Blogs from Southern, Malawi, Africa - page 10

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Africa » Malawi » Southern » Blantyre January 22nd 2009

So I haven’t updated my blog in a while…… The rains have well and truly come. For a couple of weeks before Christmas it rained almost constantly and I was beginning to think that my plans for Christmas by the lake would be a literal wash out; and was feeling rather bad at having invited Sarah to come and spend the time with me just to look at the rain. There were absolutely no signs of Christmas anywhere in Malawi - well save the guy in the Santa hat in Blantyre in November and carols in Shoprite - you would never have known it was Christmas time. On Christmas Eve there was a torrential rain storm and there was a power cut from about 4 in the afternoon. Eventually about 8:30 I gave up and ... read more
A Room with a View
the view from Ngala
Our Room

Africa » Malawi » Southern » Monkey Bay January 13th 2009

Lieve koulijers op het noordelijk halfrond! Ik zit hier nu al voor de derde dag niet van het zweet te druipen en dat is wel even lekker! Het leek allemaal heel mooi in Mangochi - wekelijkse updates vanaf gratis internet - maar dat ging dus even niet door. Nu schrijf ik jullie vanuit Zomba mijn volgende verhaal. En er is heel wat in te halen… Safari in Liwonde NP Na een weekje Mangochi ging ik met de drie andere Nederlandse meisjes - Anne Marie, Anna, Suzanne - op safari in Liwonde National Park. Het regenseizoen is niet het beste seizoen voor safari, omdat de dieren niet gedwongen naar een waterbron toe moeten als er overal plassen liggen. We hebben dan ook erg ons best zitten doen, maar geen olifant gezien. Wel waren er een hoop hippo’s ... read more
Boot safari
Middagdutje
Mr. Hassa uit Nkhotakhota

Africa » Malawi » Southern December 17th 2008

It doesn't really feel like December here...100+ degrees, rains, floods and cholera. BUT, I did have a great Thanksgiving and Birthday! At Thanksgiving we were invited to the Ambassador's house. Unfortunately, we had pork instead of turkey, but there was still PLENTY to eat. AND a pool! By 4pm I was absolutely worthless, and I went back to the transit house with a handful of others to lounge around. BUT, many of my friends (despite the fact that they had what they dubbed as 'food babies') went to another party afterwards at Christine's house. The Friday after Thanksgiving we spent much of the time in more sessions talking about how to properly hand in our paperwork...BORING. That evening Cathy, Kelly and I met up with Moni, Jeanne and Judy at the hotel they were staying at ... read more
The ambassador's speach
Cathy's portions...
Ohh the food babies...

Africa » Malawi » Southern » Mangochi December 6th 2008

After a brief, boozy farewell at Doogles on Thursday night, we leave Blantyre in high spirits - me, ready after ten weeks in Malawi to move on to wider and wilder pastures; and the others - Marie and Eline from the Kabula Lodge; Richard and Melise, two ex-pat friends - at the start of a ten-day holiday to the Mozambican coast. Spend enough time as a freelancer and you begin to forget what it’s like to live a life of early-morning commutes, workplace politics, nine-to-fives. In short, you forget how much of the world lives. But now, with the others giddy at the prospect of a ten-day jailbreak, and the girls free from the hospital’s headaches, even I’m infected by the holiday mood. Ten days! Imagine the luxury, after daily wake-up calls at half-past four; after ... read more
Village life
Goodbye, Malawi

Africa » Malawi » Southern November 1st 2008

i hiked a hut to hut trail at mulanje plateau. it was a beautiful place and the huts weren't too bad either. i could have wished for better hutmates though. i ended up hooking up with 1.5 beotches from ireland. one had the potential to be alright if left on her own. the other however was self-centered and inconsiderate on the whole. for example: when she was eating tuna fish while leaning on my sleeping bag draped across the banister (which was a complete wraparound by the by), or while she emptied the same tuna tin upwind from my drying clothes during a heavy windstorm. the list goes on but i should concentrate on the positive. there was a trail to sapitwa the second highest peak in africa which was brilliant. i absolutely LOVE this trail. ... read more
terror from above
dirty dogs
the photo is vertical

Africa » Malawi » Southern November 1st 2008

Happy Halloween! It seems like forever since I have been on here! You know, I had this halfway decent entry already written to just copy and paste on to this blog, and since I have Vista on my computer it is NEVER compatible with anything and I have to always reformat all my documents...SO of course I forgot to do that this time... BUT, I have plenty of pictures. Sorry, none of Halloween though. I am on my way to Dedza again for In-Service Training. I will be away from my site until around December 1st. BUT, for the last month or so I have been VERY busy, and time has really flown by. OKAY, so the short version: My site is SOOOOOOOOOOO HOT. I take like 3 showers a day and I don't dry off, ... read more
Community Visit
Crazy kid
Community Visit

Africa » Malawi » Southern » Liwonde NP October 27th 2008

Liwonde is about 1 hour north of Zomba. The national park is some 540 square kilometres stretched along the side of the shire (pronounced shiray) river. The Shire originates at Lake Malawi and drains into the Zambezi. Liwonde itself is a small town located at the barrage which regulates the flow of the Shire further south. Several small villages are located along the Lower Shire and a couple of weeks ago the press reported that a small girl had been taken by a crocodile from its banks. Apparently this is fairly unusual but not unheard of; but fishermen who fish in the river in small dugout canoes often suffer accidents with the crocodiles and lose an arm or a leg in the process. Sue and Gareth decided to camp in the park on Friday night and ... read more
A raft of hippos
Bachelor Herd of Heffalumps
Mud Mud Glorious Mud

Africa » Malawi » Southern » Blantyre October 21st 2008

On Chichewa Tuesdays, for 700 Kwacha each (a little less than £3) Dick comes to the house and gives us a one hour lesson in Chichewa; the language of the Chewa tribe of Malawi. English is taught in secondary schools and therefore all educated people speak it well, but those in the villages and others who have left school following their primary years, communicate in their local language. This is predominantly Chichewa across the country, but many speak another language such as Timbouka particularly in the north. Last Tuesday my colleagues were stranded at the hospital waiting for transport and so I had a lesson alone. Repeated text messages updating me on their progress made me think they would arrive imminently and so Dick and I got to chatting. One of the first questions a Malawian ... read more
traditional medicines shop
Beans
sunset over shire river

Africa » Malawi » Southern » Blantyre October 14th 2008

I was walking home from the hospital the other day, and had a strange feeling - normalcy. It's similar to when I realized that I stopped looking up all the time while walking around Chicago after moving there. This doesn't feel like home, but it does feel like I live here, however transient. The driving isn't intimidating, the vendors aren't annoying, the beggars aren't surprising, my lack of anonymity isn't new. The last week was probably my best since I left. I spent three days at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe. Lilongwe is the capital of Malawi, about the size of Blantyre, so it also serves as a referral center for much of the central and northern portions of the country. The catch is that there is no orthopaedic surgeon stationed there. All of the orthopaedic ... read more
sweaty self-portrait
this stage is okay

Africa » Malawi » Southern » Blantyre October 5th 2008

It’s 5:30 in the morning. I seem to be waking up with the dawn every day. Although it means I’m tired later on; I love this time of day. The morning light is different again, it is cool and there is often a gentle breeze and sometimes quite a strong one. The birds start signing and in the distance children are playing as the area around us slowly wakes to the day; cockerels crow and there is a certain peace and quiet before the rest of the house wakes up. The house has been provided by the Zomba Mental Hospital; and as the pictures show it was pretty Spartan when we first moved in and we have had to spend more than we expected to buy the basics. A psychiatrist working at the university college medical ... read more
Collecting water in Chimanwale
Blossom
Chimanwale Girls




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