Blogs from Swaziland, Africa - page 3

According to Wikipedia, people in Swaziland have a higher probability of being struck by lightning than people anywhere else in the world. This unverified factoid became the subject of our thoughts in a very meaningful way when we got stuck on top of a mountain in a thunderstorm. This is what happened... We left Hlane around lunch-time after we had done another unguided drive, this time with absolutely no sightings. I had spotted a hot spring marked on one of our tourist maps and was keen to explore. It only required a small detour from our route back so we thought it was doable. Unfortunately the map we had in the car didn't have it marked. We took a 60km detour through some stunningly beautiful countryside and reasonably heavy traffic to find the springs but didn't ... read more

The place we were staying at in Swaziland was a pine plantation owned by Lindsey's cousin Heather and her husband Sakari. Heather and Sakari had kindly let us use the place but unfortunately they could not be there. Having arrived in the dark and discovered that our accommodation had no electricity we had the interesting tasks of trying to find light and make a meal, not to mention more mundane things like finding the bedroom and bathroom. Heather had foreseen that electricity might be a problem as their power is generated through a micro-hydro-electric power plant which crucially depends on the water level of the farm's dam. As the wet season rains had not arrived on time, by the end of September, the dam was very low. She had prepared by leaving out candles in wine ... read more

By now I’m sure a few of you are thinking “Wait a minute.. I thought I gave this kid money to help him further his education working in developing regions and it seems like all he’s done is fart around Tanzania climbing mountains and eating goat.” Fear not, I’ve been getting your money’s worth in Cheshire. I have been working in the clinic since April aside from a brief excursion to Mozambique. I’ve just been quite busy working, learning, and having the time of my life and haven’t found enough time to blog (perhaps I’m not looking hard enough) and I still wanted the blogs to be in somewhat chronological order. As promised, here is a short blog describing Swaziland’s best and brightest disability rehabilitation clinic, Cheshire Homes. It is an incredible place and I have ... read more

A brief insight into my travel partner for the second half of my travels in Tanzania: During my week in Mwanza I met a man named Gudlak (pronounced “Good Luck”) who was assisting with the acute care clinic. Gudlak is the man. He is 32 years old and was born and raised in Arusha, Tanzania. He supports his daughter, parents, and various nieces and nephews by doing seasonal survey work in the bush for Rutgers University. He traveled to Mwanza with a friend of his who had studied anthropology at said university and was associated with Lighthouse Medical Missions. Seeking to improve my Swahili and learn more about this intriguing guy I started chatting him up whenever I got the chance and soon found that he used to lead climbs up Kilimanjaro as well. I shared ... read more

Having been back at Guba for three weeks, it’s finally time to continue my blog! Time has passed much too quickly, and I fear it’ll only speed up as time goes on. I’ve really settled into a good routine now, and feel like I’m slowly becoming a fixture within the workings of the farm! As I described in my first post, Guba has been designed around permaculture ethics and principles (http://permacultureprinciples.com/principles/). It’s not just talk - they are true to their word! The team’s knowledge of, and dedication to, permaculture has surprised and delighted me, and every day I seem to learn something new. The farm incorporates every aspect of a typical closed permaculture system - vegetables, herbs, trees (fruit and native trees), animals (chickens and pigs), and of course water conservation, energy production an... read more