So it began with a stressful journey and ended with a warm shower, a cosy dorm, a friendly barman (Paul) and a tasty beer. It was the beginning of what would keep me here for the next two weeks or so. This place had such a good vibe that saw people from all walks of life and age groups, socialising and making travel plans together. The cosy hostel, once just a home, had that homely feeling with it's big fireplace, it's comforting food and the clientele they drew in every night and day.
The first night was the beginning of a trend! I hadn't mingled with this many travellers since Zanzibar and this was much needed after such a crazy last few days travelling. I met Christian that night, an older German man travelling by motorbike, due to meet his wife soon to continue his trip. The next day I met Renny, an older Welsh man who had the soul of a teenager and was always up for a few drinks at the bar, which even
led us to taste every kind of drink at the bar one of the nights I was here. Renny was like me and seemed to go with the flow, even missing his flight home from Capetown. There was a group of Germans volunteering with some local projects in the countryside, who occasionally came to stay here and gave me some great travel ideas and advice. Then there was Tijs and Elise from Holland, who were here researching for their Uni course and came to Mzoozoozoo occasionally on their time off to explore and do research work. We would end up going to Nkhata Bay together on a short trip.
At the heart of the hostel were two ginger kitty's, Luma(meaning bite) the puppy, Thoro the old soul doggy and John the doctor of metaphysics who ended up in Malawi somehow and is now the backbone of the hostel and is the funniest guy ever with his variety of tropical shirts. Paul and John work in sync to keep the hostel going and the more I stayed, the more everyone became like a little Mzuzu family. Most nights the locals came to drink at the bar and have food, so it wasn't long before I knew everyone by name. There was Ellen who lived down the street with her cute 6 month old baby Wanga (meaning mine in Chichewa) who warmed to me almost immediately. Every night someone new would come and it encouraged me not to leave and the more I got to know the 'family' here, the more I couldn't leave. It was one of these places that of I left, I would regret it, so I thought, why not stay and enjoy it. Enjoy the food, the laughs, the chats on the porch, sleeping in the caravan, playing with baby Wanga, having funny bar chats with Paul most evenings, and with Renny next to me on the bar stools.
Travelling is all about finding places like this, places that you will remember forever and finding souls that you were almost drawn to. It's inevitable that I will leave at some stage, possibly to go to Lilongwe and then to Zambia with Elise, but until then, I am loving every minute of my life and I love that at this very moment we couldn't be more like a family, playing scrabble around the fire, inside from the rain and drinking tea. I will never forget the comforting feeling that this place has given me.
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