All I Wanted Was a Flushing Toilet

             Remember back at the beginning of the trip when we left a few days early to cushion any unexpected travel problems? Well we kinda overestimated because we arrived 2 nights early. The manager had previously told us that if travel plans changed he could probably take us a night early, however we were incommunicado for the previous 3 days and were unable to contact him that we would in fact be coming sooner than expected.

            Now Mayoka Village is beautiful and I will detail it more later but let me paint a picture for you. Upon arrival at our water front lodge on a rift lake (like continential rift) we have to go almost all the way down to the water to reach reception. I might be overestimating but in the state I was in this seemed like 4 or 5 stories, maybe it was only 2 or 3, I don’t know. I’m carrying an over weight hiking backpack on my already top heavy body. Actually I am trying to carry it. The previous three days the furthest I have had to carry it has been between busses, no big deal, but now I am scaling down a mountain. I haven’t used my legs in like 8 hours and before that I had been sitting on another bus for 18 hours, so my not-cardio-ready body is riding the struggle bus. It didn’t help that every single step was uneven and there was no railing to grip for my life. I don’t know if this was a decoration detail or due to the recent landslide but I just couldn’t wait to get myself into a nice comfy bed.  Actually my mind was being torn between a comfy bed and joining everyone else for happy hour drinks overlooking the lake.

And then I was punched in the gut. They had no room at all. Everything was totally booked until our reservation 2 days later. Good news is that they called the place next door and they have room and would love to have us. Oh thank heaven! How do we get there? scale back up the mountain of course! You have got to be kidding me. I huff and puff back up to the top just to walk next door and have to go back down to their reception. The Butterfly Space was much more natural, a super cool place that I will detail more of later but their steps, while were thankfully not uneven slippery rocks but rather uneven root systems with random bricks. Or maybe they were bricks with random root systems…We order our dinner, ask where the bar is, and get directed tour room. Oh our room is back up at the top near the entrance. This whole time I was kicking myself for not being more fit and active but then had to remind myself I was just on a bus for 3 days…but still. I once again gave my life an ultimatum, if I didn’t die going up and down these stairs I was going to have a butt of steel at the end of this week. Or live on the lake and never go back. (Sorry for the spoiler, but I came back and alive)

We get to our room and it is a two room beach shack-style all natural cozy accommodation. It was super cozy, like a small table, a bed, mosquito net, door, and two shelves. No mirror, which was probably a good thing, one light, probably another good thing, and a screen door. Not the luxury I was expecting to be greeted with upon arrival but I can be patient. Omg I am going to sleep so hard in this bed. Now lets get this girl a toilet she doesn’t have to pay for.

The accommodation we got was with a community bathroom, which thankfully we didn’t have to climb stairs for, just over the stairs and around a tree. Unfortunately I was then nearly pushed over the emotional breaking point, they don’t have a flushing toilet, it was compost one. Thankfully it included instructions on what to do. I’ll give you the reader’s digest version: They encouraged number 2, it was better for compost. After doing your number 2, you throw a scoop of ash, twigs, and leaves to aid in the composting. Close the lid to limit flies. Too much liquid is actually bad for compost so they encouraged that to be on any tree of my personal choice. Time 43 that I wish I was a male on this trip. At this point I had already peed on the side of the bus, in the bush, on a few trees, and in toilets I really should not have paid to use. While this was not what I was expecting at the end of my 3 day bus trip, I knew I would live. And lets be real here, this nicely built compost toilet with an actual seat and lid complete with a light AND instructions was much better than what many Peace Corps Volunteers around the world have. I’m just spoiled with a flushing toilet (#thirdworldproblems?)

Don’t let my initial reactions after an emotional 3 days influence your thoughts on this place. The Butterfly Space was actually really cool. It is about 8 years old and completely run by volunteers. They began as a co-op for volunteers to Malawi to come live and work in the Nhkata Bay community; it then expanded to welcome just travelers staying for shorter periods of time. They are really committed to limiting their environmental impact, they have solar heaters for water, they filter the lake water to use for showers, sinks, and cooking, they recycle and compost all food waste (human also), all their meals are made to order from their organic/local garden, fires are made to cook the food (only on special occasions do they use the gas oven and stove) and all their buildings are made from local timber and rocks dug up from the water. When we were there they were in the process of building a family suite and every day men would canoe up from down the coast line unload all the rocks then carry them one by one up the stairs to the site.

They offer really neat opportunities for people looking to volunteer in Malawi. For a flat weekly/monthly fee you can have living accommodations and two meals a day. They will then help to set you up with a local organization that you are interested in whether that’s a school or a health clinic or a business or what ever your dreams desire. Then as long as you commit to working a few hours a week with that organization you have free reign of the place. We met some really cool people there from all over the world. One girl had just graduated from high school, another was taking time off from college, an older lady had retired and was volunteering her way around Africa and then there was a French wilderness man who was really intense. Some are there for three weeks, some for three months, you make it your own experience. The owners ate meals with the guests, were interested in their lives and what brought them to Malawi, the atmosphere was just wonderful.

I would recommend it fully to anyone interested in in volunteering. I mean two home cooked fresh organic meals a day, the best tasting avocados and tomatoes in town which resulted in the best guacamole ever, and every morning we woke up and had nothing to do but sit by the one of the most beautiful lakes in the world and enjoy life. I can’t stress enough how cool the place was, it just wasn’t exactly the ideal vacation place for someone who was already a volunteer. But if you want that volunteer experience in Africa but don’t want the major price or time commitment of other volunteer opportunities, Butterfly Space is the perfect place.