Mozambique trip - part 3

Around noon on Sunday, we tried to visit one last museum before leaving town – the art museum – but were thwarted again, as it didn't open until 2:00 p.m. So, we visited a small, nearby market, where we could not find the cashews Nomsa and I both desired. Then we drove to and tried the central market, which was also closed. Sunday is apparently not a good day for shopping or tourist activities. By 1:30 or so we had given up and decided to head out of Maputo.

The attached photos show the group (including local 'guides' from the museum) walking through the little market plus several scenes of market activity (or inactivity, as the case may be)

Mozambique - part 2

On Saturday, we tried to go to the geology museum, which for some reason wasn't open – we were told this was because the day before was payday. So we went back to see the rest of the Natural History Museum, then went to a local craft market before lunch. I found the craft market expensive and the vendors extremely aggressive, but I did manage to buy a couple things before we were told it was time to move on. Unfortunately, that was my only real chance to shop. I wished at the end of the trip that I'd stopped at some of the stands we passed.

As I packed to leave on Sunday morning, I was told that someone had tried to steal one of the side indicator lamps off the boombox as it was parked outside our hostel. Fortunately, he was frightened away and left the lamp on the ground – either that, or the guard who had claimed to stop the thief had done the deed himself in order to claim a reward. No matter – I gave the guy 100 metacali (about $5) and stuck the lamp in the trunk. (On Monday, I talked the cable guys into reattaching it for me; sometimes it's good to play the helpless female…).

Our first stop on Sunday morning was to take in a walk along the beach, which is only a few minutes drive from the busy city center. Unfortunately there was no surf to play in, but I enjoyed walking in the sand and watching women gather shellfish.

Attached are photos showing several beach views, some women gathering shellfish and a pair of fruit carts on the street near the geology museum.

Mozambique trip -- part 1

On the weekend of Friday, October 24 through Sunday the 26th, I joined a group expedition with staff from the Swazi National Museum to Maputo, Mozambique. The trip was to visit, learn about and strengthen ties to museums in Maputo, especially the Natural History Museum there. We took two cars – mine and Nomsa's, and five people went. The plan was to meet in Manzini by 8:15 am with the goal of arriving in Maputo by 11 am. Of course, we got a late start, which I suppose is inevitable with a group. Some people needed to shop for supplies, someone needed money, etc. The border crossings also took quite a while. I was a bit worried that I might be turned back, as I hadn't yet managed to change the title on my car. (I couldn't do that until my work permit is issued, which just happened the week of November 24 – in fact I finally got the title changed over on the 26th). Anyway, I took with me as much paperwork as I could to show that I really
had purchased the car and applied for the title transfer. Surprisingly (or perhaps not), other than looking at the blue book/title, which was clearly not in my name, no one asked me anything.

What with all the delays and the crazy Friday afternoon traffic we encountered once we entered the city (Maputo's population is about 1.1 million), we didn't get to the Natural History Museum until 2:30; and it closes at 3:30. We had just enough time for a back-stage-type tour to see how the catalog database works and how insects are preserved and stored. Then we headed for our hostel to check in. The hostel was full, with only one private room left (which Laura nabbed), so I ended up in the 6-bed dorm room. By the end of our stay, I'd become surprisingly agile at clambering up and down from my top bunk.

On Friday evening, Lucilia arranged for us all to go to a big seafood restaurant near the water with her and four of her staff. Mozambique is known for its seafood, and the fish and prawns were lovely and fresh. Lucilia also invited us to her house in the suburbs for lunch on Saturday, where we again had seafood. She served crab, which most of our group had never tried. They liked it.

The following photos are attached:
a street scene near the museums
part of the lion diorama at the Natural History Museum
a view of the snakes-in-glass display at the same museum
my collegues waiting fruitlessly for the geology museum to open
the lovely seafood lunch Lucilia served in her suburban home
cranky street vendors near the hostel (should have bought something before taking their photo, I guess)

more orphanage photos

Here are some additional photos from the orphanage trip. I've found a way to email them separately from the initial blog posting. The photos include one of children hanging out their laundry among what look like banana trees, a view of the surrounding area and the dirst road as we drove toward the orphanage, some boys playing around building materials stacked near their dorm and a shot of the ill-fated Nissan resting in its mountaintop parking spot.

More on orphanage visit

As I'm having trouble uploading photos on the blog site, here is an attempt to email some photos of the orphanage visit.

If these work, there should be the following pictures:

Children running to open the gate to the compound.
The cook in the kitchen preparing a big vat of pap.
Laura and Margie, the volunteer who invited us, standing in front of the infant house.
One of the orphanage buildings.

Orphanage visit, part 2

The orphanage/children’s home (not all the kids there are orphans) is definitely in a beautiful, if somewhat inaccessible, spot. There are beautiful views from every direction. The home was started by the South African couple just a few years ago. They began with basically nothing, and now there are about 8 or 9 buildings. These include a girls’ dorm, a boys’ dorm, an infant house, a dining hall/kitchen, a school, a church, a guest-house, the teachers’ house and the directors’ dwelling (unless perhaps that includes guest premises; I’m not sure). Thanks to volunteer labor and outside support, the place has really expanded. Margie works in the infant house, which is one of the newer buildings. It houses children up to age 6, and I think there are 12 little ones there right now. We got to meet and play with them before moving on to tour the rest of the facility. Quite a few of the children are AIDS orphans, and some of them have HIV. A few of those have not survived, especially if they developed TB along with HIV – that double whammy is too deadly. The children with HIV do receive anti-viral medication from the Baylor University clinic in Mbabane, which focuses specifically on treating HIV-positive children and their families. The orphanage relies on local donations of food like eggs and produce along with monetary support from Christian groups both inside and outside the country. The school that’s been built serves the whole area and as it is charity-run, it doesn’t have to charge school fees. That helps the poor families in the area afford to send their children. The church was built by a specific evangelical denomination (maybe Assembly of God), Margie said, but the orphanage insisted that the church be non-denominational; after some disagreement, the sponsoring church group agreed, so any Christian group can use the structure for services. I was quite impressed with the efforts that are being made and the dedication of Margie and the other workers there. The children seemed well cared for and happy, if a bit isolated. But then, I think many children in rural Swaziland are pretty isolated.

Orphanage visit, part 1

On Saturday, September 27, I probably should have stuck around on campus to take photos of the king, who as university chancellor would be attending the graduation ceremonies. Instead I opted to get off campus to avoid the traffic and heightened security from that event.

I headed into Mbabane early – about 8:30 – and met Laura for breakfast at the mall. Then we both drove back to her house, where we left her car, and finally set out towards Piggs Peak to visit a children’s home called Al Saddai??? (sounds Muslim; I don’t know why, as it’s an unabashedly Christian establishment). It was my turn to play driver, as Laura had ferried me around for weeks before I got my car (the previous weekend). Unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling very well, probably from something I ate or drank, but I agreed to drive anyway. Once on the road, I did not feel better; instead, I began to channel the likes of my infamous Uncle Buster (or any old-school male driver in the family, for that matter). I became fixated on getting to the destination, and seemed completely incapable of making any stop for any reason. We passed numerous gorgeous views, but did I stop – heck no! I had to get there, dammit – so I could get back, of course. Once we exited the freeway, the road was tarred but narrow (sometimes shoulderless, really) and was littered with the usual array of pedestrians, livestock and slow-moving vehicles like logging trucks. So, the conditions really demanded complete attention, but I still could have pulled over now and then. I’m sure that would have helped me de-stress a bit.

I think it took about an hour and a half to get to Piggs Peak, at which point the directions Laura had been given became less than clear. We stopped at a hardware store then at the police station for directions. Then Laura finally called Margie, a woman who volunteers at the orphanage and who invited us there. She clarified the directions, and it turned out we’d overshot the turnoff a bit (but not as much as I frustratedly thought at first). We headed back and found the road to Maguga dam and drove over that (another lovely photo op ignored…) then drove on a bit more to find a dirt road that would supposedly lead us right to the orphanage. That road was awful (but I’ve already described it, so nevermind). We did take one wrong turn on the dirt road before finally winding our way to the top of the mountain. Finally we were met by a flock of children who ran before us to the gate and opened it. At last we were in!