Hi all, hope everyone is doing well. So there's a bit to write about on this post, so it may go quite long. First off, I'm writing from Lusaka, Zambia not Tanzania. I'll get to why later.
First, seder. Seder was incredible for a variety of reasons. The Friday before a family of five Israelis showed up in Nkhata Bay, so our numbers kind of ballooned a bit, but it was fine. We got a few more chickens, one of which I killed, and put on a feast. There were chickens, of course, potato salad, a cabbage salad, a bean salad, roasted potatoes, chicken soup, roasted peppers, etc.. It was a real feast, especially for a seder in Nkhata Bay. In the end we were 16 people, but we had a few dropouts, so we thought it would be even more. Mr. Chocolate was not feeling well, so unfortunately he couldn't make it. In the end every Israeli in town came, we all had a great time, and got a bit drunk. The five us of us who were cooking all day had five liters of wine before the seder even started. We had another five liter box during the seder as well. There was very little service or any kind of ceremony. We sang ma nishtana, did a blessing over wine, and just ate. The way seder probably should always be.
The funniest and most bizarre part of the seder was having four nkhata bay policemen show up saying they were there to protect us. What happened is that one of the Israelis in town, Omer, father kind of freaked out. He heard something on the news of a high possibility of al qaeda trying to kidnap israelis abroad during passover. He than somehow got the number of the Israeli ambassador to Kenya whom he managed to convince and somehow contact the chief of Malawi's police. Whom he convinced to contact the head of the Nkhata Bay police department to send some people over to protect us. We were really confused during the seder what the policemen were talking about, but had a good laugh after realizing what happened. Don't worry, we fed the policemen well too.
My last few days in Nkhata Bay were great as usual, and it was very difficult to leave. I had originally planned to go to Tanzania, than I decided I would delay that a few days and go hiking in the area. Than Tom and Omer got this idea to drive to the northwestern corner of Zambia. None of us still really know what is there, but its remote, and its more for the experience than a specific place to see. So Tuesday morning we drove to Zambia, and last night made it to Lusaka. Today is kind of an errands day and tomorrow we're off to this corner of the country.
I'll get back to Zambia, but I have a few more things to say about Nkhata Bay. That place is one of the most incredible places I have ever been to. The people are geniunely some of the friendliest I've ever met. Its beautiful and the pictures will not even come close to doing it justice. The people I met and the experiences there were special too. Mayoka village is an eden and its owners, Gary and Kathryn, are some very, very nice people. I got to know many of the expats and long term volunteers living there who cooked for me, gave me internet access, and made me feel like I was at home the entire time I was there. Mr. Chocolate is possibly the greatest person I have ever met as well. I'm exaggerating, but he was quite a guy. When I said goodbye he said I would have to buy him a phone so we could stay in touch. It was very tough leaving the place, and I very much hope one day I'll come back, especially on Tuesday which is when Mayoka has a free dinner buffet.
Omer has a jeep, which is part of why I'm going on this Zambia trip. It's a different way of travelling, and one I probably will no have a second chance to experience. Our trip to Zambia quite eventful. We picked up a hitchhiker who is a peacecorp volunteer from Colorado named Dan. He has a really interesting blog, malawidan.blogspot, if any of y'all want to find out some more about Malawi. He's doing environmental and sustainable agricultre projects in northern Malawi. Really cool guy, and told me a lot of info about agriculture and forestry in Malawi. Unfortunately it was almost all bad news...
Malawi should be a completely forested country. Very little of it is today, and much of the existing forest is actually replanted foreign trees. Many of these trees, Eucalyptus and Pine, take up all the soils nutrients leaving the soil in very poor condition. Most of the trees are cut for timber and also to clear land for agriculture. The wood is mostly exported to Mozambique, which has stricter laws regarding forestry. Malawi is a very, very, very poor country with 85% of its population in rurul areas mostly in small scale agriculture. Almost everyone grows maize and tabaco. On top of tasting like shit, maize has almost no nutrional value, and it destroys the soil as well. Tobacco, obviously, can't feed you, and it really destroys the soil. So why do they plant them? The government a few decades ago was bought out by business interests, and made its citizens grow these crops. There are other more sustainable and nutrious crops grown, like Cassava, but not too much. It gets much worse...
Today Monsanto, wikipedia them if you don't know who they are, sells Malawi its maize seed. The seed is genetically modified to not be able to reseed. So Malawi has to rebuy seed every year from Monsanto at quite a huge cost. The government makes the population use this seed through laws, subsidies, and a variety of other methods. They do it, because they get money in their pockets from monsanto, and pressure from the US govt. Everything I'm writing is what Dan told me, so I should note that I haven't investigated it at all. But he seemed like he knew what he was talking about. The tobacco industry money in govt. politicians pockets is the reason tabacoo is still planted as well.
Both maize and tabacco are going to starve the country. They destroy the land and make it more and more difficult to replant. The deforestation means soil erosion is much more commonplace, and landslides are more and more frequent destroying crops. The trees that are replanted also strip the soil of its nutrients making agriculture more difficult. Basically corruption, and evil businesses are going to starve Malawi. It was very frustrating to hear this, although Dan himself says he remains optimistic. On an individual level he meets people who are starting small, but progressive projects to change the nature of agriculture and forestry in Malawi. He realizes change has to come from the top too, but he's happy to help where he can on the local level. It's a shame too, because the average Malawian is one of the friendliest people you will ever meet, and they don't deserve it.
After dropping off Dan in Lilongwe, Malawi's weird urban sprawl capital, we headed straight to the Zambian border. We got a flat, and sure enough, we had a nice downpour a minute afterwards. Not bad, we switched the tire pretty quickly, and got to the border.
The border crossing was the weirdest any of us had ever had. We gave the border guy our Israeli passports, and a few minutes later he asked us to come to an office. We go to the head immigration guy's office where he says he has never met people from Israel before. I think that's bullshit, tons of Israelis travel in this area. He than asks us if we know Jesus. He than gave us a 20 minute lecture on how we have to accept Jesus, how he doesn't understand that we don't but we live in Israel. I can't even remember the lines he used, they were so idiotic. In the middle of it all, he stopped turned to his computer and started some solider shoot it up video game. After ten minutes of that he went back on his Jesus talk. Eventually he gave us the visa and let us go, but there were a few minutes when I really had no clue what was going on. Very weird and not really pleasant experience.
We got to a place called Chipata that night, just over the border and yesterday drove all the way to Lusaka. They speak widespread english in Zambia, and its most known for Victoria Falls. I may or may not get there. We're first driving to this remote northwestern corner right at the convergence of the Zambian, Angolan, and Congo border. Its safe there, no worries. We'll than make our way back to Lusaka and if there's time drop into Victoria Falls. I think we'll have time, but we'll see. Tom has to get a flight in a few weeks, so that's what's limiting us. I'd love to get to Victoria Falls, and there's a 100 meter plus bunjee jump there too I'd like to do.
After we get back to Lusaka I'm heading north for...Tanzania. I'll be taking a boat up lake Tagan yika to the chimpanzee park, Mahale Mountains, in Tanzania. From there I'll continue to Rwanda and Uganda. Having said that my plans have changed enormously, and I imagine they will continue to do so. I'm happy to be having some cool adventures, be travelling with some nice guys, and hopefully it will continue that way.
The other big news is that I have finally uploaded pictures! You can apparently view these facebook albums even if you are not on facebook. The following links should take you there, or you can view through my facebook profile. I've also loaded videos too, but that's only through facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2097783&l=2caf9&id=2606069
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2097784&l=c234f&id=2606069
I will be out of internet contact for possibly the next two weeks, although most likely less. When I'm back in Lusaka I'll post about our trip to the this northwest corner, which none of us really know what there is to see. Zambia's a beautiful country, so I'm sure it'll be nice.
tchau, Ben
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Post 5
I've had a lot of requests to write another blog post before seder, so here's a short one.
I'm still in Nkhata Bay enjoying this amazing place, but I think I'm ready to go now, or maybe not quite yet. I've gone on a few nice hikes, including one where I just started walking one direction with no idea of where I was going, and after going into a small village had a group of small kids take me along another path which led to a very nice beach. Since my Tongo and Chichewe, the local languages are basically non-existent, it was quite an experience in communication. I've read a few books, but mostly done nothing the last few days.
Seder is tomorrow, so chag sameach to all, and I think we're prepared for tomorrow. We have all the shopping done, but we need to kill our chickens today so they won't be so tough tomorrow night. We're making chicken soup, rice, and a few different salads. I'm also going to attempt to make matzah, and out of maize no less to give it a local flavor. I've heard maize does not stick together, so this may not come out all, but we'll see. There are six Israelis, including myself, who are here in Nkhata Bay for seder, so you can probably imagine what trying to plan it was like. In the end five of us are going to be there, and on girl has decided to no longer take part. While it's very unfortunate, and I still hope she'll show up, I feel like it was somewhat inevitable. It should be a nice evening though, we'll have about 12 or so people, including Mr. Chocolate:-)
I've just come back from the local immigration office here in Nkhata Bay, which was a frustrating experience. I came into Malawi on my american passport, and i've been using that passport everywhere so far. In Tanzania it turns out the visa is twice as much for americans and british as every other country. So I would like to go in on the Israeli passport, but the Tanzanians would see no evidence of me being in Malawi and would ask questions. I'd probably have to show the american passport and pay for the more expensive visa. So I went to the immigration office to try to get a malawian stamp in my Israeli passport. It took a half hour to explain it, and once the guy understood he refused, but not because he didn't think it was possible. He says in Nkhata Bay they are only allowed to give entry and exit stamps, and extensions on current visas. He thinks I can do what I want in Blantyre, a two day and 12 hour each way bus ride, but he doesn't have the power. I don't understand why one immigration office could do something another could not, and he was not able to explain it to me either and I think was just being difficult. I know I can be less than diplomatic if I'm in a completely illogical situation. I don't think I was rude, but I may not have helped my case too much. So I'll try using the Israeli passport in Tanzania, but I expect I'll be paying the more expensive visa in the end.
Final thing is that I've changed my trip a bit. I'm no longer going to volunteer in Mbeya. I've gotten hooked on the Rift Valley Lakes, and I've heard amazing things about Uganda. On top of that I've heard less than thrilling things about Tanzania, and apparently its the rainy season right now. So, I'm going to Tanzania, but just to the western side for their rift lake, called Tanganyika, and than continue north through Rwanda and Uganda. Rwanda should be very interesting as well because of the history, and everybody I've met who has been to Uganda has raved about it. So that's the new plan, and I'm excited about it.
On Sunday I'm either heading north to Tanzania or taking the boat on Lake Malawi to the next town north, a four hour ride, where Jonny Newton, the British guy who knows Natalie and Dave, is volunteering. I might spend a day or two there, and than do a nine hour hike to a town called Mzuzu where I can than get an hour bus back to Nkhata Bay. I would than head off the next day or day after for Tanzania. The hike is supposed to be amazing, and I'm very tempted to do this. On the other hand for the first time yesterday I felt like I had enough time in Nkhata Bay. I think doing seder will be a good way to finish out my time here, and I do want to move on. I think I'll decide tomorrow night.
Entao...thanks for the feedback on the blog. I was hesistant about doing it, but I've had great responses, and I appreciate that. Chag Sameach!
I'm still in Nkhata Bay enjoying this amazing place, but I think I'm ready to go now, or maybe not quite yet. I've gone on a few nice hikes, including one where I just started walking one direction with no idea of where I was going, and after going into a small village had a group of small kids take me along another path which led to a very nice beach. Since my Tongo and Chichewe, the local languages are basically non-existent, it was quite an experience in communication. I've read a few books, but mostly done nothing the last few days.
Seder is tomorrow, so chag sameach to all, and I think we're prepared for tomorrow. We have all the shopping done, but we need to kill our chickens today so they won't be so tough tomorrow night. We're making chicken soup, rice, and a few different salads. I'm also going to attempt to make matzah, and out of maize no less to give it a local flavor. I've heard maize does not stick together, so this may not come out all, but we'll see. There are six Israelis, including myself, who are here in Nkhata Bay for seder, so you can probably imagine what trying to plan it was like. In the end five of us are going to be there, and on girl has decided to no longer take part. While it's very unfortunate, and I still hope she'll show up, I feel like it was somewhat inevitable. It should be a nice evening though, we'll have about 12 or so people, including Mr. Chocolate:-)
I've just come back from the local immigration office here in Nkhata Bay, which was a frustrating experience. I came into Malawi on my american passport, and i've been using that passport everywhere so far. In Tanzania it turns out the visa is twice as much for americans and british as every other country. So I would like to go in on the Israeli passport, but the Tanzanians would see no evidence of me being in Malawi and would ask questions. I'd probably have to show the american passport and pay for the more expensive visa. So I went to the immigration office to try to get a malawian stamp in my Israeli passport. It took a half hour to explain it, and once the guy understood he refused, but not because he didn't think it was possible. He says in Nkhata Bay they are only allowed to give entry and exit stamps, and extensions on current visas. He thinks I can do what I want in Blantyre, a two day and 12 hour each way bus ride, but he doesn't have the power. I don't understand why one immigration office could do something another could not, and he was not able to explain it to me either and I think was just being difficult. I know I can be less than diplomatic if I'm in a completely illogical situation. I don't think I was rude, but I may not have helped my case too much. So I'll try using the Israeli passport in Tanzania, but I expect I'll be paying the more expensive visa in the end.
Final thing is that I've changed my trip a bit. I'm no longer going to volunteer in Mbeya. I've gotten hooked on the Rift Valley Lakes, and I've heard amazing things about Uganda. On top of that I've heard less than thrilling things about Tanzania, and apparently its the rainy season right now. So, I'm going to Tanzania, but just to the western side for their rift lake, called Tanganyika, and than continue north through Rwanda and Uganda. Rwanda should be very interesting as well because of the history, and everybody I've met who has been to Uganda has raved about it. So that's the new plan, and I'm excited about it.
On Sunday I'm either heading north to Tanzania or taking the boat on Lake Malawi to the next town north, a four hour ride, where Jonny Newton, the British guy who knows Natalie and Dave, is volunteering. I might spend a day or two there, and than do a nine hour hike to a town called Mzuzu where I can than get an hour bus back to Nkhata Bay. I would than head off the next day or day after for Tanzania. The hike is supposed to be amazing, and I'm very tempted to do this. On the other hand for the first time yesterday I felt like I had enough time in Nkhata Bay. I think doing seder will be a good way to finish out my time here, and I do want to move on. I think I'll decide tomorrow night.
Entao...thanks for the feedback on the blog. I was hesistant about doing it, but I've had great responses, and I appreciate that. Chag Sameach!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Post 4
I'm writing this post from the same place as the last, Nkhata Bay. I'm too happy with Nkhata Bay to leave at the moment. Along with two other Israelis I am going to put on a seder here, what I thought would be a two day visit is turning into a week and half or so.
I just want to reiterate how beautiful this place is. At night there are glow worms everywhere, so you see neon green dots throughout the grass. The lightning storms out on the lake, the kerosene lamps of dugout canoe fisherman at night in the lake, everything about the place just seems to make it more beautiful. I've met some nice people who have been living here for a few years that let me use their internet, cook me meals sometimes, and I feel really comfortable here. The owner of Mayoka lets me take out the canoe to explore the area for free, I've been to one of the local workers village a few hour walk into the hills. My life here consists of hiking, swimming, canoeing, eating a lot of rice and beans, doing nothing, reading, its almost perfect. At night I have a good group of people that I enjoy hanging around, and when you're travelling on your own it is important to have that. When I travelled before I really didn't care if I met people or not, although you almost always do, but this time around I enjoy the company a lot more.
Each night I talk to Mr. Chocolate for at least a few minutes. He was telling me yesterday how he installed water treatment facilities in practically all of central africa, at least he claims he did. I can't imagine life without him, and I'm thinking of ways to smuggle him to Israel. We invited him to seder, and while he did not really understand what it is he gladly accepted and was thrilled to know that it was an Israeli thing, as we presented it to him to get him excited. He really likes Israelis.
So now the three of us are trying to figure out how to do a Malawian seder. We're thinking of making maize matza, and it should be a good time. I was a little hesitant to do it at first, but now I'm excited, and the owners of Mayoka have graciously given us the use of their very nice kitchen for the event. One of the Israelis here leaves on the corner of Bograshov and Tzfat, which for those of you who don't knwo where I leave exactly, it's about a 20 second walk from my house. He's in the alpinist unit in the reserves, and says he can easily get me in if I'm a good of a skier as I claim to be. So, I hope I am a good of a skier as I claim to be, and two that he can actually do it. I've heard such promises before. Djaoui, if you're reading this, first I'll get in, than I promise to do everything I can to get you in too.
As a little shout out to the London folk reading this. I met a guy named Jonny Newton, who says hi to Dave Preston, and knows Natalie too. Small world, eh.
Oh, I forgot to tell you about friday dinner. The other Israeli here, Tom, got a few of us in a chicken dinner. By this I mean we bought live chickens, and killed them. It was quite an experience. He's a kibbutznik, so this is second nature to him, but I have never seen a chicken killed before. It was quite an experience to take part in. The chicken was awful though, but that's ok.
So, life is good here, and while I'll go to mbeya after seder I'm not sure what i'll do there. In another blog I'll express how amazed I am by what I've seen on this continent, and what it offers. I want to see a lot of it in the time I have, so staying in one place may not be what i do in the end. We'll see, my plans have changed multiple times so far, and I'm sure they will change again.
Hope everyone is doing well, and I want to wish you all a very nice seder, chag sameach, I'll probably write again after seder to tell about that and my continued conversations with Mr. Chocolate, whom I'm convinced hasn't had a bad thought in his life. Such an amazing person.
tchau, Ben
I just want to reiterate how beautiful this place is. At night there are glow worms everywhere, so you see neon green dots throughout the grass. The lightning storms out on the lake, the kerosene lamps of dugout canoe fisherman at night in the lake, everything about the place just seems to make it more beautiful. I've met some nice people who have been living here for a few years that let me use their internet, cook me meals sometimes, and I feel really comfortable here. The owner of Mayoka lets me take out the canoe to explore the area for free, I've been to one of the local workers village a few hour walk into the hills. My life here consists of hiking, swimming, canoeing, eating a lot of rice and beans, doing nothing, reading, its almost perfect. At night I have a good group of people that I enjoy hanging around, and when you're travelling on your own it is important to have that. When I travelled before I really didn't care if I met people or not, although you almost always do, but this time around I enjoy the company a lot more.
Each night I talk to Mr. Chocolate for at least a few minutes. He was telling me yesterday how he installed water treatment facilities in practically all of central africa, at least he claims he did. I can't imagine life without him, and I'm thinking of ways to smuggle him to Israel. We invited him to seder, and while he did not really understand what it is he gladly accepted and was thrilled to know that it was an Israeli thing, as we presented it to him to get him excited. He really likes Israelis.
So now the three of us are trying to figure out how to do a Malawian seder. We're thinking of making maize matza, and it should be a good time. I was a little hesitant to do it at first, but now I'm excited, and the owners of Mayoka have graciously given us the use of their very nice kitchen for the event. One of the Israelis here leaves on the corner of Bograshov and Tzfat, which for those of you who don't knwo where I leave exactly, it's about a 20 second walk from my house. He's in the alpinist unit in the reserves, and says he can easily get me in if I'm a good of a skier as I claim to be. So, I hope I am a good of a skier as I claim to be, and two that he can actually do it. I've heard such promises before. Djaoui, if you're reading this, first I'll get in, than I promise to do everything I can to get you in too.
As a little shout out to the London folk reading this. I met a guy named Jonny Newton, who says hi to Dave Preston, and knows Natalie too. Small world, eh.
Oh, I forgot to tell you about friday dinner. The other Israeli here, Tom, got a few of us in a chicken dinner. By this I mean we bought live chickens, and killed them. It was quite an experience. He's a kibbutznik, so this is second nature to him, but I have never seen a chicken killed before. It was quite an experience to take part in. The chicken was awful though, but that's ok.
So, life is good here, and while I'll go to mbeya after seder I'm not sure what i'll do there. In another blog I'll express how amazed I am by what I've seen on this continent, and what it offers. I want to see a lot of it in the time I have, so staying in one place may not be what i do in the end. We'll see, my plans have changed multiple times so far, and I'm sure they will change again.
Hope everyone is doing well, and I want to wish you all a very nice seder, chag sameach, I'll probably write again after seder to tell about that and my continued conversations with Mr. Chocolate, whom I'm convinced hasn't had a bad thought in his life. Such an amazing person.
tchau, Ben
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Post 3
I'm writing this post from Nkhata Bay, Malawi. I just found by checking my gmail that this is the second place where Benjie and Tovi volunteered. Nkhata Bay is on the shores of central Lake Malawi, and is an absolutely stunning place. I've been here a few days, originally planned on leaving today for Tanzania, but I'm staying through Saturday.
Lake Malawi is as big as Israel, has beautiful clear and warm water, and I'm really enjoying spending a few days here. Part of the charm of the place is also the place I'm staying, called Mayoka village. The place has these mudhuts, cabins, dorms, and chalets all along the steep banks of the lake, and each room is designed so that when you look towards the lake you only see the lake and no land. Its really quite impressive. There is amazing food, hammocks, lounge chairs, a pool table, and a few swimming areas too. The best part is that I'm paying five dollars a day to stay here. Malawi is very cheap, even for Africa I think, so I'm able to stay here a few more days than I thought I would.
I have done absolutely nothing since I've been here. Yesterday I sat in one place for four hours just looking at the lake. Tonight I'm going on a night dive, which should be very cool. The lake has unique cichlid fish, which are pretty colorful and unique the rift valley lakes. Just diving at night should be a great experience too.
I've met quite a few interesting folk, as one does at these kind of places. There is an older french guy who has lived in the Congo and Gabon for decades now. He's travelled up and down the Congo multiple times, which is more than I'm willing to even begin to consider thinking about maybe possibly looking into. There are few Israelis here, nice people, and your regular mix of european countries.
One of the "colorful" things about Mayoka village are the names of the local staff. There are regular ones like Benjie and Willie, but there are also people who call themselves Happy Coconut and Cheese and Toast. The Israelis and myself started naming people too, so we came up with Ketchup Schnitzel, DJ Malawach, and a few others. Its become quite an entertaining thing to do, and people really like their names.
My favorite local person I've met here is named Finley, but is known by everyone as Mr. Chocolate. Mr. Chocolate has this name because he sells a variety of chocolates at Mayoka Village. He started when an Israeli, shock, was very low on money, but had a lot of chocolate bars on him. He told Mr. Chocolate that if he could sell his chocolate bars they could split the money. Apparently he sold them very quickly, for a bit of money, and since than he has solely sold chocolate bars.
Mr. Chocolate is extraordinarily friendly, will tell you his family history in one breath, and is very old for Malawi. He's in his late 70's, which for Malawi is quite ancient. He wears an enormous hat, and every night falls asleep in his chair next his chocolate. I want to take him back to Israel, and I can't imagine life without Mr. Chocolate. I have pictures, and again, if I ever find fast internet will send them.
So now for the reality check about Malawi. The place is great, very nice people, but there are problems. I met two doctors volunteering in a hospital who told me that 50% of the population is under the age of 15. Many of these are orphans from AIDS. In their entire month of working in Intensive Care there were two patients over the age of 70. They said in the UK it would be around 15% and here it's less than a percentage point. The average life expectancy is 46 years old!!! Not surprisingly, based on what I've seen, the number one killer in Malawi is car accidents. So Nkhata Bay is paradise in one sense, but its impossible to forget the reality of the area as well.
I guess this is the end of this post. Eventually I'll leave Nkhata Bay, although I very much hope to come back one day, as its really blown me away with how beautiful and relaxing it is. Hope everyone is doing well.
tchau, Ben
Lake Malawi is as big as Israel, has beautiful clear and warm water, and I'm really enjoying spending a few days here. Part of the charm of the place is also the place I'm staying, called Mayoka village. The place has these mudhuts, cabins, dorms, and chalets all along the steep banks of the lake, and each room is designed so that when you look towards the lake you only see the lake and no land. Its really quite impressive. There is amazing food, hammocks, lounge chairs, a pool table, and a few swimming areas too. The best part is that I'm paying five dollars a day to stay here. Malawi is very cheap, even for Africa I think, so I'm able to stay here a few more days than I thought I would.
I have done absolutely nothing since I've been here. Yesterday I sat in one place for four hours just looking at the lake. Tonight I'm going on a night dive, which should be very cool. The lake has unique cichlid fish, which are pretty colorful and unique the rift valley lakes. Just diving at night should be a great experience too.
I've met quite a few interesting folk, as one does at these kind of places. There is an older french guy who has lived in the Congo and Gabon for decades now. He's travelled up and down the Congo multiple times, which is more than I'm willing to even begin to consider thinking about maybe possibly looking into. There are few Israelis here, nice people, and your regular mix of european countries.
One of the "colorful" things about Mayoka village are the names of the local staff. There are regular ones like Benjie and Willie, but there are also people who call themselves Happy Coconut and Cheese and Toast. The Israelis and myself started naming people too, so we came up with Ketchup Schnitzel, DJ Malawach, and a few others. Its become quite an entertaining thing to do, and people really like their names.
My favorite local person I've met here is named Finley, but is known by everyone as Mr. Chocolate. Mr. Chocolate has this name because he sells a variety of chocolates at Mayoka Village. He started when an Israeli, shock, was very low on money, but had a lot of chocolate bars on him. He told Mr. Chocolate that if he could sell his chocolate bars they could split the money. Apparently he sold them very quickly, for a bit of money, and since than he has solely sold chocolate bars.
Mr. Chocolate is extraordinarily friendly, will tell you his family history in one breath, and is very old for Malawi. He's in his late 70's, which for Malawi is quite ancient. He wears an enormous hat, and every night falls asleep in his chair next his chocolate. I want to take him back to Israel, and I can't imagine life without Mr. Chocolate. I have pictures, and again, if I ever find fast internet will send them.
So now for the reality check about Malawi. The place is great, very nice people, but there are problems. I met two doctors volunteering in a hospital who told me that 50% of the population is under the age of 15. Many of these are orphans from AIDS. In their entire month of working in Intensive Care there were two patients over the age of 70. They said in the UK it would be around 15% and here it's less than a percentage point. The average life expectancy is 46 years old!!! Not surprisingly, based on what I've seen, the number one killer in Malawi is car accidents. So Nkhata Bay is paradise in one sense, but its impossible to forget the reality of the area as well.
I guess this is the end of this post. Eventually I'll leave Nkhata Bay, although I very much hope to come back one day, as its really blown me away with how beautiful and relaxing it is. Hope everyone is doing well.
tchau, Ben
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Post 2
Apparently the keyboard I'm using does not have a number sign, so its Post 2 and not Post (number sign) 2.
I spent two days on very annoying bus rides to get to Blantyre, Malawi where I am now. The buses in Mozambique, as can probably be expected, are not great. They are old Toyata minivans that should have been replaced long ago. I think only one or two of my rides did not break down at some point. Mostly they just ran out of oil, at least thats what I could tell. Five guys would spend a good half hour and looking and talking, and they would tighten random screws and bolts, but the only thing effective ever done was adding more oil. I guess they only add for the days journey, for money reasons, and just have the same thing happen again every day. I also the aftermath of a fatal accident where a huge truck had overturned, and the bodies were laid out on the side of the road. They had been moved there and it was quite clear they were dead. Accidents are apparently a very big issue in Mozambique. There were a few other disturbing things I heard about while in Mozambique. Apparently sex trafficking is increasing with young mozambican girls being kidnapped or lured into South Africa where they are basically forced to be prostitutes. Some are told they will have educational opportunities to lure them, but a lot are kidnapped. Something in the range of hundreds a year.
AIDS too is obviously a huge deal in Africa, and Mozambique and now here in Malawi are no exceptions. Malawi, whose population is 12 million, has supposedly had over a million children orphaned by AIDS. In Mozambique I'm told that a lot of sexual abuse begins by teachers in more rural areas, but even in cities men are able to sleep with whom they want and spread it to their wives. I met a few people doing some AIDS awareness and prevention work near the capital Maputo, who were explaining to me their work. Of course the Bush administration is doing its best to fuck their work up to as now all US govt. grants in this area of work are given with the stipulation that the programs must teach absitenance only. So any programs to promote condom usage can't recieve US funding anymore.
Well...enough of the really bad stuff. I felt that in Mozambique it was very similar to Brazil in that there are both amazing and horrible things going on side by side. Amazing people, landscapes, food with all the mess mixed into it. Brazil has this more acutely, but there's some of it in Mozambique. Overall, I loved the country, and very much want to go back, especially to the north where I did not go, and because of the horrible road is probably easier to go through Tanzania.
Anyways, at the end of my first long day of buses I ended up in Chimoio, which is a nice enough place very close to the border with Zimbabwe. Very interesting to be here (africa and close to zimbabwe) with the elections having just happened. I want to go, but it'll have to wait for the end of my time here if it happens, if it'll happen at all. Things could get uglier there if Mugabe decides to not give up power. I stayed at a cool place called the Pink Papaya, where everything is pink. the light fixtures, everything. I made dinner that night and was joined by the new German owners, and a Dutch girled named Manom.
Manom has been travelling for almost three years now by tractor from Holland through Europe and Africa in her goal to get to the South Pole. She has a website, tractortractor.org if you want to check out her saga. Her idea is to "collect" people's dreams along the way and put them in a snowman she's going to build when she gets to the south pole. She estimates she has another year to go. Yes, it's nuts, but she's not that crazy. She's kind of normal if it wasn't for being on a tractor with a max. velocity of 20k/hour for the past three years. So that night I got to hear about some pretty amazing stories through Africa including being followed by teh Sudanese secret police, which is pretty funny when you think about it, because she is going literally slow slow it is impossible to hide that you're following her. I only wish her luck in the rest of her journey, and if I hadn't met her I would doubt whether she could make it, but if she's made it this far, it's tough for me to doubt now. I think she's planning on going through Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia on her way to Cape Town. From there she's got an icebreaker boat lined up to take her tractor to Antarctica. Apparently some guide has already agreed to go with her on the four month, there and back, trip to the south pole.
The next day I spent 14 hours on a variety of buses getting from Chimoio to Blantyre. The border crossing was easy, and they asked me how long I wanted a visa for in Malawi and than made it accordingly. I told him 90 days, which has shocked everyone i've met here in Blantyre, becasue everyone has one month visas despite appealing for longer. Apparently the limits are not pre-determined at my seldom used border crossing. Since i've been in Blantyre i've just relaxed, slept in past 4am (when all the buses leave in mozambique) and checked the internet a lot.
Everyone I've met here seems to be a volunteer, everyone. A lot of British kids done with high school who are here for half a year or people like Benjie and Tovi that came on their own and are volunteering for several months or longer. Nobody is just her for a week, like me, which I guess is cool. Blantyre is a city, for Malawian standards, and probably most places. I went looking for a tent, but the options were not good. I'll figure out my tent situation later I suppose. I also got a copy of the local paper, and I wanted to share a few headlines here. Oh, English is the official language here, hence I can understand the paper.
Headline 1: Man and woman, both married locked themselves up in the house for a marathon of sex
Headline 2: Marking territory with Urine
I took pictures of the article, so y'all can read it eventually. You couldn't make this stuff up, and I promise you this is supposedly a legit newspaper.
Tomorrow I've got another long bus ride, 10hrs, to a place on Lake Malawi called Nkhata Bay where several people I've met have told me to go. I'll be there two days(that's the plan at least) and than after one more day of bus rides Ill arrive in my destination of Mbeya, Tanzania. The lake is supposed to be gorgeous, relaxing, and you can dive. However, there's very little to see besides very colorful fish, so I'm not sure i'll put over the money to dive. in Tofo you see manta rays and whale sharks on top of very colorful fish, and i think i've been extremely spoiled by learning there.
I think this is the end of post 2 and I'm really hungry so I'm going to go find some food.
tchau, Ben
I spent two days on very annoying bus rides to get to Blantyre, Malawi where I am now. The buses in Mozambique, as can probably be expected, are not great. They are old Toyata minivans that should have been replaced long ago. I think only one or two of my rides did not break down at some point. Mostly they just ran out of oil, at least thats what I could tell. Five guys would spend a good half hour and looking and talking, and they would tighten random screws and bolts, but the only thing effective ever done was adding more oil. I guess they only add for the days journey, for money reasons, and just have the same thing happen again every day. I also the aftermath of a fatal accident where a huge truck had overturned, and the bodies were laid out on the side of the road. They had been moved there and it was quite clear they were dead. Accidents are apparently a very big issue in Mozambique. There were a few other disturbing things I heard about while in Mozambique. Apparently sex trafficking is increasing with young mozambican girls being kidnapped or lured into South Africa where they are basically forced to be prostitutes. Some are told they will have educational opportunities to lure them, but a lot are kidnapped. Something in the range of hundreds a year.
AIDS too is obviously a huge deal in Africa, and Mozambique and now here in Malawi are no exceptions. Malawi, whose population is 12 million, has supposedly had over a million children orphaned by AIDS. In Mozambique I'm told that a lot of sexual abuse begins by teachers in more rural areas, but even in cities men are able to sleep with whom they want and spread it to their wives. I met a few people doing some AIDS awareness and prevention work near the capital Maputo, who were explaining to me their work. Of course the Bush administration is doing its best to fuck their work up to as now all US govt. grants in this area of work are given with the stipulation that the programs must teach absitenance only. So any programs to promote condom usage can't recieve US funding anymore.
Well...enough of the really bad stuff. I felt that in Mozambique it was very similar to Brazil in that there are both amazing and horrible things going on side by side. Amazing people, landscapes, food with all the mess mixed into it. Brazil has this more acutely, but there's some of it in Mozambique. Overall, I loved the country, and very much want to go back, especially to the north where I did not go, and because of the horrible road is probably easier to go through Tanzania.
Anyways, at the end of my first long day of buses I ended up in Chimoio, which is a nice enough place very close to the border with Zimbabwe. Very interesting to be here (africa and close to zimbabwe) with the elections having just happened. I want to go, but it'll have to wait for the end of my time here if it happens, if it'll happen at all. Things could get uglier there if Mugabe decides to not give up power. I stayed at a cool place called the Pink Papaya, where everything is pink. the light fixtures, everything. I made dinner that night and was joined by the new German owners, and a Dutch girled named Manom.
Manom has been travelling for almost three years now by tractor from Holland through Europe and Africa in her goal to get to the South Pole. She has a website, tractortractor.org if you want to check out her saga. Her idea is to "collect" people's dreams along the way and put them in a snowman she's going to build when she gets to the south pole. She estimates she has another year to go. Yes, it's nuts, but she's not that crazy. She's kind of normal if it wasn't for being on a tractor with a max. velocity of 20k/hour for the past three years. So that night I got to hear about some pretty amazing stories through Africa including being followed by teh Sudanese secret police, which is pretty funny when you think about it, because she is going literally slow slow it is impossible to hide that you're following her. I only wish her luck in the rest of her journey, and if I hadn't met her I would doubt whether she could make it, but if she's made it this far, it's tough for me to doubt now. I think she's planning on going through Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia on her way to Cape Town. From there she's got an icebreaker boat lined up to take her tractor to Antarctica. Apparently some guide has already agreed to go with her on the four month, there and back, trip to the south pole.
The next day I spent 14 hours on a variety of buses getting from Chimoio to Blantyre. The border crossing was easy, and they asked me how long I wanted a visa for in Malawi and than made it accordingly. I told him 90 days, which has shocked everyone i've met here in Blantyre, becasue everyone has one month visas despite appealing for longer. Apparently the limits are not pre-determined at my seldom used border crossing. Since i've been in Blantyre i've just relaxed, slept in past 4am (when all the buses leave in mozambique) and checked the internet a lot.
Everyone I've met here seems to be a volunteer, everyone. A lot of British kids done with high school who are here for half a year or people like Benjie and Tovi that came on their own and are volunteering for several months or longer. Nobody is just her for a week, like me, which I guess is cool. Blantyre is a city, for Malawian standards, and probably most places. I went looking for a tent, but the options were not good. I'll figure out my tent situation later I suppose. I also got a copy of the local paper, and I wanted to share a few headlines here. Oh, English is the official language here, hence I can understand the paper.
Headline 1: Man and woman, both married locked themselves up in the house for a marathon of sex
Headline 2: Marking territory with Urine
I took pictures of the article, so y'all can read it eventually. You couldn't make this stuff up, and I promise you this is supposedly a legit newspaper.
Tomorrow I've got another long bus ride, 10hrs, to a place on Lake Malawi called Nkhata Bay where several people I've met have told me to go. I'll be there two days(that's the plan at least) and than after one more day of bus rides Ill arrive in my destination of Mbeya, Tanzania. The lake is supposed to be gorgeous, relaxing, and you can dive. However, there's very little to see besides very colorful fish, so I'm not sure i'll put over the money to dive. in Tofo you see manta rays and whale sharks on top of very colorful fish, and i think i've been extremely spoiled by learning there.
I think this is the end of post 2 and I'm really hungry so I'm going to go find some food.
tchau, Ben
Thursday, April 3, 2008
First Post
Hi, so Shara is making me do a blog so I don't have to remember to email people, and don't unintentionally leave people off my emails because i can't find their email at the moment. Thanks, Shara, and I guess my entry into the blog world is dedicated to you, even though I'm kind of against these things in principle.
Anyways, so here's what I've been up to.
I arrived in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique Monday of last week. The 24th or something like that. I spent that rest of that day and the next walking around the city seeing what I could. The city itself is fine, lots of trees, and its located on a huge bay. However, there's nothing to see. No real museums, no natural or historical attractions. So no more to write home about Maputo. At the place I was staying the first night I met someone teaching in the far north of Mozambique in a place called Pemba. She offered to let me teach at this international school too, which I declined, but who knows if all falls apart in Tanzania I might go there.
After two days in capital I went north to get my diving certification in a place called Tofo, pronounced Tofu. Tofo is a great beach with a small little town that's known for world class diving and pretty good surfing. I went surfing one evening, and the waves were not great, but it was still a lot of fun to get on a board again. My arms, shoulders, and neck felt it for the next few days.
As for the diving...It was amazing. I'm completely hooked, and anyone who wants to go with me back home in the Red Sea please let me know. Tofo is known for its big animals. So there are manta rays, whale sharks, other sharks, big kind of stingrays, jenkins rays, etc... I did my open water certification and than got sucked into a few more dives and finished my Advanced Open Water in two days.
I've been meeting some cool people, as you always do when you travel, especially alone. I met a very nice Israeli couple who were at the end of a year and half of travelling. There were also two swedish girls, and two guys from the UK who were diving with me almost every day too. The dive instructors were very cool, and invited me to a party at one of their places my last night in Tofo. It was pretty hard to leave, and maybe I'll get back there, but Tanzania is calling me still.
So yesterday I left Tofo to get further north and I stopped in Vilankulo. Vilankulo is the base for seeing the Bazaruto Archipelago, a national park. Today I went on a Dhow ride to see one of the islands. A Dhow is a type of sailboat, and if I ever find internet fast enough to upload pictures I'll put one up. You can google image it for now if you're curious.
The islands are stunning, the prettiest I've ever seen. Blinding white sand, not exagerrating, and clear waters. On my Dhow ride I met a nice couple from Portugal and Angola. So I had a full day of Portuguese practice which was great.
Mozambique is an overall wonderful place. They speak Portuguese, big plus, although more and more I'm hearing that in teh streets a lot of people speak one of the local languages. The food is great too. It's spicy, lots of cool vegetables (like okra), the chicken is good, and they have a very good local rum. I've learned a few new recipes, so I'll definitly have some African meals when I get back to Tel Aviv. The people are really friendly, and almost without fail say "hello" or "tudo bem" to you in the street. They are more than willing to walk with me a half kilometer to show me where to get a bus or whatever I need. I strongly, strongly, strongly recommend this place to anyone, and I might get back here before my time in Africa is done.
So...tomorrow I'm off on a long bus ride to Chimoio, which allows me the next day to get to Malawi. I think I'll be in Malawi a week as I make my way north to Tanzania. Mbeya, where I plan on being in Tanzania is just over the Malawi border.
I'll probably post again at the end of my time in Malawi. But if this blogging thing is so great as Shara claims it is, maybe I'll do it more and as internet connections in Africa allow.
I hope everyone is doing well wherever you are, and if you write me an email I promise to respond individually at some point.
um beijo e ate logo, Ben
Anyways, so here's what I've been up to.
I arrived in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique Monday of last week. The 24th or something like that. I spent that rest of that day and the next walking around the city seeing what I could. The city itself is fine, lots of trees, and its located on a huge bay. However, there's nothing to see. No real museums, no natural or historical attractions. So no more to write home about Maputo. At the place I was staying the first night I met someone teaching in the far north of Mozambique in a place called Pemba. She offered to let me teach at this international school too, which I declined, but who knows if all falls apart in Tanzania I might go there.
After two days in capital I went north to get my diving certification in a place called Tofo, pronounced Tofu. Tofo is a great beach with a small little town that's known for world class diving and pretty good surfing. I went surfing one evening, and the waves were not great, but it was still a lot of fun to get on a board again. My arms, shoulders, and neck felt it for the next few days.
As for the diving...It was amazing. I'm completely hooked, and anyone who wants to go with me back home in the Red Sea please let me know. Tofo is known for its big animals. So there are manta rays, whale sharks, other sharks, big kind of stingrays, jenkins rays, etc... I did my open water certification and than got sucked into a few more dives and finished my Advanced Open Water in two days.
I've been meeting some cool people, as you always do when you travel, especially alone. I met a very nice Israeli couple who were at the end of a year and half of travelling. There were also two swedish girls, and two guys from the UK who were diving with me almost every day too. The dive instructors were very cool, and invited me to a party at one of their places my last night in Tofo. It was pretty hard to leave, and maybe I'll get back there, but Tanzania is calling me still.
So yesterday I left Tofo to get further north and I stopped in Vilankulo. Vilankulo is the base for seeing the Bazaruto Archipelago, a national park. Today I went on a Dhow ride to see one of the islands. A Dhow is a type of sailboat, and if I ever find internet fast enough to upload pictures I'll put one up. You can google image it for now if you're curious.
The islands are stunning, the prettiest I've ever seen. Blinding white sand, not exagerrating, and clear waters. On my Dhow ride I met a nice couple from Portugal and Angola. So I had a full day of Portuguese practice which was great.
Mozambique is an overall wonderful place. They speak Portuguese, big plus, although more and more I'm hearing that in teh streets a lot of people speak one of the local languages. The food is great too. It's spicy, lots of cool vegetables (like okra), the chicken is good, and they have a very good local rum. I've learned a few new recipes, so I'll definitly have some African meals when I get back to Tel Aviv. The people are really friendly, and almost without fail say "hello" or "tudo bem" to you in the street. They are more than willing to walk with me a half kilometer to show me where to get a bus or whatever I need. I strongly, strongly, strongly recommend this place to anyone, and I might get back here before my time in Africa is done.
So...tomorrow I'm off on a long bus ride to Chimoio, which allows me the next day to get to Malawi. I think I'll be in Malawi a week as I make my way north to Tanzania. Mbeya, where I plan on being in Tanzania is just over the Malawi border.
I'll probably post again at the end of my time in Malawi. But if this blogging thing is so great as Shara claims it is, maybe I'll do it more and as internet connections in Africa allow.
I hope everyone is doing well wherever you are, and if you write me an email I promise to respond individually at some point.
um beijo e ate logo, Ben
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