Tuesday December 16, 2008
For the past 3 weeks my wife Jane and I were visiting my daughter Nia who is in the Peace Corps in Mozambique. During that time we were shut off from most media, particularly the Internet, so I couldn’t update my blog or keep track of ice conditions here in New Hampshire. Since getting home I have been reading reports and it seems we have been going through the typical early season cycles of warm and cold spells where ice has been forming then deteriorating. Since I have been home I have seen very warm weather and ice storms but it appears that we are now going to get into a consistent winter weather pattern and it seems that the ice should soon also become consistent. I will be heading out to get a report on conditions later this week.
Since I don’t have any first hand knowledge of the ice right now I’ll write a bit about my trip to Africa. Our goal for the trip was to visit my daughter and see where she has been working for the past year then do some traveling with she and her friend Jamie while they were on break. Over the first 2 days we flew to Nampula in Northern Mozambique where we were met by Nia and Jamie. The next day we headed to Monapo where my daughter lives and works. During our visit there we went into the countryside to visit the family of Asani one of my daughter’s students. The visit was truly an amazing experience. After a couple of days in Monapo we headed a couple hours by vehicle east to the coast for some time on the Indian Ocean. After a few day at the coast we backtracked west back through Monapo and Nampula then continued west by train, vehicle and bicycle to Malawi.
Our trip to Malawi was highlighted by an 11 hour train ride that traveled about 200 miles from Nampula to Cuemba near the Malawi border. After a night in Cuemba we continued by vehicle to Mandimba then by bicycle across the border into Malawi at Chiponde. A quick ride from there got us to Liwonde. We spent a couple of days in Liwonde visiting the national park there then we made our way to Blantyre . After a day arranging our flights back to Johannesburg and home we had a few days remaining so we went to Mount Mulanje for a little hiking. After a couple of days there we headed back to Blantyre and started our series of flights back home. I hope you enjoy the photos.
The water source for the small village where Asani lives
My daughter’s colleagues in Monapo
Enjoying some time on the coast
Getting on a “bus” in Monapo
Early morning in Cuemba
Traveling 3rd class on the train to Cuemba
The last few kilometers to Malawi on the bike
Another “bus” this time to Mandimba
Hiking on Mount Mulanje
Liwonde National Park
Lunch at Wandies in Soweto, South Africa
A nice swim at the end of the hike