Click clop, plop, ass, click clop, plop, ass...the sounds, smells, and sights of Lamu

So we have some time to travel. Where should we go? Hmm...Kenya? Sure!

Over the last 2 weeks Heather and I ventured around Kenya on holidays. My contract at the CICC technically finished at the end of January so I decided to travel for half of February and spend the second half of the month saying my goodbye's and hanging out with my kids.

We spent the first couple of nights in Nairobi, walking around the city and planning the next steps from there. We then set out on a 3-day trip to Masaii Mara, in western Kenya. It has been unofficially named the 8th wonder of the world, and I can see why! It was just beautiful - with stunning landscapes and tons of wildlife in the national park. We saw lots of animals; from birds, buffalo, elephants, zebras, dik-dik (look like miniature impala) and giraffe's, to lions mating, lions feasting on a buffalo (which did not smell too wonderful, let me tell you), cheetas, and a serval cat (in the leopard family but much smaller, a bit bigger than a domestic cat). It was truly amazing. We also visited a Masai village, which was very interesting to learn about. A few facts about the Masai tribe:
- the males are circumsized at 15 years old. They must then go into the bush and kill a lion. If they succeed they can then marry
- men can have 4 wives
- they stay in one village for 9 years at which point everyone moves together, due to termite infestations
- their homes are made out of sticks, cow dung, and cow hyde
- when someone in the village dies, the people put the body in a place just outside the village, for the hyenas to eat. If a chief dies, something is put on their bodies to make the hyenas eat them faster (blood perhaps), which is a sign of respect

Then after some debating of where to go next, we decided to head for the coast! We spent a night in Mombassa, and then headed up to Lamu, a small archipelago and Kenya's oldest town. We had heard great things about Lamu and decided to check it out for ourselves. And great it was! No cars on this island, only donkeys. So as you can imagine, there is donkey feces everywhere. The local population is mostly Muslim, so Arabic, Kiswahili, and English are the languages most spoken. Very narrow streets, lots of shops to look in, great food, and incredibly friendly people! So friendly in fact that at times we became a big suspicious; what do they want? But really, they are just being nice. For those of you who have been to (or seen pictures of) Zanzibar imagine that, but on a much smaller scale - far less tourists, not as developed, no vehicles, smaller island, etc. We had an amazing time and I would highly suggest anyone coming to Eastern Africa to go there. It's well-worth the 40 minute - very dodgy - boat trip there.

Am now back in Lusaka...for the next 11 days only. I fly back to Canada on the 27th. It is definitely bittersweet. Sorry I havn't uploaded photos in a long time, the internet here is just too slow and the connection isn't great so I try and then it gets timed out and I have to start over but by that time it has been too long. So you will have to wait until I get back.

Asante sana (thank you very much in Swahili) and tisaonana mange mange (see you soon in Nyanja)

Planes, trains, and automobiles...oh, and boats

Dec. 21 - Lusaka - Lilongwe, Malawi
We take a 10 hour bus ride with people jammed into the isle, amongst the piles of luggage. Bus capacity - about 55 people. Actual amount of people - at least 80. The window across from my seat was non-existant, instead there was a wood board in its place. We arrive safely and head to a hostel, hoping there would be space for us. We spent two nights in Lilongwe, met some fellow backpackers and traveled up to Nkhata Bay with them. Lilongwe is an alright town - fun to walk around but not all that exciting.

Dec. 23 - Lilongwe - Nkhata Bay, Malawi
From Lilongwe we originally planned to travel to Cape McLear, the southern point of Lake Malawi. However, not really realizing how big Malawi actually is, we wouldn't have had enough time to do so. Instead, we traveled to another part of the Lake, more north, as we eventually had to make it up to Tanzania. We traveled there with the people we had met in Lilongwe which was nice. It took a full day of buses to get there. There were 9 of us so we even got to hire our own mini-bus for one of the legs! We spent 3 nights at the lake, which was wonderful. Very relaxing and peaceful. Nkhata Bay is a lovely, very small fisherman's town. Christmas eve we had a 5 course thai meal at a cute restaurant with some friends. Christmas day we spent at the hostel next to our, which was much more lively. Our hostel was quiet and didn't do much for Christmas. So we listened to music, ate lots of food, and relaxed by the water.

Many differences between Zambia and Malawi. For example, Zambia has mostly mango trees along the roads and Malawi has mostly banana trees. In Zambia the people are quite friendly, in Malawi the people are very friendly - many people actually came up to us and introduced themselves by name. The village huts in Zambia are round, Malawi they are rectangle.

Dec. 26 - Nkhata Bay - Mbeya, Tanzania
Boxing day was a very long travel day. We made our way up to Tanzania, by taking 4 different mini-buses up the coast of Lake Malawi, over the boarder, and up to Mbeya. Beautiful drive but quite windy through the mountains. The next morning, we headed to the train station and hoped for the best!

Dec. 27 Mbeya - Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
As mentioned in a previous post, I had made a booking for the train from Mbeya to Dar Es Salaam. The woman who made the booking in Lusaka wasn't much help however - didn't give us a confirmation number or ticket or anything, didn't know the time the train left, or how much it cost. But alas, much to my surprise, there we were on the list of bookings! And thank goodness too, because the train was fully booked. We boarded the train and found our "4-person" first class sleeper. For $27 we were on our way! I use the term "4-person" lightly, as Heather and I ended up sharing the compartment with a woman and her 2 kids, and another woman with her baby. It sure was cozy! The train was an interesting experience. Approximately every 2 minutes or so the train jerked forward as if the driver was slamming on the breaks. Once I actually fell off my seat! It made eating interesting...and sleeping...and going to the bathroom...and walking from car to car...yes, an interesting experience indeed. The train is quite old and needs a lot of repairs, and word has it that any day now it will not be used anymore. It took about 27 hours in total, yet was only 849km. It was a beautiful ride - right through a national park where we saw giraffe's and other animals. I am glad I did it but would never do it again.

Dec. 29 Dar Es Salaam - Stone Town, Zanzibar
After spending one night in Dar, we headed to Zanzibar early the next morning. The ferry is about 3 hours, and I am very glad I took my gravol. I don't normally do well on boats. We met up with our friend Logan and a few of her friends. Logan is an intern from the same Canadian NGO as us who is doing her internship in Kigali, Rwanda. Stone Town is a beautiful town - interesting buildings, friendly people, and a vast history. We went to the markets, ate good food, watched the sunsets, visited the former slave market, and relaxed. We also met up with our roommate Sanna who was in Zanzibar with her boyfriend.

Dec. 31 Stone Town - Nungwi, Zanzibar
For new years eve Heather, Logan, her friends, and I headed north to the beach! We left early in the morning, took the 1.5 hour mini-bus ride, and spent the day by the water. The beach is quite spectacular - turquoise water with white sand. Couldn't ask for anything more! Unfortunately, I stepped on a sea urchin and got about 15 sharp spikes in my left foot. It was quite painful. Luckily a beach boy was there to assist. Apparently pouring kerosene and rubbing the juice from an unripened papaya is supposed to help make the spike slivers come to the surface! We spent new years eve at a beach party with about 2000 other people. There was music and dancing - good fun! Unfortunately I had to make my way back to Stone Town on New Years day, which is where I caught the ferry back to the mainland in order to make my flight early the next morning.

Jan 2 - Dar Es Salaam - Cape Town, South Africa
Off to see Halli! My good friend Halli from undergrad has been living in Cape Town for about a year and a half and since I had an extra week off work than Heather, I figured it was the best time to go visit her. I flew Dar - Jo'burg - Cape Town. On the second leg of the trip I got bumped up to first class. It was wonderful - with a massage chair that fully reclined into a bed. Too bad it wasn't a longer flight! I had an amazing week with Halli and her boyfriend Kevin. Enjoyed the company, saw the sights of the city, visited museums, ate good food, relaxed, and actually unpacked my stuff (which was nice considering I had been living out of a backpack the last 2 weeks). I went through "reverse culture shock" while in Cape Town, in awe at many things I somewhat forgot existed. "What? Dogs are on leashes here?! Everywhere has hot water?! The tap water is perfectly safe to drink?!"

Jan 9 - Cape Town - Lusaka, Zambia
I really missed Lusaka! On my flights home I was so eager to get back - a good sign for sure. I purposely booked my flight home on a Friday so I could go to Mwande's on Saturday. And that I did, and today I am resting up for work tomorrow.

Pictures

Thought I would upload a couple pictures. One is of Sanna and I at the march-past on World AIDS day and the other is of some of the dishes from the mateveto party I described (there was at least double this amount of food!)

I ate caterpillar

Last Saturday I went to a Mateveto - a traditional party whereby the bride-to-be and her family cook for the husband-to-be and his family. This is to show the husband and his family that she comes from a good family, who can cook nicely. I went with Mwande, her aunts and grandmothers and luckily we were on the husband's side so we got to eat. Picture a lot of food, then multiply that by 10 and you'll begin to understand how much food there was! There was every traditional Zambian dish imaginable, including caterpillars. Tastes like chicken! Okay not really, but it tasted alright. Not something I would enjoy eating on a regular basis however. There was a lot of dancing too of course. No party here is complete without the shaking of the hips. On our way back, it started to pour! So we hitched a ride in the back of some truck (as it's very common here to ride in the back of a truck). There we were - about 10 women, in the rain getting soaked, in the dark, trying not to fall off the back of the back of the truck as we bounced up and down from the potholes...singing. It was so fun.

Our travel plans are confirmed! Tomorrow, Heather and I (Melanie went back to Canada for the holidays) are off to Malawi. We will spend Christmas on Lake Malawi and then make our way east to Zanzibar. We are hoping that we are booked on the train from Mbeya (small town on Tanzanian side close to Malawian border) to Dar Es Salaam. There is a train that travels from a town north of Lusaka all the way to Dar. When I went to the train company office here in Lusaka I asked to be booked from Mbeya to Dar. She could not do that from her end so she called someone in another city. Twenty minutes later she told me we were booked in for Dec 27. "What time does the train leave Mbeya?" I ask. "Oh, I don't know that. Probably sometime in the afternoon so get to the train station in the morning." "Okay....and how much is it?" "Oh I don't know" she replies "they pay in shillings over there so I don't know." "Okay....is there a confirmation number or anything?" "No." So this is what I meant by I hope we are booked on the train, as we don't have any confirmation, we don't know what time it's at or the price. It's all part of the adventure! The train ride through Tanzania is supposed to be really nice - through a national park. We will spend one night in Dar and then just under a week in Zanzibar. We have some friends we will meet up with there so that will be great. On the 2nd of January I head to Cape Town to visit Halli! (good friend from Guelph for those of you who don't know her). Can't wait! I will try to blog at some point during my travels but if not, you will surely hear about my travels upon my return to Lusaka. Happy holidays and a happy new year to all!

December 4-5...timeline

8:30pm I am at home, in my pj's, when I get a phone call from Mwande asking me if I could come to her place. "Now?" I ask. "Yes yes. There is an overnight party and I want you to come". I agree, get ready, call my taxi and by 9:15 I am off.

(Sidenote: An "overnight party" is a tradition here for a bride-to-be. It's literally a party that goes through the whole night whereby a group of women gather, there is drumming and dancing, and the women teach the woman who is getting married how to tend to her home and please her husband. Each person brings small bills - if they can afford it - and when they enjoy the drumming or one of the dances they put the money in the bowl. All the money raised goes to the drummers)

9:30pm I arrive, Mwande meets me at a school in her compound, and we make our way to the party. At first we wait and then the drumming begins. It was at someone's home and thus I was wondering why the drummers were outside and then Mwande explained to me that that is where they start from. They must start outside and then get invited into the home once they impress the people with their skills.

10:30pm The drummers have been invited in and the women are mingling before things get started.

11:00pm We eat. Unfortunately for me I have already eaten and am quite full but this is no excuse of course. I must eat again. There is nshima, chicken, and cabbage. Thankfully it was communal eating from large plates so no one could really tell how much I was eating.

11:45pm The drumming and dancing begins. There are two women (one of them being Mwande's older sister) and they sound amazing together. The drinking also begins.

Midnight The bride enters the room with her matron by her side. The bride has her head down and she does not smile (this is a traditional way of showing respect). Each dance everyone sings along to, teaching the bride another lesson about married life. Mwande translated and they were quite interesting, however most are not appropriate to share on a public blog (email me to find out more details).

2:00am After 2 hours of all the women trying to get me to go up and dance, I finally worked up the nerve to do so. I was sweating and trembling with embarrassment. Mwande had taught me one of the dances a couple weeks before so I somewhat knew what I was doing, as much as a white person could, trying to do Zambian dance moves without looking like a complete fool. I think it went alright, with women laughing and yelling (much like at the kitchen party some time ago) in the background, partially I am sure at me and the rest with me.

3:00am An yelling argument breaks out. Apparently one of the women (who was quite outspoken to begin with) was upset that others were dancing when she was wanting to dance alone and she was saying that it should only be one at a time. Others did not agree with this. I am sure the alcohol partially induced this behaviour. Mwande started to sing, trying to calm people down while not getting involved. Unfortunately it didn't work so we left the room and went outside for some air. I should have just gotten up and started dancing, I am sure this would have quieted them right up!

4:00am The party dies down. I fall asleep on the floor.

4:04am I am awoken by the drums. For a few brief moments the drummers were taking a break but then they started back up, even though the dancing had ended.

5:00am Mwande and I leave, go back to her house and she gets ready for us to go to work.

5:50am We start walking to work. We are exhausted but walk nonetheless.

7:10am We arrive at work and everyone can tell we are lacking sleep.

1:15pm Fridays are half days so we "knock off" (go home) early.

8:15pm I am sound asleep.

Left Zambia to pop into Botswana, accidentally stumble into Zimbabwe and cruise into Namibia

Last weekend we (Melanie, our new Sweedish roomie Sanna, and another friend Julien from Malta) headed to Livingstone. It was our friend Pascal's birthday, who lives there so we wanted to celebrate with him. We arrived Friday and hung out for the afternoon, had a nice supper and went to bed relatively early. Saturday morning we woke up with the sun and headed to Botswana for the day. Livingstone is only about an hour's drive from the border. We took the 5-minute ferry across the Zambezi river to the small and lovely town of Kasane, the northern-most town in Botswana, one that leads right to Chobe National Park. Upon reaching the other side, our driver took us for a little walk, we stepped over some barbed wire that was laying on the ground and then he says (with a slight chuckle), "oh....we are in Zimbabwe!" Apparently there is a more official border post but for a few brief moments we were technically, but illegally on Zimbabwe soil. We spent the afternoon on a small boat, on Chobe river. We played with the hippos, boated around them as they literally jumped out of the water like dolphins. At some points it was a bit scary, when they swam under water and we could not see their whereabouts. Let us not forget, they are wild hippos. We had a delicious lunch on the boat. Our guide pointed out Namibian land at which point we literally boated right into its reeds. So we officially touched 4 countries in a matter of a few hours. At one point we had to pee and got out on shore to do so, about 20 meters from a crocodile. When nature calls...

Sunday we went back to Victoria Falls. This time I decided to do something different. Melanie and Sanna went to the Devil's pool, which is an area on top of the falls that you can actually swim in during the dry season. Unfortunately it was pouring rain and the current was too strong and the water was too dirty that they were not permitted to swim. Julien and I went to the Zimbabwe side of the falls. So much more water on that side! It was absolutely spectacular. There was a lot of mist however, due to the amount of water, as well as the rain. But amazing nonetheless - well worth the $80US ($65 for Zim visa and $15 for entrance on that end). Will have to upload photos next time - not enough internet time right now.

The day I played host

So after many weekends at my friend Mwande's place, it was time I had them over at my place. Mwande had been over several times before but her family was eagerly anticipating this time to come. "How many people do you want to come?!" Mwande asked me. "Um...how many people want to come?" The list began. Then the list grew. Basically everyone I had encountered (and their uncle) in my time there wanted to come! We decided it would be best to split it into 2 days - the young crowd on one day and the older crowd on another. So a week ago Sunday Mwande, her 2 aunts (also our age), 1 teenager, and 14 children under the age of 12 made their way over on the minibus. Plus there were my 2 flatmates and another friend who was staying with us for a few days. I prayed that: 1. everyone would have a nice time, 2. it wouldn't rain and thus we could go outside, considering the size of my flat, 3. our power would be on (it has the tendency to go out on a fairly regular basis) to avoid having to cook for 22 people on a single charcoal burner outside, and 4. there would be enough food. Thankfully all my wishes came true. We made pasta (in a massive pot I borrowed from work) and veggie sauce, garlic bread, salad (coleslaw), and chocolate chip banana bread for a snack later on. The kids coloured, we danced, I gave them all temporary tattoos, we watched some videos and photos from the previous times I had been to their place, and played outside on the grass (there is no grass in their compound so as you can imagine, it was quite exciting for them). It did not rain. The power remained. Everyone went home with full bellies. Good times had by all. So much in fact that Mwande tells me that everyone asks on a daily basis when they are coming back. Soon, I say! Next time it will be Mwande and her mother, grandmothers, and older relatives. I am not sure that colouring, tattouing and playing in the grass will have quite the same effect.