Memoirs of a Worker

It's a Long Way to Lilongwe

You probably shouldn’t read this one at night if you have vivid dreams!

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When I walked through the airport in Lilongwe, Malawi, I noticed a man holding a sign that said BENSON. I figured there was no one else on the plane by that name so I walked over and said, “I’m Benson.” He just nodded at me and then politely stated, “Please follow.” Once my things were loaded in the car we headed to the city. This was my first trip to south eastern Africa and I was anxious to see a new country.

I tried to engage him in conversation but he was all business. He only said, “Be alert, pay attention.” After driving for about ten minutes the man motioned to his left and declared, “Your hotel,” but he kept driving. We went around two or three roundabouts, made a few left and right turns and then pulled into the American embassy compound.

“Take your tools over there,” he pointed. When I dropped off the tools to where I was instructed to put them, he hollered, “Benson,” I turned as he tossed the car keys to me.

“What’s this?” I asked as I caught the keys.

“The keys to your car,” he bluntly stated.

“My car? Wait a minute, how do I get to the hotel?”

                  “I told you to be alert and pay attention,” he said gruffly. With that he got in his own car that had been parked at the embassy and drove off!

The sun was down and I was nervous. At the front gate I asked the security guard which way to get to my hotel. He gave me a strange expression, like I was crazy, and then pointed. After travelling for what seemed like a great distance, I knew the security guard had given me the wrong information because I didn’t recognize anything. I turned around and drove back past the embassy going the other direction. Less than a mile later the road dead-ended in a thick bank of trees.

Things look different in the dark and so what should have been a ten to fifteen minute ride to the hotel, ended up taking well over two hours. As I stood at the counter of the hotel registering for my room one of my crew members walked through the lobby and saw me. “We have been waiting for you. Your plane landed hours ago, what took you so long?”

“Oh nothing much, just a little mix up with my driver,” I smiled.

Lilongwe was pleasant and I enjoyed it there. My crew members were first-rate seasoned technicians that I had worked with in the past in various places throughout the world, and it was great to renew old acquaintances.

A few days after being in Lilongwe, and finally getting to know the layout of the land, I had to go into the central downtown area of the city and purchase some building supplies. The day was warm and I opened the front windows of the car to feel the breeze. I had never been to the store I was going to, but had a general idea of where it was.

I stopped at an intersection and waited for the traffic to subside. I glanced right and then left, and then I screamed in horror and pressed hard against the door! In the passenger window (they drive on the opposite side of the road than we do in the US) and looking into the car was a huge cobra.  It reached inside the car about twelve inches, weaving back and forth! Its neck was all fanned out in a tremendous hood and it was flicking its tongue at me! Frantically I searched with my right hand for the window controls on the driver’s door, never once taking my eyes off of the snake. My heart pounded, and perspiration beaded on my forehead. The window went up and the snake went up with it! The snake’s head was on the upper edge of the window as it was going up and thankfully, it slipped out and fell to the ground.

Fortunately there was no traffic coming because once the window got all the way up and the cobra out, I sped out of the intersection. There was no way I wanted that snake trying to get me by slithering around on the underneath side of the car and coming up through the floor mats, seats or whatever.