Whirlwinds

As it is getting closer to rainy season, we have stronger winds. Which is nice as it cools down the weather a bit at least. I don't know how, but sometimes it creates also whirlwinds and these are also getting stronger and stronger. It is very beautiful to see it from a distance- how it grabs big dry leaves and circles them around in the air while moving fast forward, but it is very funny to get on its way. It has happened three times with me. First time was during examinations.We were sitting and listening to presentations from students and as it was hot, we had all windows opened. Suddenly we heard the noise and all we could do was to turn back to it as it was just rushing trough the classroom. In from one side and out from the other side. The funniest part was to see us after that- all dirty, classroom covered with leaves, our table as medium sized potato field- ready to grow the crop and the student who was in front of classroomcompletely untouched! It was sooo funny.

The second time it happened, it was again inside, this time in my room while i was eating lunch. Again in from one window and out from the other. My soup got a nice dust flavour and I had a major cleaning action after that.

The third time happened the day before yesterday- i was on my way to toilet and i saw it coming. I was nearly hit with a shoe that it was carrying, but bathroom door stopped it. The shoe dropped while the wind was rushing forward and in two minutes, all that was left from this whirlwind was the lonely sad shoe. I wonder if the owner misses it.

And yesterday, some idiots were burning grass late in the evening and the winds got stronger so they lost a bit control and it became really big. Of course,the wind was towards our school. Spooky, but nothing luckily happened. Still... very irresponsible!

Giraffes bottom and strangest kind of luck!

It all happened on the day we had the trip to Nyala Park. But to make things more clear, I better start with some background because so many things happened before that trip. This time mainly regarding transport and our favourite sentence "Yes,but... no" worked again. That's how everything is- everything works until the last minute and you get a negative answer again.

It was a trip that we planned with all azungus (whites- volunteers and DNS teachers fromDenmark). We took the brave step and asked for the school minibus. We were told that if the driver says it will survive the trip, we can take it. Unfortunately it didn't pass this unofficial MOT. Well, understandable.That bus is crap, but it doesn't make it any different from the buses that are used as public transport between Lunzu and Blantyre.

Next option was to hire a car which meant only4 people could go, but as it became much more expensive, there were not so many who remained interested. Still we wanted to go all together and were looking for minibus options. One NGO agreed to give us a bus with a very reasonable price as we are volunteers. Nice, huh! Saturday morning at 7 was the time for departure, but the "Yes, but... no" kicked in again. The bus was stopped by police on Friday evening, the insurance papers were taken away and the driver had to go to police on Saturday morning. That is called corruption- it is a new bus on the road , so they have to pay to run it... stuuuupidand not legal at all! We got the phonecall around 8pm, which is very late in Malawi and we nearly gave up the idea to go to national park. The possibility was only to call the driver of the expensive car. Still, we wanted to go together. So, in trouble, but not giving up, we called our administrator, who has contacts of some drivers. He called to one and told us that the driver wants 80 000 kwacha. Dear Lord, that is a lot of money and we said no way. Like a miracle the price dropped to 35 000. That amount we were considering, but couple of people dropped the idea as it was obviously getting more expensive than planned in the beginning. After some more negotiations we got the price down to 25 000 and that was already a good offer,even for azungus! That covered bus rent, 2 drivers(???), fuel and park entrance for drivers.

Unbelieveable, but 7 am on Saturday we left, almost happy, just a bit concerned if everything will turn out ok.

It was a beautiful trip over the mountains. We saw nice valleys, a lake and a river, beautiful people carrying colorful things on their heads, many mangotrees full of fruits, small huts in the mountains and endless heat as we were in the hottest region of the whole country.

We arrived at 9.30 and were told that unfortunately they open at 11 today. So typical. In internet and also on the gate it says it is opened from 6 am to 6 pm, but we had to wait. It was really hot and some of us were dying for a toliet! This time, not me! But all we could do was to wait. If you start complaining here you might never be let in.

When it was time to go in,the admin called for a guide. Realy nice. Of course it took ages before the guide came and when he finally did, he needed a coffee break. Guess,what we were doing- yeah, sitting tightly together in the minibus, hoping to leave and waiting.

Finally we could enter the park and it was all worth it! Many birds and animals, but the biggest impression was to see giraffes and zebras in their very own natural environment. One giraffe probably didn't hear the bus coming (i suspect loss of hearing aid as the bus made noise that would awaken the dead) and suddenly the giraffes enormous leg was a meter away from our window and then it ran. Fast and extremely elegant. I don't know how animals of that size can move so elegantly. Anyway, in the end of the round in the park we were just sitting in a resting place under a roof, doing different things. I used the time to close my eyes and listen to the sounds. There were so many and it was so nice.

We left and one of the guards said there is a place where they have camels-very nearby. Ok, let's try this nearby...Of course it wasn't very near and we got los somany times, but who can resist to sweat in the minibus looking for camels when there is a possibility. But we did find them and Priscila and I even had a short ride on a camel. And the way they were eating raw mangoes... so funny animals.. Luckily they liked us and noone got spitting camel experience.

It was getting late and finally we were headed home. Just before Chirimba- the roundabout where left is way home through Chileka-very bumpy and dusty road in the middle of nowhere and straight is way home through Lunzu- nice and smooth road, some of it of course dirt road, but nice one, we asked the driver to go through Lunzu. He tried to get more money for that as it is longer way and so on.. which is not true and on better road he uses less fueland finally we managed to convince him. Lunzu it was and in the middle of this village the bus broke down, the engine was boiling as the driver didn't check water. We were out waiting, while the guys tried to cool it down and start again. But the engine was obviously angry and refused to make any sounds.

While we were waiting in a circle- bags on our stomachs... talking about stuff, an old manthat passed us slapped me in the face... I was a bit speechless and he just continued walking...like nothing... someone asked whyi didn't hit back... but i saw that he was carrying a bow and an arrow as well and i really didn't want him to use these as well. Locals who saw it came to say that he is crazy and doesn't know what he is doing. Well, my jaw was painful, but I said that it was lucky that nothing more happened and we were laughing at the fact that in a very strange African way we were lucky. Starting from the fact that the bus broke down in the village near to the school, not somewhere in the mountains. That that was the village, where our school transport is passing trough many times a day and we could just call the driver and wait for a car and that it was just a slap. Lucky or what!

So apart from minor insiginficant details, we had a great day out of Chilangoma! Sometimes it is just so necessary to be away.