Thankfully there was electricity all night. We definitely used our fan – it served two
purposes, blowing hot air and creating white noise!! At about 2:00 we turned
the fan so it was not blowing directly onto us as it was becoming cool, but we
did not want to turn it off as we needed it for noise.
When are arrived yesterday, opened the vehicle door, the
first noises we heard were dogs barking!
Oh did that bring back memories – dogs barking/howling half the night,
then the chickens began crowing at 2:30/3:00!
Noise and more noise, that it was hard to sleep the first few nights
until we were so tired that we slept through everything!! The chickens are
still here! In fact, one hen has 6 cute little chicks.
Yesterday we became aware of the fact that today Sat,
October 24 is Independence Day for Zambia from the UK in 1964 (the same year
that Malawi received their independence). Well last night after work the party
began! We could hear the party half the
night. The last I heard was at 2:30 am,
but the campers said it went on until 4:00 am. It was at 2:30 when I heard the
first chickens crowing! But thankfully we had a fan making “white noise”, so
the noises did not bother us – That is until a rooster crowed right outside my
window at 6:30 this morning!! At 6:00
this morning the fan stopped, so I knew the electricity was off – as to now
long, we have no idea.
We had breakfast around 8:00 and were ready to walk to the
center of the village by 9:00. We walked
along with the UK group. While in the
village we walked around the shops and open market, many of which were closed today
because of the holiday. We began walking
back to H for O when we were met by a parade of school children with a band and
some precision dance groups (precision African style). They were dressed in their school uniforms
when they performed. We continued back
to H for O and relaxed in the chalet until it was too hot to be indoors. The electricity is still off so the fan is
useless. Outside finding shade is a
premium at this time of year. The leaves
are off the trees and the news ones are still very small thus not providing
much shade. But I must say I think the
new growth of leaves grew at least ½ inch overnight!
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| Sunrise over Mwandi |
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| New Police Station |
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| Any One for Lunch? |
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| Chasing Cattle through the Shopping Area |
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| One Bottom Plow |
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| Dried Fish |
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| Large Central Meeting Tree - Town Center |
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| Women Selling Fish under The Tree |
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| Independence Day Parade |
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| Lady Dressed for the day |
The electricity came back on at 2:00 as scheduled. At 1:15 we went on a drive to the Zambezi
river. It is very low right now. Everyone is hoping for a good rainy season,
although the prediction is for the next two years to be very dry and hot. On our way back from the river we went past
the mud hut we built in 2010. We saw a
lady, one of the girls who helped in 2010, and four children. The have built a reed fence around the hut
and added a round storage hut. It is
nice to see them taking care of their home.
We returned to the camp, hung out, drinking plenty of water,
took a nice shower, and were ready for a dinner of beef stroganoff at 6:00. After dinner we worked with photos until it
was time for bed.
It is amazing how it cools down at night. This morning I needed more than a sheet, but
there was nothing other than a bath towel to spread over me. It was a perfect weight for the warmth I
needed.
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