other than splashing water. Down at the bar were Dom and Hannah and also other Brits: Holly (owner), Geminy (her friend) and Toz (AKA Victoria, another friend living in Malawi for a few years). Holly and Geminy were northerners to boot, and it was nice to speak to British people and slip back into a more colloquial style of speech.**** Geminy and I stayed up later than everyone else and drank some of the emergency brandy after the bar had shut, then went for a delicious midnight swim. There are good vibes here, though a lot more party than the Mushroom Farm, which would be dangerous if we stayed long. 

Malawian Signs Corner

You can't buy happiness but you can buy ice cream 

Flavatos [fast food restaurant] - Experience good life...

This bench is protected by the mighty angel lord

Special subsection - Malawian Witch Doctor Advert Spotted on Lamp Post Signs Corner

DR. CHIMOTO

-Manhood Enlargement

-Stop Early Ejaculation

-Make More Rounds

-Win Court Cases

-Win Betting & Lotto

-Bring Back Lost Lovers

-Speed Up Marriage/Divorce

-Magic Wallet

-Pass Exams & Interview

-Hips And Breast Firming

-Kubeleka (15 Days)

-Bring Back Lost Items

[The mind boggles (and possibly the manhood too)] 

*And a whole lot better than the Conyagi still left over from NYE

**As both Flo and Sven pointed out, the smart money here is on the crank. The BB spindle is steel, the crank is aluminium. There’s only one winner there

***On top of missing the company, I am going to miss the logistical convenience of touring as a group when we have to say goodbye

****Anne-Claire subsequently said she found it difficult to understand me talking like this