DAM IT!!

Did that get your attention?  This could be interpreted several ways but I will choose to go with the literal spelling.

Carl was travelling north to Tete Province to visit PC Volunteers and I decided to join for part of the trip, to see another part of this vast country but primarily because I was interested in two of its better known landmarks: the Cahora Bassa Dam and the Gorongosa Game Reserve.  The trip was somewhat touch and go until the last minute as there had been several incidents of the minority political (and armed) party stopping vehicles on essentially the one and only road to Gorongosa, including shooting at a large bus and killing three civilians.  We got permission to go, the perceived threat diminished and it was ultimately decided that the bandits were either disgruntled rogues or, for the conspiracy theorists, members of the majority (and armed) party looking to discredit their rivals.  It was a several hour flight up to Tete City and lots of driving.  This is a "dam" big country.

We traveled from Tete City, a hot dirty overgrown town that serves as a base for foreign mining interests and offers little else to a PC site near the Malawi border where the volunteers took us walking on the trails into Malawi.  We then headed south towards the dam with an overnight stay at one of the highest altitude points of the country also close to the border and another PC site.  We went from sweating to wearing everything we had brought within twenty-four hours. 

Construction of the dam (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/666916/Cahora-Bassa) was begun in 1969 and completed in 1974 by the Portuguese.  According to the tour guides it stayed operational, though at diminished capacity due to acts of sabotage, throughout the revolution (sorry Britannica). It is now under the management of Mozambicans.  It is a privately owned enterprise and apparently has quite a reputation for those interested in hydroelectric facilities.
A special permit is required to visit the facility and there is only one tour a day.  Our group (one mini-busload) included several nationalities.  The dam supplies all the power for Mozambique and most of the power for South Africa as well as other southern African countries.

The architecture is quite impressive: it is built into
canyon of the Zambezi River.  It has nine gates, only one of which was open while we there. 



 

 

The town, Songo, in which the dam is located is also interesting.  It gives the impression of being a planned community with wide, paved streets; open spaces; and some stunning mosaics and statues.  It was also by far the cleanest place we have seen in Moz. 

 



After the dam tour we headed to several other PC sites, landing in the city of Chimoio, the fifth largest in Mozambique and the capital of Manica Province (not to be confused with Manica Beer) near the Zimbabwe border.  A volunteer with Vietnamese heritage cooked us a wonderful meal and it was a nice respite.  Both the lights and the hot water worked in the hotel.

It was interesting to see another - and prettier -

part of the country, an area influenced as
 much if not more by its proximity to Malawi
 and Zimbabwe as it is to Maputo. It is also
 known for its baobob trees.












My final part of the journey was a trip to Gorongosa Park; a long drive on a horrible, minimally tarred, potholed dominated road.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorongosa_National_Park
It is a huge reserve that served as the base for the RENAMO party during the revolution. Unfortunately, almost all of the wild animals were killed for food during that time and this once prominent tourist destination now has very little game.  What it does have is the support of an American businessman who has made revival of the park his mission and is providing financial backing and business expertise. On the plus side because the area had been neglected for so long it is rich in flora, birds, insects, etc.  Liked the birds and plants; not "wild" about the insects.  When we arrived I was wearing flip-flops and my feed were overrun by ants.  While we were there an expedition of scientists were preparing for a 30 day blitz to record all plants and animals, including an ant specialist and a bat specialist.  Really, the ant guy was into it and very excited about digging in the dirt.  The bat woman climbed into spaces that could easily have served as sets for horror movies.  While it seems unlikely that this park can be resuscitated as a major game park, it does have serious potential as a scientific site for biodiversity studies.  It has a unique beauty and high hopes.

Ciao, ciao.

 



ON THE ROAD AGAIN

BIG GAME ADVENTURES
SWAZI ADVENTURES:
A Blog in Two Parts

Big Game Adventures
Continuing the theme of the previous blog, "trips", we headed to the second of my raffle win game parks, Nkomazi, the holiday weekend in January.

It is located on the Komati river close to the Swaziland border surrounded by....almost nothing: 10 platform tent cabins; 3 vehicles; 15,000 hectares and no public traffic.  You park your car near the entrance and are picked up for the half hour ride to the camp.  We went on one of the weekends of bad rains and flooding, ignoring travel warnings, and as result had little traffic and only 4 other people at the park.  The scenery/topography/geography was stunning, the three young couples running the park passionate, and the food surprisingly good considering the limited number of guests.  There were only four of us on the game drives and a guide who gave little thought to staying on the dirt roads.  Lucky for us - he got us within twenty feet or so of a pride of lions: a full-maned male, two male cubs, two female cubs and an incredible alpha lioness.

Wrong lioness....

We spent an hour just parked and watching.  As long as we talked quietly and stayed within the confines of the vehicle it was safe (or so said the guide). As the vehicles are open this is important.  And because the lions are big - really big - and get bigger the closer you get.  Apparently they are used to the vehicle but are extremely sensitive to movement or anything out of the ordinary, even just putting your arm outside the vehicle.  It was an incredible experience and did much to offset the power and water outages of the past two years.

A sampling of our 60 Minutes:



This area of the southern Africa is the "Cradle of Civilization".  It is stunningly beautiful.  One has to wonder why anyone would migrate north to hotter and more barren climes.  Although, perhaps, the presence of predators provided some incentive to move on.  

Because of the vast open areas and plains within the  park, there are huge herds and many varieties of antelope we have not seen elsewhere. 

These plains also serve as smorgasboards for the lions.





We reluctantly left this beautiful experience and headed back to Maputo until.... the the holiday weekend in February!  When we were in Swaziland last May we had visited the Ngwenya Glass Factory (http://www.ngwenyaglass.co.sz/), a small glass factory originally started by Swedes.  It had fallen into disrepair, was resurrected by a South African family, and now employs and trains local Swazis and secondarily supports the economy and ecology by buying and recycling glass collected by locals.  I had seen a chandelier that I found intriguing when we visited last May and had regretted not buying it ever since.  In the interest of enhancing a sustainable economy for Swaziland, we decided a trip back was in order.  In all fairness, Swaziland is quite nice: gorgeous countryside (according to friends from Montana it is just like Montana), extremely friendly people, English-speaking (albeit heavily accented), good roads and real stores.  Africa lite.  We spent a couple nights in a mountainous, heavily wooded area not far from the capital, Mbabene, and were able to do some hiking in addition to shopping at the glass factory.  Suprisingly, or not, the light fixture was still there.  It is now packed and waiting for a good home in the U.S.

This part of Swazi is within an hour of the Nkomazi game park and like the game park is part of the "Cradle of Civilation".  It also has beautiful land areas and a fascinating ancient history.  Intrepid traveler and purveyor of all things off the beaten path, I decided I wanted to visit the oldest mine in the world and the Bushmen rock paintings.   Off we went, the good roads becoming  not so good roads. 

Ngwenya Mine is a UNESCO world heritage site(http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5421/).  They have determined by archeological investigation and carbon dating that haematite mining was begun at least 42,000 years ago.  Limited mining continues.  Haematite produces red ochre and the area is defined by its red color.  There is a small musuem, a bit of a hike to an overlook, and no tourists.

The haematite/ochre was used by ancestors of the San bushmen for rock painting.  So to complete the circle we headed off.  "Take the highway (4 lane tarred road) to the exit for the dam (two laned tarred), take the road to the right at the dam (two lane dirt) and follow the signs (dirt path that sees maybe 2 or 3 vehicles a year).

Continue to the end (a somewhat wider patch of dirt)."  So we did.  A few small abodes, many cattle and a small Welcome Shack.  After a few minutes a woman comes up, we sign the register (waiver?) and follow her down a path.  She is wearing flip-flops and proceeds merrily along.  We are wearing shoes slightly more substantial and still work to keep up.  To say we followed a path is a bit of stretch: down a hill, through the pasture (close the gate behind you so the cows don't wander in), over the rocks to a small cavern.

The paintings were of the minimalist school, but very interesting.  They told the story of the bushmen (red people) coming to the area, followed by the Bantu (black people) with their domesticated animals.  The bushmen fled and the Bantu took over.

Having sweated out, literally, the drive and the climb to the paintings, we can began our trek back to the highway and Maputo.  We - or at least our car - took the signage to heart; unfortunately on the hill and not the dale part of the journey. 

We were climbing a steep, winding part of the road when we both hear a rattle, looked at each other and simultaneously said "That can't be good".  The next minute the car dies. 

A water hose has broken and the radiator is boiling.  A long story short, a small bus finally comes by and stops, one of the passengers offers to help, hikes off to the nearest residence and comes back with water and a pliers.  The hose is spliced and jerry-rigged and the radiator filled.                                          

We get to the top of the hill and once again stop.  A call to the Swazi Peace Corps director who helps us arrange a tow and then  wait.  We were quite the local attraction.  Carl opened the cooler and had a beer but there was no way I was risking having to pee at the side of the road watched by 25 men.  Four hours later the tow truck arrived and we drove back to Mbabane: me, Carl, and two workers who maybe had taken a shower once in the past couple of weeks.  We spent the night at the PC Director's, hired someone to bring us back to Maputo and left the car for repairs, although we really didn't have much choice on that.  We were assured the car would be ready in a couple of days.  Eleven days later it actually was ready.

On the positive side, the Health Unit at the Embassy was sponsoring a contest to see who could walk the farthest in six weeks.  I logged in quite a few miles.

POST SCRIPT

So maybe this is a blog in three parts.  We were so intrigued by Nkomazi we decided to risk the trip with the car and return on the holiday weekend in March.  Well, St. Patrick's Day, but I am part Irish (O'Doran to tell the truth).  We were once again treated by fantastic drives and several liaisons with the lions.  We also had the same "I can go anywhere" driver and go everywhere we did.  Everywhere to the point of being stuck, being stuck in lion hunting territory after having just seen the lions.  There were five of us plus the driver.  The two women were put on lion watch while the men got out and tried to push.  No luck; well, some luck because no lions appeared.  The driver had to call for a tow (hmmm...this seems to be a new theme for us) and we hunkered down in the vehicle with the driver gun in hand.  The other vehicle arrived and we all got out to lessen the weight, the other woman and I still on watch.  As we were getting back in the vehicle we both looked over our shoulders and saw two of the male lions looking back. It begged the question of the location of the females, the real hunters in the lion kingdom.

We also have put a contract on a new townhouse in Ballston/Arlington.  Another long story of unfortunate/fortunate events, but it was a property we had our eye on and had to make a commitment in two weeks.  This has been a challenge from halfway around the world and we are making decisions based on less than reliable internet and downloaded pictures the size of my big toe.  And we thought the lions were scary....

  American lion

The Blog(ger) is Back

Wow - it has been six months since I last posted anything.  How time flies.  Six months in Maputo is like comparing dog years to human years.  And to think that a year and a half ago I wasn't sure I would survive even six months.  But yes, we are two-thirds into the 30 month commitment.  Carl will have had three birthdays and I will have had two.  We are balder and silver-haired - respectively; older and...older.

So, to recap the past eight months in a nutshell:

What has changed?
A trip to to the states
A trip to a game park
A trip to Paris
A trip to a game park

Seems to be a common thread.

Oh, and a new grocery store opened.  Bigger but not always better.
And two more Peace Corps Volunteer groups have established themselves throughout Mozambique with minimal attrition.

What has not changed?
Power outages
Transformers exploding
Water outages
Spinach outages
And the road construction continues...

We did a whirlwind trip to the states in September that included bookend Ben time in Atlanta, a week in California that included all the family, a quick visit with Carl's sister and family and Carl's father, as well as time in the DC area.  It provided another opportunity for a four generation...

and uncle photos

And yes, Ben does have a mother. I appreciate the estrogen balance.

While we accomplished a lot of the had-to's, we did not get in nearly enough of the want-to's.  Although if we had known we were taking a five week trip, instead of a four week trip we might have planned somewhat differently. Our return trip from Atlanta to Johannesburg was canceled after sitting on the tarmac for three hours, the flight was aborted and 250+ passengers were relocated to hotels.  We spent the next week at the Atlanta airport Hilton with a daily trip on the hotel shuttle to the Delta counter to pick up hotel and meal vouchers and check on next available flights.  On the positive side, it gave us more Ben time.

And on the sixth day...we fanagled two seats on the second to last row of the plane, said good-bye to the Atlanta family and headed back.


AND ON THE 15TH DAY - the power came on and has stayed on for a full 8 hours, so here we go again.  I may be back in that states before I finish this chapter.

At a charity event event sponsored by a South African based travel company that caters to ex-pats in Mozambique incapable of access to - or just incapable of - managing their own travel arrangements, I won two trips to two different game parks (we also won two beanies and 100 Rand in gift certificates to a SA grocery store which bought us exactly two pounds of parmesan cheese, no small thing).  We did the first trip in November.  It was a small establishment abutting Kruger.  Hot as Hades when we were there, but only 12 rooms and with access to a less traveled part of Kruger.  So, if lions were spotted, which they were, only three other jeeps instead of twelve or fifteen came racing up as well. 

After that, a few more weeks of the same old, same old: boil water when the power is on, buy as many greens as possible when they are available, strategically place candles and matches throughout the apartment, choke down the dust from the construction on the street, hold your nose while passing the garbage piles, and survive 9 hour work days (and on the fifth day USG in Mozambique said "Thou shall work only 4 hours"). 

Then..,Paris, City of lights, Christmas decorations, good food, culture.  This was our first Christmas ever without family, but Paris was pretty good compensation.  I was desperate for holiday cheer - the only decorations here were in the ex-pat oriented mini-mall and the plastic tree at our Chinese masseuse's. We rented a small efficiency on the banks of the Seine, one block down from Notre Dame.  It was heaven - and confirmed for me that Paris is absolutely my favorite City.  Decorations were abundant,

Santa  (and Santa wanna-bes)evident  

and the food and wine to die for.                    

We strolled the large Christmas Markets on Montmartre and the Champs Elysee and found some smaller neighborhhood markets as well.

We spent our days walking, enjoying

 previously visited tourist sites as well as exploring new neighborhoods, revelling in the paved sidewalks and only occasional piles of dog poop.                  

A new addition to the Paris

scene - and not just for tourists -

 locks personalized with the initials,

names, dates, etc. of couples and

attached to the bridges. Voila!- there

was actually someone selling locks

on site as we

strolled across the bridge.   

Those assured of everlasting love throw the key in the Seine.  We kept all three keys...

Warning to sons: three keys to be bequeathed.  Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to locate said lock "P&C". (size does not matter?)


I found a small tree at the flower market and we had an enjoyable Christmas Day, doing our last meanderings through the City and flying back to "MOZAMlicious" at 11:30 pm. Next year we hope the tree is bigger than the hats and more importantly, more than two people are in the picture.

After two weeks of trying to get this completed, my "African" instincts are to send this while I can - who knows what the next day, hour, minute will bring.  My increasing admiration for Peace Corps volunteers who live with uncertainty on a daily basis.  Mozambique has had horrific flooding in the past two months - many Mozambicans and 18 PC volunteers displaced. 

We had one bad day of flooding in Maputo, but because our apartment is high we were spared water damage, just experienced the obligatory water and power outages.

In the (belated) and immortal "words" of my grandson: May you have a "trauma free" year.

*this blog was done "Mozambican".  Dec 25th = Feb 25th to March 3rd????

To be continued (kind of like watching Downton Abbey, eh??)  Stay tuned for the second Game Park and Adventures in Swaziland!!!  Ciao, ciao