Malawi

We've arrived back in Inhamussua after our two week trip north through Mozambique and into Malawi. The trip was wonderful, and Malawi is quite possibly the most beautiful place on earth. We set out on our African "On the Road" adventure with the hope of trying to hitch as many rides as possible; and as soon as we realized how much more efficient and comfortable it is to travel by private cars (and swallowed any inkling of shame that we had left by looking especially desperate in the face of a car with air conditioning), we've now made it a personal rule to only take public transportation when absolutely necessary. Over the course of two weeks we traveled 3,156 kilometers in 30 different vehicles, 20 of which were hitches. We met some extremely interesting people along the way, and rode in anything from the back of vegetable trucks, to semis, to Rav4's. We spent two nights at a friend's house on the banks of the Zambezi River where you could hear hippos swimming at night, sea kayaked in Lake Malawi, climbed two mountains, and made it back to Tofo beach in time for a 4th of July party this weekend. I should also add that not only did we make it back, but we showed up with a live chicken personally chosen by Jonathan at the market and carried on the chappa, then slaughtered and grilled for the party….a little African influence for American independence day. 

The first hitch

Lake Malawi

Mount Mulanje from the bottom

...and the top

What we found waiting for us at home

We have a few days here at site before we continue the journey south on Friday to head to Maputo for my flight home - four days later I'll actually land there. It's a good thing I've learned to be patient with travel times on this trip.

Jonathan drives his dream car... and other less important stuff.

Amanda and I decided that in order to spice things up on this blog, it would be a good idea to have me write a guest blog post.  I should warn you now that the things that I find interesting, or blogworthy, differ quite a bit from Amanda, and include such important things as whether I can eat 20 clementines in a day, or if it's possible to eat two whole chickens and their side dishes at Pasteleria California. In case your wondering, both are possible, although the latter will have to be proven next time we are in Maputo.  That will be a good last memory for Amanda, me stuffing two chickens into my mouth in one sitting.

Since Amanda has been here, every single day when the sun goes down we seem to look at each other and wonder how yet again we made it through another day without being able to recall exactly what it was that we had done.  The times when I'm not in the classroom are spent on the front porch drinking coffee and chatting with students as they stop by, then as the sun sets, and the temperature drops we get some work done in the garden, or go for an extended walk in the coconut forest surrounding my house.  Occasionally we are given the opportunity to go and have a real adventure, and last weekend was one of those.  We knew it was off to a good start when we got two really good hitches to make it to my friend Mike's house, about 100 km north of mine.  We made it there in two hours, which is about as good as you can hope for on Mozambican roads.  

We got to Mike's house then went to meet up with his friend Rob, who is a South African doing some construction here in Mozambique.  The trip got even better when Rob let me drive his Land Cruiser 70 series, fully safari equipped with a snorkel and the meatiest suspension I have ever seen, back to town to pick up some items.  I even got to ford a river in the foggy night, and drive it over obstacles that would probably stop a hummer in it's tracks.  The first night we stayed at a deserted beach by Rob's construction project; by American standards it was a gorgeous beach, but only mediocre by Mozambique standards.  The next day we were off again on another 4x4 trail to make it to Pomene, a beach about 60 km further north.  After a very sunburned ride in the back of the Land Cruiser, we made it there and set up our camping gear on a stretch of beach with almost no one on it.  

The whole experience was a little surreal: the beach was an old colonial resort, and there was a deserted, dilapidated hotel that was perfect for exploring, and as far as the eye could see stretched white sand beaches that were only interrupted by the occasional washed up mangrove tree.  8 km from where we were camping the white sands stopped, and out shot the sharpest rocks you could imagine, that ended up ruining Amanda's fourth pair of sandals since she's been here (at the time of this writing, she is now on her 6th pair).  The cliffs were complete with hidden caves, giant walls to break the waves, small openings that sprayed water like geysers when the waves came in, and perhaps best of all, a small hidden pool that was ideal for cliff jumping into the perfectly clear Indian Ocean.  The beach seemed like something out of the pages of Treasure Island, or Swiss Family Robinson, and Amanda and I marveled at how lucky we are to have the opportunity to visit places like that.

Other than our weekend adventures, we have spent our time around Inhamussua, classes ended last week, so we are preparing for our next adventure; a hitchhiking trip up to Malawi.  More on that later…

South Africa

It's been a big couple of weeks around here, so get ready, there's a lot in this post - there, you've been warned...

Our bus ride down to Maputo on Friday was pretty quick and uneventful, which is a good thing for a Mozambiquan bus ride - one tell-tale sign that it was a good trip occurred when we realized that it took us 7 hours into the ride to notice that there was a live chicken under the seat next to ours and a live monkey in the front of the bus. Luckily they were fairly quiet passengers. 

Saturday we boarded a chappa to go across the border to Nelspruit. It's funny crossing a border on public transportation - everyone gets out of the van and walks through customs and immigration (a flurry of activity completely void of any signage or polite lines that us Americans are so accustomed to), and then magically everyone meets back up at the van on the other side. With the amount of people and vehicles coming and going it seems a wonder to me that it actually worked without anyone getting lost or left behind somewhere. But then again I have that feeling often in Africa, when I don't seem to have any idea what is going on around me, but with a little bit of patience everything somehow always comes together. The chappa driver that day did have a certain fondness for eighties music and we entered South Africa to the tune of Toto's "Africa" blaring from the speakers. Considering we were the only internationals in the van I think the irony was lost on everyone else. 

We spent three days in Kruger Park, discovering how to drive a stick shift left-handed, spotting wildlife, and camping at campsites surrounded by giant electric fences, which kept the animals out but not the sounds of them which made us feel like we were in Jurassic Park. We were a little worried going into it that it would feel just like a really big zoo, but as soon as we saw our first elephant emerge from the trees and cross the road immediately in front of our car, it became obvious that getting close enough to the animals would not actually be a concern. We saw all of the big animals that we wanted to see in the first couple days: antelope, elephants, giraffes, rhinos, warthogs, buffaloes, hyenas, zebras, hippos, and we had almost accepted defeat in seeing any cats when we spotted a little family of lions on our way out of the park on the last day. The reality of peace corps accommodations are put into rather harsh light when you consider that the campsites inside the park felt like a luxury resort to us. I don't think anyone has ever been as excited as we were for flushing toilets and hot, running water in the showers. 

        

The Mpumalunga region of South Africa is beautiful. There's rolling hills, giant blue sky and lush open spaces that could have honestly been mistaken for Napa Valley. The most surprising part though was how quickly the landscape could change. One minute the view was green and lush, and then we would come around a bend in the road or over a hill and all of a sudden it was brown and arid. The dichotomy between the two landscapes deepened when we started to realize the architecture and the culture changed as well. The lush areas were peppered with giant houses set apart from each other with electric fences and not a person in sight; while the other side of the hill was covered in small concrete houses, goats, cows, and people on either side of the road walking, hitchhiking, carrying goods home from the market. We realized rather quickly how obvious some of the lasting effects of apartheid really are. 

On our last day we drove through the Blyde River Canyon on a scenic route called the Panorama. After three days confined to the car driving 30 mph, it was a welcome change to get to interact with nature again and actually get out of the car and climb around on rocks and discover waterfalls. It was the perfect ending, before two more long days of bus rides to get home. 

  

We thought we had lucked out on Friday morning when we found a bus in Maputo that would be going right by the school. And not just any bus - a bright yellow school bus with "Atlanta Public Schools" painted on the side, and a "door" cut into the left side of the bus for passengers to enter and exit on the correct side of the road. Four hours later, when we were still sitting in Maputo waiting for it to fill up we were beginning to re-think our luck. Although the extra four hours did give us ample time to discuss the feasibility of how a school bus from Atlanta could honestly end up in Mozambique….we still haven't come up with a very good explanation for that one. Before we left for South Africa we had a little rat epidemic at Jonathan's house. Luckily one of the other volunteers has a cat that recently had kittens, and we just happened to be passing by his town on our way home. So we facilitated a little hand-off as we pulled through town - only in Mozambique can you pass a box with a kitten through the window of a school bus without any comments being made. I mean, I guess it could have been a monkey…

Twelve hours later we thought we were home-free, until the bus drove off the road and got one wheel stuck in the sand. Luckily we were less than a mile from home, so we threw on our backpacks and walked the rest of the way, cat in hand. It was a bit of a traumatic start to their life together, but for a boy who loves the Simpsons and a cat who spent six hours on a school bus, Otto seemed to be an obvious name for the little one. Things could get very interesting here soon, considering the dog was pregnant and gave birth last night to five puppies (we think it's five, right now she and the pups are holed up in a little nest that she carved out under a bush), so the animal count in this house has jumped in the last week from one to seven. But so far, no more rodents...

 

It's time for my first border run to renew my visa next week, and the timing is working out perfectly so that we can take a few extra days in South Africa to explore Kruger National Park. We're leaving this Friday and are going to spend four days camping in the park next week. It's a very last-minute plan and we're kind of flying by the seat of our pants, but I think that should make it even more fun. The big things are taken care of - transportation and campgrounds - and possibly most importantly a tent to sleep in. We debated what to do about procuring a tent, and finally decided to borrow from a couple other very generous volunteers. The only catch? They live four hours away. So, in what might be the most ridiculous display of thriftiness, we woke up early Friday morning to make our way up to Maphananie, four hours in a chappa, 30 minutes at their house, and we were back on the road home. We were thrilled, however, when we caught a ride with the first truck that passed by us - three Mozambiquan men heading home to Maxixe for the weekend and happy about selling their truck-full of potatoes in Vilankulos that day. Planning a celebration that night, they stopped several times along the way to see what deals they could find - in the end we were in the back with a crate of lobsters, two live chickens and firewood. At one point they almost added a gazelle, and a live goat, thankfully for us they passed on those two. Between our traveling companions and our windblown hair, we laughed the entire way back.

This is a still shot from a video, so it's hard to see, but we're thinking about sending the video into a shampoo company, I mean, who wouldn't want these windblown locks??

Apparently I was feeling extra tough hitch-hiking with aviators on?

Lightning Storm

The other night the sky was lit up from a lightning storm in the distance. There was no moon that night so the sky was totally pitch black, and then all of a sudden it would flash the brightest blues, greens and orange and light up all the coconut trees in a silhouette. It was a really eery feeling as we watched, knowing that we were feeling the calm before the storm hit here. And then the wind picked up and we ran home just before the ran started pounding on the tin roof at a deafening level and the power cut out. I'd like to think that the power going out had something to do with the storm, but since it and the water were both out for three days, I think there was something else at play. It was a really cool night, followed by a couple dark and smelly ones....

Finally Some Pictures

Jonathan's house

The road from Maxixe to Inhamussua

A very crowded chappa ride - that's one of Jonathan's peace corps friends on the right, in a row with three women and four children

The beach at Vilankulos during the day while the tide is out

First Impressions

It's funny how I felt like I might get the shakes of a technology-addict when I put away my computer and shut down my Iphone before I left, and now, over the course of the last two weeks I've almost forgotten what email and internet even is. So, sorry for the delayed communication - I really am still alive. The short version? I made it to Mozambique safely and without any delays, have been totally healthy so far (minus a chigger that lodged itself in my toe and required one of the Mozambiquan teachers to perform a very minor surgery using a tree thorn), and have been having so much fun I haven't even thought about sitting down to a computer to write about it. 

Now for a more detailed version….

Jonathan met me in Maputo and we spent Monday exploring the city - mastering official public transportation (15 passenger vans known as "chiappas" which would be roomy if there were ever only 15 passengers inside), and the unofficial public transportation: hitchhiking, or balea in Portuguese. The highlight of the day might have been eating lunch at the fish market, which is a covered market right on the coast which has every type of fish and shellfish you can imagine. You pick what you would like to eat, clear your mind of any thoughts about bacteria and food poisoning (or memories of Thai oysters gone bad), then a vendor cooks it up for you and serves it over a big plate of rice. It was delicious, and a wonderful experience to kick off the adventures ahead. 

Tuesday we spent nine hours on a mini-bus from Maputo to Inhamussua, Jonathan's site. I think I got lucky with a seat towards the front by myself, although that meant that I was surrounded by giant bags of rice, and spent the entire trip with my bag on my lap and my legs curled under me because I couldn't fit them between my seat and the one in front of me. Fortunately I was still a little jet-lagged, and my uncanny ability to sleep in absolutely any situation kicked in. We spent a couple days in Inhamussua while Jonathan finished his very rigorous teaching schedule for the week - four classes over two days, before heading to Vilankulos for the weekend.

Vil is a beach town about three hours from here and it was the agreed upon location for a peace corps reunion of sorts. About 40 volunteers came and hung out for the weekend. It was the first time that many of them had seen each other since training, and it was fun for me to get to meet many of the people I've been hearing about for so many months. The Mozambiquan coast offers quite a contrast to life in rural Inhamussua. It's kind of fun to spend the week surrounded by a forest of coconut trees and dirt roads, and then escape to idyllic undeveloped tropical beaches on the weekend. Seems to be the best of both worlds. 

This past weekend a couple of other volunteers came to stay on Friday night and then we were planning on going to Tofo beach together on Saturday. Unfortunately Jonathan found out on Friday that his school was hosting a meeting for the three agrarian schools in the southern province and would have to stay for the weekend. Tofo is also a beautiful beach, and only a couple of hours from here, but it feels like a different world since it is the go-to vacation destination for South Africans and a surfer's paradise. 

Life in Inhamussua is relaxing and fun. Jonathan teaches at a secondary agrarian school, so the students range in age from about 16 to 22. They all live at the school and work in the fields here, which makes me feel like I'm at summer camp mixed with a farm; complete with roosters and a bell to signal when it's time to wake up and go to bed. The kids wake up at 5am to work in the fields, have class all day, and then a handful of them hang out on Jonathan's front porch in the evening.  

The school was built by the Portuguese before the revolution, so the buildings are simple, but very cool colonial architecture. Jonathan's house on the other hand is all Mozambiquan - reed walls with a tin roof. But it is surrounded by citrus trees and has one of two water faucets on school property in the front yard, so there are plenty of people passing by. The front porch offers the perfect location for people watching and passing the day with Diods, the adopted peace corps dog at this site. The students are really friendly and always come up to say hi when they're getting water, so I am definitely not lacking in Portuguese tutors. I must say I've become well versed in "good morning, good afternoon, good evening" and "I'm fine thanks, how are you?" 

A few of his students have helped him plant a garden in the back - they definitely dreamed big, there are probably 50 tomato plants alone, not including the cucumbers, herbs, watermelon, peppers, beans, and kale. Luckily the students help with the watering, which means carrying buckets of water back and forth around the house. Although having fresh vegetables and fruit freshly picked off the tree makes it worth it. 

The internet is proving to be a little difficult for loading pictures, so this is the best I can do right now, but I will keep trying!