Pics. In Dar-es-Salaam now. Thirty degrees at 9 am...

Mmm. Those smells in the minibus; lovely

Malawian kids

Mbeya

Minibus attacked by sellers

Market

Iringa

Snack; dried fish



Lunch... (Fresh Tanzanian pineapple tastes like heaven!)

From now on; Ruaha National Park

Tanzania

10/06/’07
Donders. We arrived in Tanzania! We’ve been in minibuses all Friday; from 7.30 am till 9.30 pm. From Nkata-bay to Mzuzu, Mzuzu to Karonga, Karonga to border and from the border to Mbeya. We had two breakdowns on that first part of the road in Tanzania; a flat tire and an overheated motor.
A positive fact about being in Tanzania is that we needed to buy a new sim card, so we haven’t heard that annoying ring tone for a couple of days; nobody knows our new number.
But it’s too bad there are no more greens around here, and I never really took time to enjoy my last one in Malawi. Guess it all went a bit too fast after all. All of the sudden we found ourselves at the border (buying visa for 50 US dollar, or 50 euros, sounds fair doesn’t it?), changing our kwachas into shillings and hearing a new language; Swahili. We are having trouble with the language here; most people don’t speak English at all and the three of us are not quite masters of Swahili jet.

While walking around in Mbeya at night, looking for some food together with our two new Tanzanian friends, I felt like I was in a new world. Like a kid in a place like Disneyland or something. My first impression of the Tanzanian people was that they seemed less friendly, less social compared to Malawians. They don’t start talking to us spontaneously, and open. But I’ve already figured out that they’re just as friendly, they only need a little push to get started. I’ve also learned that Tanzania is huge. Driving for hours took us into the country for just a little bit. On the road you see more trucks and big buses than I’ve seen in three months Malawi.

Another first impression is that the average person here seems a bit richer. Houses look stronger, with metal roofs instead of grass and plastic. More flies, but just as many mosquitoes. Clothes of people look better, and there are more children wearing shoes. More women who wear beautiful traditional clothing. More wind (at least where we are right now). More tall people. More choice; you can choose between coke and pepsi (in bigger bottles, still from glass). And the things they sell on the market (bags, shoes, clothes, etc.) look better, new instead of second hand. No Chinese junk, but real brands. A lot of the things I see look cleaner, fresher, nicer. The meat tastes better. Strange that a border, a different language, another nationality and some kilometers, can cause such a big difference...

But Saturday we took a bus from Mbeya to Iringa (12.30 till 20.00) and I’ve seen that (of course) also here in Tanzania people live in tiny huts. Still there are dusty dirt roads. Still kids with round bellies and shabby clothes. Still most people don’t have electricity. Still the sun burns. Still people die at an average age of 47, it is 39 in Malawi).
Still it is Africa.

11/06/’07.
Imagine this. Sitting on top of your private Landrover (ok, just for a day…), while that awesome vehicle is driving you through a wild park. Seated in the sun, while the hot African wind is blowing in your face, you see huge, completely empty stretches of land. Endless, rolling lands, as far as you can see, with dry yellow grass, thorny bushes, massive baobabs and the typical savanna trees. Here and there you have to hold on tight; steep slopes of the dried rivers need to be taken. The sandy bedding of the rivers are filled with all kinds of animal tracks, many of them are huge circles of elephant feet.
During the day you see groups of hippos with their babies lazing around in the water, some crocodiles are pretending to sleep, a bit further down the river. A shadow, and the scream of a fish eagle makes you look up, into the dry land again. Many vultures are floating around in circles, on the hot air. (Ground) hornbills, doves and small birds in all possible colors, bright and shiny, are flying around, living their lives. As well are the groups of incredibly stupid Guinea Fowls, and the Marshall eagle that is eating one of them, seated in a big tree.
As the car keeps following its bumpy way into the park, with a size that is unbelievable, you keep bumping into antelopes, zebras, some velvet monkeys, kudus, gazelles, a pretty big snake, jackals, ostriches and the tiny dikdiks. The best thing of all is that you get eye in eye with several herds of elephants, many of those strange looking giraffes and you even get the change to see some lions hunt successfully. Later on fifteen lions, in all different sizes, take all the time they need to walk away from you…

I hope your imagination was able to take you all the way into Africa. I’m sorry (especially for Tammy and Renee), but I have to admit that this all was reality for me today…

On the way

Hi!

We're in Mzuzu right now. Have been chillin in Nkatabay since Tuesday morning early, and we're now on our way to the Tanzanian border. Decided to come back to Malawi to visit Nyika Plateau. In October, or something like that... You see the picture with the little hut, looking out over the lake? It was our place to sleep for three nights... For 2 euro each.

Talk to you all soon!

Chifundo

These are the same girls as on the picture last time, school was out and they were all going nuts, in their blue little dresses

Jep. Friends, and other guys who we know, or who know us (happens annoyingly often; people knowing me, without me ever meeting them), are complaining that ‘we’ve changed our lives’ and that ‘we have been missing’. It’s true. For the last two and a half weeks we have been ‘beuking’, to finish the work; our reports.
Since the report is getting close to being finished now, we are preparing a goodbye-party for all our Malawian friends, for this coming Friday. Of course everybody is invited, also if you’re living on another continent...
Somewhere I would like to leave quietly, without saying goodbye to all our new friends. Because, the idea that I’ll have to leave this part of Malawi in less than a week, makes me feel sad and all mixed up. Of course I like, no, I love to start travelling, but I had such a great time here. So good, it’s not understandable. Or never completely.
Even if I would have the chance come back, it would never ever be the same again. Just wishing this part of my life would never end. Yeah, I’m pretty sure I found my third home country here. After falling in love with Canada, even before I had ever set a foot there, Malawi is another place in this world where I feel at home. From now on, three continents will be tearing my heart apart. I’m in trouble. Because, where do I want to go, to live my life? Maybe, just to make things easier, I should pick a new continent. South-America or New-Zealand, something like that... Good idea?

I’ve been watching some football games here at the Likuni grounds lately. How you’re able to see the difference between the two teams? Simple. One of the teams takes of his T-shirt and the other ones keep it on. Easy as that.
Just when you think you couldn’t possibly get any dirtier, the dry season kicks in. The dustier, the dirtier… Bushes close to the road are covered with dust till a height of around 2 meters. And you know what, they like to call dry season winter here; its sometimes down to 16 degrees early morning… Reason enough for local people to walk around with winter coats, sweaters and tooks during the morning. Still wondering who they’re trying to fool.

Luther, Lotta, Ruth, Rhotta, Loto, Lottie, Chifundo (messy), Lota, Rotte etc.

P.S. Maybe my Chichewa-name Chifundo is the best one right now, because my thoughts are such a mess.

I'll miss Africa. So bad.

Project

The project.
Some people told me that whenever they were checking out my blog, it looked as if I’m not doing anything useful here. Tssss. What are you people thinking?!? ;)
As you (might) know, the subject of our research is ‘General inventory of the agricultural situation of Malawi’, with a focus on subjects like diseases, breeding, housing and feeding. Next to this inventory we’re trying to get the major problems on each of these subjects clear, so we will be able to create a plan for future agricultural teams. Here in Malawi our project is being supervised by A.C.E.M. (Association of Christian Educators in Malawi), who contacted us to the National Resources College close by. After some meetings there, the most important decisions and agreements about the project were made. We were able to start writing our questionnaire. After completing the final version, we were ready to jump on our bikes and cycle to local villages, together with a student from the NRC, to translate our questions into Chichewa. We completed a total of 100 interviews with smallholder farmers.
At the moment, all data are entered into the computer and we are writing our reports. Literature research, analyzing, diagrams, conclusions etc. Because of a lack of computers, and often enough because of a power knock-out, we can’t work as fast as we want to. But with two computers (most of the time), enough non-computer work and seven full days a week, we’ll get there.
In the future, they’re supposed to come three or four agricultural teams a year to Malawi. If everything works out as planned, they will follow up each other’s project, trying to solve some problems and improve the agricultural situation. Today we visited feeding factory and a chicken farm with 130.000 laying hens. Tonight some more computer work!

P.S. Pictures can't be uploaded today, have to wait till next time...

Mulanje Mountain

Yes, I did climb the highest peak of Malawi’s highest mountain. We, the three girls and Joeri (a Dutch guy who also stays/stayed at Likuni Parish), decided to climb Mulanje Mountain (3001 meters) around twelve hours before we left. So, of course, we forgot sunscreen and some stuff to treat blisters. Eh, we’re always só incredibly well prepared whenever we’re undertaking something… Our faces and necks are turned from dark brown to pink again.
But. We got there. All the way to the top. And we had a super, great time. Travelled from Lilongwe to Mulanje in several minibuses the whole Saturday. While the sun was setting we arranged a guide (Peter), a porter (Juma) and food for the coming days. We left Sunday morning early and were back down on Thursday. Home last Friday. Bij de weg, the picture with the water drops (in case you can’t see); it’s me. We found a natural water slide on the mountain, ending in a basin with clear, COLD water. But it was loads of fun. Torn another trouser…
O. I almost forget to tell you, but before and after the trip to the mountain, we were actually doing some work for our project; we biked to different villages to interview smallholder farmers. The first pictures in this post are from a village I visited. At the time I’m typing this, we’ve collected enough data to start analysing and write the report. And as soon as it’s finished, we’re free to leave this place, to start to travel up North, to visit the Northern part of Malawi and Tanzania and Kenya for about seven weeks.

Thinking about my life, as it is right now and will be in the coming months, is enough to keep on smiling non-stop for a whole week.