Zimbabwe

After a 10 hour bus ride from Malawi I arrived in Harare, Zimbabwe. Upon reaching the hostel, I discovered that someone on the bus thought that my toiletry kit would be something cool to have and I'm now without the essentials to keep me fresh and clean. :) Unfortunately, my kit also contained my extra contacts and I'm forced to be extra careful with the ones in my eyes or else risk traveling the rest of the way blind as a bat.

I tried finding some of the items I needed in Harare but they either do not sell them or they are incredibly expensive. Zimbabwe is running at about a 4000% inflation rate right now (yes, three zero's) and times are very tough for everyone living here.

The official exchange rate at all banking establishments is 250 Zim dollars for 1 US dollar but most folks exchange their dollars on the black market at a rate of 5000 Zim dollars for 1 US dollar. You would be crazy to change money any other way but if caught a quick jail sentence is very likely.

Robert Mugabe, the current President, has run Zimbabwe into the ground after showing so much potential shortly after independence in 1980. It's a long story but just another one in a long line of African leaders who took control after kicking British colonial rulers out but have now become corrupt beyond belief. Robert Mugabe is now 87 years old, suffering from syphilis, and shows no signs of stepping down from office. He's rigged two elections, prohibited opposition parties from protesting his rule, and continues to print money at an ungodly rate to pay of soldiers who are on the verge of revolution.

After many people warned me against it, I came to Zimbabwe as I heard it is one of the most beautiful countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. It truly is a beautiful place with large plains full of green fertile land similar to Malawi. It has massive boulders that look like a climbers dream and developed cities that are so unusual in this part of Africa.

Although the geography is wonderful, there's noticeable resentment by many of the people here for the government. Many whites have been forced to leave their farms as Mugabe has reclaimed them for the indigenous people. The farms were meant to go to many of the local farmers once reclaimed as repayment for their years of suffering but not surprisingly have ended up in the hands of many of Mugabe's closest business associates who have no idea how to farm. Inflation has also made it very difficult for many of the people living here to afford to buy the basics like rice, bread, petrol, etc. I arrived the day after a protest took place in the city and heard that many people had been beaten and thrown into jail.


Without much thought, I cut my stay in Harare short and made my way back to Zambia to catch a flight to South Africa.

Malawi

After leaving Zambia last Thursday I decided I would take the seven day whirlwind tour of its neighboring countries starting with Malawi. Unlike Zambia which seems to be relatively flat and full of low lying trees and bush, the Malawi country side is made up of rolling green savanna plains with single crater like mountains that jut out of the ground every 10 - 20 miles. It is very green right now which hasn't been the case in the past three years. Malawi has faced some of the worst droughts in its history and many people have died. Its hard to believe after seeing how green and fertile the land is but this only comes after the past year of unseasonable amounts of rain.

I decided after spending a couple nights in the city of Blantyre that I would head to Mt. Mulanje in the southern highlands to try and climb one of Southern Africa's highest peaks. Sapitwa Peak in the Mulanje mountains is 3002 meters high and surrounded by several other 2500+ meter peaks including Chombe and Landa Landa. Although very beautiful I had heard that because it is the rainy season it was a bad time to climb and not advisable from a safety standpoint. However being from Seattle, I couldn't help think that rain wasn't going to be a problem as long as I wasn't cold.

My journey to Mt. Mulanje consisted of two minivan rides lasting around two hours where I was squished into a backseat with my backpack on my lap, then a pickup truck ride from the main road to the trail head where myself and 15 others either sat, knelt, or stood in the bed for 5km, then a 1km walk after learning a bridge had been washed out. No problem!

As I was walking towards the trail head, a small fellow about 5' 5'' walking the opposite direction walked up to me, inquired if I was climbing the mountain, and asked if I needed a guide. Seeing that he was so small and that my pack was almost the size of him, I had to ask if he could handle my pack. I think he felt a bit insulted so I quickly told him yes, as the cost of paying to have someone carry your pack in Africa is close to nothing. After negotiating a fair price, he proceeded to change directions, he grabbed my pack, picked up some maize flour at the market, and with exactly what he was wearing, we were off. Now thats what I call being ready to go!

Our first day of climbing consisted of a three hour straight up hill climb with absolutely no switchbacks. It was like the "Cable Line" trail on steroids for some of you familiar with Washington hiking. This was followed by a two hour romp through beautiful pine and cedar forests, then two hours through some of the thickest bush I've ever seen which had me wishing I would have stayed in Blantyre.


After finally breaking away from the bush, we were finally in the mountains, and after several more hours of climbing, we were finally at the hut. Yes, hut and this was one of the nicest huts I've ever seen. It had just been built by the forest service and was all mine as there was no other climbers on the mountain.




The views from the hut were unbelievable as I could see all the way to the northern part of Malawi and even parts of Lake Malawi.






After chugging down some hot soup and a warm beer, I was asleep by 7am with plans to get up around 4am to catch the sunrise on top. Around 10pm it started to rain and did it ever rain. For 5-6 hours the rain came down hard and with a tin roof over our heads, it was hard getting any further sleep. It sounded like there as a tin pot band just outside the door having one of their greatest concerts ever.

We awoke at 5am once it finally stopped raining and proceeded to start up the mountain. After an hour of hiking on slippery moss covered boulders with no hand or footholds, I knew it was going to be difficult going. We proceeded for another 1/2 hour or so and after slipping several times on the steep boulders and with another 500 meters to the top, I reluctantly had to call it quits or risk coming down the mountain on my tummy rather then my feet.

All was not lost though as hiking thru the Mulanje mountain range was a wonderful experience with some of the best views I've seen in Africa to date. It was tough but well worth the effort. Not sure if I'll ever be back but I'm glad I gave it a go.






After getting down to the bottom late Sunday afternoon, transport to the main road was tough to come by so I hired the next best thing. My pack needed its own bike. :)




My next stop, Zimbabwe, and another 10 hour bus ride. Joy!!

Zambia

Howdy! I wanted to give you all an update on how my travels are going so far. My 8 hour bus ride from Arusha to Dar Es Salaam went very smoothly and it was relief to arrive in one piece. Most bus drivers feel the need to go about 100 mph with 40 people on board so you always count your blessings when you arrive unscathed. I had the chance to walk around Dar for a little while before my train departed and discovered I liked the city a lot more then I thought I would. The streets are filled with all kinds of little shops selling everything you don't need and have interesting people always milling about doing pretty much nothing. The picture below is of the fish market.
Young men saunter up to the table and dump their bag of fish where the village women who are all sitting on colorful plastic buckets proceed to bid on what its worth. It's a smelly hive of action and fun to watch.

The train ride from Dar to Kapiri Mposhi, Zambia was long. Almost 48 hours long and not without the typical problems that hamper most public transport in Africa. The journey thru Tanzania is an uphill slog for most of the way and as the train tried to get going after making its scheduled stops, we'd often have to wait for 30 minutes or more as the wheels of the train tried to get traction on the wet rails. There were moments I thought we were done as the train seemed to be going backwards more often the forward.

My sleeper cabin included 3 other Zambian men who were returning from a business trip in Dar. Thanks to their fluency in English the trip ended up being a real fun time as we discussed all the topics that people would within such confined quarters. I met up with one of the guys (Moses) in his hometown of Choma later on in the trip and he was very happy to see me again.

Part of the reason I came to Zambia was to visit with some Peace Corps friends I met over New Years Eve in Arusha. The people I met are a young, vibrant, and fun bunch who have committed 2 years of their life to come live in the African bush. They are over 120 volunteers in Zambia alone who are involved in everything from fish farming to forestry to AIDS awareness. I had thought my living conditions in Arusha were tough but its nothing compared to what these folks are having to endure. Most live in mud huts and must do everything for themselves including their jobs. I want to wish all the PC folks reading this blog the best of luck in your endeavours. What you're doing is very noble and I hope you gain as much knowledge from this adventure as the people you're helping will from you.

The highlight of the trip was a visit to Livingston and the mighty Victoria Falls. If you're not aware, Victoria Falls is one of the 7 Wonders of the World and seeing it up close and personal was an awesome experience. The Falls are approaching peak season and the spray which comes off of the Zambezi River below leaves you absolutely soaking wet. Literally, the wettest day I've spent in Africa!













Livingston like Queenstown, New Zealand is also home to an array of adventure sports that are a must do when you come here. With another PC volunteer, I spent the day abseiling, rap jumping, flinging myself across on a zip line, and insanely hurling myself into the Bukota Gorge for a 4 second 175 feet free fall before a line catches you and swings you out over the gorge. I call the attached picture "Leap of Faith."

The other nutty thing I did which I've regretted not doing when I had my chance in Queenstown was Bungy Jumping. The 370 feet bungy jump off the Victoria Falls bridge towards the river below is world famous and I absolutely could not have left Livingston without doing this. I screamed like no other all the way to the bottom and can't wait to show you all the video when I return home. Once and only once I say!

The trip back from Livingston was pretty eventful as well. After our bus ran out of gas on a barren stretch of road half way thru the trip , we ended up hitching in the back of a pick up truck loaded with tires. As we raced down the road holding on for dear life, it started raining which made us burst out laughing. A couple hours later, we witnessed an incredible sunset which seemed to make the adventure all worth while.

I'm now in Malawi in the city of Blantyre. I'm climbing Southern Africa's highest peak tomorrow and will give you all the full scoop on Malawi and the climb in a couple days.

Here's one more pic of me and my Maasai posse in Arusha. These guys guard the hospital down the road from my homestay but often come over to laugh and take pics with me.

Rome wasn't built in a day

Yesterday was my last day at TCBA. I’ve had to cut my 3 month term short by one week as my visa is expiring and to renew it, I have to leave the country then re-enter which will give me another three months stay.

The job at TCBA went fairly well for the most part. I think the computer lessons I've given the staff will probably be my biggest achievement although I had hoped it would have been more for what I did with the clients we serve. I did get out into the field quite a bit to provide advice on stock taking, logistics, marketing, and basic accounting but in the end I just don't know if what I said will ever be used or if they even understood what I was saying. I also put together a well defined strategy for 2007 that focused on growth, sustainability, and efficiency. There were a lot of suggestions and if TCBA takes up just a few of them, I'll be happy.

So after being here three months I've been asking myself what have I learned?

I’ll admit that before I came here I had huge hopes of making a big difference in the lives of the people. I knew it would be difficult and I tried to keep my expectations low although in the back of my mind I couldn't help but have big hopes. During my third day at work after getting a little frustrated for not having power for 3 days, my manager sensed my frustration with how I thought things were progressing and he quickly told me that I needed to set my expectations and standards back about 50 years. I don’t know why I was getting so frustrated as I felt I had prepared myself for dealing with all the issues that normally come in developing countries e.g. lack of electricity, crap roads, crap drivers, Africa time, and lots of traditional thinking that you would never find in the western world. I also pride myself on having a pretty open mind with regards to the world and to the people in it but until you actually come to work and live in a place like this, you never realize the enormous amount of patience necessary to do the smallest of tasks.

So the biggest lesson I’ve learned so far is that in Africa as in any developing nation, change takes time. Coming for 3 months as most volunteers do, or six months as I plan to, or even 7 years which is the amount of time that an American I recently met had been here before giving up, is not enough to see significant change.

I remember a similar situation in Fiji couple years ago when I had shown the same frustration with regards to the state of affairs there. My cousin who was listening to me yammer on about this said something in the way of - “Hey, the people of Fiji just stopped eating each other 100 years ago, how quickly do you expect things to progress!?!” That’s a bit of a harsh example but he was absolutely right. Most African nations gained their independence less the 50 years ago and although Fiji is ahead in many ways there are some similarities. These are developing nations and this developing thing doesn't happen in a day. It takes A LOT of time.

A lot of people will argue that colonial rule and even slavery had a lot to do with the lack of progress Africa has made in comparison to the developing world. While others will say that ruthless and exploitative leaders, tribal conflict, poor education, and AIDS are to blame. I think their all a factor and fear Africa still has a long way to go before they dig themselves out of this mess.

However, please don’t misinterpret the lack of progress with lack of will from the people. For the most part the people I've met work hard from 6AM – 10PM every day of the week. Unfortunately a lot of their time is spent on things we in the western world all take for granted e.g. fetching water, scrubbing floors on their hands and knees, walking everywhere they want to go, preparing the coal stove an hour in advance of cooking, etc, etc. Africa has many of the things we have but here only the rich can afford to have them. In time better education, better government, and foreign investment will eventually lift these nations out of poverty but it all takes time. With that said, we can only do what we’re capable of and if for me it means helping one person at a time and not making as big of an impact as I would have hoped, then that's how it has to be.

So what’s next? Well, I have one more weekend in Arusha and then I’m off to Zambia for a couple weeks. I have an 8 hour bus ride on Monday morning followed by a 40 hour train ride Tuesday. If time permits I’ll make my way to Zimbabwe and Malawi as well. Following that I head to South Africa and the beautiful city of Cape Town.

World Atlas
http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/zm.htm

I’ll spend a couple weeks there then head back to Tanzania to take on another volunteer opportunity in Moshi, a town about one hour away from here. My job there will be to work with health care community volunteers in heading up a grant program for widows and widowers of people that have died of AIDS. The grants are used to expand their business and put their children through school. It’s a similar concept to what TCBA does but this time I’ll be interacting much more closely with the grant recipients.

I'm not sure what sort of Internet access I'll have as I'm traveling and will do my best to keep you all posted.

David.

Wedding Day

Last weekend my home stay family’s eldest daughter, Opendo got married. She made the announcement about four days prior to the big day so a celebration was quickly thrown together in her honor. The push to get married came from the groom’s father, a devout Muslim, who no longer wanted to see them dating without something more official in place. That morning Opendo switched from lifelong Christian to Muslim about as quick as it takes me to say “Amen.” I asked her what she thought about Muslim men being entitled to four wives and she seemed okay with it. (So I’ve been thinking of converting myself :)

Opendo and myself waiting for the groom to arrive.
He was three hours late. Africa time!














The mothers and friends of the bride and groom sing and dance in this circle as they wait for the groom to arrive. Needless to say they were dancing and singing for awhile.











This is Alpha. He's the youngest in our house of 14 and always bursts out in tears the moment he sees me. Love that kid!











Hawa (the house girl) and Rachel, the 13 year
old that takes care of Alpha.