Hut Building in Mwandi Village

Loading up for our trip to Mwandi

Heading to the Job Site

Getting Dirt from a Termite Mound

Vertical Pole Structure

During our travels, we keep an eye open for an opportunity to give back.  We found our opportunity to build huts for HIV affected families with Christian Mission Partners in Mwandi.  Mwandi is a village of about 7-8,000 people.  It is located about 2 hours from Livingston.  The fee to volunteer with CMP is about $20 US per day.  This helps cover the costs of meals, lodging, and transportation to and from the job site, tools, and materials. 

For 3 days, we worked on a two room, 3x6 meter mud hut.  We built in the hot sun from 8am-12 and 2-4pm daily.  It was a short, sweaty, exhausting day.  During transit to and from the jobsite, the 11 of us loaded up into the back of a truck and sat on the tools and materials.  When we got to the job site, kids in yesterday’s faded, played-in clothes came running up to the truck with joyous smiles and waving hands.  When we left, they chased us down the road, running as fast as they could.  As we built, they congregated underfoot.  To keep the kids occupied, one or two people would move away from the house and take turns swinging the kids around or teaching them English (many of the kids exhaust their English after two phrases, “what’s your name?” and “I want to be your friend.”).  Their favorite play-friend was Connor because he had the longest endurance when it came to swinging them from under his legs up high into the sky.  They were also very interested in Heidi’s prosthetic leg.  She entertained them several times by removing and re-attaching her leg.  Most of us found that it was more exhausting to play with the kids than it was to build the hut, but both types of work were rewarding, educational, and enjoyable. 

During the construction process I learned that once constructed, mud huts will last anywhere between 5-20 years (depending on whether or not yearly maintenance is performed).  The building process happens in the following steps: 1. Dig holes aprox 18” apart in sand for vertical poles.  2. Load dirt from deep termite hills into truck, transport to job site.  3.  Hatchet out brackets in 2x4 and place as a brace on top of poles one nail per each pole.  4.  Use strings to secure horizontal poles every 6-10” along vertical poles.  5.  Mix termite mud and water for mud balls.  6.  Stack mud balls inside walls.  7.  Nail metal roof on top.  8.  Locals complete interior and exterior finish mudding.

Tin roof on, mud balls going into wall structure

Main Street in Mwandi Village

Joel and I talked about how some of us seemed to be experiencing our “hot and hungry” moments (those inevitable travel moments when the temper gets shorter, remarks become more cutting, and frustration runs higher than normal).  My moment came as I tried to untangle a web of string.  I was in a hot, crowded space with a hammer banging on the tin roof above my head while kids pulled on the strings of the wadded mess and the building crew yelled that they needed more string cut.  I tried to walk away from the chaos, but the kids followed me.  I got them involved in the process taking turns running strings, but it was just another form of chaos.  I was relieved when Chad came over with his camera and distracted the kids.

After supper and a shower, many of us went directly to sleep while others lounged in hammocks chatting and enjoying a beer.  Paula and Dan made sure we had open-air western toilets and hot showers (2x/day a water tank is heated by firewood).  They made sure we had good food to eat (local sheemah, mac and cheese with eggplant, spaghetti, grilled cheese).  And they made sure we had a place to sleep (big tents with floor mattresses).  While we took our noon siestas, 3 donkeys along with a gaggle of chickens and roosters roamed freely.

The more I worked, the more I believed that the building was a symbol of other dynamics taking place: teamwork, knowledge of self, communication.  We were white ambassadors to Mwandi, the kind that leave a long-term impression on a community.  I wondered what the village thought of people coming in to build their homes.  The family moving into this 6x8 meter home consisted of a mother and her three children, a grandmother, and several other children.  The grandmother had recently fallen into a fire and burned her already deformed wrist nearly down to the bone.  It appeared that flies were feeding on the charcoal-like recess.  Many of us were horrified by the lack of bandages or hospitalization for this type of wound.  Further, many children had yellow eyes (a sign of malnutrition), deep chest coughs, and crusty/runny noses.  Many children had hernia-like protruding belly-buttons, a sign that they had been born at home rather than at a hospital where they professionally clamp the umbilical cords.  With inaccessible health care and HIV/AIDS, it wasn’t hard to believe that the life expectancy here hovers around the mid-thirties.  Even so, there was an eagerness to enjoy life despite its length- it could be seen in every child’s animated eyes.

Safari in Chobe National Park, Botswana

One of 120,000 elephants in Chobe National Park

We saw giraffes, elephants, hippos, mongoose (think Timon from the Lion King), puku, Nile crocodiles, African fish eagles, impalas, storks, African Jacana (aka: "Jesus bird"), vultures, lions (sleeping behind bushes), baboons, African water buffalo (one of the Big Five), termite hills, dung beetles, and wart hogs. It was AWESOME.

 

With a good guide, a safari can be a very educational experience.  Here is a sample of what we learned while taking a safari:

The puku, or  red leeche as they are also called, is the African water antelope.  It has stripes on it’s hind side to blend in with the trees.  They are unique to this area, and their meat is tastey which is why they were almost hunted into extinction.

The Nile Crocodile suns on the bank with its mouth open to regulate its body temperature.  In their 60 year life span, they can grow up to 6 meters long with 66 teeth which are replaced as needed.  The crocs are different from alligators in that their teeth stick out when the jaw is closed and they have webbed rear feet.  A croc can make babies by age 15, and the eggs take 3 months to hatch.

Hippos graze on grass for 5-6 hours each day.  They relax in the water in groups (called pods or rafts) of up to 20 hippos.  They use each other as pillows and fight for a good position in the pod.  They submit and show respect to the main bull or they’ll get kicked out of the pile.

Chobe doesn’t have any rhinos, but a nearby park has 4 of them.  One recently gave birth, so they are very well protected and monitored at this time.

The African Jacana is knicknamed the “Jesus bird” because it has very long, skinny legs which makes it look like it is walking on water.  The males incubate the eggs, and the females are polygamists.

The day previous to our safari in Chobe, a female lion killed a buffalo while a male was trying to mate her.  She did this to feed her cub.  The following day, storks, vultures, and crocs were taking their turn feeding.

Baboons (think Rafaki in Lion King) travel in troops.  They have a symbiotic relationship with the antelope.

Banded mongoose (think Timon in Lion King) are collectively referred to as a business of mongoose.  They eat snakes.

The Big Five (what everyone wants to see when they go on safari, ie: water buffalo, elephants, lions, cheetahs, rhino) were chosen because of their aggressive nature when hunted.  They ambush when shot at.

Elephants roll in mud to keep an air-conditioned coat.  The elephants in Africa are much taller than other elephants around the world.

Giraffes have a 30-35 year life expectancy.  They are born a pale yellow and their skin and spots become bolder as they mature.

Dung beetles roll poop for eating and breeding.  Their eggs are placed inside of the roll and buried where the eggs will later hatch and eat the dung.

Chobe National Park covers 12,000 square kilometers.  There are no fences.  There are 120,000 elephants in the park.  500 were given to Angola after their Civil war.   There are 70,000 lions in the park.  Cats are best seen on night safaris.

Rafting the Zambezi River for Christmas

When Mark announced that he had purchased us a 1 day rafting trip down the Zambezi River, I was nervous.  I kind of knew we’d be rafting, but the Zambezi is a Class 5 River, and ever since the near death experience I had on the Shoshone Power Plant Run, I’ve had a hard time rafting anything other than a float.  I’ve done it (Clear Creek, Royal Gorge, Kicking Horse), but I’m so anxious getting in the boat that it’s all I can do not to pee my pants.  Today was no exception.  I didn’t pee my pants, but I did bawl my eyes out.  I kept it together as we hiked the descent into the canyon, kept it together all the way to the shoreline, but when I saw the river, I lost it.  My legs were shaking.  My heart was beating.  My eyes were watering uncontrollably.  I was just plain scared, not scared enough to not raft, just scared.  I didn’t want to be ejected from the boat, didn’t want to drown, didn’t want to be eaten by crocodiles or hippos.

Tembo, our guide, asked “how are you doing, Darling?”  “I’ll be fine; I’m just scared,” I replied through tears.  We loaded the six of us into the raft and pushed off the canyon.  And from there I was fine.  It’s just getting into that damn boat.  Once I’m in, I’m fine.  Right out the gate, we hit a class 3 rapid which we handled well.   Mike, a rafting guide from Colorado, got ejected from the front of the raft but quickly recovered.  Another group capsized straight away.  Up above, there were bungee jumpers bobbing off an enormous arched metal bridge that connected Zambia to Zimbabwe.  I started to relax and loosen up.  The water was warm, there were three raft guides on board (and a trainee), and there were 24 rapids ahead.  I was ready to have fun.

The canyon was impressive.  The black basalt rock walls were high through the entire run.  Small sandy beaches appeared occasionally.  The rapids were perfectly spaced; we’d paddle hard through a giant series of waves then catch the current and hang out through a glassy stretch.  On rapid #8, Tembo asked with a smile if we wanted the hard way or the harder way.  We went for the harder way, a class 5.  I knew going in that we were going to get dumped.  And we did.  The raft fully flipped over leaving all of us scattered like a yard sale.  We quickly recovered, and it was fun (although, I did acquire a fat lip in the process, compliments of Mark’s paddle).

We had an absolute blast.  It was among the highlights of the trip thus far (there have been so many!).

My fat lip (paddle to the face when we capsized)

The "A Team" (Chad, Nicholas, Tembo, Joel, Mike, Mark, Annie)

Moments before Mike took a swim

Class 5 rapids- exhilarating!

Descending into StarTrek (where we capsized)

Star Trek, the swimming generation

Yee haw!

Chasing Waterfalls in Livingstone, Zambia

Arrival in Livingstone, Zambia

Communal Grocery Shopping

Hike with Victoria Falls in Background

Victoria Falls

Entrance to Devil's Pool- the Balance Beam Shimmy

Cliff Jumping into Angel's Armchair

Jumping into Devil's Pool (literally on the edge of a massive waterfall)

In Devil's Pool (on the edge of a waterfall- hanging on by our feet so we don't float over the edge)

In Devil's Pool

Justin, jumping into Devil's Pool

Heidi, looking over Victoria Falls

Kenny, Enjoying a Victory in Victoria Falls

Nicholas, Taking in the View Atop the Falls

Wading and Swimming Back After Devil's Pool

Chad, On the Edge of Victoria Falls

Mark and Annie at the Edge of Victoria Falls

View From Atop Victoria Falls

Joel at the Local Markets (Clothes, Food, Toys)

Mike on the Booze Cruise at Sunset on the Zambezi River

Form the Ship, We Saw Many Hippos

A Crocodile Swam Alongside our Boat

Surfing, Salmon, Shark Diving, Jollyboys

I can’t say it enough, there’s fun to be had in Cape Town, South Africa.  If you’re looking for an introduction to international travel, the kind of introduction that mixes lots of fun and adventure without culture shock, Cape Town is the place for you.  For our last day in paradise, Mark and I booked a surfing adventure at Munchiem Beach.  Our Aussie instructor and his girlfriend, a marketing/ESL teacher, picked us up in their Scooby Doo van which was loaded with surfboards.  The name of their company is Wet Dreams.  Yes, sexuality and innuendo are not taboo here like they are in the States- a fact which surprises South Africans because they think of America as displayed through Hollywood stereotypes, sexually promiscuous.  With free condom dispensers in the lobby of each backpacker’s hostel and vineyard gift shops with names like “Fine Dry” (innuendo for too much good sex), it seems that South Africa is far more progressive.

Munchiem beach was packed with people for a Billabong teen girl’s surfing competition sponsored by Seventeen Magazine.  In between song lines like “C’mon, Baby, let’s do the twist!” a D.J. announced winners for a hula-hoop competition.  We stretched into our wetsuits and plopped down on the beach for our second surf lesson (the previous lesson was two summer’s ago at Mission Beach, California, and our skills were a little rusty).  Paddle, push up, knee in, twist up, stay low.  Full of excitement, we strapped the board’s leashes to our ankles and set out into the salty waves.  Both of us were able to stand up and surf several times, but more often than not, we looked like we were doing our own version of the twist followed up with a splash.  It was awesome.  After a few hours of fighting the waves, we were simultaneously elated and exhausted.

We relaxed at Long Street’s Café (where they have free wifi) for the remainder of the afternoon, then joined Michael and Joel on the hostel’s second floor veranda for a glass of Pinot Tag red wine with smoked salmon and gouda on butter crackers.  What a treat.  The guys showed us pictures of their day- shark diving.  Five at a time, they were lowered into a metal cage while bloody chum was dropped into the water and fish heads on sticks were used to lure in the sharks.  Some of them actually reached out to touch the sharks as they sped past the cage.  It looked like fun!  If a person had unlimited funds, there would be unlimited fun to be had in South Africa.

Jollyboys Backpackers Hostel Communal Sitting Area

Jollyboys Restaurant/Bar

Jollyboys Pool

We went to bed just before midnight and got up at 3am for our 4am taxi to a 5:45am flight.  Long Street was still partying when we loaded the taxi’s at 4am.  There were two short flights on the way to Livingston’s tiny airport in tropical Zambia.  Our hostel’s shuttle bus greeted us at the airport and took us to our next paradise, Jollyboys backpacker’s and camp.  We spent the day in the pool relaxing and gathering mangos from the nearby fruit trees.  At night, Mark and I walked into town to get groceries at the Shoprite.  In the hostel’s kitchen, we made a Mexican-inspired supper for 11.  We ate fruit salad, corn on the cob, dirty rice with cheddar cheese, kidney beans, and a tasty Portuguese chicken and fresh vegetable medley.  Awhile later, three local Rastafarians joined us with their drums and shakers for some music and conversation at the pool-side restaurant and bar… just another day in paradise.

Winelands Tour via Marinda’s Party Bus

I look forward all year long to Winefest, so naturally, when I discovered that South Africa was full of vineyards, I began looking forward to touring them.  Mark wasn’t interested, and I don’t love drinking alone, so I found two fellow wine fans to book the tour with, Michael and Joel.  When Marinda, our strawberry- haired tour guide, pulled up to the Blue Mountain Backpackers Hostel at 8:30am, she was full of spunk.  She said something to the effect of, “Let’s go have some fun!” and ushered us into her party van with the other tourists: a Peace Corps volunteer from CA, an ozzy, a Texan who currently resides in Italy, a Canadian from Edmonton, and a German.  The music cranked up, and everyone got to talking straight out the gate.

 There were 5 stops: 4 vineyards and lunch.  The first vineyard was delicious and classy.  The glasses were laid out for us at a private table behind a glass wall near the holding tanks; it was there that Marinda instructed us on how to properly taste wine by aerating it in our mouth and tipping the head forward to swallow.  Also, she showed us how to inspect the clarity of the wine.  From there, we set out to taste five or six samples inside the formal stone tasting room.  We paired them with unbelievable Brie, blue, and goat cheeses.  I can’t remember the name of the cheese that I loved so much, choco-something, but it tasted like cream cheese rolled in a salty layer of Mexican carne asada spices with a hint of cumin.  Unfortunately, at the end of the day I forgot my cheese in the van’s cooler.

The second stop had crappy-tasting wine, but gorgeous outdoor setting and interesting stories (for example: the owner murdered his neighbor).  The vineyard uses 1/3 of the profits as a trust fund to support the workers’ health care, university, and housing/utilities.  After our tasting, Marinda brought out a glass bowl with numbers inside to pair up couples for body shots.  Yes, far from the classy and sophisticated tours you may have heard about, our tour offered body shots of cider wine off a picnic table.

 

By lunchtime we were fully revved, dancing in the party bus between tastings.  Our lunch menu contained a variety of appetizing dishes.  I chose the spicy Asian chicken stir fry with slivered vegetables, cashews, and noodles.  By the end of the meal, we were starting to fade, and I was ready for a hammock, but we pressed on to the third vineyard which was beautifully nestled in the mountains.  It was full of striking metal artwork, and the tastings included my new favorite wine, Pinot Tag, a red that is totally unique to South Africa.

 

The fourth vineyard had a much smaller, home-style tasting room, and was very low-key.  We took a tour of the holding tanks and got lessons on the wine process: aging, yeast, fermentation, pressing, etc.  It was hot, humid, and sticky.  The featured wine variety at the fourth vineyard was Brut, a dry sparkling wine, not technically Champagne because it’s from SA, so instead it’s called Cap Classic.

It was loads of fun.  If you enjoy wine and are in Cape Town, I totally recommend the wine tour via Marinda’s party bus.  You can access her information via: http://www.africanstorytours.com/