Fish eagle from Lake Malawi. The guide would throw in fish and this guy swooped in to grab them.
Pretty sunset from Victoria Falls.
Pretty sunset from Lake Malawi.
To our readers (all 8 of you J
)…sorry for being SO LONG between posts! I’ll try to mend my ways in the coming
months. Here’s what’s been happening for about the last five weeks.
Lisa went to America
About four weeks ago Lisa flew to America. She got the flight in exchange for helping a
friend with her one year old baby on the long flights. So, as long as she was
already home, she visited her sister in Montana and family in Nebraska. She was only there for about a week, but had
a really good trip.
Zambia
Right after Lisa returned (about 3 weeks ago), we went to
Zambia. We took an 8 hour bus ride to Dar Es Salaam. Then, we took a train to
Zambia. The train was supposed to take 48 hours to arrive in a town called
Kapiri Mposhi in south central Zambia. However, due to delays, etc… it took 48
hours to get just past the Zambian border; only about ½ way! We decided to hop
out (don’t worry the train was stopped!) and take a bus the rest of the way. The train itself was a cool experience. It
was old and dirty. But, we could just sit in our private cabin and watch the
land go by. Since we went through the Selous Game Reserve just at dusk, we saw
a giraffe and a few other animals.
We arrived in a town called Lusaka, which is the capital of
Zambia, around 7 AM. We were surprised by how modern the town was! For as poor
as Zambia is, the infrastructure of Lusaka was quite good.
From Lusaka we took another bus south to Livingstone. We
stayed at a place called Jollyboys which was a “backpacker” place. The prices
throughout Zambia were quite high. We paid between $40 and $60 / night for the
three nights at Jollyboys. The prices varied because we changed rooms every
night! But, it seemed worth it because of the laid back atmosphere of the
place.
From Livingstone we were able to easily get to Victoria
Falls. This place was obviously
spectacular! We took loads of pictures and enjoyed the whole day there. I
really enjoyed walking on a bridge where we could get sprayed by the mist of the
falls. We could walk right up to the
edge of the cliff and look down! We could also walk right down to water where a
large whirlpool was formed. Of course none of this stuff was very safe, so I’m
glad we survived unscathed. The closest incident I think was when we were
walking back up the path from the whirlpool. There were three large baboons
sitting on the path in front of us. I
was alarmed because they had babies with them and I pictured mama baboon
protecting her baby by eating me. We
tried ignoring them. Then we tried yelling at them. Then, when they didn’t
move, I had the genius idea of blazing our own trail through the bush to get
around them. We did that and after Lisa’s sandals were filled with dirt and
gravel, she didn’t think it was such a genius plan J. We stayed another day in Livingstone and just
walked around the town, ate good food and relaxed. While we were there, we
decided to go to Malawi.
Malawi
So, last week, we went to Lake Malawi. We took one day to go
from Livingstone to Lusaka (on a SUPER nice bus… personal LCD TV sets in the
back of every seat and a snack that they served us…this just doesn’t happen in
Africa!). Then, another day to get from Lusaka to central Malawi. Then ANOTHER
day to get from whatever that town was to where we wanted to go in north
central Malawi called Nkhata Bay. This
last leg nearly broke Lisa and I because it took 12 hours and should have taken
5. We were crowded on this bus which would go about ½ a mile between stops and
then just wait for approximately 20 minutes at each stop. MADDENING! We were expecting to arrive mid-afternoon.
But, as night fell, so did our spirits. To make matters worse, after waiting SO
LONG at each stop, the bus would then speed off down the road, taking blind
corners really fast. At one point, a mom and her son went shooting off their
seat after the driver took a corner exceptionally fast. The boy landed clear under Lisa’s seat, a
little bewildered! We did not like
Malawi much those first couple days. But then we arrived at Njaya Lodge and everything
changed.
Njaya Lodge
We stayed three nights in a place called Njaya Lodge. We
paid $26/night to stay in a HUGE room which opened up to the enormous and
beautiful Lake Malawi. The staff was really service minded and took care of us.
The food was good. The atmosphere was really peaceful. After the final bus ride to get there, we
were SO thankful for the pleasant surroundings.
We just relaxed the first day. Then, the second day we took an OLD
wooden boat out on the lake. We fed fish
eagles which swooped down out of a tree to get the fish from the surface of the
lake. Then, I went snorkeling with some
of the most brightly colored fish I’ve ever seen: blues, yellows, black &
white. They were really pretty. The water was so clear you could see to the
bottom, even on really deep parts. The
final night we just sat out on the porch and the water was really calm. The sky
and water just kind of melted together to where it was virtually impossible to
differentiate the two. It was a really peaceful place. After some rest and fun there we needed to
return here!
Mbeya
To get from the lodge to Tanzania took some effort! We took
a taxi from the lodge to Nkhata Bay. Then a shared taxi from Nkhata Bay to a
larger town called Mzuzu. Then a mini-bus from Mzuzu to about 15 miles before
the border. Then another shared taxi to the border. Then we walked across the
border. Then took another mini bus to Mbeya (on the Tanzanian side). Then we
took a taxi to our hotel. AND IT ALL WORKED! Early that next morning we took a
20 hour bus from Mbeya back to Arusha.
This last ride was a little spooky. The road was quite windy and the
driver was more than willing to take the turns on either side of the road. On more than one occasion we saw trucks which
had gone over the side; one was even quite recent. At one point, Lisa stood up to stretch her
legs and was able to see through the front window. She said it was far more
terrifying actually seeing what was in front of us so we just kept our heads
buried in the sand, so to speak, and were a lot better off!
Overall…
It was a wonderful trip. We didn’t get many long stretches
of rest and relaxation. But, it was a good mix of rest with exploration. The
bus rides were really long. Zambia was way more expensive than we would have
thought. Lake Malawi and Victoria Falls were incredible. Now it’s time to get back to work!
Now
We’re back in Monduli.
There are LOTS of people around. The visitors from Groton, the private
high school in Boston, just left. We are living with Jeff & Jenny (1st ever
volunteers who returned for 6 weeks and will leave after two more weeks from
now) and Andy & Ming (setting up the computer lab and will stay for another
couple of months). Down in the other house there is Juliet (English teacher
leaving in 2 days), Allison (English teacher leaving in 6 months), Scott &
Lisa (return volunteer teachers staying for 6 months), Alex (office manager
staying until October). In another house is Jessica and Ester (MIT students
working on getting internet to the school). Then there’s always Peter too! And,
in about a month, we’ll get 4 more volunteers for pre-form English immersion,
agriculture and English. Unfortunately, almost everyone is leaving in December.
So, after all of this “feast” of volunteers then will come the “famine” of
nearly everyone going their own separate ways.
School begins next Wednesday after two days of teacher
meetings (which I need to go get together!).
Check out Lisa’s Facebook page for lots of pictures of
everything. She is getting REALLY good with her camera skills. We are really missing everyone at home and
are so sad about the dry conditions and the fires.
