The Final Chapter

On a plane in three weeks, probably less by the time I manage to get this sent.  Two years and eight months.  For someone who did not expect to last two weeks I consider this a worthy accomplishment.  We leave with mixed feelings, but a new grandchild due in March tips the balance of a return home.

What will I not miss?  The power and occasional water outages I expected and overall were tolerable, albeit frustrating at times.  What has been more disconcerting is the ubiquitous garbage and trash, the crazy driving, the lack of deodorant, the mosquitos and the omnipresent sand in my shoes. 

What will I miss?  The many fantastic Mozambicans we have worked with and come to know, the South African wine, the lions and giraffes, and the many great travel opportunities.  Most recently we did farewell tours to two of our favorite places: Nkomazi Game Park and Cape Town.

Nkomazi is the home of the lion den.   

The cubs have now gone out on their own and the young males are developing manes.  Fun to see how the kids have grown! 

 

 We witnessed both a day and dusk stalking of prey, at night by the young females and during the day by the two older females.  In both cases the males hung back and waited to be served.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                              

We had great rhino sightings and drove into the thick of a large group, including many females with their young.  Another reminder that the law of the jungle holds and it is survival of the strong: we witnessed a fight over food. Our ranger got really close, to the point where one of the rhinos considered us a threat and started charging.  Did not know you could put a jeep into reverse that quickly...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was our fourth trip to Cape Town (including a trip pre-Mozambique).  It remains a captivating city for both of us.  

 

 

 

We had planned this trip around whale migration season and spent quality time at a well-known town for whale sightings and at a nature reserve with great hiking and whale-watching opportunities.  

 

 

 

 

 



Kayaking with the whales

 



De Hoop Nature Reserve- incredible scenery, great
hiking and more whale watching.-

 
 

 

 

Of course we did not forget the wine country.    

 

     

 

 

 

 





Quirks and Contradictions

 

Mozambique has often felt like an amalgamation of anomalies and contradictions (say that ten times fast).  Some reflect the disconnect between past and present  - the American Martin Luther King Cultural Center sits at the intersection of Kim Il Sung and Mao Tse Tung.  Some are obvious and reflect economic and urban/rural differences.  Some are unique to the culture. The people are gentle and friendly but LOUD.  I doubt if the word “whisper” exists in the local languages.  Conversations, both face to face and cell phone, are carried on at decibel levels that would be illegal in most US jurisdictions.  The beach areas rotate among religious groups holding services and baptisms and groups of people drinking beer and blasting their car radios.  It is a country of vast distances and open spaces but on a personal level the goal seems to be to get as close to the next person as possible.  There are eight treadmills at the gym we use.  I usually use one at the end and am generally the only person there.  If another person comes in 99.9% of the time they will get on the treadmill next to me.  Seven possible choices, only one of which involves immediate proximity…    Or when I am out walking on the Marginal, a road/path that follows the water, I will see someone sitting on the wall in the distance.  They wait, wait, wait, wait until I am about to pass and then ……. up like a shot. 

The country has vast resources and much wealth in the extractive industries but has been downgraded on the UN Human Development Index during our time here.  The President has been building a palace since our arrival, his wife and daughter are among the richest women in Africa, and all the ministers get new cars every year.  But the schools have no books, health care resources are scarce, and sanitation and water very limited. 

Mozambique has strong ties to South Africa to the point where it has opted to be in the same time zone even though all other countries at this longitude operate an hour later.  That is why the sun comes up at 4:30 a.m. and sets at 6 p.m.  My circadian rhythms do not mesh.  I wake up with the sun but I am not happy about it.  The closest large town over the border developed as a rural center surrounded by orange groves; it now seems to exist primarily to service as a shopping center for wealthy Mozambicans and expats.  Another example of the country’s $$$$ benefitting others.

This is country where even Portuguese, although the official, is often a second language for many people.  Education is minimal and the life expectancy is in the low 50’s.  (When I tell someone I am 61 years they look like they have seen a ghost – literally).  Day to day existence can be challenging; fetching water and firewood are common tasks even in the bairros of Maputo.  In that context, what can seem as an utter lack of common sense…actually makes sense.  The wheel is reinvented daily.  Who thinks they need a wheel tomorrow?  Case in point is the road construction that has yet to finish.  As promised, here is the saga of

How to Build a Road in Maputo

1.      Set a start date; generate lots of publicity; put up billboard announcing start date.

2.      Don’t start.

3.      Six months later, begin digging up existing road.  Only two backhoes and four guys with shovels allowed to work.  All other workers only allowed to observe.

4.      Cross out start date on billboard and write in new date.

5.      Create as much dirt and chaos as possible, then stop work.

6.      Wait two months, hire new contractor.  Make sure to let them start work early so all residents can wake up knowing work has resumed.

7.      Grade road, wait for rain and lots of traffic to create washboard effect.

8.      Regrade; again wait for rain and lots of traffic.

9.      Re-regrade, wait for rain and lots of traffic.

10.   Pour sidewalks.

11.   Jack-hammer and chisel sidewalks to install curb pavers.

12.   Patch spaces on sidewalks created by jackhammers and chisels.

13.   Pave road, ensure cars have access before drying to create tire tracks in cement.

14.   Trim and spackle curb pavers to meet paved road.

15.   Jackhammer and chisel sidewalk to install sewer drains.  Make sure the openings do not match any standard size lid cover!

16.   Repave.

17.   Send two guys into the sewers to chisel out the pavement that fell in.

18.   DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT, cover sewer drain openings.  It makes for challenging walking, especially when it is dark.

19.   Wait for heavy rains to see how much flooding occurs.

20.   Cut and chisel paved road along curb to actually create a slope to let water drain.  Make sure you put all those concrete pieces on the sidewalk to prohibit any pedestrian activity.

21.   Wait a sufficient amount of time until everyone is trained to walk in the street. 

22.   Remove concrete, custom make manhole covers (only one at a time!). 

23.   Clean out all the garbage and trash that has collected in the drains before installing covers.

24.   Review.

25.   Oh, wait, there is a twenty foot section that was never done.  Really, we can’t allow anyone to get all the way from Point A to Point B on a paved surface.

26.   Go back to Step 1.

In fairness to the Mozambicans, the first contractor was South African, the second Portuguese.  Colonials don’t always do it better.  The work continues further on but at least we can now get to Peace Corps and the Embassy either by paved road (Carl – 1 km) or paved sidewalk (Pam – 2Km).

 

We also celebrated our 37the wedding anniversary on September 11^th (whoever thought that date would be memorable?).  Carl was travelling and had dinner with Peace Corps volunteers.  I came home and watched a movie about the holocaust and drank half a bottle of wine.  And people wonder how we have managed to stay together so long.

 

Lessons learned?

Lower your expectations.  You can only be pleasantly surprised.

Keep a sense of humor.

Don’t drink the water.

Keep a sense of humor.

Carpe diem (and I don’t mean just buying all the broccoli you can find).

Keep a sense of humor.

The two of us can still get along.

Keep a sense of humor…

 

CIAO, CIAO Mozambique!