‘When-we’ went to Lake Malawi

That’s the thing about leaving somewhere that made you happy…you start taking those inconspicuous moments, those small memories and you polish them up like a street market strawberry! You compare, you pine for, you second guess and you become the classical ‘when-we!’

I dont for one minute regret our decision to move to South Africa, but my god – let me tell you about the time ‘when-we’ lived in Malawi. It was bloody wonderful, I say! When-we went to the lake, the blue water would turn silver in the early afternoon, twinkling for as far as you can see. Then the sun would begin it’s descent; painting the lake liquid gold, to orange, to purple and finally to deep blue. When it disappeared, the gin-stoked laughter would rise up, as friends chatted, joked and chinked their glasses to ‘another!’ The last flock of birds would fly passed, prompting a group Insect repellent spray session, pasting one’s head, toes, arms and even nose. The Kapenta boats would rev up their engines and disappear beyond the purple horizon and gentle waves would break over and over and over again.

Mothers would usher their children indoors, candles and fires were lit and the fish eagle would announce the suns’s departure with one last call.

The sun would sink beyond the black shadows, clinging to what’s left with golden rays.

It’s ‘just another day,’ we’d say, laughing like children and oblivious to it’s finality. Oblivious to the way it would make us feel when far away from its sandy shores, oblivious to fleeting time, oblivious to the sweet, sweet memories made ‘today,’ oblivious that it would be the last time.

 

Category : Africa, Malawi
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