May 2013
3 posts
A night in the coffee fields
We’re walking up a never-ending hill, and we’re about halfway up the hill and these two girls begin to walk with us. They say, “Many people are surprised to see you”, “they are excited to see muzungu’s” and ask us about where we are going. We tell them we’re heading towards Ethiopia, and they ask us if we want to rest at their home for the night. The...
6 tags
This town is NUTSSS
Seriously…what an experience. This is how it went down.
Sat down at a local café for lunch. Met a guy, Steven, who sat at the table next to us. Chatting…good guy The only one we met though. So we’re just sitting there and this older, drunk, boisterous guy comes up and starts talking through the window at us. Mostly to Aaron – who to his credit is gracious and nods his head along as he...
Typical day in Kenya!
-Woke up to cows “screaming”
- Walked back through Eucalyptus forest and jumped fence to get back to the road
-Walked
-Saw coffee shop. It was closed. Too early? It was 9:15.
-Walked into bar accidentally while looking for teahouse. Greeted exuberantly by all the early bird customers.
-Wandered around town and found a place for breakfast. Delicious. Cost $1 total.
- Walked
- Passed by giant...
April 2013
4 posts
7 tags
Maasai-land
Recently, we walked through “Maasai-land”. By far, I think it has been our favorite people group so far. They were so welcoming, and kind. Also, I think I felt at home with their nomad-spirits, and they liked to joke that we have their blood flowing through our veins. Maasai’s walk very far - often we would see them on the roads.They couldn’t believe we would walk such...
Fun moments lately
- Yesterday I had to rock-hop to cross a rather large puddle, crossing at least a 20 foot distance. For those of you that know my inclination on the klutzy side - you better believe it was a comical sight. There were totally collective “oohs”, “ahhs” and laughs from the crowd.
- I was sitting drinking tea, and a little Maasai girl and her mother come and sit next to me....
6 tags
The BIG Rain
Some dead, some injured, and more than 52,000 people were displaced this week when torrential rains caused flooding across Kenya. Our tent got flooded two nights in a row, and ever since my ipod has been on the fritz, but now we are dry and well. Obviously whatever discomfort we suffered is nothing in comparison.
6 tags
My friend Charity.
The other day I walked with a girl named Charity - who was quite charitable to us in showing us a good, cheap place we could stay. She asked me questions about the walk and I asked her questions about her life. At 20, she has lived in Nairobi her whole life, but has dreams of travelling to other countries as well. She is currently unemployed, and not very hopeful about the job market in Kenya -...
March 2013
3 posts
9 tags
The floor was originally made of cement, but in many classrooms was eroding, leaving deep rivets. The cement and dust lingered in the air as children “swept” up using makeshift brooms made of leaves. Sweeping, washing blackboards, clearing the yard, those were the first tasks of the day before a jog, brief exercises, and then classroom time.
The sun had barely risen, but I could hear...
7 tags
Pick out my seeds with your sword
Walking down the dirt road, I spotted a man in the distance. As we grew closer, it was obvious that we were the target of this larger-than-life Maasai’s gaze, as he stood watching us, shielding the sun from his eyes. I was almost safely past when he called me over, and I timidly altered my course of direction towards the intimidating figure, dressed in the traditional red...
February 2013
9 posts
7 tags
Break the walls that divide us
I invite you to an experiment. Go to a place you’ve never been before. You are permitted 3 phrases, “Hello”, “Thank You”, and “No English”, and now; try to have a normal day. The experiment still won’t be totally complete, because you will still recognize the words being spoken around you, understand signs and anything playing on TV; even though you...
6 tags
Today's top headlines
“Ways Sought to Ensure Great Ruaha Flows Year Round”
(One of Tanzania’s major rivers has dried up in places in post years, demanding a meeting of everyone from the WWF, to Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, Ministry of Water/Irrigation, and many more stakeholders gathering to discuss the problem).
“Trouble Looms for Dar’s Water Thieves”
(Apparently only 12% of water pumped into Dar es Salaam is...
5 tags
Lesson learned: don't discount the smelly, creepy...
He was wearing the button-off hood of a winter jacket, the rest of his clothes were torn, teeth brown, and he had scraggly facial hair. And he came to us with a warning of rain, advising us to take shelter in a building just ahead. No more than five minutes later, the road started disappearing in front of us, as a giant wall of rain streamlined in our direction.
Aaron turned to me with an amused...
8 tags
Constitutional hospitality
“If it is becoming night, and you are near a village, stop and ask for the head chairman. It is part of our constitution that he should give you a place to stay, probably in his home”
It has been custom in most places we’ve been, but apparently in Tanzania, it is also law to assist travelers along the way. It’s interesting to see the way that trickles down into everyone...
7 tags
The most random day
So it was around 12:30/1pm, we were getting kind of hungry, it was getting pretty hot, and we’re in the middle of nowhere.
Then, off to the side of the road, a girl about my age, carrying a shovel, appears.
“Hello, my friend!” she says (everyone is “friend” even if they don’t know you).
“Hello, how are you?”
“Fine, and you?”
...
5 tags
A note on safety...
So a lot of people are concerned always about our safety here in Africa. I wanted to relay a story that was told to me by a friend. This is 100% true. Here’s what she said,
“I noticed upon my arrival at the police station that there was quite a commotion. I walked in and an officer came up to me, animatedly explaining, “We have arrested a murderer!” I gasped in shock,...
One year in
Well, we officially have been walking for one full year! Feb 2nd, 2012 we were hiking up and over Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa, bracing against the strong winds that threatened to throw us off.
And now we are looking at our last few days in Malawi, anticipating the cross into Tanzania, country #6 of 10.
It has been an amazing year, experiencing everything Africa has thrown our way....
A night on the lake!
(written by Aaron!)
7pm: Sun falls behind the mountains and the waters grow calm.
8pm: All is dark, save for a few random candles around the village, and the crescent moon.
9pm: The boats are ready, but for our task we need complete darkness. So we wait.
10pm: The moon, too, falls behind the mountains. Magic hour. As we approach the lake, the men have already loaded three small canoes onto a...
Interesting people we have met recently..
15-year old Jackson, who is the “official man of the house” as his father has lived in South Africa for more than 10 years. He has a six month old daughter, and is well known to his neighbors and they all respect him a lot. He cooked rice for us and we stayed at his house for a night. We slept in the living room, he created what reminded me of a childhood fort with mosquito nets and...
January 2013
4 posts
Rain rain rain
Every time I think about what to blog about, it always comes back to rain. Because it’s always raining. I’m watching the lightning now as I’m writing this. Unfortunately for you, there’s not much to say about it. You know what rain is. Duh. It’s the same in Africa. Wet.
Mostly we try to avoid getting wet. I joked with Aaron the other day that our lives are like a...
Culture Shock
It’s weird to think that we have been surrounded by other cultures besides our own for almost a whole year now. We are incredibly grateful for the experience and what we have learned thus far; looking back we can see how much we have grown and that keeps us going.
I have tried somewhat to keep up with American culture, I can’t tell you what Hunger Games is about but I have seen...
Culture Shock
It’s weird to think that we have been surrounded by other cultures besides our own for almost a whole year now. We are incredibly grateful for the experience and what we have learned thus far; looking back we can see how much we have grown and that keeps us going.
I have tried somewhat to keep up with American culture, I can’t tell you what Hunger Games is about but I have seen...
Things you wouldn't know about Malawi...
- Their president is a woman. However, she was elected the vice president and took office when her predecessor died of cardiac arrest. Although Malawi culture is still very male-centered most people still like her and think she is doing a good job.
- Malawi imports gas as a country not by companies to keep prices stable, but because they are poor, they then sometimes run out of gas. Currently the...
December 2012
4 posts
8 tags
His name is Snow Day
It was around the time we should have been stopping to make camp, before it got dark, but there were about 50 kids following us (typical) and we were in the middle of a good-sized town. What to do? As we are walking and wondering, a gentleman calls us over to chat for a minute and asks us about what we’re doing. It happened to be that he runs an organization to support orphans and vulnerable...
9 tags
Burgers and movies = heaven!
Well, we had not taken a break for more than a day since I got malaria (and Aaron says that doesn’t count as a “break”) so we planned to take some time off when we reached Blantyre, Malawi. It was well needed and much enjoyed. Blantyre is a growing city and had a couple of things we hadn’t seen in a long time, like:
- A REAL grocery store – you know, the kind that has a deli and bakery...
8 tags
Ndizotheka
I am currently wearing a bracelet with the Chichewa (local Malawi language) word “Ndizotheka” sewn onto it. Ndizotheka means “it is possible” and the bracelet was given to us by a man named Godfrey who is Malawi’s first paraglider! We met him at a place called “Fisherman’s Rest” which is a ministry that works in the Lower Shire Valley- they help in the schools, with the clean water crisis, and...
8 tags
Rain, rain, you're not so bad :-)
Thunderstorms have become a new part of our life. Previously, we could have probably counted the total number of times we have seen rain in Africa on our hands – it has been so few. But now we are in a higher elevation, it is the rainy season, and it is wet!
The first night of extreme rain was definitely one to remember. We had found a campsite and were preparing to cook dinner and settle in when...
November 2012
6 posts
9 tags
Hellloooo Malawi!
Crossing the Zambezi River on a sketchy 2 mile footbridge, we entered into Malawi at the very southern tip. The easiest border crossing we had ever done, the immigration official wasn’t even wearing his shirt as he stamped our passports. It should have been a sign to us about how hot the next few days would be!
Although the official language here in Malawi is English, we quickly learned...
7 tags
Mozambique Wrap-Up
We wanted to just take a few minutes to talk about some of our favorite things in Mozambique and also to say goodbye to the country that so far we have spent the longest time in. So here it is!
Coolest Tourist City – Vilanculous! We had the pleasure to visit Vilanculous actually a few times on our way through walking and also while travelling to sell the Land Rover. On our first time through we...
7 tags
Annoying things...
Being sick!
Besides the malaria, things like the sun, dehydration, malnutrition and bad water are all likely to make us sick. And it happens regularly enough to be quite annoying.
Rain!
The most annoying thing about the rain is that it can be really boring. If we’re in the middle of nowhere, it means setting up the tent, hiding, and playing cards. We know four two-person card games. It...
9 tags
Gorongosa
Although most of you have probably heard of Gorongosa National Park, you probably have not heard of the nearby town, or mountain with the same name. WE walked into the town of Gorongosa as it was starting to get dark and apparently had underestimated its size because we were still trying to get through it after the sun went down. Somewhere along the way we met Tongai, who had seen us walking the...
7 tags
Biodiesel plantation
Sometimes relief comes when you need it he most. We had a rough few weeks of just generally walking through a really desolate, dry area of Mozambique. Like you know you’re having a bad day if you buy a warm soda as a pick-me-up – and we did that a few days ago. So we saw a place that looked like it might have a cold one, and even though it was still morning, we walked in with a little hope. The...
5 tags
Visas are always and adventure
As I was finishing recovering from malaria, we had another hurdle, renewing our Mozambique visas; which requires us to exit and re-enter the country. We decided to hitchhike to Malawi. Our first day we started around 6am and didn’t stop till after 10pm. In the truck we sat on top of bunk bed sort of contraption with anywhere between 5-8 people in the space below us, then the driver and passenger...
October 2012
3 posts
6 tags
Getting Malaria
“Dont bugger around with that stuff” is I think the most common phrase I hear in reference to malaria. People here take it seriously, and rightfully so, because its pretty dehabilitationg and can kill you if you don’t get treated. Lots of people in Africa die every year from this mosquito-born disease. Now I have officially had it and survived; although I’ve met someone who...
5 tags
A week of gathering water
Without the Land Rover, getting clean water is one of our most important tasks. But sometimes it is difficult. Here’s a week’s worth of experiences:
Day One and Day Two
- Not bad, there were pumps every 15km or so (10 miles) , we filled our two camelbaks and 2 water bottles.
Day Three
- Out. Of. Water.
Walked about 5 miles, found a bush mechanic who gave us a glass of water each.
...
7 tags
The Bezi River
We knew there was a river and a town not too far ahead, and decided to go forward to wash a few clothes and rest in the town. It was still early when we got to the river; we were told on the way to stay on a certain side because on the other was where the crocodiles like to hang out. (Maybe? Maybe not? But we’ll follow the rules I suppose). We follwed advice and walked down to the river...
September 2012
9 posts
6 tags
Hitchhiking back
We had to get back to inhassaro, moz after going back to
Swaziland to say goodbye to Marty and sell the Land Rover. So how did we get back??
In Swaziland:
Kombi to Mbabane paid for by friend (A kombi is Africa’s most frequent mode of transportation, located everywhere for a super cheap price. Cheap for a reason. Basic concept is a 12-15 passenger van, loaded up with as many people as...
4 tags
Give clean water
Tarwirei Chitate is an ambulance
Driver near Machaze, Mozambique. We first saw him when he was trying to transport a local woman to the nearest hospital with a surgeon - several hours away down the most horrible roads I’ve seen yet. She was having complications giving birth. Unfortunately, neither she nor the baby made it, and Tarwirei had to turn around and bring her home before they even...
6 tags
Homeless in Mbabane
“I want to check out that bridge,” Aaron says. I was already feeling uncomfortable. We had just walked through a small park filled with homeless guys, some of whom asked Aaron for drugs (like he has any, cmon now). We walked under the bridge and the uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach grew. It was obviously a homeless hideout, signs of human deification, trash, remnants of a fire....
7 tags
Now what?!
Our campsite wasn’t going to be that great already. And then it turned out the only wood we could find was dead pricker bushes. Ouch, anyone?
Then a local woman and her 3 year old daughter came to see if there was anything they could do for us. We said we were okay, but then she insisted we at least come and camp outside of her house. We followed her back and met her husband and they...
6 tags
The days of deep sand
Our navigation system doesn’t really mark roads according to names like, ‘MR1’ or ‘Ave Mao Tse Tung’, instead it marks ‘Deep Sand’, ‘Tar’, ‘Bad Road’, etc. So we knew we had a few days of ‘deep sand’ ahead of us. Unfortunately, the “deep sand” days also came the day after my tennis shoes disappeared off the...
9 tags
When it rains, it pours!
We have officially entered the rainy season of the southern portion of Africa. It started off with a bang, and a solid week straight of rain. The first night the tent flooded and the car continued to leak tremendously. Everything was wet. And the rain was relentless. In Swaziland it rained so much that some people’s homes were flooded and the rain plus unseasonably cold temps started to kill...
Aaron and I have both been reading an awesome science book while we are here called “science, order and creativity”. I know I don’t read science books but it is very insightful in the realms of creativity and human processes as a whole. Here is a quote I found interesting,
“What we need is not so much new scientific ideas, although these are still going to be of great...
4 tags
Cleanliness
You know your perspective on cleanliness has changed when the fact that your most recent shower was two weeks ago isn’t disturbing and doesn’t even feel weird… At least until you look in a mirror.
5 tags
When the fire surrounds you
Marty was sleeping outside in the tent, Aaron and I were inside the car, me in the backseat, Aaron sprawled across the front. It was around midnight, and all of a sudden I hear a knock on the side of the car. As I sat up thinking, “great, someone really wants to talk to us in the middle of the night?!?”. I suddenly realized that the field in front of me was on fire with the wind...
August 2012
5 posts
When they start to sing to you....
In South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland, for lunch we would normally have peanut butter sandwiches. But here in Mozambique, their only peanut butter is imported from South Africa and more expensive, so we have switched to bread and hard boiled eggs or peanuts themselves, which they grow here locally. Because of the hot and sometimes humid climate, it is hard to keep bread around for more than a...
3 tags
Announcement!
So, we have an announcement as far as our walking team is concerned. Marty Yoder, Walk4Water’s support vehicle driver here in Africa, our teammate and friend, will be returning back to the United States in the coming months.
He has been a great asset to us here and we look forward to seeing him again when we get back and reminiscing over old times. He will also be hopefully involved in helping out...
1 tag
Tropic of Capricorn!
On August 8th, we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn! A great milestone for us, although marked only by a brief sign, it was very encouraging to see. Onwards towards the equator! It has definitely been very hot lately, and will probably only get worse as we head closer to the equator and as it turns into spring and summer. Right now it is the equivalent of February here.
The other day it was REALLY...
What can YOU carry on your head?
One skill that the people here have really mastered, as you’ve probably seen in movies or pictures, is the art of carrying very heavy items on their heads. Although it’s usually the women we see do this, I suspect men do it sometimes as well. It is really quite impressive.
Sometimes you will see people struggling to hold onto the items after removing them from their heads; they carry unimaginable...
8 tags
I love Swaziland. Back to Mozambique
Our Mozambique visas allow us to be in the country for a total of 6 months, but there is a kicker in that we have to exit and re-enter every 30 days; which is just pretty annoying. The guy at the embassy told us it was just so they could “keep track of us”, but it seems there should be an easier way to do that. Other people we’ve talked to said that has been what they typically offer though, so...
