To Kunsungu

This weekend (July 3rd and 4th) I took a trip with two girls, Fiona and Davina who are also staying at the guest house to Kusungu National Park, a place about 4 hours south of Embangweni. We started off on Friday early afternoon from Embangweni, going to Jenda, then to Kusungu, then to the park, taking public transportation all the way. Now, public transportation here is different from public transportation back home, needless to say. When I say public transportation I mean buses, and any other vehicle that can hold people or whose driver is willing to except paying passengers. To Jenda, public transporation meant a matola, a kind of a ghetto pick-up truck I would say, the back of the truck is longer with wooden boards as the bottom. A friend found us the ride and we climbed on to join about 15 others who were hitching the ride. We ended up sitting nearer to the back of the truck or away from the cab, which ended up being a little rough. With dirt roads and a bit of wind, we were....a little less than perfectly clean by the end of the trip. To be more exact, each of us was a different skin color by the time we reached Jenda, a deeper tinge of brown. Adding to the dust and wind were the huge bumps a long the way that made it a bit less than comfortable for our bottoms, but hey, it’s all an experience, right? Our friend for the ride was a poor goat, who was unfortunate enough to be tied close to the side where his head hit it every time a bump came along, but it survived and seemed to find more comfortable positions seeing as it just about head-butted Fiona before she moved away. But despite the dust and the mile high (just a small overstatement) bumps, we made it to Jenda to catch a bus. Luckily we found one that actually looked like it could afford the journey (some buses, minibuses to be exact, don’t make it, or not without some part of it falling off along the way, like a door) and made it to Kusungu at a reasonable hour, around 4:30 I think, from leaving Embangweni at 1:30pm. We got a taxi from the bus station, for which much haggling was required. Haggling, bartering, arguing for money, etc. is not my strength. Thankfully, the other girls took charge, because I would’ve caved. We managed to get a ride for 5,000 kwacha (about $30) instead of 7,000 kwacha, which was good. However, the ride was a little longer than we expected, or at least I, expected. And of course all Malawians drive on empty. And by all I mean every Malawian I have been in a car with have driven on less than a quarter tank or in most cases, with the needle below the empty marker. So in this instance, it just added to the suspense of whether or not we would actually make it to the park, with its windy roads and our own lack of knowledge about where exactly in the park we were heading to.

When we got the lodge, it was pitch dark, about 6pm. Someone came out to meet us, and though the place looked quite nice it the dark, it was a little hard to tell what was happening with no lights. Fiona had called earlier in the week to make sure there were spaces available in the lodge, and was told that there was plenty. Well, that was because we were the only ones there. The ONLY ones, at this lodge where, when we entered the eating area, there was a full bar seating area, a balcony over looking a lake, and an outside seating area that sat at least 50 people. It was beautiful, or at least from what we could tell in the dark. Of course, we were just happy to have finally made it. We sat and talked while dinner was prepared for us, we were supposed to have ordered it by 4, but we didn’t even have reservations at all, oops. But we had a lovely meal of meatballs and chicken skewers out by the lake, lighted by candle lanterns. After dinner we headed off to the dormitory, the cheapest place to stay besides a tent. The dorm was a little less lovely than the lodge. We walked quite a bit to find a building in the middle of woods by a bath house, kind of like a camping area I would say. The beds at least had mosquito nets, but that was about all the positives I could see, besides that the beds were off the floor and there were walls, and maybe a candle to use. There were some little critters, or signs of little critters that I’m sure were around somewhere spending the night with us, but oh well. It was FREEZING. Yes, freezing in Africa. It has actually been cold here for the better part of the week, especially since July is in the beginning/middle of the cold season in Malawi. But we survived, it was fine for one night. Though I can honestly say we were glad that we were only there for one night, it was a part of the experience, and we didn’t wake up to any mad wildlife trying to eat us or anything. We left the dorm at around 6am to head to the lodge.
After finding our way back, we headed to the porch to watch a beautiful sunrise over the lake while drinking tea and eating biscuits (aka cookies). At around 7am we headed of for a game drive around the park, which is lead by a German man who stays at the park. Almost right away we saw some hippos, followed by some different kinds of deer and birds. Kusungu is a brush park, meaning it’s filled with a bunch of trees and high grasses, which makes it difficult to see wildlife at times. After the hippos, we went on the hunt for the elusive elephant. After another hour or so, and following the tell-tale signs, we found one! We actually only saw its behind, but it was still an elephant. We tried to catch up to it, but they’re really quite fast, considering their steps our much larger than ours. We waded through grasses that were taller than all three of us, the guide asked us if we could see it, but we just looked at eachother and decided that no, we were all definitely too short to see the elephant over the grasses that were a good few inches above our heads. So in total, we saw hippos, many dear, birds, different species of plants, and the behind of an elephant. It was a great drive and we all enjoyed it. Afterwards at the lodge we had a light breakfast of tea and toast, with real butter (they only have margarine at Embangweni guest house) and different types of spread, or jellies, all of which were delicious.

We spent the rest of the morning lounging at the lodge, taking pictures and relaxing by the lake, though it was a bit cold to be too close to the lake. We spent time talking to one employee who told us that he worked for 15,000 kwacha. That’s about $25 a month, pretty hard to imagine, and no, that’s not enough to live on and sustain a productive lifestyle, even if it is Malawi with cheaper costs.
We left the lodge at about 2pm, getting to Kusungu about 4, from there we took a bus. This bus was not as speedy as the last, the driver believed in taking as many people as possible in the bus, so we stopped, packed in more people, overfilling the bus, then stopped again, let out about 2 people, let in about 5 people, and so on until we finally reached Jenda in like forever it seemed. But we got to Jenda, and managed to find a ride, though to be honest, I was a little worried. But the ride back from Jenda was actually one of my favorite parts of the trip. It was on a pick-up truck. Yes, a normal pick-up truck that you would see from the US, but not the new huge ones, just a normal one. When we looked at, we were almost positive there would be no room, it as packed with people and luggage. Oh, us Westerners. Of course, there was more room! There is ALWAYS room in or on vehicles in Malawi. So we climbed in. I was sitting on top of some luggage near the cab of the truck, facing towards one of the sides, while the other girls were more towards the back in the bed of the truck, and I think they were a bit more uncomfortable, though I don’t think any of us were perfectly comfortable for any of our rides... But it was great I thought, got a great view of the sunset with less dust than the matola, and reaching Embangweni just in time for dinner. Wonderful! Like the last three days before we left, there was no water at the guest house, but we all had a nice warm bucket bath, managing to wash more than 3 days of dirt out of our hair. You would not imagine how much dirt can get stuck in hair, my brush is brown...and my hair is supposed to be blond...lol. But don’t worry, I promise I am clean now, and I still look like a normal human being. It was a great weekend trip and were back by Saturday to be at church on Sunday.

After a great nights’ sleep and church, I went to a Christian meeting which was fun and then went back to the guest house to enjoy the sun that was finally beginning to come out. Later in the afternoon, I went to a gospel festival fundraiser with a friend AND (drum roll) I actually got up and danced...or was made to by random people...who doesn’t want to see a muzungu dance. But it was fun. And I even sang to my friend to show him that yes, I can sing. He’s actually asked me if I was a Christian twice, just checking, and asking more specifically if I was a born-again Christian. Normally, if asked if I was a born-again Christian in the States I would say no, or not exactly, because my experience as a Christian has been a bit different, but here in Malawi, I think it is a term more generally used as if you are a Christian. Last time he asked at the first church service after I left confused mid-service before communion and this time because I didn’t bring my bible to church...but I think I have convinced him maybe by singing and dancing? lol My faith practices or religious practices are definitely different from some of those practiced by Malawians. I tend not to sing or pray as loud, maybe, or maybe be as forward, or talk as much. Here they do a lot of individual praying out loud, but all at the same time, while I tend to pray silently, which is just one of the minor differences. On the whole, I would say my journey to Malawi has been a very big experience for me as a Christian, involving a lot of growth, opportunities, challenges (many, many challenges) and blessings, some of which are yet to come. I think here I am become a little more able to actively talk about my faith, whereas at home, I think at times it becomes reserved for special times and places, not really purposefully, but as routines and life happens. And if you pray, if you could just say a prayer for me : ) that God would be present with me here and guide me in my words and actions here in Malawi, specifically for guidance in a situation with a friend from Malawi. Maybe by the time I have sent this post the need will have passed, but for now, there it is: a prayer for guidance and help here with the friends I meet and the people I spend time with in Malawi.

Oh, and off topic : ) my friends who I traveled with made me a small American flag for our (the US one) independence day on Saturday! It was so nice, and great to come back to the guest house and have a funny little toast to the special day and our safe return to Embangweni : ) And see the familiar faces at the guest house. A couple from the US that have been at the guest house for the past week actually graduated from Davidson...kind of near Furman, or at least related to it in some ways...so, small world!

Tomorrow (July 6th) is the start of mission week at World Relief Mzimba, so a big group of people from Massachusetts in the US are coming to work with the programs here, the caregivers are getting trained, as well as pastors, and ministry team members, so it will be a pretty big, busy week here! Owen and Damaseko have already started working today, so tomorrow is my first day to experience the great busy happenings of the foretold mission week, so we’ll see how it goes!