out of sequence More from Muvuu camp…

Posted by: annroberts on: July 11, 2009

• In: Uncategorized
• 1 Comment

Thursday July 9^th, 2009

Did I say that Muvuu means Hippo? There are tons of hippo. Think of being out in the country and sleeping by a pond and you hear the deep voice of a bullfrog glunking at night… Now deepen the voice… change the tune from glunk… to more of a fog horn bullfrog sound… multiply it by…ummmm 20 and you can get a sense of what it sounds like to be by the river at Muvuu camp… Those hippos are some partiers… all night long talking to each other…

Rain…. Pat keeps saying this is the oddest dry season weather she has ever encountered… it rained all night and into the morning. We were supposed to be awaken at 5:30am for the 6:00am morning walk out in the bush…. Well the rain was still coming down and we were wondering if it would be cancelled… The rain slowed to a mist and we were game(pun definitely intended!). Jimmy was our guide. The rules were single file, quiet and listen for directions in case we were in a tight spot with the animals. Dice was at the end of the line with a rifle and very vigilant scanning at all times and we headed out.

I was walking in the bush… walking by impala, water buck, wart hogs and monkeys…. On a stroll… walking in this land that was scrubby, dry, yet sustains so many… We learned about the local flora and wives tales about different plants… We spotted many beautiful colorful birds… I kept thinking of my brother-in-law Greg who is an ornithologist and how he would love this…

I just loved it every time my feet touched the earth… The mist came and wet but made the ambiance that much more mystical.. We were walking quite a bit in silence, only pointing when we spotted something. It was like a walking meditation. I got to hug baobab trees… It was a very spiritual time for me…

We then had a quick breakfast and went on a river ride which was much longer and we saw new birds, reptiles and animals. The boat ride was FREEZING!!!! Jessica kept saying “no one will believe me when I tell them I froze in Africa!!!” We were out for two hours. To keep my mind off of the winds I began to do my elephant imitation calls like my brother Robbie used to do with his lips… I think I impressed Jimmy a bit or I would like to think I did….. My teeth were literally chattering by the time we returned… We were met by the other group who could not wait to tell us they saw a herd of about 40 elephants… we saw none… Some were a bit disappointed but I would not have changed my experience for anything.

We left Muvuu at about 11:30 am and headed for a school that was started by HELP Malawi. The school is working towards sustainability. They have all sorts of projects to help the school generate their own money. They have many different types of gardens, fruit orchards, herbal gardens, fish pond, chickens, bee hives, and cottage industries of making jams and jewelry… They are trying to help the community learn about permaculture and how to farm using compost and vermaculture. I thought of my friend Lori and her research in using worms to make compost… They used tires to contain their worms instead of bins. They also used the big Tupperware containers in making their bee hives which was very different from the hives I saw back home… the Tupperware container was hanging from two wires in a tree… they put bee attracting goop on the container and after about a month the bees establish themselves.

H.E.L. P. Malawi is teaching their students t different types of vocations. The outlay was far advanced of what we wish we could accomplish but many aspects of what they do could be implemented at Malemia Primary school. In many ways it was very inspirational. And it took four years to go from teaching students under a tree to the beautiful compound they have at this point.

Our next stop was met with anticipation…. Liowonde is where the carvers are located. Much of the vendors wares are from Liowonde. Our collective plan was to walk around as a group for about 30 minutes to see what we were interested in make some low ball numbers and then when Pat called for us we would head for the bus… Have you ever seen one of those Jacque Cousteau shows were there is a feeding frenzy and fish are going everywhere at once? That can’t even begin to explain the frenetic pace of what happened when we started to go on the bus… Vendors came from everywhere yelling out prices and our students yelling back counter offers… Every window had two and three vendors shoving their merchandise at us…… “Please Mama buy this from me” “Here is a good deal Mama” “Awww Mama I can’t make money with that price”

Everyone who knows me knows that shopping is not my thing… but I managed to keep calm and I was clear with what I wanted… The only time my heart was pulled was when an elder man asked for me to by a grass basket and he could not understand what I was saying. He wanted 2000 kwacha kwacha for three and I offered him 200 kwacha for one… he thought I said 20 kwacha and got disgusted until a young man shouted at him what I had said.. I walked off because I was not really after baskets. When I went back to the bus he was standing there and he still wanted me to buy a set when I didn’t even want one. The young man who had his own wares was looking out for the old man and helped him to bargain with me and I ended up with the basket… let’s see who will get it when I get home… I ended up also buying several necklaces from the young man since he was so kind… I know this is not the way to deal but it is who I am…

We drove away as vendors were still shouting out deals and when we were on the road the whole bus erupted into conversation of students telling their stories of their bartering prowess of who got what item for how much. They were like victors at a hunt…Me.. I was exhausted and wanted to sleep for about a month… but we were not done for we still had to drop by the carvers who made the chiefs chairs… I didn’t even get out of the bus but these youngsters had more stamina and I think their adrenaline was high from the last foray. Folks came back with the most beautiful masks and chiefs chairs. They really were fine craftsmanship. There was hardly any room to sit from all the gifts that were acquired that day.

We disembarked to winds and rain again…. The views were non existent as clouds covered all the mountains… Then the power went out which meant it would be no use to try to post anything on the internet… Just a waste of a card. And since none were to be gotten from Tasty Bites we were at the mercy of the high prices at Annies Lodge. Everyone heavy laden walked up the hill to their rooms… A very successful adventure on most every level…

Okay…. So now at this point I will confess that I was sick… For lunch and dinner I took the risk and tried some of the incredible fresh salads. I am sure that was the mistake although not one other person got ill… I was up the night before several times dealing with things one not ought to describe in a blog… I just had toast and tea for the whole day… the cold boat ride compounded my troubles and I ended up getting chilled…. The students were great care takers and after I was plied with some medication I began to get better. I did managed to get some rice and cooked vegetables in me and conked out at 7:30pm… My last thoughts were of baobab trees and wondering how much wisdom a tree would have from living so long?