Took about a 3 hour drive out to the Ntchisi Forest Reserve and stayed in a wonderful Lodge called the "Ntchisi Forest Lodge". It was an old colonial style lodge that had beautiful grounds perched in the middle of the forest. During the day you could see for miles .. It was a little hazy when we stayed, but on a clear day you can see the lake off in the distance. At night, we were able to sit on the porch and star gaze. the sky was amazing. Way off in the distance you could see small fires from small villages that are scattered amongst the hills of this region.
The food was fantastic and our host named Innocent was very accommodating.. We took the kids for a few quick hikes through the woods.. But mostly, we hung out of the porch and read, ate and watched the kids play soccer.. It was a nice day.
The drive there was a bit of an adventure and made me happy with our purchase of a 4WD vehicle , with purple rims of course... I 'm not sure how you would possibly get to this place without 4Wd.. For about 90 KM, we were on a "tarmac " road, then for the next 30 km was a winding, rough dirt road that took you to the lodge.. Maura has named our truck "Sylvia" ... As we drove through many of the villages, we were chased by local children , either wanting a ride or possibly some "sweeties" ( candy).. which we had none of.
The place was beautiful and you felt (as with most places here) that you were in the middle of nowhere... away from everything... At around 530pm, we took a hike to sunset rock to take in the end of another day... You could here many of the pockets of villages laughing and playing, and even a group of woman singing somewhere off in the distance.
We ate dinner by candlelight, played alot of chess and scrabble with the kids and packed it in early.
It was tough to get back to school this morning, but we are back.. We have a very American-esque packed weekend as we have a swim meet on Friday night (Halloween and Maura's Birthday) and Kate has a soccer tournament on Saturday..
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| Village on the way |
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| Hiking in the forest |
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| Lodge lounge area |
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| soccer goal |
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| sign posted on the tree to direct you to lodge. |
