Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Safari Booked in Zambia!

Hello

I got my yellow fever shot this afternoon for my planned adventure into Zambia!

I just booked my safari with Kiboko!  Check out their website  Kiboko Safari's  It will be a four day experience in Zambia!  I will doing this on July 25th, just days before I part for home.

I spoke with some people last week at Mabuya who did the same safari and they said it was amazing!  They told me they had hippos eating right outside their tent at night and could literally touch elephants from the 4x4!  They even managed to see a lion taking out a zebra! 

Cannot wait for this experience!

Enjoy reading the itinerary below! 

Day 1
Morning departure from Lilongwe towards the Luangwa Valley in Zambia. Lunch on route. Arrive at the camp and spend time acclimatising to the African Bush. Enjoy dinner at the Kiboko tented camp restaurant, overlooking the Luangwa River, watching elephants cross at dusk and listening to the sounds of the great outdoors. Relax over a drink before retiring for the evening. 

Day 2
Start the day with a pre game drive breakfast at the Kiboko tented camp restaurant followed by an early morning game drive, with one of our experienced guides. Enjoy the sights of the national park before returning to camp for a well needed lunch. Take a refreshing swim in the pool before entering the national park to go on a late afternoon/night game drive. This is a unique way to view the nocturnal activity of the park. Dinner will be served at the Kiboko tented camp restaurant. 

Day 3
After an early morning breakfast it is time to expand the list of spotted game, by going on a morning game drive. Return to the camp for lunch. After lunch it is time to relax at the lodge’s pool, before going on the second afternoon/night game drive. Coming back to camp, the cooks have prepared dinner, which will be served at the Kiboko tented camp restaurant. 

Day 4
After breakfast depart for Lilongwe. Stop on route at the Tribal Textile Workshop to see the beautiful fabrics made by the local craftsmen and artists. Arrive back in Lilongwe in the late afternoon. 

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Lilongwe @ Mabuya!

Well I just spent a whole day traveling to Lilongwe!  

Gerald and I met at work this morning and then took bike taxis into Kasungu Center where we boarded the bus to Lilongwe!  

Once we arrived we met Paolo and then grabbed lunch at this amazing italian restaurant.  It was the closest thing I have had to American food!  Scratch to the first food I wanted to have when I returned home: pizza!

Following, we went back to his place and planned out the next three weeks as he is traveling back to Italy and the UK for vacation.  I have lots of traveling and experiences planned for the next three weeks so stay tuned!

I also booked my four day safari in Zambia the week before I return to the USA!  I cannot wait!  Spoke with a girl last week who just did the same one and said hippos were eating outside her tent at night and that she could stick her hand out of the vehicle and nearly touch elephants!

After, I went to the Malawi Immigration Office where I extend my visa for an additional 60 days!  

Meetings tomorrow!  Time for a drink and some reading!

Goodnight!

Jimmy

Monday, June 13, 2011

Malawian Clothing

I purchased some Malawian textile at the market last week for some of our MicroVentures clients to design myself a pair of shorts and a traditional shirt!  


I received the shirt prior to the weekend so was able to bring it along with me on my climb up Mt. Kasungu!


Who wants one?


A Day with Maggie

Sunday, June 12th, 2011

Before bed the other night I made sure Maggie was still up for going to church together and then going to visit her mom.  She said it would depend if she woke up in time for the 8:00 AM mass about a 15 minute walk from the guesthouse.

This morning I woke up early, showered, got dressed, and headed to the kitchen to grab breakfast and wait for Maggie.  She was all dressed and ready to go.  We set off for mass.  It was not a Catholic mass but it was worth the experience.  The Catholic mass is located at a church in town but is at 6:00 AM so it is not very ideal, especially when I wake up early during the week and just want to use my weekends to sleep in.  I know I will get to the Catholic mass soon, I just don't know when that weekend will be.

The mass with Maggie was very different than one you would go to in your local town.  Women sat on the right hand side and men on the left.  Maggie sat with me on the left.  The first hour consisted of the Pastor speaking about God and different ways he appears in our lives.  It was not a mellow homily, it was filled with the crowd chanting "yes," "alleluia," and "amen!"  The Pastor did not speak his words of wisdom softly, but screamed them into the microphone.  My ears were ringing!

Following his long speech a group of men and women went up on the alter, grabbed microphones and began singing some great music.  The Pastor grabbed his microphone and began asking people who were mourning come forward, people who have felt rejected, people who have sinned, and one by one people left their pews to rejoice and have the pastor touch their heads as the singing continued.  A group of women in the front began crying hysterically and I was very confused.  They were cooing and screaming at the top of their lungs for about twenty minutes.  They began moving in circles and one bumped into one of the others crying and she just fell to the floor.  They were then escorted out of the church by the ushers.  I asked Maggie following mass what was going on and she said, "they were crying because they were cursed by demons."

Before the end of mass they asked all new visitors to stand.  I was the only "mzungu" at mass and only new person so I stood alone as they all clapped for me, welcoming me.  They wanted me to meet with the church secretary after mass, but Maggie said we could skip that.

Following, Maggie and I went to the market and picked up some pumpkin leaves, ground nuts, sugar, cooking oil, hand soap, and salt.  I paid and we then ventured to the bus station where we would catch the next trip to her mothers district.  While waiting on the bus Maggie saw one of her parishioners and told her how the Pastor was looking for me after mass.  She said I would be back next week for introductions!  I don't know about that…

Kasungu Market
I had a mis understanding from one of my previous posts, Maggie's mom lived 65 minutes away not 10 km.  Once we arrived at the bus stop we then took a 30 minute bike taxi on dirt/sand roads to get to her village.  As we ventured down the road we passed churches filled with song, it was so relaxing!  The area had much thicker vegetation, so at times I felt like I was biking through the jungle!

We arrived at her mother's house.  It was a quiet area very far from the main road.  The children were expecting us so as soon as we arrived they took my backpack, Maggie's purse, the groceries from the market, and carried it inside the house.  Maggie grew up here and I soon learned her aunt and uncle lived next door, her sister down the road, and a few other family members.  Most of the children were either cousins or nieces or nephews.  Maggie's mom, Beatrice, came out of the house and immediately welcomed me with open arms.  She thanked me for being so kind to visit and and was so glad so see Maggie.  Maggie had not been back to the village in over a year and had not seen her sister or aunts and uncles so it was very nice to see her so happy to see everyone.

Beatrice's House
I remembered I purchased a few lolly pops at the market and knew I had just enough for the eight children that were waiting on the porch just listening to Maggie translate as I spoke with her and her mother.  They were so happy for the pops, they all said "zicomo!" (Thank you)



Maggie went into the kitchen to prepare lunch with her mom.  I asked her if she could tell the children to show me their village while she had some alone time with her.  The children brought me everywhere!  The village relied on the sale of tobacco as a major source of income, so their were tobacco drying huts scattered throughout.  The oldest boy spoke some english so he was able to point out who were his siblings and where each lived.  They showed me their families maize reserve and tobacco that was waiting to be picked up for auction.  They showed me their chickens, pigs, goats, gardens, and soccer balls.  The soccer balls are constructed by the children!  They are about three times smaller!  They children collect plastic bags along the road and wrap them together to make a ball shape.  They then surround all the bags with one bag and heat the outside melting it.  We kicked it around for a bit and following they then brought me further down the road to their school and also to a pack of more than 200 watching a local soccer match.  Everyone was speaking things to me in Chichewa but I carried on as I had no idea what they were saying!

Malawi Soccer Ball
Maize Reserve
Tobacco Ready for Auction
We then went back to Beatrice's house where her and Maggie and a few others were around back.  I met her uncle and aunt, sister and brother in law, and neighbors.  Maggie was tending a fire in the outdoor hut where she was preparing our lunch.  We were having nsima, which is a doughy white flour with our cooked pumpkin leaves mixed with tomatoes and ground nuts!  We sat down and ate.  I was starving and loved every bit of it!

Nsima and Pumpkin Leaves
Maggie and I
We then had to pack up.  We needed to get back to the guesthouse by 5 PM before dusk!  Maggie's aunt, sister, and mother decided to walk back to the main road with us where the bus would stop to head back into Kasungu.  I thought we would be taking bike taxis back but because it was so rural, the taxis were not readily available this far from the main road.  One the walk Beatrice stopped at her friends houses along the way and introduced me to all of them.  I met more than five families!  Along the way we passed children on a spin wheel that I thought was a play ground.  Maggie explained it was a water well!  They turned it into a toy, allowing children to sit and spin, pumping water to the spout so their families could fill up.  I hopped on for a ride too!

Maggie, Her Mother, & Sister

Water Well
We parted and said out goodbyes.  I wish I had brought along my notebooks for the children!  Maybe I will venture back again with Maggie.  

I arrived at the guesthouse just in time for a shower and great dinner.  We welcomed Pryia from the MicroLoan UK offices last night!  Looking forward to welcoming two more in the coming weeks!

Busy week ahead!

Jimmy

Mt. Kasungu

Saturday, June 11th, 2011

I met Gerald at MicroLoan HQ at 8:30 prior to our hike up Mt. Kasungu!

We got bike taxis, stopped at the market for fresh waters, and within 25 minutes we were at the base of the mountain!  The base was surrounded by huts, eucalyptus trees, brush, rocks, and charred earth/plants.  Asked Gerald if we had to watch out for any animals and he said we could see some monkeys or cobras!  What was I getting myself into!

Mt. Kasungu
As we got closer the mountain started looking a lot smaller, but when we began the climb, I realized I was wrong!

We walked a long a narrow path that circled the mountain trying to find the exact trail.  Well, that was impossible.  Gerald spoke Chichewa to many villagers living at the base asking them if they happened to know where the entrance to the mountain was but everyone seemed to say a different location.  We got to one hut and asked the women washing their children where to go, and they pointed directly ahead of them.  So we choose that route.
Children From one of the Huts
Well that route was not very safe.  The ground was very dry so any rock you placed you foot on for traction just crumbled out of the earth and made its way down the mountain.  There was also a very steep incline that would have been impossible to get up.  Gerald's shoes with no traction combined with my fright of heights led to a mission abort, and we descended to find another route.  As we made our way down the children at the village below were just standing at the base watching from afar yelling "mzungu, mzungu!"  
Gerald and I
We walked further around the mountain and Gerald pointed out a graveyard.  He explained that the cross sticks marked the entrance to the graveyard.  That was erie. We spotted what looked like a path to the top,and it was a good one!  The earth was scorching!  The entire mountains brush had been on fire just days before so the earth was still hot.  You can't even imagine how much soot I was covered in.  

Graveyard Enterance
In Malawi there are many brush fires that people set to catch mice.  Gerald explained that it is not safe as it causes fires to spread!  He also said it harms the environment and the earth.  He said that many farms ruin their land because they strip the soil of its nutrients when causing these fires.

Well after a 50 minute hike we made it to one of the peaks!  Not the very top, but none the less, it was a spectacular view!  You could hear Malawians in the mountain screaming words in Chichewa and Gerald explained they were yelling prayers to God!




We spotted a pack of dogs making their way up the mountain so that was are cue to descend.  I took some good snaps and got a great view of Kasungu and the landscape of Malawi!  The dogs do attack humans so we went down as quick as possible.  I was not getting attacked on a mountain!

Following, we walked to the road and came across a large group of children playing a small game of soccer.  When they say me, they all ran at me saying "take my picture, take my picture!"  I could not resist, so I did.  Gerald also took some snaps of them surrounded by me.  It was awesome!

We continued on our journey to town where I was able to experience the market in Kasungu!  It was just an area full of shops every which way you looked.  People were selling second hand clothes, electronics, fish, vegetables, bananas, fritters, candy, etc.  You name it, they had it!

Fish Market
Produce Market

Gerald and I parted.  He had to venture to Lilongwe to continue packing his belonging before he moves out to his new home here in Kasungu!

Going to church with Maggie in the morning and then heading to her village where she grew up to see her mom!

Best

Jimmy