The next country we went to was Swaziland. It still has a king, for better or for worse, and has a surprisingly different culture from South Africa, as did Lesotho. The Swazi language meant once again I had no idea what was being said. It was a pretty, mountainous area where we met with several more hospitals and
NGO's.
This was our second safari. The highlight was definitely this family of hippos that lived on this island here.
I think this might have been the bull, there is only one per herd. He was either guarding the island or pouting that he was voted off.
Zebras are so beautiful. The colors (even though it's black and white) just seem brilliant in life.
Out of the way!!!!!
There was unfortunately no excitement on our walking portion of the safari.
We worked too. Actually we only did touristy things about 5% of the time.
We had a new member by this point, so this is another 5/6 of our team.
The men chilling in the van. We drove an insane amount going to the first 3 countries. It ended up being cheaper than a plane.
Especially when we get a flat tire and miss our flight because the rental's spare was garbage. But look at me, Mr. Handyman. (I was only following directions, I hadn't changed a spare tire since I was in high school which was the last time I had a car...)
But we made it to
Lesotho. This was a greeting party of sorts of kids who played little guitars that sort of made noise from wires and paint cans for donations. This was my favorite country and I doubt the pictures I took will give much justice.
We took a tour to a waterfall. We almost died on the way back because the tour guide who didn't speak much English seemed to say that our van could handle this narrow path down into the gorge... he was wrong.
Here is traditional Lesotho housing. And yes, many people still live like this. It keeps them warmer in the winter. It snows a lot here because the elevation is so high. The whole country is mountainous which kept them defended from the British and has allowed them to keep a bit of an individual culture. Unfortunately, it also has terrible soil and they are in constant fear of famine.
Beautiful place though.
These are the blankets that everyone wears to keep warm. These patterns designate these men as medicine men, mans, 2 people that have the designation of medicine man. Different positions have different patterns, like single, married, pregnant, etc.
We were told there were dinosaur prints on the peak of this mountain and that if we went, a group of kids would lead the way. Yup, 30 or more helped us.
This is the village by the prints.
And there really were prints. They looked pretty amazing, but I barely noticed because I was having so much fun with the kids.
Me and the footprints.
This kid really liked
beat boxing.
Boomshaka has proved a valuable tool in making friends.
A local soccer field. There are 3 sticks put together for a goal at the end. Soccer is pretty much the only sport with any popularity in every country I went to.
This is how we got across the Zambezi: a punt, or a small ferry that carries like 2 cars and traditionally is powered by men pulling on a trans-river chain. This one had an engine. At some places, trucks have to wait for up to a week to cross.
This was an amazing looking cloud on the way to Malawi. It looks like a bed cover or something.
MALAWI:
This is a giant cactus, not a tree. It was in front of one of the hospitals we visited.
Most of the women there have amazing balance, maybe all. They are always carrying huge bags of fruit or corn meal on there heads, a baby on their backs, while doing 2 other things at the same time. African women are amazing!!!
Women tend to wear more traditional clothing than men. Not all, but here is an example.
This is the main terminal.
And here is the commercial airline plane for Zambian airways.
