Taking over the lodge

The first week we had no forks, but I suppose that was very Malawian, in a way. It was great waking up the first morning and walking through the empty building, finally its master!

The staff have been absolutely fantastic, and I hope they don’t think we’re too weird. We’re also getting used to their ways, and changing a few habits, I’m afraid. The first evening, Kenneth had the duty as night watchman, and we were trying to figure out what to do with the keys when locking up at night as we had cut down James’ ridiculous working hours so he wouldn’t be at work in the morning before Kenneth left.

James had just gone home, and Kenneth felt he needed his advice, so he shouted at him down the mountain, where James could hear him a few kilometres away.
- ‘WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH THE KEYS WHEN I KNOCK OFF IN THE MORNING?’
- ‘JUST LEAVE THEM ABOVE THE DOOR, THEN I KNOW WHERE TO FIND THEM WHEN I ARRIVE,’ James shouted back across the valley. Security certainly isn’t a big issue on the mountain; nevertheless, we found it best to change the system slightly...

These first few weeks, we’ve been working hard on the renovations, sanding windows, repairing door frames, holes in the walls and god knows what else. I’ve also started teaching James a few new recipes, and my mum is in full swing with the kitchen garden.

Lots to do and little time, but hopefully we’ll get there in the end. The official opening day is supposed to be 15th December, and I think we’ll make it, just. Next step is making furniture, which I hope we have enough time for, so we’ve started cutting up a couple of giant blue gums that the previous owner cut down in the garden. I reckon some disks from these trees will make nice table tops, but we’ll have to see if they crack.