That night we say our goodbyes and have a last meal together. Rowland has got me a gift of Mzuzu coffee and a wooden map of Malawi. Rowland and I walk back into town as we have done every night. Chitipa has been a great experience and one I hope to repeat again next year. Early the next morning I am on the ‘Chitipa Boy’s’ bus to Mzuzu. I get the last seat and get wedged in. The road snakes through the hills. We drop down to the lake shore and hot Karonga. The road hugs the lake passing fishing communities. The Livingstonia escarpment comes into view high above. In Chiweta, Rowland’s birthplace, the road snakes up the escarpment to the Viphya Plateau. The road follows the North Rukuru River through hills and out onto the plains north of Mzuzu. Piles of apples in Mzuzu attract my attention. I get a few and enjoy my first fruit for a week. I meet Henzie Banda and get a 2000 room at the Zingilirani ‘Backpacker Facilities available’ Rest house in the town centre. It is basically close enough to several bottle stores to make a very convenient brothel. I am in the Sangano room. ‘Jane from Nkhata Bay’ comes and greets me and if I need anything like help with the local language then she is in Sasasa room. I take a wander to my old office and bump into Joseph Kayira ‘the one legged incompetent office clerk’ from 1999. He still hadn’t posted some of my letters. The broken glass is still not fixed after seventeen years and that says it all about Malawi. I meet the current Education Divisional Manager Mrs Msiska and tell her all about the project. She was telling me about it being national education day but she knew nothing about it. Some of the old trophies won during my time are on her cabinet. She fully endorses my efforts but seemed a bit detached from what I was really telling her. My old friend Georgina Msowoya the Regional Sports Development Officer met me and gave me a back slap and nearly broke me in two. I have an early night as it’s going to be a late one on Friday.

I woke to the smell of fire wood and realised hot water was available for a bucket wash. My first hot water for ten days felt good. I take a walk out to Musongwe to see my old friend Downs Nyasulu. He tells me he bought a second hand fridge with the money I gave him last year but it only worked for six months. He has decorated his bar with red Chibuku bottle tops. The seventeen year old roof that I put on his house is still good but looking a bit shabby these days. We take a walk to visit my old house at Mzuzu Government Secondary School and reminisce about the rats, snakes, stolen potatoes, Wenson the night guard and more. I develop a few photographs and post them later that day. Downs and I have a shared history and my picture is on his wall. We say goodbye.

My thoughts turn to football and the 2 pm kick off at the Mzuzu Stadium between Chitipa Utd and Nchalo Utd in the last sixteen of the Carlsberg Cup. I pop into the dressing room before the game for a quick ‘Come on lads’ which is appreciated. Chitipa Utd to be honest were a bit lucky and the game ends 1-1. Nchalo Utd had a perfectly good second goal disallowed for offside. Henzie is from Chikingawa in the far south where Nchalo are from so he was feeling the pressure as a shoot-out loomed. Chitipa win an epic penalty shoot-out 4-2 and the celebrations begin. The Mzuzu stadium pitch is as hard as ever and I remembered how much skin I had painfully lost back in the day. A man is sitting next to me. I recognise him but can’t place him. It was Mr Ziba, the FAM guy who had presented the Oilcom Trophy to us back in 1999. Also there was Mr Ngosi, the Nkhata Bay referee. After the game Henzie told me lots of the crowd were asking him if I was ‘Bottoman’. I say goodbye to Marshall as the players are driving back tonight.

Today was all about drinking Carlsberg ‘Green’ like the old days but now in the fancy new bottles. In the morning I found Jomo Ngonga up at Mzuzu University. By 1pm we were sitting on upturned beer crates in a petrol station having a beer. Neither of us had money so Jomo managed to pay via his ‘airtel mobile money app’. Wow how things have changed in seventeen years. Jomo and I haven’t changed much but everything else has. Food is required ahead of tonight and we agree to meet at 7 pm. I decide nsima is the food of choice ahead of a big session. We had a great night together, drinking, playing pool and laughing a lot about old times.

I sober up with a very hot bucket wash, hot cup of tea and four yellow buns. I spend a few hours seeing how many things beginning with ‘B’ I can find. Then I find me old friend ‘George ‘Burundi’ Kaunda at his Kaunjika stall. Clothes are donated in Canada and the USA. They are packed and sent by the Canadian government to Kuwait. There they are repacked into specific clothing bundles and imported into Malawi usually by Indian traders. A bundle of Kaunjika is sold to traders for 50,000 kwacha. I steal him away from his wife for a few beers and a chat. Burundi and I were central midfield partners for Apatseni Socials during that famous Oilcom League season back in 1999. He was very talkative and a great player. A real shared history.