It turned out to be really difficult to post about our trip in Africa while we were there - rarely was there electricity or internet, and when there was it was unbelievably slow! - so I wanted to share snippets from my trip journal now.
Psst. If you haven't seen the photos on Facebook yet, you can use this link to see them, even if you are not a Facebook user.
Here are my reflections after the first few days of adventurous travel that brought us to Dedza, a small town in the central part of Malawi:
**********************************************
July 24, 2011 Dedza, Malawi
We are finally feeling settled now. It's Sunday night and it's been such a long journey to get here. First, the flight. Getting bumped up to business class was an amazing blessing. We ate well, probably too well, and actually got some decent sleep in the almost total recline chairs. Having done that now I can't imagine going 12 hours in economy class [Note: on the way home we did NOT get magically bumped to luxury, so I can report that 12 hours in economy is an exhausting and frustrating experience. It's what I imagine a baby feels when they can't get comfortable, they want something but can't seem to articulate the need, and as a result they just whimper quietly while remaining slightly irritated...].
After that long flight there were two more flights, including a stop in the Democratic Republic of Congo where we saw a couple of guys pushing a car that was towing a luggage cart (see photo below), and where we didn't deplane but watched people board going through hand-searching security line. We landed in Malawi but our luggage did not. Worried, we tried not to think of worst-case scenarios.
Canaan Gondwe (Spirit in Action partner whom I have been in touch with over the last 4 years but never met), had traveled many hours to meet us at the airport. He came in and found us desperately looking for our luggage. We hugged! It was so good to meet him face-to-face after so many years of corresponding. He had a driver, lent from a World Vision contact, which was really nice. Riding into town we saw many stands alongside the road, making sales of mice, skinned goats, watermelon and tires of all sizes. (See meat hung up for sale in photo below.)
We stayed at a backpackers hostel, where we had our own nice thatched hut. "Not much that that can't cure..." said the proprietor when I ordered a coke and bottle of water from the bar, probably looking slightly like a sleep-walker. Boyd and I plowed through dinner and forced ourselves to play two hands of gin rummy before finally crashing at 7:30pm local time!
We woke up a couple of times throughout the night (once at 2am when a van full of people got back from the bars) but ultimately slept 14 hours until 9:30am, which was just exactly the time we were to check out! Hurriedly, we got up, packed, and checked out 10 minutes late before going to split a full-English breakfast and good cups of tea and coffee.
During our long sleep, I dreamed twice that we had already got our luggage back and once that Qwill was sitting on our luggage to watch over it wherever it was! Thanks, sweet Qwill!
Canaan and Billy Bonza (our driver) took us on a tour of Liliongwe (the capitol) where we saw places where riots had taken place the days before we arrived, the mosque, the markets, the "china" shops (with plastic things and electronics), and the 5-star hotel being built by Chinese investors (see below). We also saw some memorials and some US embassy staff with American flags on their uniforms.
Then they took us to the airport when the next plane was due to arrive, so that we could look for our bags. I almost cried when we saw my bag get hefted on to the conveyor belt and come around to us! Then Boyd’s bag came by and I felt grateful beyond measure. No need to buy new things and regret items not put in the carry-on!
Back to town to catch a bus to Dedza. We finally found a mini-bus that would pass through Dedza, though we waited until 30-45 minutes for it to fill up before we left. A nice Dedza forestry student befriended us on the ride and acted as tour guide as we rode south. The landscape got more mountainous and the weather got colder. She asked us about Christians in the US and what we thought of gay marriage. The seats in the bus were hard but luckily we only had three to a row, instead of the promised 4.
We walked on the dusty road and finally made it to Dedza Pottery Lodge. We saw beautiful stars and the Milky Way on our way to bed.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment