My Trip to Mozambique: Photos from Mangunde Mission & Buzi River Crossing

[Moonbear]

I'll start the much requested thread about my trip to Mozambique.

So far, I've only gotten a few photos online, but these are the pretty ones. These are from the trip we took to the mission in Mangunde, where there's a health clinic located. The scenery along the drive was beautiful. I'd have taken more photos if I wasn't carsick and focusing all my concentration on trying not to puke. The trip was on the sorts of roads where you keep your seatbelt on just to prevent yourself from hitting your head on the roof as you bounce over bumps. I wish I had just taken a photo of the road at some point. It's more suited for motocross than a weekend drive!

http://s281.photobucket.com/albums/kk217/hjb1025/Mozambique/?albumview=slideshow

These are mostly taken when we were crossing the Buzi River (when I was thankfully able to get out of the truck and restore my complexion to something other than green). What you see in the second photo in the slideshow is what I saw as the person driving stated, "Now we see if we can cross the river today."

We were essentially following the river for the rest of the trip. He was kind enough not to mention the crocodiles that like to sun along the shallow parts of the river until after we had crossed it.

In the next episode, I'll share the photos at the clinic itself...be prepared to be horrified!

 

[Evo]

You mentioned you came back sick, are you feeling better?

That picture in the photo contest was great!

 

[Moonbear]

Yes, I'm better. Thanks for asking. I was sick on the way there, and again the way back. What I thought was a minor cold compounded by vaccinations and jet lag was actually more likely flu. Everyone else I work with had flu while I was gone, but how would I know when I was also jetlagged and all the vaccinations I got had potential side effects like fever, muscle aches and headache? Of course, not realizing that wasn't all due to vaccinations and jet lag, I didn't even consider getting tested. Though, if that WAS the swine flu, there's really nothing to worry about...people will feel jetlagged for about a week...mildest flu I ever had. At least it's out of the way before students return to campus, which is when "they" are predicting a second wave of flu will hit.

On the way back, I had picked up one of the food-borne or water-borne illnesses in spite of following every instruction I was given to avoid it (now I wish I had just ignored the instructions and enjoyed some of the foods I avoided and really wanted to try, since I got sick anyway). That made for a miserable flight back (at least I was sitting next to a REALLY tall person who wasn't comfortable enough to sleep at all, so he could keep letting me out to use the lavatory on the flight), but then at least the rest of my recovery from that was in the comfort of my own home. I think I was sick about 4 days from that (at least I kept up my appetite the entire time, so didn't get dehydrated...actually, I was eating voraciously...I think I might have been vitamin deficient from a lack of vegetables...restaurants there don't seem to serve vegetables), and then a few more days just to recover from being all wrung out. Just as I got better, Ember got sick with a urinary tract infection (probably from all the stress of being left in the care of sitters who didn't give her her food on her usual schedule...poor baby).

So, now we're BOTH all better.

 

[waht]

The pics look like are from a documentary on a discovery channel. Glad you feel better. Also I returned from a small vacation and got a flu, it might be swine I don't know.

What were you doing in this part of the world?

 

[redargon]

A bit of trivia: everyone that is born in mozambique gets a coconut tree. That's what one of the locals told me when i was there. They get passed down as a kind of inheritance too. So if a guy wants to sell you a coconut, he just makes sure he's climbing one of his own trees and you pay him about 10000-20000 meticas (probably about 20 euro cents or something) and he'll climb a tree, chop out a coconut and open and skin it for you with his machete, niiice :)

 

[hypatia]

Wow, car sickness, flu, and you still managed to take photos. Love the one of the tree, it seems each Baobab has it's own personality. Nice to have you home safe.

 

[Moonbear]

A bit of trivia: everyone that is born in mozambique gets a coconut tree. That's what one of the locals told me when i was there. They get passed down as a kind of inheritance too. So if a guy wants to sell you a coconut, he just makes sure he's climbing one of his own trees and you pay him about 10000-20000 meticas (probably about 20 euro cents or something) and he'll climb a tree, chop out a coconut and open and skin it for you with his machete, niiice :)

Um, I think you've been had. There weren't THAT many coconut trees, and certainly most people did not have ownership of one. And a 10000 meticais coconut better taste good. That would be almost $400 (I don't know what the current Euro conversion rate is).

And, yes, hypatia, it's amazing how very unique each baobab tree is.

 

[fuzzyfelt]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[physics girl phd]

That tree is amazing. I've seen some of these transplanted to San Francisco... but they're pathetic compared to that one!

Glad you're back safe and (now) sound Moonbear!

 

[GeorginaS]

I've got my comfy jammies on and a bowl of popcorn at the ready just waiting for more stories.

 

[redargon]

Um, I think you've been had. There weren't THAT many coconut trees, and certainly most people did not have ownership of one. And a 10000 meticais coconut better taste good. That would be almost $400 (I don't know what the current Euro conversion rate is).

And, yes, hypatia, it's amazing how very unique each baobab tree is.

Yeah, I just read that they corrected their currency due to the attrocious inflation. It was mulitplied by a thousand to bring it back on track. When I was there in '98 or '99, it was before the change (in 2001, apparently).

The coconut tree story was probably just a myth, but i liked it 'cos we had a cocunut tree stump outside our bungalow and i woke up every morning and thought, "poor bastard who got that one" :)

 

[brewnog]

My girlfriend had the swine flu, she couldn't move for a week. Temperature of 40°.

 

[tribdog]

I'll admit the baobob tree was cool, but you've got to have better pictures than the rest of those to share. We've all seen muddy water before. Where's the wildlife? Give us something that proves you actually left the country.

 

[GeorginaS]

Where'd the stories go?

Just so you know, Moonie, because I found out the hard way, when you are using Photobucket's slideshows? You don't have to resize the photos. The slideshow does it for you. I'm not kidding. I started out resizing to create one and then, for reasons unknown (likely laziness or fatigue) I tried just straight uploading and adding to the slideshow. It worked perfectly.

 

[Moonbear]

Thanks G...that tip might get the photos posted a lot faster. More updates are awaiting me getting a break from insanity. Classes started this week...actually, one started last week, but that was just an hour requiring no prepping on my part. And, we've been short two faculty this week, one out very sick, and the other back in Africa (it's a meeting for everyone who got these grants that funded us...my collaborator went and I stayed to cover classes...I got the better end of the deal I think).