It was very misty and cold when we woke up at our final day at Mpalaganga. Today is a day of bringing the house and the garden back in its original state. We start by rising early again, while Remco makes his last QSOs on 30m, and I continue writing the blog.
We had a few problems with internet so I was a bit behind.
Felista made us another nice breakfast.
David, the taxi driver, came up to see us to make an appointment for tomorrow morning 5.30 (that is even for our present time schedule early!!) to bring us to the airport in Blantyre.
With the help of Lackson, the guards and Felista we brought the biggest antenna (30m VDA) to the ground. Felista and I filled up the hole with sand and the men were busy dismantling all the ropes and screws from the pine tree.
My niece, Sanne, text-ed us that a friend of her, working at Emirates, arranged a hotel for us in Dubai. He saw that we were eligible for a free hotel stay because we have a stop of nearly 8.5 hours. So that is a nice surprise. He is also the one who arranged a bon voyage cake for us on the flight to Johannesburg.
We spent the day busy around the house packing. Felista came to ask us if Lackson could take the car to go to the hospital with his daughter. She fell into the fire and had several burns. We took a look at the burns and advised him to go to the hospital. Although the wounds are big, everything is ok. I gave Lackson some medicines out of our first aid kit, to care for the wounds of his daughter.
The garden looks almost empty now that the antennas are gone. It is strange to walk here and think of stepping back in our real world tomorrow. For the people in Malawi this is their world and it is such a big gap between our worlds. It feels strange, there is so much and also so little one can do to help the Malawian people. And then there is the subject Remco and I talk about a lot, “Do you do good for them of ‘just’ for yourself”? And how good is that? And who says so?
A lot to think about, smile back at, remember and look forward to after this beautiful trip to Malawi! We enjoyed it a lot, the nature, the people, the culture and the two of us!
Safe trip back! We will also travel back home June 9 from Texel.
Cheers!
Richard