It's a long way to Lilongwe

Sunday, November 24

Well if you know us, you know that if we are near a lake, our go to recreation is to canoe or kayak. So of course, we had to kayak Lake Malawi. We made plans to be out for the whole day  and explore the near by islands. We woke in the night to some fierce winds, but by morning things had calmed and there were a few fishermen out in their little dugout canoes, so we decided to go. We rented a well used, but functional double kayak, and headed out to circle the closest island, about a mile away. It was a little rough, but mostly just gentle rollers to push us along.

We rounded the island and found a protected cove to rest and eat a snack. Most of the islands are ringed with boulders, so safe landing points were limited. We then had long crossing of the bay to check out the other island. It was getting increasingly choppy as we went, but as we neared shore fierce winds really started to blow and shifted directions directly into our faces. The gusts would nearly rip the paddle right out off your hands. Tammara confidently kept us on course and did her best to keep me from freaking out, and we safely made it to a sheltered little beach.

We took cover from the wind under some jumbled boulders, keeping a close lookout for snakes and scorpions. I peaked my head out to see if conditions were improving and realized that the western sky was black and you could hear thunder rumbling. Great... what to do- wait for the storm to pass or try to out run it. We decided to sit and wait it out. We sat reading our books in our crevice for about a half hour. The storm seemed to just be sitting there and not moving. The next time I popped out to check conditions, things really had not improved much, but I did see two or three fearless fisherman paddling past. Well hell, if they were out in a hollowed out log, I guess we should be able to handle it in a modern fiberglass kayak.

We launched the boat and headed back to town. Fortunately, the winds and big rolling waves had shifted to our backs and mostly pushed us in the direction we needed to go. It was a hell of a ride, but with much relief, we made it safely back to shore and lived to tell the story.

During our sundowner beer we met a family from northeast Pennsylvania who were traveling through Africa and India for a planned five month trip. They are traveling with their two young sons, one of who is adopted from Ethiopia. Later in their journey they with visit the village where he was born. Talk about intrepid travelers - makes us look like such wimpy novices. Really great folks and we enjoyed meeting them. Check out their blog at RTWAdventureFamily.blogspot.com

Monday, November 25

Arrrrg, another travel day- once again public transportation at its finest. The first leg started by trying to get out of Cape Maclear. There is no formal means of public transportation, but a few trucks -known as matolas here - make the trip up to Monkey Bay and the main road early in the morning. They are basically long flatbed pickups used for hauling cargo and people. We started waiting for a ride at 5:15 and got picked up about a half  hour later. But before we actually left town the truck circled looking for passengers for another 45 minutes. It was a nice way to tour the back roads of the village and watch the typical routines of the locals. Filling buckets at the lake or pump and carrying them on their heads, sweeping the dirt streets with grass hand brooms, and the parade of hundreds of laughing uniformed kids walking to school. 

In Monkey Bay we found a mini-bus to Salima, the next major town up the lake. The bus was in the worst shape of any we had encountered so far. After the requisite circling to fill up, we left. The driver went at such a moderate and safe speed, we thought we had lucked out with the only sane driver in Malawi. As we started to go slower and slower we expected engine trouble. Finally, we coasted to a stop and the engine died. We were in the middle of nowhere.

Now what? The rest of the passengers started bitching out the driver- turns out we had run out of fuel. The driver and his assistant started walking up the road, looking for a ride to the nearest community to get some gas. This did not look good. We passed our time talking to a local Presbyterian minister - friendly guy with good English. Of course, talk quickly turned to what religion we were, why we didn't go to church, if we believed in God? We fudged it a little and told him we found God when we went hiking in the mountains. He laughed at that, but thought it was good because Malawi has so many mountains - it is truly blessed.

Remarkably, the bus boys returned with gas after about 45 minutes. Maybe there is a God in Malawi. They drove us to the next town and put us on another matola. I think they had had enough for the day. This was the most comfortable leg of the trip- I got to sit on a giant sack of corn for most of it.

We took a break for lunch and ice cream in Selima and then found another mini-bus to Lilongwe. This part of the trip was uneventful, although Tammara's pack soaked up a bunch of fish juice from the floor. We arrived in the capital around 3:00 - not bad timing considering the delays. The bus dropped us off in a totally chaotic bus depot and marketplace. Literally hundereds of mini-buses sprawled all over and hawkers trying to fill them. Somehow we found our way to a bus going to the part of town we wanted to go to, which turned out to be only a short ways away. We got off where we thought we were close, and followed our Lonely Planet map to the hostel, which turned out not to be there any more. Great. After much cursing to the editors of Lonely Planet, we walked to the nearby Korean Garden Lodge. This turned out to be a nicer place anyway with a swimming pool, gardens, a decent restaurant, and a comfortable lounge.

So this is about it for Malawi, tomorrow we fly to South Africa. Despite all the hardships and poverty found here, Malawi is home to some of the friendliest and helpful people we have ever met anywhere. It really is "The warm heart of Africa".

From Majete to Cape Maclear

Monday, November 18

Nearing the end of our time at Majete, we are falling into some comfortable routines. We almost always wake up with the first light, which is around 4:30 here- all of southern Africa is synced to the same time zone as South Africa. Malawi, being fairly far east, ends up with very early sunrise. Many of our field days start by 5:30 so we can work when it is coolest. We have had some exceedingly hot days recently - upto 115 degrees in the late afternoon.

We are a small group: 2 researchers and 5 Earth Watch volunteers. The leaders are Kate and Colin, both grad students from Stellenbosch University in South Africa, are a delight to get to know. They have a pretty tough job. In addition to being responsible for all the research, they also have to play hosts to all our needs, preparing all the meals and keeping us happy.

It has been fun to meet the other volunteers as well. There is David, a retired doctor from Minnisota, and Bob and Sharon from Captiva, Florida, also retired. The whole group has traveled the world extensively, much of it on Earth Watch and other volunteer trips. It makes for a lot of interesting stories around the dinner table.

Today we started off with an other driving transect. We saw most of the same animals we have been seeing, but did drive through some of the more remote sections of the reserve. Eventhough the reserve is over 700 square kilometers, the majority of the wildlife is concentrated along the river. Much of the reserve is rough and mountainous, far from reliable water, thus, less suitable to wildlife.

It was another insanely hot afternoon, so we talked Kate and Colin into taking us back to the pool. Ahh...

Tuesday, November 19

Today was school visit day, and it turned out to be surprisingly rewarding. After experiences in Peace Corps and during our travels in Latin America, Tammara and I are always a little wary of these kind of choreographed interactions, but this turned out to be a special day we will long remember.

African Parks, who manage the reserve, employ extension agents who work with the surrounding communities and schools to educate and smooth relations with the reserve. We visited a primary school just outside of the park. There are over 500 students for just 9 teachers. The students were very friendly and excited to have visitors. We toured a tree plantation project and helped with litter pick up around the school. Tammara had quite fan club by the end of the day. We were then entertained with some amazing singing and a short drama- all with environmental themes. We were all quite impressed. At the end we presented the school with all the school supplies that were brought by us and the other volunteers. They were well appreciated. The highlight of the day was when Tammara presented the school with a brand new soccer ball, which elicited a huge cheer from the students.

Around lunch time we had some visitors to camp - a whole herd of elephants! There were about six in camp, and a bunch more on the edeges.  They were very calm and non-threatening, just going about their business. We tried to keep our distance, but they came right up to the camp tents. We watched them for about a half hour before they wandered off. What a great chance to observe them- one calf was even still nursing- with it's trunk no less.

Later in the day our group met with the reserve manager for Majete. He gave us a short presentation and then an opportunity to ask questions. We were quite impressed with the professionalism and dedication to making Majete a success.

Wednesday, November 20

With regret to be leaving, we said our fairwells to Majete today. We were driven back to Blantyre; David, Sharon and Bob to the airport, and us to find a bus to Liwonde. The transportation systems of Malawi leave a lot to be desired. Most people get around by mini-bus which dilapidated Toyota vans that were designed to hold 14 people, but here are typically jammed with up to 25. The biggest problem is that they do not leave town until they are full, so what should be a 3 hour trip will take about 6.

We travel northeast from Blantyre to Liwonde National Park, which is locate a out 100 km south of Lake Malawi on the Shire River. We stayed at a moderately priced safari camp call Bushman's Baoabab. It was a nice place in a rustic safari camp kind of way, but felt a bit like a deserted Hollywood movie set. We were practically the only guests there. 

Our first night there we did meet some fellow travelers that were passing through: a German, a Scotsman, and an American from Ithica NY. We also met a Peace Corps volunteer who works at the park doing community extension. It was an interesting dinner.

Thursday, November 21

In the morning we went on a guided canoe tour up the river and along the wetlands. This was a wonderful way to view the wildlife, but definitely a bit on edge. Paddling by the elephants and hippos wasn't to nerve wracking, at least they are vegetarians, but being surrounded by hungry looking crocodiles even got the guide nervous.  Fortunately, we survived to tell the story.

We spent the remainder of the day hanging out, mostly watching the birds and wildlife from an observation tower. We saw mainly the same species that we saw in Majete, but it was much more open and flat along the river here, so you could herds of impala and waterbucks. The park also has the largest concentrations of elephants and hippos.

Friday,  November 22

We got an early start to make our way north to the southern shores of Lake Malawi. It's not that far, but it took all day to get there. The buses are frustratingly slow, but they are at least they give some insight to typical life in Malawi.

After about six hours of travel and waiting around we found our way to Cape Maclear and Lake Malawi. The lake is the third largest lake in Africa and it looks it. The town has long been on the hippy backpacker route through southern Africa and is supposedly one of the more touristy areas. I guess that is all relative - there is a modest dusty strip of hotels and restaurants - but the town is still very much a fishing community of 15,000. It feels like at least 90 percent of that is under 5 years old. After treking up the beach with our backpacks, checking out the accommodations, we attracted quite the parade of overly friendly children.

We settled on a mid-range option called Mgoza Lodge. It's owned by a South African/Brit and and his Dutch wife. It's a nice quiet spot right on the beach with some actual green lawn- a rare thing here- and some shade trees, plunge pool and lounge areas. The view of the lake is stunning - blue waters dotted with rocky islands.

We have yet to go in the water - it is rife with bilharzia. We did pick up the medication to treat it after exposure since I'm even nervous of getting my feet wet.

Saturday, November 23

Finally, a totally laid back day at the beach. Walked along the shore, checked out dinning options, made kayak plans for tomarrow, and read books. Also, finally got caught up with these blog notes - damn it takes a long time to type with your thumbs! We are going searching for an Internet connection this afternoon, so if we are successful, you will be reading this soon. If not, there is not much hope until we get to Cape Town.

Life at Majete

Twelve hours sitting to observe a waterhole, I guess I've got time for a blog entry.  We arrived in Africa with no problems- smooth sailing all the way. Although, there was that woman who collapsed with a thud in the aisle right in front of us while the whole plane was asleep. Completely passed out. Fortunately,there was a doctor and EMT on board who eventually got her to come around.

We had a great visit with Tammara's sister Debbie in Brooklyn before we flew out JFK. Nice walk along the waterfront on perhaps one of the last warmish days of autumn. 

Went directly to Jo'berg from New York, a 14 hour flight-which was good practice for sitting at this waterhole. We had a short stop and then boarded our flight to Blantyre, Malawi- another two hours. We were met at the airport by a driver from Earth Watch, met up with our fellow volunteers and and drove about two hours to our project site at Majete Wildlife Reserve. After  bit of orientation and some dinner, we collapsed early after being up for about 30 hours.

Majete is located in southern Malawi in the lowlands along the Shire River, which flows out of Lake Malawi. During the 80's and 90's, nearly all the wildlife had been poached out. About ten years ago a third party organization took over the management of the reserve. They fenced the entire area and reintroduced the major native wildlife species. It's sad that conservation has come to this, but may be the only hope there is to save some of these species. Our role here is to help out on the field work of Earth Watch scientists studying the population dynamics and ecology of the reserve.

Our first full day here we were given more background information and then a driving tour of the area. It was an exciting drive as we sighted many of the major species present here. We saw most of the antelope species found here, warthogs, hippos, baboons, zebras, buffalo, and to top it off, a couple of elephants up real close. Present here also, but difficult to locate, are rhinos, lion, and leopard.

Our second day was spent doing more orientation and training in the morning, and then checking camera traps in the afternoon . These are motion-sensing digital cameras that are mounted along wildlife trails or at waterholes and record any animals present. By this means we know that the lions and leopards are reproducing- which is very exciting.

And today, here we are at the waterhole, making notes of all the comings and goings through the entire daylight hours. It's a very peaceful way to spend a hot day. Not too exciting yet, mostly warthogs and impala, but also a beautiful group of sable antelope.

Wednesday, Nov. 13

Things perked up yesterday at the waterhole when the elephants finally showed up. First a bull showed up for quick visit to cool down, and then a mixed group of about ten tramped through. What a wonderful sight to see.

Thursday, Nov. 14

Today was walking traverse day. We split into two groups and walked different lines. We were a accompanied by a well armed park scout to walk a 11 kilometer line through the reserve and systematically record all our wildlife sightings. I actually saw very little,although Tammara's group had an up close sighting with a group of elephants- which is a little tense when you are on foot.

We started the day at first light, which comes around 5:00 here, which is good, because it is actually a comfortable temperature for the first hour or two. Did I mention it's really hot here? By mid-afternoon it tops out around 105 degrees or more. In the early morning it drops to the the 80's. So fortunately, we finished the traverse before lunch.

The afternoon was spent entering waterhole data into computer spreadsheets, not too exciting, but at least we were in the shade.

Friday, Nov. 15

Another waterhole monitoring day. We split up into different groups and went to some new locations. Three adult lions and two cubs were sighted the previous night at the waterhole I was sitting at. At present, this is the entire population of lions at the reserve. Two males and one female were re-introduced last year and the two cubs were born this summer. Unfortunately, we did not get to see them, but it's nice to know they are here.

Apparently, a rhino also visited this waterhole about an hour after we left. How disappointing that was to sit there for 12 hours counting warthogs and impalas, and then miss that!

Saturday, Nov. 16

Today was our official off day at the reserve. We chose to spend the early morning on a guided bird walk, mostly along the Shire River. The guide was wonderful and really knew his birds. Most of the birds we saw are fairly common here, but nearly all of them were life birds for us, and our lists are growing steadily. We also had a couple of crocodile sightings, fortunately none were too close.

The rest of the day we actually spent lounging around a pool, drinking beer and gin and tonics. There is small restaurant with a bar and pool located across the road from the reserve. It is owned by a delightful woman from Austria and the setting and grounds were just beautiful, sitting just above the river. Tammara was so happy, she could get almost ten strokes per lap. She swam for nearly an hour.

Sunday, Nov. 17

Another transect day, but this time along the roads by truck. We are finally getting to know all our antelope species: impala, waterbuck, bushbuck, nyala, sable, and kudu.

Welcome to the Adventure

Welcome old friends and new to the new Vagabond Farmers blog. The original Vagabond Farmers blog chronicled our three month journey across North America in 2010. The record of that trip lives on in cyberspace at vagabondfarmers.blogspot.com. We have had many travels before and since that trip, and this blog will serve as a home to remember and record those journeys.

The reviving of the travel blog was prompted by our plans to travel to Africa in November of 2013. This trip has been in the planning for quite some time. Africa has been on our list of places we want to visit ever since Peace Corps days. With our high school language studies in French and German, we pretty much figured that is where we would be sent back in 1987, but no ... Peace Corps decided we were a better match for Ecuador, with our zero knowledge of Spanish. Of course, looking back we would not have traded our Ecuador experiences for anything, but we were always disappointed that we didn't get to go to Africa.

So, Tammara had a big decade birthday this September (I won't say which one, but you can do the math), and it seemed like the right time to plan an Africa trip. We both wanted to see Africa from a different angle than the typical tourist bit, so we opted for the World Watch research volunteer route. World Watch is a non-profit organization that works with scientific researchers around the world and facilitates volunteers to help out on all different types of projects. "Volunteer" is a little misleading, since you pay dearly to be a participant, but you get the gist. We will spend the first part of the trip in Malawi at the Majete Wildlife Reserve helping researchers track wildlife populations and study behavior.

From there we plan to spend a week or so exploring other parts of Malawi. There are so many options, we are not exactly sure what we will do, but most likely we will spend a chunk of time around Lake Malawi, the third largest lake in Africa. There are some beautiful beaches, remote lodges, and opportunities for sea kayaking - just our style. There is also all kinds of mountain hiking we could do, but without our camping gear or the desire to rent a car, these options are a bit limited.

From Malawi we will fly home through South Africa, so why not get off the plane and spend some time there? We plan to spend our last week of the trip exploring Cape Town and the surrounding area.

So, that is the plan. We leave on Thursday. Everything is set - cat sitters, plane tickets, passports. Now comes the hard part...packing. We're trying to go as light as possible, but I keep thinking of things I have to have. It's best not to start packing too early, or you just end up with too much crap.

My hope is too make some posts from the field, but we will have to see how accessible the technology is once we get there. I am planning to use the Blogger App on my iPod, so given how long it takes me to type on that thing, text may be brief.. So, check back here regularly and we'll try to keep you posted.