tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65408176284819400292024-02-18T22:51:55.978-08:00Geek In Mozambiquegeekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-11137380492859534392014-05-17T12:14:00.000-07:002014-05-17T12:14:29.940-07:00Kwaherini WageniIt's hard to believe it's already May 17, that tomorrow we will be heading to Dar es Salaam, and that on Tuesday I will be back in the states. Now that I think about it, it's weird that four months seems like a whirlwind trip. It's been an incredible time, and I feel very blessed to have had a home to miss and this program to look forward to, and now to have a home to look forward to and this program to miss.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"What's this crazy mzungu doing?" -Eliza</td></tr>
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As some of you know, part of the program was a field research component in Mufindi District with the <a href="http://www.mufindiorphans.org/" target="_blank">Foxes NGO</a>. The NGO has five sectors: education, health, orphans and vulnerable children, environmental, and community, and serves 16 villages in the area. The village that we lived and worked in was called Igoda Village, and it is also home to the Igoda Children's Village, a series of houses which accommodate ten children and one "house mama" per home. One of these houses is informally known as "the baby house" because it is home to eight precious little ones. My job with the NGO was as an "early childhood therapeutic assistant", which meant that I provided one-on-one care to Eliza, an eighteen-month-old little girl who suffered from malnutrition and failure-to-thrive as an infant and is now the fattest baby in the baby house but still in need of extra attention to meet some of her development objectives. Every day from 7:30 to 12 I was in the baby house playing and doing exercises with her (she is working on improving her leg strength) or some days I picked her up in the morning and took her back to the volunteer house where I was staying.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmxne5ZxYX9-w7FEF-lfoFWtDdYUQxDH-eS1sm4ku4VuNdu8PiFqiVJ0WgBhORa3kqG9Io1zNfShlHJc93dNormwMvGtMMJ8D_iUYAMBUfNsB-djdLlsXpjlUPeH0-VqDvucTQRRhCFRY/s1600/IMG_2226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmxne5ZxYX9-w7FEF-lfoFWtDdYUQxDH-eS1sm4ku4VuNdu8PiFqiVJ0WgBhORa3kqG9Io1zNfShlHJc93dNormwMvGtMMJ8D_iUYAMBUfNsB-djdLlsXpjlUPeH0-VqDvucTQRRhCFRY/s1600/IMG_2226.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a>Some of her favorite things are playing peek-a-boo by pulling a hat over her face, practicing her standing, and singing. Some areas she's working to improve are moving independently, expressing emotion, and the aforementioned leg strength. This job wasn't really up my alley in terms of gaining experience that is applicable to my future career, and at first, to be honest, I found it boring. But seeing Eliza improve over the time I was there was incredible. One of my mini-goals for Eliza to accomplish while I was there was to clap her hands all by herself, because she likes to hold onto other people's hands and clap them together but won't clap independently--or, I should say, she didn't until the last day that I worked with her. It was great to be able to see that!<br />
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When I wasn't looking after Eliza, I was working on the quite hefty assignments from my University of Iringa professors or on my own research for Justin's Field Research course. My research was on self-efficacy and self-esteem in two villages, one which was served by the NGO and the other which wasn't. The data collection was intense, because even though the data was collected via survey, the surveys had to be administered orally because of concerns about the area's high illiteracy rate. Bw. Paulo was awesome during this phase, translating the questionnaire into Swahili and accompanying me on the interviews to help translate and avoid cultural misunderstandings. Libe, an employee of the NGO, also came with me on some of the interviews and was very helpful as well.<br />
Research in rural areas is difficult for several reasons. Rural roads make it difficult to get around, and patchy or non-existent (mostly the latter in my case) internet and phone service makes literature reviews and communication difficult. At the same time, much of the Tanzanian population lives in rural areas (not to mention those living in rural areas worldwide) which makes research in these areas essential for making these populations statistically visible. And, geeky person that I am, I really enjoyed doing the research that I was interested in and having so much support from the NGO and from Justin and Paulo.<br />
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And now that I've pretty much told you about what I was doing over there, I'm just going to take a moment to talk, with the aid of pictures, about how gorgeous Mufindi is. I can talk about the rolling green hills with the mist rolling over them every morning, the glittering spider-webs (with about a thousand giant spiders on them), and the bright flowers. I can also talk about how we were there during the rainiest of rainy seasons and how the dress I wore on Easter still has the mud stain (despite washing) it acquired when I slipped in the sticky clay while walking to the festivities (but I won't.)<br />
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This will be my last post from this trip, but I look forward to telling you more when I get back. There's so much to say about the past few months that I will have to do my best not to annoy everyone. The best thing about it has been the people. I have loved getting to know my fellow students and professors, and spending time with my dadas here (even if they don't want to talk about the nature of the self). From our last "daladala" ride to our last trip to Hasty Tasty (an Iringa restaurant that lives up to it's name, especially the "tasty" part), I have started to realize how much I will miss being a part of this program. Before starting the program, my brother, mom, and I were talking about the importance of being invested in whatever you do without looking backwards or forwards too much--in essence, "being where you are." To express this we said "home is where your self is," and although I have often thought about home while I was here, I think that everyone did a good job of bringing their selves along on the journey and investing in the people they came into contact with. As we leave this program, it will not be a struggle to reconcile "being where we are" with bringing our memories with us. Like our memories of our homes, the memories we have made over the past few months have become a part of our selves. And so, my sisters, I am using the topic you have avoided all this time to finish my writings about this trip, but I hope you know what I mean.<br />
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geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-71001964228005587412014-05-10T11:13:00.001-07:002014-05-10T11:13:53.666-07:00Open Water, Open SkyWell, it's been a while since my last post due to a lack of stable internet in certain rural areas, and I'm dreadfully behind. For now, since you have read about the "fake spring break," it's time to tell you about the real one. For the weeks preceding spring break, my fellow CIEE students and I were discussing what to do, and from the beginning I was an advocate of spending the week on Pemba SCUBA diving. In the end, that ended up being the only option in the running that didn't involve spending over half of the break just travelling, so Pemba it was for Emily, Renee, and I (I also like to think that my persuasive Powerpoint presentation had something to do with the decision). We started out on March 28 by heading to Dar es Salaam by bus, and when we got there we indulged in some delicious Japanese food followed by a delicacy we wouldn't have expected in our wildest dreams--frozen yogurt. We stayed at the YMCA that night, and in the morning we boarded the ferry to Unguja (also known as mainland Zanzibar or just Zanzibar, although technically Zanzibar is made up of Unguja and Pemba islands) and finally to Pemba. The ferry to Pemba was hot and miserable, taking six hours to reach Pemba. But it was worth it when we arrived at Swahili Divers and ate our first meal there. After an endless supply of rice and beans, we had soup, fresh seafood, and even a little dessert every lunch and dinner.<br />
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The next day, we began our diving courses with our instructor, Beltran. Emily and Renee were doing their open-water certification and I was doing the advanced open-water certification, which meant that for the first three days we did separate dives, but for the last two we were together. The NAUI advanced open-water course consists of a deep dive, a drift dive, a low-visibility dive, a peak-performance bouyancy dive, and a night dive. However, there is no night diving on Pemba because of the remoteness of the location, so this was not included in my course. I won't bore you with the details of the technical dives (though if you want me to feel free to ask) but will say that on our first dive we saw clams as big as children and nudibranchs that looked like neon stickers on the corals. When we weren't diving, we were relaxing by the sea and reading almost constantly.<br />
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On Wednesday, it was my birthday and Emily, Renee and I got to do our dives together. It was on one of those dives that we saw a sea turtle, but on the next day's dive that we were most reminded of the East Australian Current scene in "Finding Nemo." Although this dive wasn't supposed to be the drift dive required for the advanced open-water course, the current was incredibly strong. So we floated along, trying to kick efficiently and not to run into each other, and Renee and Emily gained an experience they weren't really supposed to have but, like many of the experiences that we didn't expect to be given this semester, they handled it with grace. In that current as well as in other experiences, I have felt like Marlin in the aforementioned "Finding Nemo" scene, amazed at other people's (or in Marlin's case, turtles') calm handling. But as I have always(?) said, studying abroad is like finding your son--you can't give up even when there are sharks (they might turn out to be nice people sort of). Before I get too caught up in this analogy, let me get back to the actual dive. It was a challenge beyond the natural challenge of the drift (and beyond the philosophical connections to "Finding Nemo") for my right foot because it had been stung by a sea urchin as we were walking to the boat. I have been stung by an urchin before, but that was a small one and it stung my fingers. This time, I freaked out a lot more than the first time and probably a lot more than I should have. While I was on the boat complaining and waiting for Beltran, another more experienced diver was further worrying me by discussing possible infections. When Beltran got to the boat and learned the news, his reaction was immediately reassuring and embarassing considering my whining. "A sea urchin? Oh, come on, that's like nothing!" Their spines are made of keratin, the same material as humans' hair and nails, so they will disolve once in the skin. The remedy for their sting is to break up the spines so that they will disolve faster by--to my dismay at the time--pounding the skin with a dive weight. I wasn't up to doing this to my own sad foot, but Renee was quick to oblige. I ignored her excitement and rendered up my foot. Actually, it worked like a charm and no infection ensued (although sadly for Renee and Emily I was the only person who did not get an infected bug bite or blister on my foot, but those are their stories to tell or not tell). </div>
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On Friday, we officially gained our new certifications and headed back to Dar es Salaam (this time by plane, but 24 hours after our last dive), and on Saturday we headed back to Iringa so that on Sunday, we could set out for our fieldwork component in Mufindi. But that's another story for another day. </div>
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geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-88621260265048876162014-03-09T05:16:00.001-07:002014-03-09T05:16:49.611-07:00The Fake Spring Break <span style="line-height: 150%;">I
thought it was sort of weird that our spring break for this program was in
February, but I decided just to go with it. But after my dad had made plans
(and bought plane tickets) to come visit me during the break, which was set for
February 24-28, I learned that when February and March both begin on a
Saturday, it can result in some mistakes in course calendars. Indeed, the break
was supposed to be March 24-28, but it was too late to change our plans, so,
throwing caution to the wind (not really; I was super upset about missing
classes), I left the university behind and flew to Dar es Salaam, where I met
Dad, and the next day to the Serengeti via Arusha. We met our guide, Fidelis,
and started out. The Serengeti is rich with wildlife—in our first two days, we
saw four leopards, one of which wasn’t far away.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 150%;">This family of elephants was taking
turns rolling around in two small mud puddles, and when the adolescents and
adults tried to sleep, this one-to-two-year-old calf was impatient for them to
wake up.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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On the 24<sup>th</sup>, we came
across the scattered members of a pride of lions, gathered in small groups a
few meters away from one another. This group had just finished eating, and
there were two others behind them (lower-ranking members of the pride) who were
still having their lunch. <o:p></o:p></div>
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While we were still enjoying the
great view of these lions, we were surprised that Fidelis drove away and we
wondered what could be better than this sighting. We soon found out, when we
were the only car in the area and five feet away from a male and two female
lions. One pair decided that while only one car was nearby was a good time to
mate, though they probably didn’t think I was going to talk about it on my
blog. How embarrassing. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As
amazing as the Serengeti is, it isn’t always crawling with fantastic animals.
Actually, it was such a great time for us for the same reason as it was for the
predators—it was time for the migration. Every year, thousands upon thousands
of zebra and wildebeest travel in small groups, large groups, and alone to find
better grazing areas. Both species are traveling with their young, as the
wildebeest are in their calving season and the zebras have given birth a few
months ago. In the words of Fidelis, “Where the end of your sight is, that is
the end of the animals.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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And while our sight was able to catch
thousands of zebras and wildebeests, it took Fidelis’ sight to catch the
cheetah. She was lying in the grass, stalking slowly, just feet at a time,
toward a group of zebras and Grant’s gazelles. Patiently we waited, and
patiently she stalked, getting closer and closer to her prey until finally she
felt confident that she could catch something. She passed by the gazelles,
though, which were closer to her, and went for a zebra foal. She was fast, but
not fast enough. Dejected, she plopped down in the grass—though cheetahs are
the fastest land animal, reaching speeds of up to 70 kilometers per hour, they
are sprinters, not distance runners. She would have to wait at least 30 minutes
before trying again. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The migration doesn’t
take place only in the Serengeti, and we crossed with the herds into the
Ngorongoro region. And the migration doesn’t take place only on land, either.
These wildebeests had to cross a wide lake with their young, who jumped with
anticipation as they prepared to cross or with triumph as they emerged from the
water.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;">In the Ngorongoro
region, we had another fantastic cheetah sighting, this time of a mother
relaxing with her cub, a one-year-old male who was very playful despite being
almost full-grown. He wasn’t content to let his mother sleep but tapped her
with his hind legs and swatted her head with his tail, all of which she
ignored. There are several ways to tell cheetahs and leopards apart, including
the cheetah’s round versus the leopard’s rosette spots, the cheetah’s slimmer,
more shoulder-heavy build, and the distinct “tear marks” on the cheetah’s face.
Also, cheetahs can’t climb trees. But this guy didn’t know that yet, and he
decided to give it a go.</span></div>
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Ngorongoro
region is also home to Oldupai Gorge, which is often mistakenly called “Olduvai
Gorge.” Oldupai is a Maasai word for a specific type of plant found in the
area, but the gorge is an archeological site where the first remains of <i>Australopithecus Boisei </i>were discovered
by Mary Leakey in 1959. <o:p></o:p></div>
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While
the gorge is an important site for the discovery of past peoples and animals,
the equally famous Ngorongoro Crater is alive with creatures of the present.
Maasai men and women lead their cattle over the green grasses and zebras,
wildebeest, elephants, lions, crowned cranes, hyenas, ostriches, and several
other species graze and play in an Eden-like harmony if the predators aren’t
hungry. <o:p></o:p></div>
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On
the 26<sup>th</sup>, Dad and I made our way to Lake Manyara national park. It’s
a much more low-key setting than the Serengeti or Ngorongoro, but we had a
special reason to be there—it is one of the closest accessible areas to Kiteto,
where my sponsor child, Sarah, lives. On the 27<sup>th</sup>, I left Lake Manyara
with Elisante Daniel, a Compassion International representative, and our
driver, Bw. Patrick. I use the word “close” loosely when I describe the
distance between Lake Manyara and Kiteto. It took us about eight hours to get
there, and we got one flat tire and got stuck in the sand once on our way. When
we got to Kiteto, though, the journey was well worth it. I met with three
Compassion representatives, and with her pastor, from whom I (along with the other
sponsors) had received letters with updates about what’s going on in the
community. As I was talking to these lovely individuals and waiting for Sarah
to come with two representatives who were picking her up from her house, I
wondered what her reaction would be and whether my visit would be boring or
inconvenient for her. But when I saw her, she was smiling and ran to hug me. I
visited her house, and her family and neighbors were very welcoming too. We
spent the time exchanging gifts, playing games, and talking (with Elisante
translating at times and at other times with me trying my best with my limited
Swahili). The visit was amazing, but just as amazing have been the past three
years being Sarah’s sponsor and communicating with her through letters. If you
want to, you can check out the organization through which I sponsor Sarah at <a href="http://www.compassion.com/default.htm">www.compassion.com</a>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-88982944077030672422014-02-19T07:27:00.002-08:002014-02-19T07:31:10.566-08:00Secret StudentsWhile my peers back in South Carolina were out of school because of the ice storms, I was enjoying the warm, tropical climate of Iringa; but our fates must have been intertwined, because I was also barred from classes. For me, it was because we had tourist visas to enter the country with the idea that once we entered, we would obtain student visas or resident permits with the help of our program. The process is slow, especially if you're not in a big city like Dar, and we weren't technically allowed to be taking classes with tourist visas, so we had to stay out of the classroom for a couple of days . . . and this, of course, turned into a week. We started our classes again today. Fortunately, during that week we were still able to have our Swahili class with Bw. Paulo, since he is with CIEE and not the university. And when we weren't learning Swahili, since we did have tourist visas, we became tourists.<br />
Bw. Paulo took us to Kalenga, where the skull of Chief Mkwawa has its final resting-place. In the same room are displayed some replicas of traditional Hehe spears, shields, and cooking utensils.<br />
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After leaving Kalenga, we headed to Isimila, a stone-age site boasting incredible pillars made of eroded sandstone. We were able to see the pillars from above, and then to hike in the bottom, which is a seasonal riverbed. It was an incredible hike, but I feel like the best thing to do for you now is to leave you here with some extra-large photos.<br />
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geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-34810638434049570782014-02-08T03:11:00.003-08:002014-02-08T03:13:54.418-08:00Iringa Town<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqaYV29sLc2JBrbFh4e3f2fHGbhET2Sf2XRbA4psdjsvi2BBgWfHCCztMMF9TdllTwkSTcrUQg_TmnY96f-CgcDcTy72TQ02JffObbus6tb21GVVcCxUtBKfD7GkVO1Ch3VdJelE_KqDk/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqaYV29sLc2JBrbFh4e3f2fHGbhET2Sf2XRbA4psdjsvi2BBgWfHCCztMMF9TdllTwkSTcrUQg_TmnY96f-CgcDcTy72TQ02JffObbus6tb21GVVcCxUtBKfD7GkVO1Ch3VdJelE_KqDk/s1600/007.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Well, it’s the end of
our first week of classes and I am sitting with the other students in my
program at our favorite haunt in Iringa: Neema Café. The café offers great food
and a quirky, modern atmosphere and it is a nice respite from the loud dorm life
and monotonous rice and beans. Below the café is Neema Craft, where beautiful
notebooks, blankets, clothing, jewelry, and décor are sold. But the best
feature of Neema is that both the café and the craft shop are non-profit
organizations which offer job training and employment to disabled individuals. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As for the university,
my classes have been very interesting so far, though we just started on
Tuesday. The campus is small but beautiful, with stone pathways and gorgeous
mountain views. The climate is perfect; the air is cool and fresh, and the
flowering trees are in bloom.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the dorms, where I share
a room with three Tanzanian students, things are somewhat less peaceful, but
there is a feeling of community and excitement. When we arrived, our roommates
came to greet us and walk us to our rooms, and they have been very welcoming
ever since and are always ready to help, especially when it comes to teaching
us the proper way of doing everyday things. Unfortunately, I am often very confused
about what is going on as the other girls carry on enthused conversations in
Kiswahili, often embarrassed when I can’t answer a simple greeting, and often
hurt when I hear the word “mzungu” (or, “white person”) scattered throughout
their speech and wonder what they are saying about me. Nevertheless, as I have
begun to get to know my roommates, I think I am becoming less of an alien in
their eyes, and their speech has started to be directed to me more often than
about me. Still, I stand out quite a bit on campus, so I haven’t wanted to look
like a tourist by taking photos of the classrooms, campus buildings, and living
arrangements. When the students have their semester break and we are still in
classes, since the semesters are on a different schedule here, I will show you
around. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For now, I’ll end here
at Neema’s, in the heart of tiny, lush Iringa town. If you'd like, you can join me virtually by checking out their website at: <a href="http://www.neemacrafts.com/">http://www.neemacrafts.com/</a>.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"> </span></span></div>
geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-46924529435733229112014-01-31T09:56:00.002-08:002014-01-31T09:56:24.930-08:00Bagamoyo and the Bustling Abode of PeaceWell, it's the last day of January and I can't believe we're leaving tomorrow for Iringa. It's been a whirlwind trip to Dar es Salaam, and although I've enjoyed all the excursions we've been on, I'm getting excited about classes beginning on Monday. <div>
Yesterday, Bw. Paulo took us to Bagamoyo, a historic town on the coast where we viewed some ancient buildings and some remnants from German East Africa.<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">The origins of the Kaole Ruins, including the mosque and graves shown in this picture, are somewhat disputed, with some scholars believing them to be a Persian settlement, while others suggest that they may have been built by a Swahili people-group. </span><br />
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Our tour guide, Noel, showed us a well which, despite being near the ocean, contains fresh water. For this reason, the water is believed to be holy, and some people still draw the water to wash themselves using the bucket and pitcher shown in the photo.<br />
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The Holy Ghost Mission was built in 1872 by the Holy Ghost Fathers. We were fortunate to have come during Mass, because, even though this meant we didn't enter the sanctuary to avoid disturbing those attending, we could hear the beautiful singing from inside. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHL2rbgv8ej2YfJbSnF2LUf2sr-BhaaJcvpb3tKPnMXTXulRya3BTkSm7IdgNOgSBBcEJaaYx5UVuLhLwQu5Y0Nv-vIVwj1UHkIt8o4KxxUP1AsWeQpcRIhSEsdWgD_B4XjTXmzIOrmzc/s1600/146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHL2rbgv8ej2YfJbSnF2LUf2sr-BhaaJcvpb3tKPnMXTXulRya3BTkSm7IdgNOgSBBcEJaaYx5UVuLhLwQu5Y0Nv-vIVwj1UHkIt8o4KxxUP1AsWeQpcRIhSEsdWgD_B4XjTXmzIOrmzc/s1600/146.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tropical huts at the Bagamoyo Beach Resort</td></tr>
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Today, we returned to Dar es Salaam where we made sure our mobile internet modems were equipped with data plans, drove through city center, and went to the mall. The traffic in the city is congested, and the music from the Xanadu Club across the street from our hotel is usually driving a persistent beat into our room. Yes, Dar es Salaam is continually alive.<br />
I will end this post after just a word of all there is to tell, and then I will give you a word or two about Iringa with its cooler climate, university courses, and surely countless other features that we have yet to catch wind of.<br />
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geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-21949316947460572062014-01-28T07:26:00.000-08:002014-01-28T07:29:16.563-08:00Geek in Dar es Salaam<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Hello,
my friends, and <i>hamjambo?</i> from
Tanzania.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Although I’m not in
Mozambique these days, I decided to continue this blog rather than begin a new
one. After all, I’m still as much of a geek as ever, so why complicate things?
Anyway, this time I am in Tanzania for a semester-long study abroad program,
which is located in Iringa and Mufindi.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This week, we are going
through an orientation in Dar es Salaam, one of Tanzania’s most important
economic centers. There are only a few students in the program—four, including
myself, so we will probably become like a little family (or mortal enemies).
This week we met our program director, Jenny, and we began our Kiswahili
lessons with Bwana (Mr.) Paulo. Our activities have included a trip to the
lovely Mbudya Island Marine Reserve, where we enjoyed some delicious fresh grilled blackfish and dazzling views.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Today, Bw. Paulo took us
to the city, including a trip to the National Museum.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We also visited the
village museum, which was set up like a village of traditional houses typical
of several of the many different tribes living in Tanzania. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKIxeT2Joh8kdDGsZ1xsWOKOPOuEU6HbQeQxbGRWnjSYy4jxH27PsTuTYr84CCBSJqECp1mIBUZt-NdCUIOLkMpi2kwOHf8LyQXiDMKrFdrDV0z9esyNyER30_WUB5JKBzKSgKSCxwj9Y/s1600/074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKIxeT2Joh8kdDGsZ1xsWOKOPOuEU6HbQeQxbGRWnjSYy4jxH27PsTuTYr84CCBSJqECp1mIBUZt-NdCUIOLkMpi2kwOHf8LyQXiDMKrFdrDV0z9esyNyER30_WUB5JKBzKSgKSCxwj9Y/s1600/074.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
We were even graced
with some traditional Makonde dances.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh62xaEvQtEXYXVyjj7OyIBoZgZUix1UWR1ufu03BLWQ8xL7vp0IrVpAH0AVWL3LJ4cs4apAoR2vorTQjKnVNud5OWmSdBAcVYSSXd7uAMJ1MmVOOKmeQIb9P43300Tt-GupuSpC94K0ZY/s1600/125.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh62xaEvQtEXYXVyjj7OyIBoZgZUix1UWR1ufu03BLWQ8xL7vp0IrVpAH0AVWL3LJ4cs4apAoR2vorTQjKnVNud5OWmSdBAcVYSSXd7uAMJ1MmVOOKmeQIb9P43300Tt-GupuSpC94K0ZY/s1600/125.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ll leave you with
those images from my first few days in Tanzania for now. I hope you have a great week, and I'll "see" you soon!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-68708313860823703642013-07-17T13:31:00.002-07:002014-01-28T07:27:53.369-08:00I'll See You SoonIt's hard to believe that we leave Mozambique for the last time in the foreseeable future tomorrow. There's no way to express how much these three trips over three years have impacted me, but I hope that this blog has given a tiny taste of Mozambique and its neighbors, and for those of you who are interested in travelling in Africa, I hope that at least some of the stories have whetted your appetite. In Portuguese, there is a word for longing for a time that is passed, for a feeling, an experience that cannot be recovered, or for a person who is far away. This feeling of <i>saudades</i> is a familiar one for someone who is sentimental and resistant to change. But for all the times in my life for which I have experienced <i>saudades,</i>I have come into something else that is worthy of missing just as much. So I will have <i>saudades </i>for these summers in Maputo, and for the unforgettable places and people and times which I have yet to encounter. E para você, Moçambique, vamos reunir no futuro. Until then, I will continue to write about the other places I travel to, and I look forward to talking about this trip an annoying amount to my friends and family back home. Get ready. I have missed you, too.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDljye5wt6LdWRi5b97Wszuh4AAmddchG2rsAGaPDm7qmvlMEXsJlHduahOrNsmSIPYrxP16y3fzzqS_qE7yS5M9QAvC6F8-H7PMSR0l5B0IS0o7Zo_iWuPPGtPLKVtqssrutNseUuIIA/s1600/700.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDljye5wt6LdWRi5b97Wszuh4AAmddchG2rsAGaPDm7qmvlMEXsJlHduahOrNsmSIPYrxP16y3fzzqS_qE7yS5M9QAvC6F8-H7PMSR0l5B0IS0o7Zo_iWuPPGtPLKVtqssrutNseUuIIA/s400/700.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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-Geek in Mozambique</div>
<br />
<br />geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-73685938001769499012013-07-16T16:59:00.001-07:002014-01-28T10:42:31.688-08:00The Southern Swing<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted, and a
lot has happened since then. In fact, only one more full day is left until we
leave Maputo! The time has truly flown by, so I’m going to condense this blog
post as much as possible for all our sakes. On June 21, we left for a two-week
travel extravaganza which my dad has called “The Southern Swing.” In two weeks,
we visited three countries and one of the Seven Wonders of the World, stayed in
at least seven hotels and one tent, took three flights, met countless
interesting people, and carried one backpack each. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjugriNbPjUsZy0Pby_d5f00xUMWROlWtH8HvGUSeQbsaE0vN0zWBh3ROZ1brGF9OgbVOZ4jLnHiO2AVLvUdujikqLxADF9unU1mMxNEUZRQxFrAtHlg9qMZxb0X5PvaXNVSY55o6pLmsY/s1600/945418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Our first stop was Victoria </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Falls, </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;">Zimbabwe,
where we met </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;">up </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;">with our guide, Justin, and </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;">his </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;">protégé, Moffat. Victoria </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;">Falls
is </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;">a little town that plays </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;">host to the </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;">largest waterfall in the </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;">world, the </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;">mere spray of which </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;">was enough </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;">to soak us to the </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;">bone.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0RkexaIZpXjaxygU-jPIIFujSGISJjNt_xKVObv910jtCzH9KUN4Lk3RhCcB03OEMBDJ1TrELIOGJJvy0KXcOS4LagcHTeYqwtiCh4yB8Xf8KbOM1cxhUCIUAMRqOVjD3Gj_-hbrV3yY/s1600/945419.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0RkexaIZpXjaxygU-jPIIFujSGISJjNt_xKVObv910jtCzH9KUN4Lk3RhCcB03OEMBDJ1TrELIOGJJvy0KXcOS4LagcHTeYqwtiCh4yB8Xf8KbOM1cxhUCIUAMRqOVjD3Gj_-hbrV3yY/s400/945419.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-JoPgbsbWBO5omvoxb5VTsO4xktJCoW0Qlc0M7XytMKhCYyY_NUWoNPkuNBer4WTdv8CyGbRat0ireFNXjDfT9FfebTcW8zXxZ8Lukz6tGIFiuOAVR3JL-rokdDS1ckVJZYAoUNiAT0M/s1600/DPP-197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-JoPgbsbWBO5omvoxb5VTsO4xktJCoW0Qlc0M7XytMKhCYyY_NUWoNPkuNBer4WTdv8CyGbRat0ireFNXjDfT9FfebTcW8zXxZ8Lukz6tGIFiuOAVR3JL-rokdDS1ckVJZYAoUNiAT0M/s320/DPP-197.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The next day, we headed to Hwange National Park,
Zimbabwe’s largest game reserve, and while we were there, we stopped by the
Wild Dog Conservancy. Wild dogs are the second most endangered predators in the
world, and the conservancy provides shelter to individuals who cannot survive
in the wild, either temporarily or permanently. Three dogs lived at the
conservancy at the time—two of them were physically unable to survive in the
wild, one because of malnourishment and the other because of a bad leg. The third dog, however, named Aurora, was
being kept there temporarily. Wild dogs are extremely social animals, and while
they are extremely successful hunters in packs, they can’t bring down prey by
themselves. When Aurora’s sister was killed in a confrontation with lions, she
was brought to the conservancy which plans to introduce other wild dogs to her.
Once a pack is formed, the entire group can be released back into the wild. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The day we visited the falls, we perused
activities that we could do in the following days, and we should have known
that we were in for a new experience when Caleb set eyes on the
adrenaline-inducing ones. Our fate was sealed the minute he saw the Gorge
Swing. The swing is sort of like a bungee-jump, except that you’re right-side
up and instead of springing back up after the fall, you swing out over the
gorge and then are pulled up. We did two other activities first—the Flying Fox,
in which you are suspended in a flying position and slide out over the gorge on
a zipline-type line, and the Zipline itself. Each activity was a little bit
more intense than the next, and I think they prepared us somewhat compared to
if we had gone straight for the swing. Nevertheless, when the time came for us
to do the gorge swing, at least some of us were nervous. John was the first to
jump, and as he did he yelled “one more day”—because even essentially jumping
off a cliff is an appropriate time for a Les Miserables reference. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Caleb was next, and he was smiling happily
before, during, and after. Although he and John had both described the swing
enthusiastically, I felt nervous not so much for the fall but for the moment
right before. As I approached the platform I was shaky, and I was too
preoccupied to think of a catch phrase to yell. After I jumped, I had a quick
thought of “what have I done?” and then, even before the freefall was over, I
stopped being afraid, opened my eyes, and thought how proud I was that I had
jumped. For a three-second freefall, I feel like I had a lot of time to think.
It felt almost as if I was in a dream. When the harness caught me, I felt
relieved. I was thinking about a Bible verse, actually: “When I said: “my foot
is slipping,” your love, oh Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within
me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.” I don’t know that the gorge swing
is a particularly spiritual experience, but for me, jumping off the platform
and trusting that everything would be fine, and then looking up at my family smiling
and waving at the top and looking down at the gorge and the distance from which
I had fallen, I felt very content. And of course I was thankful for my low
blood pressure. Dad conquered the gorge swing wearing his Piggly Wiggly
t-shirt, of course. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUDNp-fbjWIdOzxLYhpvar27EqbjLDbi0uYDzFHQU7fLY1TwjceIdfFswyD9aBZJnJixopV2-VmV6kC6XzhbYPTZYGSfrS9cXMHN7PWDsrrl0ozeZaqjxPyn6WQgs8dWe_9NtvhshfzE/s1600/945477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUDNp-fbjWIdOzxLYhpvar27EqbjLDbi0uYDzFHQU7fLY1TwjceIdfFswyD9aBZJnJixopV2-VmV6kC6XzhbYPTZYGSfrS9cXMHN7PWDsrrl0ozeZaqjxPyn6WQgs8dWe_9NtvhshfzE/s320/945477.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The next day, it was time for white water rafting
on the mighty Zambezi River. We found ourselves among some interesting rafting
partners, some of which did not greatly contribute to our raft’s welfare.
Nevertheless, we enjoyed the rapids if not the long, rocky hike from the river
to the road. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUmDN3GkMKXk3GEdD8WjKi8xzZtPb1Sx0qy4zuK8tXgj2IBaOlJoKeDGLKdJcPzFsP4rsFyUz25oV-9LISocd7Zjv2R93aK7XCVeX30bfuueddPlQkBsLeIzI_aNfUwNYjhEN7oHyXXwc/s1600/DPP-019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUmDN3GkMKXk3GEdD8WjKi8xzZtPb1Sx0qy4zuK8tXgj2IBaOlJoKeDGLKdJcPzFsP4rsFyUz25oV-9LISocd7Zjv2R93aK7XCVeX30bfuueddPlQkBsLeIzI_aNfUwNYjhEN7oHyXXwc/s320/DPP-019.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">On June 25, we crossed into Botswana, where our
first stop was Chobe National Park. There, we experienced one of the best game
drives we have ever been on. The first thing we saw upon entering the park was
my personal favorite antelope, the rare and shy Sable. We were able to see two
individuals and a herd, and our guide, Richard, was extremely obliging when we
wanted to follow them. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKELJKfJmrFFV7wSszWbzW_nupx9gEnC4fo1z9zMxGhVNWKgvloHgmw7pEgQI301MKuAYcfRWOytZid0XAcIF7E8ZwUt47dDtsC-eaoWSploMYMIOkvWKFTdclMO80UdNoicxgxwKX_wU/s1600/DPP_394.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKELJKfJmrFFV7wSszWbzW_nupx9gEnC4fo1z9zMxGhVNWKgvloHgmw7pEgQI301MKuAYcfRWOytZid0XAcIF7E8ZwUt47dDtsC-eaoWSploMYMIOkvWKFTdclMO80UdNoicxgxwKX_wU/s320/DPP_394.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Chobe is famous for its elephants, and we were
not disappointed as we watched large groups crossing the river and munching on
leaves. These elephants were used to humans passing through to look at them,
and they were comfortable enough to let us see the young ones. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHZdFN5eFx-ZE93aFBykNKjDoL3eMYo2aF5fZdh1CaiFU9-BH7ZOZ96WRFl-Nkm7V0zyNlRE3IB_-buogSYRvAgpwFIOXCNjENMuezP5rGA67BHjuCdIjkL-XBSDUxiuNP7zKJXrWuY6o/s1600/DPP-032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHZdFN5eFx-ZE93aFBykNKjDoL3eMYo2aF5fZdh1CaiFU9-BH7ZOZ96WRFl-Nkm7V0zyNlRE3IB_-buogSYRvAgpwFIOXCNjENMuezP5rGA67BHjuCdIjkL-XBSDUxiuNP7zKJXrWuY6o/s320/DPP-032.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">But although they were at ease among humans, the
elephants weren’t totally carefree. Chobe is also home to lions, and they
weren’t interested in elephants for their photogenic qualities. The dominant
male and female of the pride had taken down a two-to-three-year-old elephant,
an impressive feat for only two lions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Just when we thought we’d seen everything we
could hope to see in one drive, we saw another car stopped to take pictures.
When we saw what was hopping along in the grass, we could scarcely believe
it—I’ll give you a hint: it’s black and white, and it doesn’t care—it was a
honey badger. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5-h_eeqRKYl-vPYxWOzAnO-w84dNomyc6ozif4-Ws4eIp3zWtzt1jStHjxmeGyxFOoJOI9T7bEa4LufPXe9bxCjw779ePoUAWCxr2hHqRHW9_cVjvxnTZhmwLjYt3D1GVqZ1jnNhs09o/s1600/DPP-312.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5-h_eeqRKYl-vPYxWOzAnO-w84dNomyc6ozif4-Ws4eIp3zWtzt1jStHjxmeGyxFOoJOI9T7bEa4LufPXe9bxCjw779ePoUAWCxr2hHqRHW9_cVjvxnTZhmwLjYt3D1GVqZ1jnNhs09o/s320/DPP-312.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">On the 27<sup>th</sup>, we headed to Maun, touted
as “your gateway to the Okavango Delta” and on the 28<sup>th</sup>, we went
into the Delta itself. In the delta, the main form of transportation is the
mokoro, a flat-bottomed canoe-type boat which is traditionally made from the
bark of the kigelia, or sausage tree, though modern mokoros are generally made
from fiberglass, since the tree is protected. Mokoros are propelled by long
poles, and our polers were absolutely graceful with them (and I learned later
that grace isn’t easy in a mokoro). As we were transported to our island
campsite, we came across a bit of a roadblock in the form of eight hippos who
didn’t want to let us pass. We decided to wait, but the hippos were lazy and
patient, and they weren’t going anywhere. Of course, with hippos, giving them
their space is essential, so our polers took an alternative route. When we
reached our camp, we set up tents and were shown around the grounds. That
evening, we went for a nature walk around the island, and we came across a herd
of zebra just as the sun was setting. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMCBo0DnqN7qcc_tgifaVjmD4xuqJIOe2F6mDNlprkc78pHKf28O9Y8iE3DZ8uQVBWM0IFUEdyiM9KghlhaxPok1UlxY5qWKnWiMi5cw4nyQHZZHkuomH7goVXFCUNdCEMKbuGVXlzlV4/s1600/DPP-289.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMCBo0DnqN7qcc_tgifaVjmD4xuqJIOe2F6mDNlprkc78pHKf28O9Y8iE3DZ8uQVBWM0IFUEdyiM9KghlhaxPok1UlxY5qWKnWiMi5cw4nyQHZZHkuomH7goVXFCUNdCEMKbuGVXlzlV4/s400/DPP-289.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The next day we went for a morning game drive,
attempted to learn to pole the mokoros ourselves, and later enjoyed a ride
around the delta with the professionals in charge of the poling. That night, an
announcement was made that our hosts were going to share some of their culture
with us via song, and we ended the day with songs, riddles, and games around
the campfire. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The next day, it was time to leave the delta, and
even though we had a great time, it was good timing as far as our accommodations,
because I was starting not to feel well—one of the risks a person takes by
eating fish while camping. And the next day, July 1, we were scheduled to fly
to Namibia, so I went ahead and went to the doctor’s office before the airport
and he gave me the nastiest antibiotic I’ve ever had to take. After that, we
said goodbye to Justin and Moffat, and to John, who returned to Maputo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzlQY8Gls-48JG53C2eiPQGG7TQdE_XsNKA_gXeJkKGMuxD_ozmgGdiX5LNJUpdD1wJehaPb_PVY0QR106I1yYAOQ5wYWcDMsiUUS_RVUrXP6VOpWoarQSNht5hBK-axjbhKueafH8xTw/s1600/DPP-358.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzlQY8Gls-48JG53C2eiPQGG7TQdE_XsNKA_gXeJkKGMuxD_ozmgGdiX5LNJUpdD1wJehaPb_PVY0QR106I1yYAOQ5wYWcDMsiUUS_RVUrXP6VOpWoarQSNht5hBK-axjbhKueafH8xTw/s320/DPP-358.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">We began the Namibian portion of our trip in the
capital, Windhoek, where we picked up our rental car, a Jeep Wrangler with the
name “Malory” painted on the front, and on July 2 drove out into the desert to
Soussusvlei. Though the drive took up a good portion of our day, we were
surrounded by beautiful scenery and even some wildlife in the form of
ostriches, springboks, and oryx (specifically, <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;">gemsboks).</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHet2dSQLGh6uPb2NhKHHyirhlmN62_uBOmntwtBk7OdjdK1uWeIYY8BhRH53ysShbblcrS57kpRS_xS8cfgasT9ER6KcPFE_o4cdfSGnjCvtyDC5LTVc0s_xBDuR2lJ1V4IZJ1x9Xjxw/s1600/DPP-438.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHet2dSQLGh6uPb2NhKHHyirhlmN62_uBOmntwtBk7OdjdK1uWeIYY8BhRH53ysShbblcrS57kpRS_xS8cfgasT9ER6KcPFE_o4cdfSGnjCvtyDC5LTVc0s_xBDuR2lJ1V4IZJ1x9Xjxw/s320/DPP-438.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">On July 3, we took Malory out to Soussusvlei’s
famous Deadvlei, named for the dead trees which grew there when the Deadvlei
wasn’t so dry. But the area where the trees were was surrounded by giant red
dunes, and the hike up is tiring. Since I was still recovering from my bad-fish
incident, I took it easy and Dad and I took a flatter detour to the Deadvlei. The
smaller dunes gave me at least a taste of dune hiking. When you take a step,
your feet sink into the fine sand and it’s hard on the knees, but the hike is
exponentially easier if you step in the footprints of those who have hiked up
before you. As I climbed up the vast hills and looked at the others around me,
some of them reaching the tallest peaks after a slow, graceful, climb, and
relied on the footprints to hoist me up, I kept thinking of Isaac Newton’s
remark regarding his intellectual achievements: “I stand on the shoulders of
giants.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCRULWY39IpyFKHdK94SYOrzNaGVlfFRcJBmJ1vfCq78EyZyBPzX_Z0STV2uo_lzM-jWz95cjxUIxvLj7kCMn5SxcHcfr-0wFfuJ5yu8zRWdtU85jEMmQpl105Zaoo1_z_QMzB0eJAzoA/s1600/DPP-386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCRULWY39IpyFKHdK94SYOrzNaGVlfFRcJBmJ1vfCq78EyZyBPzX_Z0STV2uo_lzM-jWz95cjxUIxvLj7kCMn5SxcHcfr-0wFfuJ5yu8zRWdtU85jEMmQpl105Zaoo1_z_QMzB0eJAzoA/s320/DPP-386.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">On the Fourth of July (Happy Independence Day, fellow
Americans), we had reached Swakopmund, a city on the coast of Namibia—the west
coast of Africa, thus completing our east coast to west coast sweep. After a
morning of walking on the beach and looking at the flamingoes gathered there,
followed by a trip to the aquarium, it was time for another sand dune related
activity. Using snowboards, we surfed the dunes. It was a little scary at
first, and I was awkward on a snowboard, but Caleb, who is accustomed to
snowboarding, took to it right away. In fact, when he jokingly claimed that he
was a professional snowboarder, another woman who was dune surfing with her family
asked me if it was true.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p><br /></span>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgShIUnPxsPeq9nddLlYikbn2scwUt9OufsnOum-Rp-9Xv7F4jxH5ncQD_7QYL_vvV7nNZ_FXKeOlcS5wZQXmYS0X5XYJToGSVzZLzr8TEsM18vCrQdUAttaS94XXE-uQFgAFHPWcP86p4/s1600/DPP-501.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgShIUnPxsPeq9nddLlYikbn2scwUt9OufsnOum-Rp-9Xv7F4jxH5ncQD_7QYL_vvV7nNZ_FXKeOlcS5wZQXmYS0X5XYJToGSVzZLzr8TEsM18vCrQdUAttaS94XXE-uQFgAFHPWcP86p4/s400/DPP-501.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Friday, our final day in Namibia, we took a day
trip to Spitzkoppe, a granite rock formation and its surrounding area. On some
of the rocks, Bushmen paintings can be found—this one depicts a rhinoceros and
two “half-human, half-animals” which represent the Bushmen wearing animal skins
and approaching an animal on all fours after rubbing themselves with wild sage
to mask their human scent. Paintings like these were used to tell other groups
what kind of game is in the area, where to find water, what hunting methods
were most successful for the group that did the paintings, and what perils they
faced along the way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Like a Bushmen painter, I hope that this blog
post which I’m leaving for you was interesting and maybe a little informative,
even if it doesn’t tell the whole story. I look forward to talking to you guys
soon in more detail! Until then, be well, do everything you can, stay away from
camp fish, and remember that every step you take in the sand is still one half-regular-step further than no steps at all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-40877042569963080522013-06-19T11:26:00.000-07:002013-06-19T11:26:49.583-07:00I Think I Saw an Impala<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Yesterday we returned from a five-day trip to
Kruger National Park and the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Center in South
Africa with over a thousand pictures and some new wildlife experiences. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This trip, we set out to see carnivores, so we
headed to the north of the park where lions are less prevalent and cheetahs,
leopards, and hyenas enjoy the lack of competition while rare antelopes such as
Sable and Hartebeest enjoy the lack of lions eating them. We started in Skukuza
camp, which is still in the south of the park and from there embarked on a
game drive with a guide named Robert. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0OF1-VQQAFLH6HqnqZN2HDAw0hUtBifBjkKvUgVVyISSmnvBtbEkEk4HzdifGPAHLgs6cI5uxL2Ix4mPjAfZ1eBikIvV7NTadslk2HR2ehY8SkFn_3CZIQrMdTBPVQwYO1rexZHOtDDw/s1600/W+071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0OF1-VQQAFLH6HqnqZN2HDAw0hUtBifBjkKvUgVVyISSmnvBtbEkEk4HzdifGPAHLgs6cI5uxL2Ix4mPjAfZ1eBikIvV7NTadslk2HR2ehY8SkFn_3CZIQrMdTBPVQwYO1rexZHOtDDw/s320/W+071.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The first thing we saw was a breeding
pack o</span></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">f hyenas. Robert explained that hyenas separate their cubs into
age-appropriate groups so that they don’t compete for food, and that a cub will
be fed not only by its mother but also by other members of the pack, practices
to which Robert attributed the very low infant mortality rate among hyenas. Sure
enough, after we had watched and taken photos of this lady, we realized that
there was another nursing mother on the other side of the road with two very
young, all-black cubs who had yet to gain their characteristic spots. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguhEp5EsRmCmEr_p20ebIGc0Mhg1PIHKn-DEf71-81381vhVMUv19prhEvpVOB-aozDWLFaQ13tLp1FeSJqhUUTSR3GV8y7vcf5gbdJHNePi3H4qJlfZAfAxF61xuoFbFskk1yvmqTys8/s1600/W+072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguhEp5EsRmCmEr_p20ebIGc0Mhg1PIHKn-DEf71-81381vhVMUv19prhEvpVOB-aozDWLFaQ13tLp1FeSJqhUUTSR3GV8y7vcf5gbdJHNePi3H4qJlfZAfAxF61xuoFbFskk1yvmqTys8/s200/W+072.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Robert also noticed something in one of the trees
as we passed by, and when he backed up to show it to us, it turned out to be one
of the most impressive feats of safari-guidery that I have ever seen. In the
dark and while driving, Robert spotted a flap-necked chameleon, a tiny little
fellow who looked so much like the leaves around him that Robert had to point
for ten minutes before everyone in the vehicle had seen it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">On the fifteenth, we left Skukuza and headed for
Mopani camp, which is named for the famous Mopani tree (in which lives the
Mopani worm, which is considered a delicacy) and is further north in the park.
As we drove up to our camp, we saw teasing symbols—there was a dead impala in a
tree, which can only mean one thing, but the leopard had left his kill and was
likely afraid to return until the humans had stopped guarding his dinner.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK7ucXHrKBAAONiK6i13yshX3LynvBHXC0bbPlL3Qpq6vHJgJE6-kpLyhzZMVObVspLvwpDv50hMeyL8txn4BdVWK6SjFls7lQ4L-FT4ZRaQ4n7HeBroyiVZs993nzf-krfSaX6bw-GsY/s1600/W+114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK7ucXHrKBAAONiK6i13yshX3LynvBHXC0bbPlL3Qpq6vHJgJE6-kpLyhzZMVObVspLvwpDv50hMeyL8txn4BdVWK6SjFls7lQ4L-FT4ZRaQ4n7HeBroyiVZs993nzf-krfSaX6bw-GsY/s320/W+114.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It was a good day for other sightings, though. I
have seen a lot of hippos, but always mostly submerged. On the fourteenth I saw
my first hippos out of water (courtesy of the chilly weather) and the next day
we looked out over the river from the safety of a hide to see a huge breeding herd
basking on a little island that likely disappears during rainy season.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2uF5czHrQIlONnD6oh_ZoiSTXO01GMH4GgV-Q93ianXkRchD-H_nKl1GIILlQgwNi-cfZmwWbgt_IJgNzjjnrM6e1uJVEmNqTkxKCNhvSug-UYQVkJmLbdDUSp_NA7nDxenXetg4kPLE/s1600/W+135.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2uF5czHrQIlONnD6oh_ZoiSTXO01GMH4GgV-Q93ianXkRchD-H_nKl1GIILlQgwNi-cfZmwWbgt_IJgNzjjnrM6e1uJVEmNqTkxKCNhvSug-UYQVkJmLbdDUSp_NA7nDxenXetg4kPLE/s320/W+135.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It was apparently the time of the breeding herds.
This herd of elephant consisted of at least forty individuals, and when we
reached a bridge at sunset to see two large herds crossing over the river, we
stopped even though we were in a bit of a hurry to get to Mopani before
five-thirty (if you arrive after the gates close, you must pay a fine) and
enjoyed taking pictures of them and absorbing the moment when we saw 300 tons of
elephantine beauties lumbering through the sunny water. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLZB34yhBw0fhLIQCiQTbsXxW4Lst5W1mBqOUyz6TzklVx5ErMXQWoR7oyL7XQvtc9ak6sbCL60qlHW8ngaCcNs97uk6PHZYRPBRtTImIF0f5BGXNAzctuUz-7PHO7geCmsprjbRrAMLs/s1600/W+167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLZB34yhBw0fhLIQCiQTbsXxW4Lst5W1mBqOUyz6TzklVx5ErMXQWoR7oyL7XQvtc9ak6sbCL60qlHW8ngaCcNs97uk6PHZYRPBRtTImIF0f5BGXNAzctuUz-7PHO7geCmsprjbRrAMLs/s400/W+167.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The next day, on a morning drive with a guide
named Amos, we saw a serval and some black-backed jackals, each of which was
too quick to photograph. We also came across this lone female hyena taking seriously
the command of so many parents for their children to finish everything on their
plates. She was gnawing on the last of the skin of an elephant carcass—the elephant
was killed in January when it was struck by lightning, and while I never like
to see an elephant in turmoil, it was amazing how the detrivores continually
made use of the resources available to them.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLxURKn7FHfTsE2lleS_QA2wyPAI_LZMgCeDiAJog-jGfyqxu8da3Cvd6vxWLgKMympwK1hBSpTLT3nO-iEe3pe7XqnYq-_d7JpGOvL5gDJjI6MbUoTbez89ZvoWHB8tRmTg0a2EzDil8/s1600/DPP-0007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLxURKn7FHfTsE2lleS_QA2wyPAI_LZMgCeDiAJog-jGfyqxu8da3Cvd6vxWLgKMympwK1hBSpTLT3nO-iEe3pe7XqnYq-_d7JpGOvL5gDJjI6MbUoTbez89ZvoWHB8tRmTg0a2EzDil8/s400/DPP-0007.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It was also a good day for birds. We saw a group
of six juvenile ostriches—I saw my first ostrich in the wild on Friday and
couldn’t believe its size even after having seen them in zoos, and even the
young ones were gigantic. But even more exciting than the ostriches were a
smaller and less-known bird which we came across later. In a group of four,
crossing over the road by foot, were the endangered Southern Ground Hornbills.
These large, flighted but mostly ground-dwelling birds are quite rare, and in
fact only 1500 individuals are estimated to exist in South Africa, so we were very
lucky to have seen them.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBS4dpIRu6DPiz2P81LPzvlnF7A4PAPWzaxGNsoZUGcu2W-pRG6R9tNGR4DSRtWNYfnUpBhdEYilujDK_xXvFqqI4VuTYOqW0m2tUHjVQlIfdDf7iugKXDNLUcPocta6NHo_jYx3ZDPA/s1600/DPP-0050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBS4dpIRu6DPiz2P81LPzvlnF7A4PAPWzaxGNsoZUGcu2W-pRG6R9tNGR4DSRtWNYfnUpBhdEYilujDK_xXvFqqI4VuTYOqW0m2tUHjVQlIfdDf7iugKXDNLUcPocta6NHo_jYx3ZDPA/s320/DPP-0050.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> On the seventeenth, we woke up early
to prepare to leave Kruger for the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Center, and
saw yet another hyena—this one was also nursing, but right in the middle of the
road. She seemed very comfortable with the cars going by and also stopping for
photos.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRxqYjVGDmaXCHPAefv562Nhyphenhyphenp29dBki-CKhOR3JfEGec3O_4D3LBiKjw5FG3xdv9rG8_2xlMsxuXs7NzKFfC84-urrIwiP2Br_oOTTaNAMlfHwZXhYf_V-fDTUlNuRBC-RgqPvmBjp7I/s1600/DPP_0112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRxqYjVGDmaXCHPAefv562Nhyphenhyphenp29dBki-CKhOR3JfEGec3O_4D3LBiKjw5FG3xdv9rG8_2xlMsxuXs7NzKFfC84-urrIwiP2Br_oOTTaNAMlfHwZXhYf_V-fDTUlNuRBC-RgqPvmBjp7I/s320/DPP_0112.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> So we had seen several hyenas,
jackals, and even a serval but none of the majestic big cats. We had seen a
leopard’s kill and also seen a spot in the ground where another leopard had
dragged a kill across the road, and we had heard reports of lions and leopards
and even caught a short glimpse of a leopard in a far-away tree, but sometimes
it’s enough to except the little signs even if you can’t see the actual animal.
As we neared the gate, I noticed a large herd of impala—and of course, why
would impala just stand there, if a predator was nearby? Still, they looked
alert, and right after we passed them I thought I saw something lying in the
riverbed. I asked if we could back up, apologizing in case it was just an
impala and I was making us stop for nothing. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> It was an impala. But a leopard was
eating it. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrbo2fuMKgOgrIPkQyNFeJ4WzEI_KwZ0mzT6WQSBu8uux9S_ePjzC5jr7IW1YN4D7_CXwpeCg2vqDdacBl7HyLK4AKOHQk9aPqX89SpIYQBbF_r5ukfCmSH-aRZwfW7i1x2iyNEDxULkw/s1600/W+310.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrbo2fuMKgOgrIPkQyNFeJ4WzEI_KwZ0mzT6WQSBu8uux9S_ePjzC5jr7IW1YN4D7_CXwpeCg2vqDdacBl7HyLK4AKOHQk9aPqX89SpIYQBbF_r5ukfCmSH-aRZwfW7i1x2iyNEDxULkw/s640/W+310.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> As I have mentioned, I used to
dislike the idea of animals eating one another, but there are two sides to every
story. Leopards have cubs to feed too. Hyenas separate
into nurseries and apparently nurse their pups right in the middle of the road.
So in the end, everybody’s just trying to survive. Sometimes an impala gets
away, and sometimes a leopard gets to eat. I’m just glad he chose that riverbed
to rest in after the hunt.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigSuLdnVleyMbsIoZYR7AUuDZ6xsK5ELaU8apQgu9HuvyFaiMu2EZ_vlcrQvTnm_nG9fbNlxwbOB19m23Cxaavh6LEnR8J4N6Awa2ZbyXZyjaZ-bDXtAxvLWzgekyAzZSKx71E7V6XJSA/s1600/DPP_201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigSuLdnVleyMbsIoZYR7AUuDZ6xsK5ELaU8apQgu9HuvyFaiMu2EZ_vlcrQvTnm_nG9fbNlxwbOB19m23Cxaavh6LEnR8J4N6Awa2ZbyXZyjaZ-bDXtAxvLWzgekyAzZSKx71E7V6XJSA/s200/DPP_201.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsGwNk3FwbKvmPNHK6_R0ZLwFxzBWiYDPsfIMw_HPavvhdA7wHz0TMuHZdlyP7nQ2tLsQJ8WFiwwMcSrb4B8CDXI3zm8M32DTTBQ0HM1xW_QNe7tKhIeKUpKhlPImuYKp3Z-056MOPEy4/s1600/DPP_0132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></span></div>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX7CAtk9wKUi_K825suH9e5LERWV-Tq5Iwuzue_5bb_zPhodRdvDQPI5ItlYyLU86mjXl2Uyh1rC2aUJcjOS1Sh1PAz6ZiXvs93zQ7ndfJc-kV6E575gU18vPVPdS3z2yEcD_ZMJK5izc/s1600/W+334.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="African Wild Dogs" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX7CAtk9wKUi_K825suH9e5LERWV-Tq5Iwuzue_5bb_zPhodRdvDQPI5ItlYyLU86mjXl2Uyh1rC2aUJcjOS1Sh1PAz6ZiXvs93zQ7ndfJc-kV6E575gU18vPVPdS3z2yEcD_ZMJK5izc/s320/W+334.JPG" title="" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">At the Hoedspruit Endangered Species
Center (HESC), the goal is to preserve endangered species such as ground hornbills,
African wild dogs, caracals, and servals, but the focus is and has always been on
cheetahs. </span></span></span></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsGwNk3FwbKvmPNHK6_R0ZLwFxzBWiYDPsfIMw_HPavvhdA7wHz0TMuHZdlyP7nQ2tLsQJ8WFiwwMcSrb4B8CDXI3zm8M32DTTBQ0HM1xW_QNe7tKhIeKUpKhlPImuYKp3Z-056MOPEy4/s1600/DPP_0132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsGwNk3FwbKvmPNHK6_R0ZLwFxzBWiYDPsfIMw_HPavvhdA7wHz0TMuHZdlyP7nQ2tLsQJ8WFiwwMcSrb4B8CDXI3zm8M32DTTBQ0HM1xW_QNe7tKhIeKUpKhlPImuYKp3Z-056MOPEy4/s320/DPP_0132.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The HESC includes breeding programs in which cheeta<o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">hs born at the
HESC are later released into the wild, as well as </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">rescue programs for animals
in undesirable situations. One such situation was that of two lions who were simply left on
the side of the road in Portugal after the circus that owned them shut down. This
lion is actually a male, but he was castrated at a young age and therefore
lacked the hormones necessary to grow a mane. Unfortunately for these lions and
two other adult males (with manes and other body parts intact) who were born at
the HESC, lions, unlike cheetahs, cannot be released into the wild if they
weren’t born there. For cheetahs, hunting is innate. They need some time to
practice, but they have the skills they need. Lions have an instinct for
hunting as well, but the tactics needed for stalking and bringing down prey are
taught within the pride, so it’s a good thing they are doing well in the wild.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd0IltW2rEnUYDd5PAUEGOWvkYnC1A0wQeOhALC3NJqjf7eTFYzwkDUMdFCtdDVRL_z9pLsa8mvjxBAfbmkzAoLo-GTtpWPDF0pwCTv9inMEYdEPYifClbYN0PrDcYuC3hR5Ppnm8O81E/s1600/W+329.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Maybe one day the little guy in the back will be released into the wild." border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd0IltW2rEnUYDd5PAUEGOWvkYnC1A0wQeOhALC3NJqjf7eTFYzwkDUMdFCtdDVRL_z9pLsa8mvjxBAfbmkzAoLo-GTtpWPDF0pwCTv9inMEYdEPYifClbYN0PrDcYuC3hR5Ppnm8O81E/s400/W+329.JPG" title="" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> And speaking of the wild, the HESC
partners with Kapama Game Reserve, a wild and unregulated piece of land where
animals are free to avoid us seeing them, to arrange game drives there and
occasionally to release animals onto the reserve. We were on one such game
drive and were seeing a lot of common duikers (a small antelope some may
remember from a particularly uneventful night drive of two years ago) when we
topped off our trip with one last huge sighting. In contrast to my unsure
reports of something lying in the riverbed when I saw the leopard, Caleb drew
attention to his find definitively.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Lion. Lion lion lion.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9pGzj0m8WTd4HCYt5RHCgDj_6pOydPOf9gOA-HlQfJNvuu3gisDw1prSPsjEQd0Wgu0zbwqtfVyeOmhJk1ZtTHu5fYJKaLXUlgYedt6yHig4FMMgT9bo9Yhf_qzdQhmkPGHG2M89kZuM/s1600/DPP_0168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9pGzj0m8WTd4HCYt5RHCgDj_6pOydPOf9gOA-HlQfJNvuu3gisDw1prSPsjEQd0Wgu0zbwqtfVyeOmhJk1ZtTHu5fYJKaLXUlgYedt6yHig4FMMgT9bo9Yhf_qzdQhmkPGHG2M89kZuM/s640/DPP_0168.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This trip was certainly an eventful and lucky
one.</span></span>geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-4402844884817330372013-06-13T15:15:00.000-07:002013-06-13T15:15:59.921-07:00English and Natural History<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Today my dad and I
taught an English lesson at the orphanage/boarding school. The lesson was about
how to say things like where you are from and what nationality a person is, and
my dad drew a map of the world on the chalkboard and asked the kids where
Mozambique and some it’s bordering countries were. The students were shy, but
many of them eager—especially Felicia, who did not attend our class because it
was too elementary for her since she is the only twelfth-grader at the school.
After class, though, we (and by we, I mean my dad) helped her with her homework
and chatted a bit in English. One interesting thing about the orphanage is the
relaxed attitude about the place. My dad and I showed up, one of our favorite
nuns asked if we were going to teach a lesson, we said yes, she called the
girls, and a group came. Also, both today and Tuesday another regular volunteer
at the orphanage had told us she would meet us at ten, and both times she
showed up after eleven, unapologetically. Although Felicia told us that one is
expected to be at class on time, we have learned over the years that, when it comes to social commitments, being on
time has a different meaning here.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYj-L8-zxq3h1FouX9TC95dupUxnZd1MvAJvIjEuc0rj4vXjlQ2DDdVtZMqy9JuRv2zu_cdX4T9qVZIfcLtz6CL3lWXPB_2kisv4xX1PYOLTMSmuo0VpjIofQiuP0DoSwEhBIbjm6kZsQ/s1600/IMG_0709.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYj-L8-zxq3h1FouX9TC95dupUxnZd1MvAJvIjEuc0rj4vXjlQ2DDdVtZMqy9JuRv2zu_cdX4T9qVZIfcLtz6CL3lWXPB_2kisv4xX1PYOLTMSmuo0VpjIofQiuP0DoSwEhBIbjm6kZsQ/s320/IMG_0709.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">After lunch, Eduardo, Caleb and I went to the
National Museum of Natural</span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">History, which included many interesting
displays such as fetal elephants in the various stages of development; various
preserved snakes, sea creatures, and insects; and a hippo skeleton. </span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">I hope this museum is able to gain revenue in the coming years as
Mozambique continues to grow—it is tiny, but fun. And of course I was dazzled
by a museum that allowed picture-taking.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4NINcvVOuslhX8NsrpfL6T9zbSw-VsfhnN8zSEsXLrtluq28QxgI1gursVgwj9mr92_DxpJOOh86Snhq6POVWCwq9Kl9saSHLaKEwZ6rq3o1FxWq_ETs5zDtiEw9rAXOIGcMXsUWN9Cs/s1600/IMG_0714.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Elephant Fetus at 10 Months" border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4NINcvVOuslhX8NsrpfL6T9zbSw-VsfhnN8zSEsXLrtluq28QxgI1gursVgwj9mr92_DxpJOOh86Snhq6POVWCwq9Kl9saSHLaKEwZ6rq3o1FxWq_ETs5zDtiEw9rAXOIGcMXsUWN9Cs/s320/IMG_0714.JPG" title="" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinKxDQFHDOR4NufxeV46FowRDKwWaEX4raIX6N0Ou4xOWssUcwPLUnlfuEwWrCFFuazGRR8qPscXS_gsHgfCeFNFS5HmRSUqzsftBWHFYOkG-rAKzGJ2XpADY-Mef10DLRwv9CHJL1h_E/s1600/IMG_0732.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinKxDQFHDOR4NufxeV46FowRDKwWaEX4raIX6N0Ou4xOWssUcwPLUnlfuEwWrCFFuazGRR8qPscXS_gsHgfCeFNFS5HmRSUqzsftBWHFYOkG-rAKzGJ2XpADY-Mef10DLRwv9CHJL1h_E/s320/IMG_0732.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0KH4_nYCBcIwz2xEiEmE0xswc1-_tQ4gAgI0cSZRV1dVPnsAZkFmJt_wikURNuqv1XF2_DqkMWVNKRIO3H972FKrqsOvYDGw_5X1qv5lvRBh3yj7jhebBniLb3E_x6SLTlTsKEFJq6M/s1600/IMG_0752.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Hippo Skeleton" border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0KH4_nYCBcIwz2xEiEmE0xswc1-_tQ4gAgI0cSZRV1dVPnsAZkFmJt_wikURNuqv1XF2_DqkMWVNKRIO3H972FKrqsOvYDGw_5X1qv5lvRBh3yj7jhebBniLb3E_x6SLTlTsKEFJq6M/s320/IMG_0752.JPG" title="" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzN6JuDwyGQUvRdedEsb9vHuhIoS0UuZ_H4lvxJp5kUE5JpG8ZA6rZJSJIzXgeya0yUnhU55jVzc1AWo7dZJdhb1fBTYDSwMGpq0LSZXaYsVvzl41BrNmohwNVF3DWlkwhLzMF_J9eBk/s1600/IMG_0745.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzN6JuDwyGQUvRdedEsb9vHuhIoS0UuZ_H4lvxJp5kUE5JpG8ZA6rZJSJIzXgeya0yUnhU55jVzc1AWo7dZJdhb1fBTYDSwMGpq0LSZXaYsVvzl41BrNmohwNVF3DWlkwhLzMF_J9eBk/s640/IMG_0745.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Tomorrow we'll be heading to the famous Kruger Park to check out some wildlife. Until I return, please think of me commiserating with this pretend shark.</span> <img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL7ke5N1d1H0o2tRjz47OIwOKTKFY2hEea2YJMOtgTa1NtjI1nI2CQUTN0ZaE6Fk074xHLhMkqatOPMJbcD7VYT9SK5wMSMOqdg8wcBLR9HVX07gw0Zmm4fuyoER6xQ72oT6lpC58pnq8/s320/IMG_0743.JPG" width="320" />geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-32245356227848327062013-06-12T10:11:00.002-07:002013-07-09T08:06:37.027-07:00Know Your Market<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Ah, back in The 'Bique, where the fresh
vegetables are cheap and the bananas practically jump out of their peeling and
into your stomach. Although I have had some run-ins with mosquitoes and some
misunderstandings due to my terrible Portuguese, it's been a nice few days over
at Maputo Royale and I have a feeling it’s going to go by very fast, especially
in the action-packed weeks to come. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> Today my dad, Caleb, Adozinda,
Eduardo and I all piled into the car and went to the market together to get
some fruit, and get some copies made for tomorrow’s English lesson. The
copy-shop will make one copy for one Metical—that is, a thirtieth of a U.S.
dollar, and they don’t only make copies but also sell things you might find in
the non-medical sections of a pharmacy, like pens, erasers, and, okay, if I am
to be totally honest, sanitary napkins. The latter of this list I happened to
need, so I asked my dad to add them to our purchase. When the woman at the
counter gave us the price for the copies, we put them on the counter and said:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">“E
este também.” (This too.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">“Você vende?” (Are you selling?)
She asked. I was pretty confused by this response, but figured I had misheard
or that I was unaware of all of the applications of the verb “vender.” Uncertain,
my dad said yes. “Quanta custa?” (How much does it cost?), the woman asked.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Não sei,” (I don’t know), I said, a bit surprised that she didn’t know the price of her own product and wondering if she wanted me
to make an offer. Finally, amid a few more comments from all of us, my dad and
I realized the misunderstanding: she thought we were some sort of door-to-door maxi-pad salespeople!
So much for me being discrete. I not only repeated the story to Caleb and then
to John but now I’m posting it on the internet. It really does seem like some
things can only happen in Maputo, though. Next time you go to Staples, try
making some copies and then when you get to the counter say: “I don’t really
have any money, but I’ll trade you these maxi-pads.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> On a different note, though, we did
visit the orphanage/boarding school yesterday where I taught one English lesson
last year, and we visited the girls and sat in on their Portuguese lesson. Tomorrow
we will teach a real lesson there and I will let you know what kind of
shenanigans unfold. In the mean time, have a lovely day, and remember that the
strongest currency is whatever people need. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-29609979953984763142013-03-23T18:59:00.002-07:002013-03-24T11:11:13.736-07:00Put a Little Love in Your Heart<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Greetings from the U.S.! </span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Today I am breaking tradition because I am not travelling at all. Instead, I want to bring to your attention to Compassion International, an organization through which I sponsor a nine-year-old girl in Tanzania. They are having a campaign right now to have sponsors tell their stories through very small web-pages (they gave me an 800-character limit on how much I could write so you can all breathe a sigh of relief that you won't have to read as much as you do on here.) Click <a href="http://my.compassionsunday.com/juliasmith">here</a> to check out my page, but don't click any other clickables you may see besides the word "here" because those are annoying spam links. Oh, the internet. Have a wonderful day!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">-GeekinMozambique</span></div>
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geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-49708263380673920622012-07-25T14:17:00.002-07:002012-07-25T14:17:51.375-07:00Wall-less Wonder<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">July
25, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> Last Friday, we left Mozambique and
entered the last absolute monarchy in Africa—that’s right—Swaziland. But I’m
not writing this to talk about politics (although it was very interesting to
see the photos of King Mswati III and Queen Mother Ntombi at almost every
public place we visited); I’m writing mostly to talk about the interesting and
lovely animals we encountered on our visits to Mkhaya Game Reserve and Hlane
Royal National Park. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> Mkhaya is a reserve which specializes
in endangered species; right now they have a breeding program going on for both
the roan and sable antelope, and if you love rare antelopes like me, that is
pretty exciting! Unfortunately, those guys haven’t been integrated into
Mkhaya’s general population yet, so visitors aren’t able to see them. When we
arrived at Mkhaya, the entrance was marked only by one small sign and nothing
was to be seen except a few non-functioning cars and a tiny concrete building.
We did see a promising-looking ranger, however, and when we asked him if we
were in the right place, he told us that we would follow his four-wheeler to a
building called the farmhouse, where we could sign our paperwork and leave our
car behind. When we arrived, the first thing we saw in front of the large
farmhouse was a huge display holding more than 30 rhinoceros skulls. Upon
reading the information posted nearby, we discovered that they represented only
a small portion of those rhinos lost to poaching in recent years. The information also boasted,
however, that poaching is now illegal in Swaziland</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 18px;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 15pt;">offenders can face
5-15 years in prison</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 18px;">—and the rhino populations are on the rise.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSArY7pwmd7JamKH0W-7zTJ4UGQnOBXfGNLEivpntGSGqfSgT6ARnNK_cF93STHdZVCzLjoX44V0wO5q433DQDhMYdXN9F_7AbG_adAh_drWLkKo1FHxt-SxFqeyEobpMZsS7ITZ-ea3E/s1600/172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSArY7pwmd7JamKH0W-7zTJ4UGQnOBXfGNLEivpntGSGqfSgT6ARnNK_cF93STHdZVCzLjoX44V0wO5q433DQDhMYdXN9F_7AbG_adAh_drWLkKo1FHxt-SxFqeyEobpMZsS7ITZ-ea3E/s320/172.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> After looking around a bit and signing
some papers, we grabbed our backpacks and climbed into the high safari jeep
along with one other guest. He was American as well, and quite the rhino
enthusiast, so when we saw a mother and baby white rhino napping very close to
the side of the road, he was quite excited. But before that, we had stopped
because our guide had seen a choice opportunity to talk about poop. He got out
of the jeep to tell us the difference between the dung of black and white
rhinos—but of course, our party already knew, because of our three-day hike at
Kruger last year. Black rhinos are browsers and therefore eat twigs and leaves,
and white rhinos are grazers, which eat grass, and black rhinos cut the twigs
at a forty-five degree angle when eating—this is the angle of their teeth and
also their hooked lip, which is one of the traits that can be used to identify
them from the wide-lipped white rhino. When our game-drive companion overheard
us discussing the 45 degree angle found in the black rhino’s waste and then
heard our guide confirm the fact, he said: “Wow, you guys are veterans. I mean,
you literally know your crap*!” I usually try not to talk about poop in my
posts, but I just couldn’t pass up a chance to brag about my rhino-fact
prowess. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">*clean
version<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK_fqFbvKenI3cUSDIyEl3p4rvAygNj5bxUibi4AiXqwKNxxnOQLaDgSptm0KUjTeZKb-r6QUo4kcSR3CnR730nOFTgj5Iox2BMCUgnbSZ_ckF4Coqmq-AS8yX3bCwrtekrf2nbqK5a2U/s1600/315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK_fqFbvKenI3cUSDIyEl3p4rvAygNj5bxUibi4AiXqwKNxxnOQLaDgSptm0KUjTeZKb-r6QUo4kcSR3CnR730nOFTgj5Iox2BMCUgnbSZ_ckF4Coqmq-AS8yX3bCwrtekrf2nbqK5a2U/s320/315.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">When we arrived at the camp, we had a
nice lunch waiting for us, and there were several nyala and guinea fowl who are
gentle enough (and plentiful enough) to roam freely in the camp. Nyala are
actually a somewhat rare antelope, but in Mkhaya, they are even more common
than impala. In fact, they are so common that those of the guests at the lunch
table that day who weren’t vegetarians were having nyala stew. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9nU4wG2Q63SNRBKspMIR_d9HFxeQzCB_B6bstHN0ocBzTkRlpFH6ItorrKPP55Rx32HqH1XhPk61pxqkbiYuGPNezJKJn7TTrV_LxLwktKoNx-ravTfCsLUcXnzidDPi5GzTorROoyUI/s1600/289.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9nU4wG2Q63SNRBKspMIR_d9HFxeQzCB_B6bstHN0ocBzTkRlpFH6ItorrKPP55Rx32HqH1XhPk61pxqkbiYuGPNezJKJn7TTrV_LxLwktKoNx-ravTfCsLUcXnzidDPi5GzTorROoyUI/s320/289.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> After lunch, we decided to check out
our house. I’ve included a picture so that you can see what a beautiful place
it is—fluffy beds fitted with the deluxe kind of mosquito nets (that is, those
with a square frame), and a rustic feel. So rustic, in fact, that you get a
great view of the bush from . . . well, anywhere. A couple of posts ago I
mentioned that you need to ask if a place has hot water, a toilet, and
electricity. You also should ask if it
has walls. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjChnVy8T7plzGkkOZuN50FulVJMIFUeHKmIzlL1eh3wuqX9wz9hz8_nlcERaiyk_kFVx6OU8mgN292A3OPo1Ro98Dcos3O4hRmZJMuVhSqrL8pMZdjoBYLEzo4XwmAtvMC1wvlIemztCQ/s1600/295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjChnVy8T7plzGkkOZuN50FulVJMIFUeHKmIzlL1eh3wuqX9wz9hz8_nlcERaiyk_kFVx6OU8mgN292A3OPo1Ro98Dcos3O4hRmZJMuVhSqrL8pMZdjoBYLEzo4XwmAtvMC1wvlIemztCQ/s320/295.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> On our evening drive, however, we
found that it was all worth it. As soon as we set out, we saw a curious sight
in the road—I thought at first that it was a snake skin, and it was also
guessed that it might be an electric wire, since Mkhaya has several electric
fences to control which animals are in which parts of the park. Upon further
inspection, however, we saw that it was a long chain of caterpillars! I am not
usually looking for insects on a game drive, but I thought it was extremely
interesting to see so many of these guys following each other. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYTTHL0a89zkw4k8hWdLgdTAbM6ldbg8yawJD0z7opOnKJ-R9fne7XgzV-QvMddJmvyijY1waTVA8N7qoK7_g6qSpCmEM68kXkB_r6gQMh20q9bJH-l4Lpqx5-iN8p6MFWjVhyND2Ej8c/s1600/308.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYTTHL0a89zkw4k8hWdLgdTAbM6ldbg8yawJD0z7opOnKJ-R9fne7XgzV-QvMddJmvyijY1waTVA8N7qoK7_g6qSpCmEM68kXkB_r6gQMh20q9bJH-l4Lpqx5-iN8p6MFWjVhyND2Ej8c/s320/308.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl68K0DkusJe0X_TYtEdP3hyphenhyphenc7pI8Guxn8WoP-2VDCWZNIkLtCVeeUkDuyBCoeclTCHzs293AH3ajRSA0KdI2dWF8x6cZQ0XUxsO7F8ZM1tmsHW44IUiSKVowTJS54nsS17vn_AV_zdXk/s1600/312.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl68K0DkusJe0X_TYtEdP3hyphenhyphenc7pI8Guxn8WoP-2VDCWZNIkLtCVeeUkDuyBCoeclTCHzs293AH3ajRSA0KdI2dWF8x6cZQ0XUxsO7F8ZM1tmsHW44IUiSKVowTJS54nsS17vn_AV_zdXk/s200/312.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjApBYZlP5la_AdjwQST_LXJTxhyAoqRRKseMRKbhNwgr1ZHJPL_EpYP-KVCOlz_ctXw9nGkcKHsjCHBGgzXyI7VzXOObP2OuhaNR_okRHB872NgE2u3NvF-a8NH_GAoPt2ssKV6Lya7E0/s1600/341.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjApBYZlP5la_AdjwQST_LXJTxhyAoqRRKseMRKbhNwgr1ZHJPL_EpYP-KVCOlz_ctXw9nGkcKHsjCHBGgzXyI7VzXOObP2OuhaNR_okRHB872NgE2u3NvF-a8NH_GAoPt2ssKV6Lya7E0/s320/341.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Between Mkhaya and Kruger, we have seen
a lot of white rhinos—and they are endangered, so we have been lucky to have
had so many encounters, but the real prize is the elusive black rhino. During
our drive, we saw him far away and didn’t think we were getting any closer.
Still, we felt happy that we had seen him at all, and we continued with our
drive, photographing the beautiful tsessebe; they are the fastest antelope
species, reaching speeds of up to 80 kph (about 50 mph). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> Later, however, we saw another jeep
stopped, and we knew something good was nearby. It turned out to be our black
rhino from before, but at a much closer range. We relished the opportunity to
take some photos, and eventually the rhino became curious. Rhinos have very
poor eyesight, but excellent hearing and sense of smell, so he came sniffing up
to us until he was only a few feet from my camera lens. All I could think about
as I leaned back and continued to snap pictures was Moses saying last year: “If
you even think about a black rhino, climb a tree.” Eventually, though, he lost
interest and sauntered back to his far more interesting leaves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIM3DL7_qm0tjcnT0VqswjdR99LA3rIoSKR4CRbHQxxU29HaJ9_6HWNlOD1JgtEDeWBfCH-LlQ1kb3_PnaUD5bMbs8bFDBsZAYxh2lYGtZogJwr0ggloFPajtAzjm9FJZUTWnkc5jZL2U/s1600/386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIM3DL7_qm0tjcnT0VqswjdR99LA3rIoSKR4CRbHQxxU29HaJ9_6HWNlOD1JgtEDeWBfCH-LlQ1kb3_PnaUD5bMbs8bFDBsZAYxh2lYGtZogJwr0ggloFPajtAzjm9FJZUTWnkc5jZL2U/s320/386.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWq9dwCZzkNj-BPyFTpVA5s7Pi-hjTZU2cfwpwITBNqvDbM1CC37ldGMNhZUXrQq55MySdKuh4S6rR0h3cXK0b28l4nH2gk6rnCeyr3I3kw3Rv-CL-kr4YPaAtuNwOXQybsaeVatVcW-c/s1600/390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWq9dwCZzkNj-BPyFTpVA5s7Pi-hjTZU2cfwpwITBNqvDbM1CC37ldGMNhZUXrQq55MySdKuh4S6rR0h3cXK0b28l4nH2gk6rnCeyr3I3kw3Rv-CL-kr4YPaAtuNwOXQybsaeVatVcW-c/s320/390.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> When we had almost reached the camp,
we caught sight of this hyena. In Mkhaya, there are no lions, leopards, cheetahs
or wild dogs, so the only predators are jackals and hyenas, with hyenas being
the top predator. Although hyenas often hunt in packs, those at Mkhaya tend to
be solitary and rarely hunt at all, since they are capable of surviving solely as scavengers.
With the abundance of food and no competition, this guy seemed fat and happy. The
dinner at Mkhaya was very nice, and was followed by chatting around the bonfire
and then heading off to bed at an early hour. The park has sections so that the
hyenas can’t get into the camp. They are quite loud, and their laughter
could be heard from the wall-free house, but the real problem was the fact that
it was freezing! We had plenty of extra blankets, and after it was all over
with, I felt pretty warm—I couldn’t move, but I was warm. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> The next day, we went on a morning
game drive, during which we encountered what looked like a herd of wildebeest
with two unicorns in their company. They turned out, however, to be albino
juvenile wildebeest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh49-ieJ0_Fbr3eh8tpTuT9EDjPMiw9s22MiRUm5brsnyJsrGEosmcMlRZQYpOl_AKbZ-c0zUbXz5C2OzNSovHxyzvK0Y0jJ4O8SHag4mcKCAowZ4oFwEgNdUP3n_VO0hXA6-XF2U1p_Q/s1600/404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh49-ieJ0_Fbr3eh8tpTuT9EDjPMiw9s22MiRUm5brsnyJsrGEosmcMlRZQYpOl_AKbZ-c0zUbXz5C2OzNSovHxyzvK0Y0jJ4O8SHag4mcKCAowZ4oFwEgNdUP3n_VO0hXA6-XF2U1p_Q/s320/404.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">We also took a bush walk, and we came
across a lone male white rhino who, according to our guide, was sniffing in
search of a female. But what entered his nostrils was the smell of humans, and
he became quite curious. We crouched down to make ourselves look
unintimidating, since prey animals only charge if threatened; the best advice
for the bush is to not look like a predator to a prey animal and to not look
like prey to a predator. I’ve included a photo which shows the rhino and our
guide so you can sort of get an idea of how close he was—after he got closer
than that, I stopped taking pictures for fear of agitating him. He soon decided,
though, that we were harmless and continued his quest for the ladies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifyKupql3AIcGnKT-Spsyr3vU5C9zZ0_TrvuhClgT3smLUu56BFAyxFIcyA-Qa27qHbsDro34MVzkZi8iLYteswtiWC1meskh3gZUMolDFyikWuTeHo572I1Cmo67ig3StwfFHn2ymx64/s1600/462.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifyKupql3AIcGnKT-Spsyr3vU5C9zZ0_TrvuhClgT3smLUu56BFAyxFIcyA-Qa27qHbsDro34MVzkZi8iLYteswtiWC1meskh3gZUMolDFyikWuTeHo572I1Cmo67ig3StwfFHn2ymx64/s320/462.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 15pt;">We also encountered this lovely scene
during our walk—a crash of eight white rhinos and two buffaloes. They were quite
relaxed, and we enjoyed the view for a while before sneaking off. That night,
we saw some lovely animals on our evening drive, but one of the most
interesting things was not what we saw, but what we heard. Most people know that
hyenas make a quite creepy laughing sound, but shortly after we noticed a hyena
hooting (that’s another sound they make), we heard, from another part of the park,
what sounded almost—but not quite—like human screams. We learned that this is
the sound black-backed jackals make, and together with hyenas, they are an
unsettling but interesting duo!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCOELcQnldOum0Ott_jZ_tzaLqQPM2Y0pC0CrWGJBUXzJdqHKVbxUjyk2Gg6uBL3rUd8oXTchiwO69tbeDBMRPUmARaN_pbRz6AIAKVz6w3qV4qy0jycl3I4UNGevChKqgduDT-SyRU7g/s1600/716.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCOELcQnldOum0Ott_jZ_tzaLqQPM2Y0pC0CrWGJBUXzJdqHKVbxUjyk2Gg6uBL3rUd8oXTchiwO69tbeDBMRPUmARaN_pbRz6AIAKVz6w3qV4qy0jycl3I4UNGevChKqgduDT-SyRU7g/s200/716.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj0_UXU7-qgUNidyZdWHnIhihz7OmsTI8gUYG-OpWK7Ck6GRF0aLlOgS_v2t2O9vfYViObtnZxYEqb_h146LkQdcCiA-fE1zj4fSc8OAccOr_tHbvH8C2_SB6irlL6Fj5XP83Ul9A6wBU/s1600/600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> The next day, we went for a final
morning drive at Mkhaya, had breakfast, and headed to Hlane Royal Game Reserve.
This reserve was the king’s private hunting ground before it opened to the
public, and, in a “king of the jungle” kind of symbolism, it is famed for its
lions. After we arrived, we headed to the place we were staying for the night
(we were relieved to see that it had walls), and after having some lunch, we went
on a guided evening drive. Almost immediately after entering the part of the
park which has lions, we saw three beautiful lionesses. This one was basking in
the fading sun, having already had her share, and the other two were hiding
behind a bush nervously defending their kill. One of them, when she heard the
engine of our car, picked up the entire slab of meat and trotted a few
kilometers away so she could eat in peace. After we left the lions, we came
across this lovely herd of elephants and enjoyed them as the sun set. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0l5MnjmrekPP9uPYBwjPc-Z0pvIcFfDwB0hANaoM40CPYcIxUM0yTkl_yAgle27-v5Q1DxYChatP5MmE3krtVQ3aIbmEpkFZyrVki0qzky52kJTwTNUK1HKvMlu3Eat8GsC9Q4WRXoxQ/s1600/623.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0l5MnjmrekPP9uPYBwjPc-Z0pvIcFfDwB0hANaoM40CPYcIxUM0yTkl_yAgle27-v5Q1DxYChatP5MmE3krtVQ3aIbmEpkFZyrVki0qzky52kJTwTNUK1HKvMlu3Eat8GsC9Q4WRXoxQ/s200/623.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoudMNQC8wEFW0ifvdCyCcA_QgX2XV1LogS2zo-9SsEy7gZOOpJbNASsTJykZC3YYKemQHP05IbP0Bf4tfnX4ZYNbJs7S7rpQU6NorH0NtPkEwlmlBSJE1MbbnFy4gU3kIkaNOh8z7lQo/s1600/662.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoudMNQC8wEFW0ifvdCyCcA_QgX2XV1LogS2zo-9SsEy7gZOOpJbNASsTJykZC3YYKemQHP05IbP0Bf4tfnX4ZYNbJs7S7rpQU6NorH0NtPkEwlmlBSJE1MbbnFy4gU3kIkaNOh8z7lQo/s320/662.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> There are so many things that I want
to tell you about, but there’s just so much to tell! So I'll end here by saying that on Monday, we headed back
to Maputo and on Tuesday I had my final Portuguese lesson for the summer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCLl86_XgYnfUKOAEhnirdZbQWkMXRo8edBOeYftSWvsKvFI1V4HNKaetz8IfpDxzxylI6A2wyLd2pl5HQQAY-gDqX8eNFzxxvVCpjhpyq-Y0VPMGfSwyYnx97Pk2uHcnPfeZHnoOtUoM/s1600/757.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCLl86_XgYnfUKOAEhnirdZbQWkMXRo8edBOeYftSWvsKvFI1V4HNKaetz8IfpDxzxylI6A2wyLd2pl5HQQAY-gDqX8eNFzxxvVCpjhpyq-Y0VPMGfSwyYnx97Pk2uHcnPfeZHnoOtUoM/s320/757.JPG" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> Tomorrow, we depart for London, England
to join Caleb for a week, and although I am quite sad that my trip to
Mozambique is drawing to a close, I’m very excited about London! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">-Geek in Mozambique</span></div>geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-56704688202436774852012-07-19T14:05:00.000-07:002012-07-19T14:05:04.465-07:00Dances with Kids<br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">July
19, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;"> Since my last post, I have been able to experience some interesting and cool things in the world of volunteering. For the last couple of weeks, I had been looking for some volunteer opportunities, but, as it turns out, sometimes it's not easy to find work even when you don't want to get paid. I had been trying to find an opportunity at World Vision, and, to make a long story short(ish), after a bit of miscommunication I found out that there was a lot o</span>f paperwork
that had to be done in order for someone to help out there, so I would probably be back in the U.S. before everything was
processed. However, one of the World Vision employees put me in touch with a local organization that he’s
involved in called MozHope, and when I got to their office, the coordinator hooked
me up right away, saying that I could come with them to a project they were
working on the next day. The only problem was, since she was speaking
Portuguese, I didn’t know exactly what was going to go down. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> My dad and I arrived at the MozHope
office at 8:30 and met with some more MozHope employees, and we took the
coordinator’s car to a small enclave of the city. It was very interesting to
see the less visible parts of Maputo—on the surface you can see the bigger
buildings, the sea, the markets, and the vendors on the main roads. But, as it
turns out, there are also little communities tucked away behind the city’s many
smaller concrete buildings covered with advertisements</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 18px;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 15pt;">especially those for Fanta, Laurentina, and VodaCom. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGpYR_6PY_UV7vmg8RVWu3PqqPir390i9A8DkVwYr-thlv1sM0_PccHibFocj1muZekeBUqV-jd2lZur79QLpFIIBuTbnyWaF4FzqNtq4VybZf6Nmc4BoHnvhvJdyL5kNjZODIAd9HR8/s1600/IMG_2407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGpYR_6PY_UV7vmg8RVWu3PqqPir390i9A8DkVwYr-thlv1sM0_PccHibFocj1muZekeBUqV-jd2lZur79QLpFIIBuTbnyWaF4FzqNtq4VybZf6Nmc4BoHnvhvJdyL5kNjZODIAd9HR8/s320/IMG_2407.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> As it turns out, MozHope was meeting with a group of women who wanted to make and
sell clothes to try to work out a plan to help them out by purchasing the material,
sewing machines, etc. that they would need in order to get started. There were two employees who spoke English, and they
translated a bit for me, but I won’t go into too much detail because, in all honesty, I still
didn’t understand the ins and outs. Next, we met with a woman who wanted to
embellish flip-flops and sell them, and then with a group of women who wanted
to make cable antennas. The MozHope folks went to each group to talk about how
they could help and what paperwork was needed to make it happen—for me, you
couldn’t really call it volunteering since I basically just tagged along, but it
was interesting to see how organizations like this work with the community. It became apparent to me that no matter how much money you throw at something, you need local
people to get involved and organize things to help the community. At the end of
the day, the coordinator invited us to teach an English lesson to some local
children the next day, so of course we accepted. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxgwDRBXo224k4SgfCO5MkjWMhH5mf71JKaUyIYh2EyppqeKhZG_JZO9SxTQEt989ddqr-uU7CL4dQdwJhu86eYFolAHbwyHE9r6vdprJC2qdxmp28utGpOjuRSBZ0ypV8tZyuwlNPttw/s1600/IMG_2415.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxgwDRBXo224k4SgfCO5MkjWMhH5mf71JKaUyIYh2EyppqeKhZG_JZO9SxTQEt989ddqr-uU7CL4dQdwJhu86eYFolAHbwyHE9r6vdprJC2qdxmp28utGpOjuRSBZ0ypV8tZyuwlNPttw/s320/IMG_2415.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmdrYl7ydU21szl4AsKz1M2CvfzSY7Qg9d820aIPzXXVdIkUwYyjBzzyfPejH0jyI0UY6II3cngC2ssJuJG9K0hvi9k_20EJISbUwCFBFUeT6pCiYB3fEw6q2DC1XTtW_GE_j9aD1MauY/s1600/IMG_2434.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmdrYl7ydU21szl4AsKz1M2CvfzSY7Qg9d820aIPzXXVdIkUwYyjBzzyfPejH0jyI0UY6II3cngC2ssJuJG9K0hvi9k_20EJISbUwCFBFUeT6pCiYB3fEw6q2DC1XTtW_GE_j9aD1MauY/s320/IMG_2434.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Our class began at 2:00 at one of the
schools, and students of all ages came, the youngest being three or four (these
little guys just played together with a ball while their brothers and sisters
learned a bit of English) and the oldest being in high school. My dad and I
taught them how to introduce themselves and how to talk about how they feel
using the verb “to be,” with little breaks in between for games with a ball
where one person would say “My name is _____, what’s your name?” and throw it
to another who would have to answer and so forth. Then, we taught them some
parts of the body using the song “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.” I was
really surprised at how many kids showed up—there were over twenty present, and
although this did mean I didn’t remember anyone’s name, all of them impressed
me a lot by how attentive they were. I’m not sure how the class was put
together, but each one showed an interest in learning English and listened
well. It was after we finished our lesson, however, that things really got
interesting. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> By this, of course I mean that our
students showed us some native Mozambican dancing! They showed us three
different styles, accompanied by some other students at the school who played
four skin-and-wooden drums. When they asked me to join in, I did my very best. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK9iDL70u533-YgLKSgzW47QifcIw0z7x9bY-Lg8aOkmeVM2LsNJhkuIOObSrnjnhp_TNVnEg9VD3vW7XYZkDODnwvHlLGXDGiuX0yyZD8hE4Q8HcN3R9FPWhyphenhyphenzjX9Cbah1H51uGQM3RI/s1600/150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK9iDL70u533-YgLKSgzW47QifcIw0z7x9bY-Lg8aOkmeVM2LsNJhkuIOObSrnjnhp_TNVnEg9VD3vW7XYZkDODnwvHlLGXDGiuX0yyZD8hE4Q8HcN3R9FPWhyphenhyphenzjX9Cbah1H51uGQM3RI/s320/150.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFUmVe3NgzexHUP8fSGX6nRTkkA9DZXyHPQ-VXHEEf3Q_McJZDRq2Q47qgYSg6q_fp8G1WlXVh1kENDei-Bgcx7PK3lXmJv4FtAZZP5BdTP_tKWpNxY8GT455TFiCX1piMtPb0xLD-Hp8/s1600/IMG_2447.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFUmVe3NgzexHUP8fSGX6nRTkkA9DZXyHPQ-VXHEEf3Q_McJZDRq2Q47qgYSg6q_fp8G1WlXVh1kENDei-Bgcx7PK3lXmJv4FtAZZP5BdTP_tKWpNxY8GT455TFiCX1piMtPb0xLD-Hp8/s320/IMG_2447.JPG" width="320" /></a>It was a good time! </div>
<br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Although I won't have time to do any other English classes, I would love to work with this school or another like it for a longer period next summer. I want to memorize everyone's name!</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> At 4:30, I went to the mall
with Cinthia, Susana, William, and one of Cinthia’s friends, Linda. We played
some games in this funky looking arcade on the top floor (below), and afterwards went
to the cinema. I never thought I would see “The Amazing Spider-Man” as a
foreign film, but “O Fantástico Homem-Aranha” (English with Portuguese
subtitles) was excellent! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnjqeXmxfXAlklsGVihF2QSKRfc2JJ9WL2wn6JnATpg4Yuvl4v8s1tTwWD7KmL5KbeLz4q8Sy1w2gm-jYIltw1wJDospue7OozSX684Ee19orFyhYD2AKTJlgTLPkqa9H_v6JBO0I9io4/s1600/163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnjqeXmxfXAlklsGVihF2QSKRfc2JJ9WL2wn6JnATpg4Yuvl4v8s1tTwWD7KmL5KbeLz4q8Sy1w2gm-jYIltw1wJDospue7OozSX684Ee19orFyhYD2AKTJlgTLPkqa9H_v6JBO0I9io4/s320/163.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Tomorrow we are heading to the Kingdom
of Swaziland for some choice game-viewing, so hopefully my next post will bring you some
lovely tales from the bush! <o:p></o:p></span></div>geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-24891813216607692362012-07-11T11:21:00.002-07:002012-07-11T11:21:50.213-07:00Octopus' Garden<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">July 11, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> Okay,
it is time to tell you about Inhambane. Here’s how it went down. First of all,
Inhambane is a province of Mozambique somewhat north of Maputo, and it was
supposed to take roughly seven hours to get there. As some of you may remember,
last year we traversed to Ponto do Ouro (south of Maputo) to scuba dive, and
the road was ridiculous. The road to Inhambane was reportedly smooth, so I
thought it would be a piece of cake in comparison. We bore through about thirty
minutes to an hour of road which I like to call—Maputo-rough. If I was on this
road in the states I would probably complain, but in Mozambique, it’s not that
big of a deal. After that, it was smooth sailing—we stopped at the KFC in Xai
Xai for lunch, enjoyed our car snacks, and got excited for the beach. Following
the directions on our GPS, we found ourselves on another dirt road, and instead
of leading us to a smoother road, it got even worse until the “highlighted
route” was nowhere to be found and we had to follow the faint strip of road we
could see until we found ourselves deep in the bushveld. And let me tell you
how to identify the bush: it’s when you think the words: “Oh, good,
civilization,” when you see a herd of cows. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ6o-f7EZm8pmiVFmNPt6QuN0Qb-KIVF2Nbm2H-3urg8_RicVPNzFNuQGVG1ZufG1vd9MAu9fPhqc-HMUF36TRn9XjmuGlTAiTZzklnB2sp-wnabr0NGCPjUWDiyk9SW5ZqzFzlQP3lYk/s1600/012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ6o-f7EZm8pmiVFmNPt6QuN0Qb-KIVF2Nbm2H-3urg8_RicVPNzFNuQGVG1ZufG1vd9MAu9fPhqc-HMUF36TRn9XjmuGlTAiTZzklnB2sp-wnabr0NGCPjUWDiyk9SW5ZqzFzlQP3lYk/s320/012.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> Still,
we powered through until, on one fateful climb, we got stuck in the soft sand. We tried backing
up and charging through, but to no avail. We were wondering what our next step
should be, since we weren’t stuck in the sense that the car was stationary, but
rather in the sense that we couldn’t get past the ditch in front of us and
would have to change our route. It was just about this time that a man who
apparently lived in one of the nearby huts appeared out of the bush like an
angel from heaven, and told us to follow him. He ran in front of the car for a
while, until we realized it was a bit far off and invited him to take a seat
inside, and where did he direct us but to the highlighted route on our GPS. We thanked him, gave him some money and a package of cookies we had with us, and were once
again on our way. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_gid08okMWgphFx5OWBT7xKe6Vc0QjEb9ZqxrQjWAMMmUnzUjJgq_YtTPfjvUnulBz855lbdVKA-b5PMpa0m7ik4oijgFnoYgXkvJFpsXA5lKdZWWbA_cCBEsFPgfr89S14hldZw_Fnk/s1600/015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_gid08okMWgphFx5OWBT7xKe6Vc0QjEb9ZqxrQjWAMMmUnzUjJgq_YtTPfjvUnulBz855lbdVKA-b5PMpa0m7ik4oijgFnoYgXkvJFpsXA5lKdZWWbA_cCBEsFPgfr89S14hldZw_Fnk/s320/015.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">We saw signs for another resort before we </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">could see a sign of
the one we were planning to stay at, so we asked if they had available rooms to
avoid driving any further. The house we stayed in had concrete floors and a
straw roof, but it had hot water and electricity, and it was very spacious. It’s
interesting the things you have to ask for here: in the U.S., a person would
ask if a hotel had wifi or a pool, but in Mozambique it’s important to ask if
the place has a bathroom, hot water, electricity, and, as we learned during our
whale watching experience in Hermanus last year, heat or air conditioning
(neither of which was provided by our most recent accommodation, but they were
not missed as the weather is lovely in Inhambane right now.) The only
unpleasant aspect was that the walls were not totally solid and therefore did
not protect against bugs. Although we had mosquito nets, they were not 100%
effective in keeping out mosquitoes and other bitey creatures. (My toe is really itchy as we speak.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> However,
we had not come to lie around under mosquito nets—we came to dive! The first
day after we arrived (Saturday), we met our dive master, Vossie, at the dive shop
at noon and suited up. It was nice to be able to enjoy the ocean without
worrying about certification—this trip was all about enjoying the fruits of
last year’s labor. I would say the most interesting creature of this dive
looked like a cross between a shark and a ray—there were three of
them in one spot, or so I thought until Vossie gently lifted up something buried in the sand and
two more swam out. When he pointed them out to us, he made a motion with his
hands as if he was playing a guitar, and I had no idea what that was about
until after we ascended and he informed us that they are called guitar sharks. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">That night, as we were
getting dinner ready, I noticed something flying near the ceiling of our house—when
I saw the creature and heard the telltale squeaking noises, it became apparent
that it was a bat! I have always liked bats because, as a child, I had a book
called “Stellaluna” about a baby fruit bat, and also because they are very
helpful because they eat mosquitoes (although unfortunately not all of the mosquitoes). At the high point of our bat-collecting,
we had six resident bats, and when we left to return to Maputo, I was able to
take the following picture of three of them that stuck around. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> On the
second day of diving, we saw several large pufferfish, and I resisted the urge
to poke at them in an attempt to make them inflate. We also saw a stonefish—they
are extremely poisonous, so I hovered at a comfortable distance from him. I was
informed later, though, that by avoiding the stonefish, I was also at an
unfavorable distance from an octopus that was mostly concealed in a hole behind
it! On the third and final dive, however, I was quite satisfied because I got a
good long look at another octopus looking rather grumpy inside his little den
in the sand. He did not want to come out, but I was happy just to look at him
while mentally singing “Octopus’ Garden” to myself. In the time not spent diving,
we enjoyed little walks on the beach, fresh seafood, and long sleeps; and on
Tuesday, we headed back to Maputo, taking an easier route this time. Our time
in Inhambane was awesome, but I was glad to return to my dad’s well-lit and
mosquito-free house. Until next time, may your bats eat all of your most hated
insects, and may you catch sight of every octopus! </span></div>geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-42808530470822938202012-07-10T14:46:00.000-07:002012-07-10T14:46:29.490-07:00English Lessons, and Venezuelan Independence Day<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">July 10, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ve just returned from
Inhambane, and I’ve got a good bit of catching up to do! I’m going to split
today’s report into two posts, actually, so bear with me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> As
some of you may know, I was planning to sub in for an English teacher at an all
girls’ orphanage during my stay here, but as it turned out, the girls were
supposed to go on holiday for the month of July. I was told, however, that it
was possible that there would be an opportunity to volunteer there for one day
before the girls left. On Wednesday night, my friend Cinthia, who is Peruvian
but grew up in Mozambique and is now in college in the states, called me to let
me know that Thursday’s classes were a go. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> I met
Cinthia at her house Thursday morning, and from there she, her mom, and I
headed to the orphanage. When we arrived, one of the nuns who work there told
us that it was a cleaning day, so they would not be having classes; however,
since we were already there, they decided that the girls could spare a little
time for an English lesson. Cinthia and I taught them a few verbs, quizzed them
on the alphabet, and did our best to teach them to express their feelings. It
was a challenge because Cinthia had only been there once before (I think), and
I had only been there once, so it was difficult to gauge where the girls were
in terms of their English speaking prowess. It was also very difficult to explain
grammar rules, since I don’t speak Portuguese, but fortunately Cinthia was
super at explaining both herself and me. I think I bored them with my endless
examples of when to add an “s” to an English verb, because by the end of the
class, they were getting restless. When the class ended, though, we had some
nice time together to chat (even though I for the most part stayed quiet and
tried to understand what was being said) and the girls became more comfortable
around us. One girl asked me (in English) my nationality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> “American,”
I said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Oh,”
she said, and then, in Portuguese, “do you know Justin Bieber?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> I had
to disappoint her by not personally knowing Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, or
Beyoncé, but all the girls still showed us plenty of affection with hugs and a
tour of their vegetable garden. As always, it was lovely to enjoy the
hospitality of such smart and cheerful kids. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> On
the way back into the city, Cinthia invited me to come with her family to a
Venezuelan Independence Day celebration at one of the hotels. The celebration
was held outside, and after the Mozambican and Venezuelan National Anthems were
played, two men gave speeches in Portuguese, and then everyone was left to
mingle. With most of the guests speaking Spanish, the hotel’s employees
speaking Portuguese, and various people speaking English, my head was spinning.
But, it was an enjoyable evening during which I got to meet a lot of splendid people,
including Susana and William Diaz, who are both college students studying in
the UK and who knew Cinthia when they were small children. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> It’s
now eleven forty-three and I am quite ready to turn in for the night. I’ll be
writing a post tomorrow, though, to tell you all about my adventures in
Inhambane. Until then, goodnight!<o:p></o:p></span></div>geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-85169714987256647032012-07-02T09:43:00.001-07:002012-07-10T13:07:01.887-07:00Não falo Português.<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Today I had my first
Portuguese lesson, in hopes that I will soon be able to do something besides
look uncomfortable whenever people say things to me. My instructor’s name is
Viegas, and he has a very amiable attitude, but those lessons are intense. It
is one-on-one instruction for two hours, and although studying Spanish has made
it remarkably easy to understand Portuguese, I think that if anything, it has
made the pronunciation harder. Oh, the temptation to use Spanish pronunciation
in such similar words! But, I did learn some valuable introduction skills, as
well as the priceless phrase: “I don’t understand” (“Não compreendo.”)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> On
Saturday, Dad and I went for a horseback ride at a stable near the fish market.
The market is a very interesting scene, because there are a lot of colorful
fishing boats and a lot of people playing in the water or coming to buy or
sell.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> We
had been to the stables and were told to come back later—they were only having
lessons in the morning, and we could come back at three for a trail ride. At
this point, we assured them that we knew how to ride—this statement was shown
to be debatable, however, when we arrived at the stables and not only
remembered that it had been around two years since either of us had ridden, but
also noticed that they used English-style saddles. For those of you who don’t
know the difference between English and Western saddles, Western saddles sit
around the middle of the horse’s back, and they have a horn in front. English
saddles sit farther up on the horse, near its shoulders, and some of the riding
techniques are different. Needless to say, I was rather embarrassed when, after
having assured them that I knew what I was doing, I looked like Hyacinth Bucket
in the BBC comedy series “Keeping up Appearances” episode entitled “Mind Your
Head.” For those of you who don’t get the reference, it wasn’t pretty. The ride
was enjoyable, though, after receiving a few pointers from our guides; and
after being assured that I would benefit greatly from lessons, we called it a
day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><Look how smug he looks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">If
there’s one concept I’ve grasped in these first few days of being back in
Maputo, it is the “tip of the iceberg” phenomenon. Last year, I did a lot of
things in a lot of places, but there's still so much to learn even about Maputo and her neighbors. It’s an
overwhelmingly big world, so my goal is to suck up as much of it as possible!<o:p></o:p></span></div>geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-5780628968031705252012-06-28T09:33:00.000-07:002012-06-28T09:36:14.329-07:00Back in Mozambique<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">June 28, 2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I just woke up from an 18 hour sleep in Maputo, Mozambique. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My mom and I left our hotel in Columbia at 4:45 a.m. and
headed for the airport, where I secured my boarding passes from Columbia to
Johannesburg and said goodbye to Mom at security (xoxo). The flight from
Columbia to D.C. was about an hour long and fairly uneventful, as was the
flight to New York. When I arrived in New York, I took the Airtrain to the International
Terminal, checked in at the South African Airways counter, and went through
security again amidst a large crowd of people. The flight to Johannesburg seemed pretty short, actually—it was only 15 hours instead of 18 because we
left from New York and didn’t have a stop in Senegal. After watching “The
Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” and reading, and trying to
sleep, and asking for vegetarian food and receiving meat food and going to the
back of the plane only to be handed a raw salmon and onion sandwich and being
so hungry that I ate it anyway like Santiago in <i>The Old Man and the Sea</i>, we landed in Johannesburg at last. There,
I traded my e-ticket printout for a boarding pass to Maputo, ate some lunch,
and waited for my fourth and final plane. This flight was also about an hour
long, and when it landed at around 3:00, Central Africa Time, my dad and his friend John
were there at the airport. It was weird to be back in Mozambique<span style="background-color: white;">—it's hard to believe it's been a whole year since I was last here. After I unpacked and settled into Caleb's room (you are welcome to be jealous, Mr. London Intern), w</span><span style="background-color: white;">e had a tasty dinner outside at a little café and I
went to sleep at 9:30. I woke up today at about 5:00 to my dad opening my
windows and saying “you’re about to miss the sunshine of June 28, 2012!” </span></span></div>geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-32926348783943020512011-07-25T08:42:00.000-07:002011-09-16T13:36:44.068-07:00Tales From The Bush<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-lmIKt_qzwXPaeDH-_Fqy9t3k-VoWiJOipgWw2Pjw8CVNbK8WnBqK7P0bH7m3LIUhtefSj0Y96IJJD6GA9lDd9USfYg_zzhZn9_1qUZaOhHnPE73pG_PVwXbOF7Hm2V4o5iU-0rd1KU/s1600/Tales+From+The+Bush+012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-lmIKt_qzwXPaeDH-_Fqy9t3k-VoWiJOipgWw2Pjw8CVNbK8WnBqK7P0bH7m3LIUhtefSj0Y96IJJD6GA9lDd9USfYg_zzhZn9_1qUZaOhHnPE73pG_PVwXbOF7Hm2V4o5iU-0rd1KU/s320/Tales+From+The+Bush+012.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The place was Kruger National Park, South Africa, and the plan was a five-day safari with two days of driving, three days of hiking, and plenty of extra batteries for picture taking. We began with Africa's second most dangerous animal--the hippopotamus. But don't worry; we were far away from the hippos. We had come across a ranger who gave us permission to exit our vehicle and sit on the rocks with the hippo pools at a safe but enjoyable distance. They snapped their jaws while we just snapped pictures. </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitfogbGVqW4_3bIzhEGfefvotYWPUqmrMJd-wYqmQ16EwudxeBXJtlg583buqwrL66Y5aqxTKtNtfsmQl-bdPN7Q4nSW0idCXOT8an3-ppWsJ6nEFEJZW-Xj56eC9bYTuMPkyEHv3Z6dw/s1600/Tales+From+The+Bush+024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitfogbGVqW4_3bIzhEGfefvotYWPUqmrMJd-wYqmQ16EwudxeBXJtlg583buqwrL66Y5aqxTKtNtfsmQl-bdPN7Q4nSW0idCXOT8an3-ppWsJ6nEFEJZW-Xj56eC9bYTuMPkyEHv3Z6dw/s320/Tales+From+The+Bush+024.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">This guy was being a good hippo and posing nicely--I call him Humphrey. (Africa's most dangerous animal is the mosquito, by the way.)</span><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The continuation of our drive through Kruger gave us a great view of an elephant--we had come across an elephant-shaped blob in the bush before, but this one was up close and personal, gregariously munching on a nearby tree. I feel the need to add, since I used the word "gregarious", that elephants are aggressive when defending themselves, and will charge if they feel threatened. They are just trying to scare away what they see as a threat, though, and most charges are mock charges, where they make themselves scary until you drive off. Since they are bigger than an SUV, you high-tail it out of there if they start to look like this.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwy5SeJ9BEP9cJ8BxwWNNfd4f6ZFKlk98zQ5XIRpwA0k7hSWOt-ytCJKrRu60FAM49kX5L9vHb5EC3JitlfmwX9jkeAy5-bf0cY0-Bbd_woTKg0aOLVeD9D48jdMjbFFXIKmmUWiF6as/s1600/Tales+From+The+Bush+089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwy5SeJ9BEP9cJ8BxwWNNfd4f6ZFKlk98zQ5XIRpwA0k7hSWOt-ytCJKrRu60FAM49kX5L9vHb5EC3JitlfmwX9jkeAy5-bf0cY0-Bbd_woTKg0aOLVeD9D48jdMjbFFXIKmmUWiF6as/s320/Tales+From+The+Bush+089.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">An elephant's top priority is to protect the young ones, such as this cute little guy hiding behind his mom. </span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCWCNw0z1wieWom4CrXcyB3M1hjDSttBVVSWc9wI_3ANVLZPtljzf6WglQUnNq-Xik5OKjVMxlR9h30uVgkdF7SjFdlx7bmzERcmGcN7SRAl8yutKYWVNp_RQzYZfX0Jy1pROi6bAdt3E/s1600/Tales+From+The+Bush+250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCWCNw0z1wieWom4CrXcyB3M1hjDSttBVVSWc9wI_3ANVLZPtljzf6WglQUnNq-Xik5OKjVMxlR9h30uVgkdF7SjFdlx7bmzERcmGcN7SRAl8yutKYWVNp_RQzYZfX0Jy1pROi6bAdt3E/s320/Tales+From+The+Bush+250.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">We stayed at the Pretorioskop camp, where we grilled our dinner (we did not catch and kill it ourselves, although I'm sure Caleb would've been happy to oblige) and went to sleep at the very late hour of eight thirty. It gets dark around 5 here, and Kruger is so fantastically dark at night, that it makes for a lovely night's sleep. Besides, the stars are incredible--you can see the Milky Way as if it was a cloud. We spent the last of the evening finding constellations that look like giraffes and cape buffalos. Unfortunately stars are like ghosts; they can't be captured on film unless you have a special camera. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The next day brought about new wonders of the animal kingdom. We have seen so many giraffes, but I never get tired of those guys. They're like the Ryan Stiles of the animal kingdom--very lanky, and laid-back despite their loud dress. Plus, incredibly fun to watch.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrSIJPAZxmsU4aQ1HgDk-D7J6e_VqUeKkcJaTDK2sOoAJD3Ia0TcXrd93TzYIKkKYd__PtDKeNgygt5JAVOx4k3NNvALyKnsLjigbTEa7VHTVxsOklcue9r5W8UmuhrbxUDukbU3Bg74k/s1600/Tales+From+The+Bush+201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrSIJPAZxmsU4aQ1HgDk-D7J6e_VqUeKkcJaTDK2sOoAJD3Ia0TcXrd93TzYIKkKYd__PtDKeNgygt5JAVOx4k3NNvALyKnsLjigbTEa7VHTVxsOklcue9r5W8UmuhrbxUDukbU3Bg74k/s320/Tales+From+The+Bush+201.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">We had seen some intriguing creatures, but after so many impala even I get ready to see a predator. Kruger park boasts around 2,000 lions, 2,000 hyenas, 950 leopards, 350 African wild dogs (an endangered species,) and 250 cheetahs. However, the park itself is huge, and we only explored the southern area, so the carnivores were not as easy to find as they seemed. Bbut as the sun was beginning to set and we were on our way back to the camp for a guided evening drive, we came across a lone hyena walking serenely in the bush. </span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDE4LQjg8mh-vp6HbJFtrvVaWiF2OkAvspIOdGoFAD-9doZdaBQRjMgWJAhKL7vOH0V5qLiDwqt2Vqn4n7go1XJoAn8Z-GxP-kX_7Sub2SUOBqWzzMdae0098tR53_6IEQE9zwTdeJLi0/s1600/Tales+From+The+Bush+231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDE4LQjg8mh-vp6HbJFtrvVaWiF2OkAvspIOdGoFAD-9doZdaBQRjMgWJAhKL7vOH0V5qLiDwqt2Vqn4n7go1XJoAn8Z-GxP-kX_7Sub2SUOBqWzzMdae0098tR53_6IEQE9zwTdeJLi0/s320/Tales+From+The+Bush+231.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hyenas get kind of a bad rap—they are certainly less majestic-looking than lions, but they are actually very helpful to the environment. There are a lot of animals in the park, and all animals die eventually, but you really don’t see many skeletons or remains because of the clean-up crew: the scavengers, least selective of these being the hyena. They will eat anything, and their powerful jaws give them the ability to crack bones, after which the bones decay more quickly. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On our night drive, we expected to see some other nocturnal hunters, and we armed ourselves with jackets and cameras and arrived at the vehicle early to get good seats. In Kruger, there are camps with restrooms, as well as other designated areas where it's okay to leave your vehicle. Everywhere else, you must stay in the car at all times to avoid a potential hazard. This being said, forty-five minutes into our three hour drive, the most likely intoxicated folks in the back felt the need to harass the driver about their inexplicably full bladders. The entire drive was full of these complaints until the driver had to pull over. One man said: "I'll give twenty rand to the first person to find a toilet!" which was followed by another man saying: "I'll give a hundred to whoever knocks that guy out." After all that, all we saw were common duikers. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWwmOW9W_1kIvBMSVWlC3kNDDZn8o9Pu3BsZk-0E8d4mso06mha4Ts_2tk-twBLsOZXi1EffNtVsUZiXD3SRysSQ0Et_WJ5_Ml1M7oAp8jEixVl6RvGgOoCbbCifDkUZozSdgm4mLCUz8/s1600/Tales+From+The+Bush+332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWwmOW9W_1kIvBMSVWlC3kNDDZn8o9Pu3BsZk-0E8d4mso06mha4Ts_2tk-twBLsOZXi1EffNtVsUZiXD3SRysSQ0Et_WJ5_Ml1M7oAp8jEixVl6RvGgOoCbbCifDkUZozSdgm4mLCUz8/s320/Tales+From+The+Bush+332.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The next day, we were glad to be starting our hike through the wilderness. It was time for some serious safari. We met our group at around three in the afternoon, climbed into a big safari jeep and set off for the bush. Our guides’ names were Moses and Rangana, and they had been working in the park for ten and twelve years. We enjoyed a meal cooked by the camp chef, Johann, then sat around a fire and listened to Moses’ and Rangana’s stories and advice on what to do if an animal charged. We went to bed early, and at five a.m. we woke up to the sound of Johann knocking on our doors. It was time to begin our adventure. We were being driven to the bush where we would continue on foot, and soon after we left the camp, what did we see in the middle of the road but a cheetah. As you may remember, cheetahs are even fewer in the park than the endangered wild dogs, and they prefer open areas in the central part of the park, as opposed to the lightly wooded south. Needless to say, Caleb’s fervent wish to see the fastest land animal didn’t look like it would be fulfilled, but here was a cheetah who stared at us for some minutes before slowly walking out of sight.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnf0n11oXq3GTgtNpmy8l7CnAuK8xR6vQA9IYnX9vdcH62ueLh8_UBilWnbFAQmh7OoN_JDRejP4Q4gWCmLtR5EVcAaKzRp8UDpBp68EVof-EU-AbpJLFn5q1Kxv7MsYoZof-bZa68k-8/s1600/Tales+From+The+Bush+313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnf0n11oXq3GTgtNpmy8l7CnAuK8xR6vQA9IYnX9vdcH62ueLh8_UBilWnbFAQmh7OoN_JDRejP4Q4gWCmLtR5EVcAaKzRp8UDpBp68EVof-EU-AbpJLFn5q1Kxv7MsYoZof-bZa68k-8/s320/Tales+From+The+Bush+313.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The hike consisted of a morning walk and an evening walk, the morning walk being five hours long, with a very pleasant break for snacks in the middle. The first animals we saw on foot were white rhinos, which are apparently less aggressive than black rhinos. Moses told us that they have a saying in his culture: “If you even think about a black rhino, climb a tree.” Our guides told us how to differentiate between black and white rhinos by their appearance, behavior, footprints, and, of course, their dung. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">From a distance, you can tell a white rhino from a black rhino if they are running away from predators, Rangana said. The white rhinos would run behind the babies, since they prefer open areas and therefore must protect the young ones from behind. Black rhinos run in front of the babies because they prefer wooded areas and therefore must clear the way so that the little ones can get through. “It’s like black and white people,” Rangana explained, “we carry our children on our backs, and you push them in front in a pram (stroller).” </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ZXjh5xYU97iFd8T3Hr_kSIixHRlNTSEbu3PA0B3K17PWO0_i4rrmpQ1vGVAmGbxkaQP-d0eHOKIelyoJXaQ0_smlfXFP7Z8C1A6pyhRkgDXi-YOHBWkwluuI3THl4-9Yuts6-zGLDlA/s1600/Tales+From+The+Bush+293.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ZXjh5xYU97iFd8T3Hr_kSIixHRlNTSEbu3PA0B3K17PWO0_i4rrmpQ1vGVAmGbxkaQP-d0eHOKIelyoJXaQ0_smlfXFP7Z8C1A6pyhRkgDXi-YOHBWkwluuI3THl4-9Yuts6-zGLDlA/s320/Tales+From+The+Bush+293.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Moses and Rangana spotted everything from elephants so far away they looked like small rocks to tiny holes in the ground, and they could tell by the shape and size what created them. They also told us about different plants, such as the lipstick bush, which gives a red hue to the lips if you chew the roots. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The next day, we came upon the skull and bones of a buffalo which had been killed by lions (not even hyenas can clean up everything.) I was a little worried about seeing a kill while at the park, and thought I would be terribly creeped out by any remains. But over the years, and especially during this trip I have come to a healthy understanding of the "circle of life." Buffalo gotta graze, lions gotta eat. It's really amazing the intricate structure in nature--it's not as if God just threw everything together, but He made it so that carnivores control herbivore populations which, if they got out of control would destroy so much vegetation that they couldn't survive. So carnivores are necessary to the balance of nature as well as aesthetically pleasing.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Have you ever seen pictures of tribal people dancing around with skulls of animals in front of their faces? That's another thing that has lost its creepiness for me. When we were all taking pictures and looking at the bones with solemn fascination, Moses did not shy away but grabbed the buffalo skull, held it up, galloped around and said: "Look! I'm a buffalo!" </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-NqhnqLYq55UPCSgWXcQzkQWX2u0QeODb0JoFfocj7CHXM4j4zeMar3fsaGecNnWCuxTsRGsd_jjnxD5pd0fHhNsM7-Gm2yj0kH3N7SHAba0m0patfgU65fwM-p0R3Bh1Q_PHRuvHz1U/s1600/Tales+From+The+Bush+397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-NqhnqLYq55UPCSgWXcQzkQWX2u0QeODb0JoFfocj7CHXM4j4zeMar3fsaGecNnWCuxTsRGsd_jjnxD5pd0fHhNsM7-Gm2yj0kH3N7SHAba0m0patfgU65fwM-p0R3Bh1Q_PHRuvHz1U/s320/Tales+From+The+Bush+397.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">It was quite amusing and broke the austere mood.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">For our evening hike, we went to see some bushman paintings which may have been over two hundred years old, and then hiked up a mountain for the sunset. On the way, someone in our group saw what he thought was a cat, and we searched through binoculars but couldn't see it. Caleb also caught a glimpse of it, and we were hoping to get a better look. We didn't catch up with the mysterious cat, but enjoyed a breathtaking sunset and headed back to the jeep by the last of the daylight. Happy with our experiences but still keeping a wary eye out for lions, we headed back to camp. Then I saw the outline of a head--a big head, with pointed ears. Moses and Rangana had told us not to shout, because it would scare the animals, but to snap our fingers if we saw anything. I was snapping like crazy. Finally the woman in front of me, who had also seen the outline exclaimed: "Cat cat cat!" We stopped and backed up to find that the cat was still there--and it was a leopard. Leopards are difficult to see because of their shy, solitary natures and surprisingly apt camouflage, but there he was, just sitting there among the trees. Moses and Rangana said that he was probably waiting to cross the road, or else he would have run off when he saw us. </span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhegFfmuNFRzx3InGfx8HMI13I1HHsTPHoxKPDX5eliIb5hdjFAN72WMyIE79oZu6l3Y3vsRaGW-2xRXLGhyt_y4IZ4e_tOI2eWqW5igA8RTridyICTsuh8Rbt6rFSGA2IsdMFJPXqBtRY/s1600/Tales+From+The+Bush+480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhegFfmuNFRzx3InGfx8HMI13I1HHsTPHoxKPDX5eliIb5hdjFAN72WMyIE79oZu6l3Y3vsRaGW-2xRXLGhyt_y4IZ4e_tOI2eWqW5igA8RTridyICTsuh8Rbt6rFSGA2IsdMFJPXqBtRY/s320/Tales+From+The+Bush+480.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">This beautiful guy was the icing on our safari cake.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It's been a wonderful trip; there’s so much more I wish I could include, but as it is I’ve been working on this entry off and on for two days! Tomorrow Caleb’s and my flight leaves at five p.m., and we’ll be home on Wednesday. I’m so glad I was able to have this experience, and if you’re interested in hearing more, don’t hesitate to ask! Thanks for reading!</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLwuR62Y2rvHxOTIWwl1dEeo1D5QIJye-gxhqkh9n-PcGPOTSXiCRJBu85AWAN3gSk38VKxOPKmDWeO8EwHbonQEfq-Lp1xLveqCJHOzT66OKD_R1G51a90fA-bIp7RifoWeEK3xmbeHU/s1600/Tales+From+The+Bush+386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLwuR62Y2rvHxOTIWwl1dEeo1D5QIJye-gxhqkh9n-PcGPOTSXiCRJBu85AWAN3gSk38VKxOPKmDWeO8EwHbonQEfq-Lp1xLveqCJHOzT66OKD_R1G51a90fA-bIp7RifoWeEK3xmbeHU/s320/Tales+From+The+Bush+386.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">-Geek In Mozambique</span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times;"></span> </div>geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-9524537090500810562011-07-15T08:52:00.000-07:002011-07-15T14:48:06.885-07:00Mr. Ray, Scientist<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That scuba certification is not for sissies. Last Monday, my dad, Caleb and I set out for Ponta Do Ouro to do some diving. It was supposed to take three hours to get there, and apparently half of it was on a smooth road, and half was over sandy dunes. When we found ourselves on a bumpy dirt road, we thought we had come to the bad road—as it turns out, there was only another even bumpier, dirtier road to greet us after that. When we finally arrived in Ponta Do Ouro, we were glad to get to our hotel, get some dinner, and go to sleep. We arrived at what looked like a campground. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUOX7EhgaAhbDIV8tx6o0KgJZhuRl2MBdotwjXT3Af_lTBBVloeWanI5R4yh5ZHjmj0yxEliHsG282YCTe6mDFYnsoScNt1DNPr9tWniD5bIzgl51x299erfPvPb-Fg_jzYw49VTlfsqw/s1600/Junly+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUOX7EhgaAhbDIV8tx6o0KgJZhuRl2MBdotwjXT3Af_lTBBVloeWanI5R4yh5ZHjmj0yxEliHsG282YCTe6mDFYnsoScNt1DNPr9tWniD5bIzgl51x299erfPvPb-Fg_jzYw49VTlfsqw/s320/Junly+006.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I have your rooms ready,” said the manager. But our “rooms” turned out to be tents, and they did not provide the best of protection against the sound of drunken revelers outside talking and singing as loudly as possible in a combination of English, Portuguese, and an unknown language. The next day, we found some lodging in a log cabin village where we were able to sleep better. But before that, it was time for our first pool session. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The session began with twenty short laps in a sixty-four degree (Fahrenheit) pool, followed by eight minutes of treading water, followed by two minutes of treading water with no hands. After we put on our wet suits things got a little more pleasant as we learned some skills at the pool's bottom. The next day we had our first dive, and the sea was warm compared to the pool, but from the time we began to descend, things started getting sticky. I couldn't descend, but kept bobbing to the surface, and Caleb was having trouble clearing his ears. After descending, it was downright scary. It's truly a different world underwater--you look around and at first all you see is blue. The other divers looked like aliens--I felt extra sorry for Nemo for when he was scooped out of the sea by a scuba diver. After a short lunch break, we had another pool session, this time in an even colder pool, around fifty-nine degrees. It was so miserably cold that our instructor, Siobhan, cut it short, deciding to go over some of the skills in the ocean the next day. We went back to our room, cold and dejected, wondering if this whole scuba certification was worth it. Caleb was having trouble equalizing his ears underwater, and we were all exhausted. The next day, we woke up begrudgingly. We had two dives that day, and on the first one, Caleb couldn't clear his ears and had to return to the boat. The rest of us descended, and our instructor told us using signs that he was on the boat. We started with the skills we had missed in the pool, and they came much easier in the ocean today--since we had already been on one dive, the sea was much more familiar and we were able to enjoy the fish. I had better control of my movement this time, and the skills went smoothly.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> Then things got interesting. Siobhan had told us that the reason she had gotten into diving was because she loves sharks; so when I saw her pointing excitedly to something behind me, I took a big gulp. Surely a great white was swimming up ready to eat me in one bite. But I turned around, and what did I find but a huge manta ray--one of my favorite sea creatures only after the blue whale--swimming just meters away from us. He had to be eighteen to twenty feet across, and there were several remoras swimming underneath him. He swam as if in flight, graceful and beautiful in his black-and-white glory. I floated there, staring in awe and thinking of Mr. Ray from "Finding Nemo."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After we surfaced, all the divers with us were raving about it. I had heard one woman ask if manta rays liked the reef we were going to, and to her disappointment, she was informed that they did not. You can imagine her excitement when one actually swam right above us! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“And you new divers,” she exclaimed, “you’re so lucky to have seen a manta on your second dive!” Oh, yes, we were. Caleb was able to catch a glimpse of the ray by snorkeling, and although he opted out of the second dive, he did take and very easily pass the final exam, so if he wants to get certified later, all he has to do is complete two more ocean dives. There was a lot more involved in scuba certification than I thought, but it was well worth it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH7mOqnYB1WNzEIp0V5J6bcQp3JZNWfRGSRIFRZ79iKQuFVCaoYW6_Y1NuHbwhFlUFcffwzNdQdr1CmQhyphenhyphencMQX_CKAwZ6ViE698UAoAslP8lGotL8XekSznJ2cHVktTmS_NnHeIJtN1BU/s1600/IMG_5749.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH7mOqnYB1WNzEIp0V5J6bcQp3JZNWfRGSRIFRZ79iKQuFVCaoYW6_Y1NuHbwhFlUFcffwzNdQdr1CmQhyphenhyphencMQX_CKAwZ6ViE698UAoAslP8lGotL8XekSznJ2cHVktTmS_NnHeIJtN1BU/s320/IMG_5749.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div>geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-68454337969784347872011-07-10T15:05:00.000-07:002011-07-10T15:05:46.087-07:00I Saw a Kudu--What Did You Do?<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv2M4OlVVdBRWp1NxIl4LsYkDy2I000FSikSgpBZtnrmHY09J5yRC_S2qwz1WR-Z_C4ttH0L9OrPNCotE3P308OWyNXf214sNVTk6W-wlEoLjIvbFpHmSaP1hMyHJuXzVF_ityPQ0BMxg/s1600/July+059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhntHUh_-0arno-Wl0IvFSw2wocVnqV2p5tQJabus9ofyyRlj7XD1BqdLChWuNoVk9VrNktB2_kSH1zTDb5RxsPoZZNiHKlIKZo3tpysxfGfyU8huhSzNxlv8wtWwJiLXLe31TXFA2Qq0w/s1600/July+030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhntHUh_-0arno-Wl0IvFSw2wocVnqV2p5tQJabus9ofyyRlj7XD1BqdLChWuNoVk9VrNktB2_kSH1zTDb5RxsPoZZNiHKlIKZo3tpysxfGfyU8huhSzNxlv8wtWwJiLXLe31TXFA2Qq0w/s320/July+030.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Yesterday Dad, John and I went to Nelspruit, South Africa to buy a television. We heard about a place called "Chimp Eden," a chimpanzee sanctuary near Nelspruit, and decided to go see the chimpanzees. We also saw some impala, kudu, and sable antelope along the way. It's so fun to see those guys randomly standing around rather than at a zoo--I really didn't think it would be that different before taking this trip. <br />
<img border="0" height="240" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv2M4OlVVdBRWp1NxIl4LsYkDy2I000FSikSgpBZtnrmHY09J5yRC_S2qwz1WR-Z_C4ttH0L9OrPNCotE3P308OWyNXf214sNVTk6W-wlEoLjIvbFpHmSaP1hMyHJuXzVF_ityPQ0BMxg/s320/July+059.JPG" width="320" />geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-27750139976390832562011-07-07T14:48:00.000-07:002011-07-07T14:49:18.720-07:00American Indians<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">7/7/11</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">I have just settled down after a very long shower, and I can still smell the smoke from the bonfire. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Caleb and I were invited to go with Nick and Nina Gazel, who are staying with their father over the summer, to help cook a meal at a children's home, so today we met at their house and headed to the orphanage from there. It was a home for boys, so there were some thirty to fifty boys there, and only two girls who lived in houses on the property with their parents. It was difficult to understand the technicalities because of the language barrier, but not difficult to see the warm welcome the children displayed for us. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Caleb was worried about the language barrier before we arrived, but within five minutes of being there he was already playing keep away with the boys. They also had a basketball court and a few guitars, so Caleb was right at home.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The two girls, Esther, who is eleven, and Christina, who is eight gave Nina and I a tour, and talked to Nina about what they were learning in school and the words they knew in other languages. The girls were very interested in languages; there were several German volunteers who had taught them German words, and they asked Nina and I how to say things in English and Spanish. Portuguese has a lot of the same roots as Spanish so I was able to get the gist of most conversations; but the biggest way around the language barrier (other than Nina's Portuguese) was not my Spanish, but Esther's English! Both girls were had a refreshing eagerness to learn, and a keen intellect to go along with it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">After our tour, Nina and the girls and I played basketball with some of the boys, and then the girls fixed our hair. Then it was time to barbeque. While we cooked, some of the permanent workers at the home prepared a bonfire and the children pulled up chairs around it and played the guitars or bongo drums and chatted while they waited. They were having a farewell party for the German and Swiss volunteers, and they called out each volunteer to do a dance around the fire--it was really funny because they were all just goofing off and doing these silly dances. After the meal, the kids lined up and each received a ball of sticky, yeasty bread dough, which they wrapped around sticks and roasted over the fire. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">It was great just to be able to take care of these kids for a few hours, enjoy their presence and not care if my hair got messed up or all my makeup rubbed off. The only problem is that I have a really big zit in the middle of my forehead right now; I was talking to Esther and she pointed to my forehead and asked if I was Indian.</span>geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6540817628481940029.post-587707682033865372011-07-04T13:39:00.000-07:002012-07-10T13:06:44.226-07:00Geek In Cape Town<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">July 4, 2011</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We just arrived in Maputo this afternoon after a week in Cape Town, and I am enjoying the first steady internet supply of the trip. We've had a great time in South Africa, where the weather is cool, the mountains are flat, and the vegetarian cuisine is bountiful.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My dad, Caleb and I began our journey on Sunday, June 26 at 7 am, and after one delay and a total of thirty seven hours, arrived at our hotel in Cape Town, South Africa and met up with my dad's friend John. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7r5lzoUeULxUUUd7SUMewaWEaPTo_J_CiiX36dGuEwkxlB22Nhj63qSd84_yV5LIr0sbS1_zF5Pa0DlGCdI4H2N8OwEK-irAbv1K7CEt8wfaxzqRIEkqA1FknWHlX7UK-zDGFtpvzYYI/s1600/June+688.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebJr829dTkf_MABEj0c7Xi5THN2sBuqHJsbGtlpklspR_BhpfgcSmZdIl8GzmUcVstzRF-axZX5dAh99uQGxYKP5tA-2DxaisNXoANSVY8OQLPlzIRBAtgUY7huN7L3FBznL8rQjzH10/s1600/June+143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebJr829dTkf_MABEj0c7Xi5THN2sBuqHJsbGtlpklspR_BhpfgcSmZdIl8GzmUcVstzRF-axZX5dAh99uQGxYKP5tA-2DxaisNXoANSVY8OQLPlzIRBAtgUY7huN7L3FBznL8rQjzH10/s320/June+143.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The main attraction in Cape Town is Table Mountain, a huge mountain with a naturally flat top so that it looks like a table. On Thursday, we went to the top of the mountain in a cable car, and enjoyed the incredible view. Caleb was constantly snapping photos, and we got some excellent pictures of the landscape. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBL41lnedTCVtier9qJAsTmWDMFJ9IRxO-FYRkyyuPgn0dyrKz4EX0ldXHda3u1RfvKuof7vVIoTjJfKIPq4mttxffMRhkdHqq83vMGNWiT5q1rZCEILKoC0-Y0c67ivsBCYUAkexuo-g/s1600/June+435.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBL41lnedTCVtier9qJAsTmWDMFJ9IRxO-FYRkyyuPgn0dyrKz4EX0ldXHda3u1RfvKuof7vVIoTjJfKIPq4mttxffMRhkdHqq83vMGNWiT5q1rZCEILKoC0-Y0c67ivsBCYUAkexuo-g/s320/June+435.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Earlier the same day, we went to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, and even though it's winter here, it was still filled with beautiful plants and very entertaining sculptures. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuovkGG1ZiXywFk9ZCEuTSl4cJRCGOyjh-uzgOG7jkyiUJoqh5cn89_k2Olo2MhHo18iJwAHZ1g6emFhPzxiIKN0plA-lOng7J8TaSBMj7s_jMPHm1_MifHQzheu8Hi5TPzb_woP0mwPE/s1600/June+247.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuovkGG1ZiXywFk9ZCEuTSl4cJRCGOyjh-uzgOG7jkyiUJoqh5cn89_k2Olo2MhHo18iJwAHZ1g6emFhPzxiIKN0plA-lOng7J8TaSBMj7s_jMPHm1_MifHQzheu8Hi5TPzb_woP0mwPE/s320/June+247.JPG" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Caleb was forced into an arranged marriage to an unappealing woman.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">July first was a full day--my calendar is totally covered in pen where I jotted down what happened. It was actually the warmest day yet, so it was an interesting coincidence that this was the day we chose to see the African penguins at Boulder Beach. They were lying around, since I suppose it was a bit hot for them, and at first it was sort of depressing because we thought some of them were dead, but when a couple of ducks waddled into their territory, they hopped to attention!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKX6A4Ty_Cb3sHS0ozoGIwK-8ZRp5UW3cX2mJwAAXvh3xo4a6iR7WeU-mUVUQpTRLq9r_cnmvut0-IcUhB6uCwXbsTTdE2X1LuS-HmvOhlIETtxoCU-xHK0GbDpFSflg3cg_-OCBB4JvY/s1600/June+571.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKX6A4Ty_Cb3sHS0ozoGIwK-8ZRp5UW3cX2mJwAAXvh3xo4a6iR7WeU-mUVUQpTRLq9r_cnmvut0-IcUhB6uCwXbsTTdE2X1LuS-HmvOhlIETtxoCU-xHK0GbDpFSflg3cg_-OCBB4JvY/s320/June+571.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Next, we decided to go to Cape Point National Park for a long hike up a mountain for some more great views. On our way there, we saw a sign with an exclamation point in the center, and underneath, the word “baboons.” I thought the sign was funny and hoped to see a baboon, but didn’t expect much. But as we rolled down the left side of the street, more signs came into view. “Please do not feed the baboons;” “baboons are dangerous and attracted to food.” When someone spotted one, we pulled over to take pictures, and very soon began to notice more and more! There were more than six baboons in our sight, and they were fascinating to watch. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBsRjAcZauEIdNIwwU7m6B8xnyY4UIq9QH5d7LCL1wPrO8AmJlcdAm6Asjglck0dLkjqO_-2mqdVrzMpSiNoHe7-WySnSofS55b89xypcJt0OMejTex1K2S1mvunaPEuNRc2aoSKeifBU/s1600/June+613.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="220" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBsRjAcZauEIdNIwwU7m6B8xnyY4UIq9QH5d7LCL1wPrO8AmJlcdAm6Asjglck0dLkjqO_-2mqdVrzMpSiNoHe7-WySnSofS55b89xypcJt0OMejTex1K2S1mvunaPEuNRc2aoSKeifBU/s320/June+613.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After Cape Point, we were faced with a decision: go back to Cape Town, or stay in the little town of Hermanus for an opportunity to go whale watching the next day. Of course, whale watching was very appealing, but it meant we needed a cheap place to stay. This is where you get one of those situations where someone says "we'll laugh about this someday." The innkeeper was Rina, a very friendly Afrikaner woman who, when we arrived, showed us the room and asked if it was okay. Shivering, we gave our approval--it wasn't big or ritzy, but it would do fine. She gave us a tour of the whole place, a little place made up mostly of patio; I guess it must have had about three or four rooms including ours. We finally had to ask: "is the room heated?" "Ah," she replied, "well, there was a gas heater, but we were afraid that people would die in there with the heater on. Would you like a hot water bottle for the lady?" I guess there was a gas leak or something, but needless to say I accepted the hot water bottle. With all the blankets Rina so graciously provided, it wasn't so bad.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> <img border="0" height="320" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7r5lzoUeULxUUUd7SUMewaWEaPTo_J_CiiX36dGuEwkxlB22Nhj63qSd84_yV5LIr0sbS1_zF5Pa0DlGCdI4H2N8OwEK-irAbv1K7CEt8wfaxzqRIEkqA1FknWHlX7UK-zDGFtpvzYYI/s320/June+688.JPG" width="240" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Saturday's whale watching excursion found us on the tumultuous seas without a whale in sight. We were out for about two hours, and the wind and rain were dreadful. The boat was tossed around so much that those on the outer deck got soaked and seasickness was experienced by the majority of the passengers. I did see a whale spout, but it was mostly, as my dad said, more wave watching than whale watching. <img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw9avY9eZOIOVuXADPT6lJKVvXLyCAsIAdAJa1GT6KFlHuYNwxh_Kzpb54MuEYge5t_F_PtnYMRo0JnsU2Cb9TIJnNR4hHiyCbUZ35eevk85nz86ifHqulihBg-pSQgHh_SWH2-MrDAuI/s320/June+694.JPG" width="320" /> This is the most whale we saw. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Caleb has decided not to shave for the duration of this trip, and wants my dad to do the same. When my dad warned him that he was planning to shave his beard on Tuesday, Caleb pointed to his wily scrap-tee. "Do you think I think this looks good?" He demanded. "This is not a fashion statement, it's about being a man in the wild." </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw9avY9eZOIOVuXADPT6lJKVvXLyCAsIAdAJa1GT6KFlHuYNwxh_Kzpb54MuEYge5t_F_PtnYMRo0JnsU2Cb9TIJnNR4hHiyCbUZ35eevk85nz86ifHqulihBg-pSQgHh_SWH2-MrDAuI/s1600/June+694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyvFbxcNnj9xkQRKLOsA-Q4kexihJeEHtDSS1zy_NLhyphenhyphenvm9moZMUTVZXBXuCtBjWxUGpu8tc8Q01hJiyVt_p_gd22vjwOL2dhYPa0RlAmsRLfmBvfdd6Rzv5ViRaQnypVsm-jj8QlTdyg/s1600/June+700.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="320" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyvFbxcNnj9xkQRKLOsA-Q4kexihJeEHtDSS1zy_NLhyphenhyphenvm9moZMUTVZXBXuCtBjWxUGpu8tc8Q01hJiyVt_p_gd22vjwOL2dhYPa0RlAmsRLfmBvfdd6Rzv5ViRaQnypVsm-jj8QlTdyg/s320/June+700.JPG" width="240" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">By the end of the trip, they will both look like this guy!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">To conclude this post, I'd like to note a couple of cool things about our South African experience: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">South Africa has great food, vegetarian and otherwise. At almost every restaurant we’ve been to, there has been a vast selection of different animals you can eat, such as ostrich, warthog, kudu, or springbok, but there are also more options (such as spanikopita-type dishes in filo pastry, caprese pizza, and excellent seafood) for lacto-ovo-pescetarians like myself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There's more than one way to flush a toilet. The toilets have two buttons to flush them, one bigger than the other, so that you can use less water or more water if you need to. I had heard about this phenomenon in other countries, but I was filled with a very geek-ish delight at the reality.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Look what's crossing the road! Instead of the occasional squirrel or possum, you might see the occasional baboon or antelope. This guy might be a female eland. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTF48H7Gq8SzD9FEQVOvvttAVirtB3wzbWbG9TeKp1ccsaY8YrKUbxjwZ3M67Xgj8DEuL1Oa_uB8meR5NTgcoos9ov6UDNUiMnJiEFs9P2H_Fl1RjEd9GftZ-mi7rwUTpj5AK4XzFLneA/s1600/June+682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTF48H7Gq8SzD9FEQVOvvttAVirtB3wzbWbG9TeKp1ccsaY8YrKUbxjwZ3M67Xgj8DEuL1Oa_uB8meR5NTgcoos9ov6UDNUiMnJiEFs9P2H_Fl1RjEd9GftZ-mi7rwUTpj5AK4XzFLneA/s320/June+682.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>geekinmozambiquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12305206149240394006noreply@blogger.com2