How did I end up here?

How did I end up here in Africa? And how is it I have been living in Malawi for nearly three years? I never planned to travel to Africa. I never planned to be a teacher, come to think of it. And I certainly never planned to live on this amazing continent. So what changed in my life to bring me here? Where did this journey begin?

It is difficult to pinpoint where this journey began; in life we take so many journeys and with time they begin to merge into each other. I guess I would have to go back to the school where I began my teaching career – a beautiful school in the Cotswolds. One particular lunch time I was eating with some colleagues in the school canteen, when I heard a surprising statement from a tall, dark, handsome teacher sitting opposite me, who I had barely heard speak before. He was probably the quietest teacher at the school and so I had rarely heard his dulcet Northumbrian tones…until that lunchtime when he said, “When I was teaching in Botswana…” and in that moment I knew that I needed to hear more about Botswana, his life, him. And there began my challenge of drawing out this most reserved of men.

I soon learned that he was passionate about three things: Chemistry, teaching young people and travelling. The second and third passion  I certainly shared, if not the first (though my father had been a Chemist)! Although we both longed to explore more places in the world, we had visited mostly quite different parts of this incredible globe. While I had been in Southeast Asia, he had been in Southern Africa. There he had become a skilled photographer and so he delighted in showing me his albums; I saw photos of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania; there were photos of lion, zebra, giraffe, eland, sable, wildebeest, cheetah, eagles and the elusive leopard. I revelled in his delight at sharing his experiences with me, but I was not drawn to this land of great skies and wild animals.

He held my interest,  however, by sharing more intimately how Africa had got into his blood and captured his imagination. He would definitely return to Africa one day. So why did he leave, I wondered? He told me he had seen the most amazing wildlife, the spectacular sunsets, stunning waterfalls, dreamy deserts and more…yet without someone by his side there was an emptiness to that experience. Could I really be the person by his side to make those moments more whole?

Over the next eleven years, he slowly worked on me; he persuaded me that I would love Africa, that Africa would be good for us. And at the right time and in the right place, I can see that he was right…

Not all those who wander are lost. — J.R.R. Tolkien