The Fifth-Hottest Place on Earth

Weekend trip to Tete

Another med student here, Charles, did peace corps in Mozambique, so six of us visited his site, Moatize, near the city of Tete. I've heard the Mozambique coast is incredible. Tete is the site of the fifth-highest temperature ever recorded; not exactly an enticing superlative.

It was great to see where Charles lived, meet his friends, and see the school where he taught, but the heat got to me - the hottest day of the year so far, 40 degrees Celsius. We had planned to stay with the current peace corp volunteer, but his house was literally the dirtiest place I've ever
seen (and I saw a few crack houses in Baltimore). An inch of dirt on the ground, silverware cemented in the sink, black bathtub... So instead we stayed in a truck stop / whore house. I had never before stayed in a flea-bag motel, but I have the bites to prove that I have now.

We decided to leave Charles with his friends and take a field trip to a dam and reservoir 150km north of Tete. It was lovely - boat ride, swimming, fresh fish. We’re planning a trip to the coast in November.

Crossing the Malawi-Mozambique border

Lunch in Moatize (Becca, Charle's pricipal, Charles, me, Jon, Seth)

Charles' school

The library that Charles built

Kid outside a barbarshop (note the poster with the different hairstyles to chose among)

Charles in the market. I didn't linger here.. the smell in this section was really intense!

Market. I like this picture because you can see how the women in Malawi and Mozambique carry their babies on their backs.

Clothes market

Drinking beer in the market. Charles gave some medical advice to the shopkeeper about her arthritis. We attracted quite a crowd.

Crossing the Zambeze River in Tete

Once again, hood open, overheated, under the shade of a boabab tree beside a village. (Notice a pattern?)

Arrived in time for lunch!

Sunset boat cruise on the Cahora Bassa

Nick (lodge owner), Jon, me, Seth, Becca

Boat Trouble + Car Trouble, or We Always Make it Home Somehow

Weekend trip to Nkhata Bay, about 300km from Lilongwe, a few highlights:

-'Dug-out canoe challenge': two people have to paddle out into the bay, around a boat, and back. Winners get to stay for free at the lodge. We made it maybe three meters before capsizing. It's harder than it looks!

-Boat trip to a beach for dinner. We went over in two boats, and returned in one. We ran out of petrol, but kept our spirits up with a Beatles sing-along.

(very happy to arrive back at the lodge)

-The maiden voyage of our 1992 diesel Toyota Hilux Surf, affectionately named Big Bertha. We had some overheating issues going to Nkhaka Bay, but arrived without much trouble. The way home was a different story. We overheated about every two kilometers, and eventually started spouting black soot. I thought we would have to abandon the truck and take a bus home, but we successfully traveled the hilly 40km to Mzuzu in three hours. Miraculously, we found a mechanic on a Sunday in Mzuzu (the fifth? largest city in Malawi), and, stopping every 70-80km to add liters and liters of water, arrived home at midnight. She's a thirsty one, that Bertha.

(waiting to cool down)

(I learned a lot about radiators!)

(trying to figure out our distance from Lilongwe)

long overdue update

One day, Maria and I visited traditional birth attendants (TBAs) in the community. Several months ago, the Malawian government prohibited TBAs from conducting deliveries. If a TBA delivers a woman instead of sending her a hospital, she must pay six goats - and the delivered woman pays three goats - to the village chief. This seems to be adequate deterrence; all but one of the six TBAs we visited had closed up shop. It's true that TBAs were not adequately prepared to deal with prevention of mother to child HIV transmission. Now, once labor commences, the women must walk dozens of kilometers an overcrowded, understaffed hospital whose capacity has not been expanded since this problematic policy went into effect. Everyone was incredibly welcoming, especially one little boy who crawled into my lap.

sunset in Senga Bay, about an hour from Lilongwe

hiking in Dedza, about an hour in the other direction