So. Luangwa Park, Zambia, 12232010

Photos

Michuru Mountain Hike & Blantyre Musical Society Christmas Chorale

Michuru Mountain, Blantyre, Malawi

On Sunday, I hiked the Michuru peak with the mountaineering expats, Esther, Martin and Lindsey.  This was a tougher hike for me, the incline was steeper and terrain was rockier.  I huffed and puffed my way up to the lesser peak.

On the descent, the rain caught us and we finished the hike in the steady cool, clear rain.  Although all of us got soaked, it was a refreshing respite  from the continuing heat here. 

Don't the treetops look like broccoli crowns?


From lesser peak, Mt. Michuru, Blantyre, Malawi, December 5, 2010



Martin had us at his apartment for brunch, and then Esther, Davina and I went to the Christmas Concert at St. Paul's Anglican Church in Blantyre.  The choir, accompanied by the orchestra of varying degrees of skill, sang some carols that I had not heard:  Mary had a Baby [Negro spiritual (tho' the program called it "West Indian traditional" - my favorite!)], While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night (Nahum Tate), The Shepherds' Farewell (Hector Berlioz, from L'Enfance du Christ), Jesus Christ the Apple Tree (Elizabeth Poston), O Magnum Mysterium (Morten Lauridsen), Unto Us is Born a Son (Piae Cantiones, 1582, arr. by David Willcocks), and Good News (Jonathan Moss). Terry Callaway and I went to New York one Christmas and from under our hotel window on Christmas Eve, we heard the strains of a lone trombone wafting "Oh Come All Ye Faithful."  I would like to resurrect the lost art of carolling next Christmas.  Or at least join the choir. 

 Well, anyway, when I come back in my next life if I am not a graceful jungle cat, then I am going to be able to sing.



Macaroni Castle & Mr. Patel's Museum

On Saturday, November 27, I toured this Italian castle with the Society of Malawi.  It is located on the grounds of the Mapanga Girls Training Base of the Malawi Young Pioneers.  The Young Pioneers provide training for Malawian youth, and they help to maintain the peace by assisting in crowd control at national celebrations. The Sabbatini castle, its official name, has fallen to ruin since there is no organization responsible for its preservation. 

The castle took seven years to build.  Sabbatini had a large tobacco and mixed farming estate at Mapanga.  He was a genius at invention, but unfortunately, was unable to develop many of his ideas. The castle eventually passed into the hands of  the wife of a textile manufacturer named Sauze, who gave it to her husband in exchange for a hotel that he owned in Britain. She came out ahead in the deal.  During the Second World War, Mrs. Sauze negotiated a contract to run an internment camp at the castle for enemy aliens.  The castle was used for women internees, among them a Mrs. and a Miss Sabbatini.  After the war, the castle stood empty until 1976, when the Malawian government bought the grounds.

After the short tour and historical presentation, we were invited to cross the road to Mr. Patel's museum, where everyone was invited to view his African art, map, coin and book collections, and to have a quick snort with Mr. Patel who confessed that he was nursing a scotch hangover from the night before.  Below is another museum visitor who asked me to take his photo with Mr. Patel.

And below is probably the most interesting artifact of Mr. Patel's entire collection.



Stick Toys for Under Fives

On my walk home from work yesterday, I spotted a traveling merchant pushing two butterfly stick toys. My neighbor told me that these toys were for "under fives." This clever butterfly flaps its wings as the wheels go round when it is pushed. It is made of cardboard, cloth, wire and a stick, stolen from a local tree. Whimsical and curious - delighted me!

Flora & Fauna

Lots of interesting bugs here.  This beetle was captured on top of a bud on a flame tree outside of my house at high noon. The spider, on the bedroom wall - at night.   The real creepy crawlies come out at night.  I try to sweep the ones that I know are harmless out of the room.  But I go 'mano a mano' with the spiders and mosquitoes.

Friends, Finally

 I climbed Zomba plateau this weekend (about 5500' altitude) with some mostly Brits, two men and one of their wives, who teach Physics and Biology at St. Andrews School, a private, tuition-fed school in Blantyre. They were so smart and knowledgeable about Africa, the mountain, and the wildlife. One had been here 18 years, and I don't know about the other couple, but I seem to remember about 8-9 years. Also in the party was a Dutch female MD who is working with the HIV/AIDs afflicted, two filmmakers, and an Indian man who is a retired finance person who is here for 3 months working on a microloan initiative.

The Physics teacher and his wife are hobbyist wildlife photographers, and apparently, when one becomes somewhat knowledgeable about photography, you look for shots that "the rest of the world" doesn't also see. You look for that "unusual" shot or perspective. He was most proud of a nighttime shot of a fledgling owl that is indigenous to this area that was "catching its first fish." Apparently, it's important that it does not catch a fish that is too heavy for it because rather than let it go, it will cling to it and fall off its tree-branch perch and into the water to drown.

The couple publishes a wildlife calendar, and are active in the mountain climbing group, and the Society of Malawi organization - all having to do w/ social and cultural (such as they are) events. Two guys with the best food were filmmakers - they are here making a documentary for a mining company. Andy has made several African country documentaries and he was an interesting person with an interesting point-of-view. Lindsey, the Biologist's wife, said that the oral tradition of handing down history was dying here and that she wanted to make a recording of the oral history left by the older generation. I commented that companies were losing their histories by letting go of the the "first hired," and Andy commented that he thought the problem was institutional, which I thought was interesting.

I have so much respect for the scientists' knowledge and ability and impulse to "figure things out." We saw a native carrying a felled tree on his back while we were hiking the forested area (there were multiple bio-topographies) and the physics teacher, figured out how much it weighed by calculating the estimated length of the log and multiplying it by pi, which calculates the area of a circle. Then he figured the tree was softwood, had to be less than the density of water (will float), and with all of those basic formulae, he calculated in his head that the tree must weigh about 200 lb.

The Biology teacher, Martin, knew a lot about the flora and fauna - Monkey Tussel an interesting coniferous tree, brought in from South America and took over, and an elephant fern that waters itself during the dry season, from the rain it stores during the rainy season.

They all take self-driving safaris in Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and know from being insiders the places to go (Botswana, apparently, has exquisite safaris, keeps the gawker population down, and are quite expensive ($600 USD/night), but these established expats know how to do them less expensively, maintain the quality and see what they want to see. They all have vehicles, too, which makes a huge difference in their quality of life. Martin asked me if I was going to buy a vehicle while I was here and told him, "Not for 10 months." He said, "If you are smart, you could buy one and sell it for about what you paid for it." I am not sure I want to take that expense on, but it certainly would improve the quality of my life here. Rental vehicles are prohibitively expensive; the minibuses are dangerous and uncomfortable (20 crowded in a van that should accommodate 16; and the individual taxis for hire jack their prices way up so that they aren't good value for the money.)

Found the pool at Sir Harry Johnston International Primary School, within walking distance, and it's 50-meters, has designated swim lanes, is crisp, cool, and refreshing in this 95-degree heat, but is only about 2' deep. I swam a mile on Saturday and savored every cool stroke, even tho' when I did the flip turn to head back across the pool, I hit the bottom. I believe I will be swimming 2 miles by the time I return. That 18 laps was nothing for a non-smoker!







An Old Saw Finally Answered

I watched this chicken cross the road today on my way to work. I mean, stopped and really watched it walk all the way across the road to see if it had a purpose on the other side. And the answer is no, it did not have a reason for crossing the road. It jumped in a ditch, turned around and started back across the road.

So the accurate answer to the joke, "Why did the chicken cross the road?" is "to get to the other side."

George King wouldn't eat chicken. After living around them for as little as three weeks, I'm beginning to think that he had the right idea.

Road in Front of My House - Zomba, Malawi

 

Welcome to Odi - and to Malawi

I am a little late in getting this blog started and I know myself well enough to know that if I wait any longer, I may not do it at all. The blog really is something that I want to do while I am in Africa to share with friends and family my experiences, personal observations and inspirations.

I arrived in Zomba on Saturday, September 18 at around 5 p.m. in a van with a hired driver who brought us from Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, and where we had been staying since our arrival in Malawi, on September 14. The drive took about 4 hours and was hot and dusty. I traveled with the other IFESH volunteers, one woman who will be teaching Chemistry and another who will be teaching in the Communications Department at Chancellor College.

I will be working on the national eLearning initiative that is being strongly promoted by the Malawian government. The Chancellor of the college reports directly to the President of Malawi, Bingu Mutharika.