Our Field Visits!
What an entertaining week it has been for many reasons! Our aim was to visit all 11 TDCs (Teacher Development Centres) is Rumphi. Rumphi is quite a large area so we would be taking Sue’s car and staying over for a couple of nights.
It is the rainy season over here at the moment but up until now the rains haven’t been that bad. Until we actually want to drive along dirt roads to get to the TDCs! We totally failed to visit 3 of the TDCs on the Tuesday as the rain was too bad and the roads were awful. We didn’t fancy a 4 hour drive in the mud. We postponed the visits until next week. But on a bonus point we managed to visit one TDC early as it is on the main M1 road!
Wednesday was still rainy but we decided to go for it as the road to the first TDC is quite new. We managed to get along fairly easily until we reached that part of the road that wasn’t actually built yet!!! We got stuck in the mud but reckoned we only had about 2kms to go. We stared walking. The mud was so thick that my shoes kept falling off and getting stuck. Very funny, especially as we ended up with a trail of 10 children behind us! We were able to get there and back and later even managed the afternoon visit as well. Things were looking up!
Thursday. More rain. We decided to set off. We were planning to stay overnight as the next 4 TDCs were quite far away but relatively near each other. We made it up the main M1 with no problems, up and over the escarpment and admired the views. Then we took the road up to Livingstonia. Oh my gosh!!!! The road was in good condition for the weather but…. 20 hairpin bends, a single track road and one false more and you are for it! It was a very steep climb and we had to do a few 3 point turns just to get up the bends. I was hanging on for dear life! Thankfully Sue is a good driver and her car is 4 wheel drive. We made it to the top and were in high spirits as we had passed the difficulty challenge. Wrong! More mud, more getting stuck and add in the engine over heating for good measure. We were told that it was only another 2kms so again we decided to walk it. However, we met and ambulance (more like a people transporter than an actual ambulance) who was stuck. The driver managed to get unstuck and offered us a lift. Apparently it was actually 7kms away. We declined as we didn’t fancy the walk back in the mud and rain. 2 hours later and another trip down past the 20 bends. Basically the whole day gone and nothing to show for it!
We made it to our resthouse and were looking forward to the boat trip the next day. We ordered dinner from the ‘manager’ but after several hours and the cooks eating their own dinner, nothing. The manager hadn’t told the cooks that we needed anything so he ordered them to cook for us. By the time it was ready I was past hunger and ready for my bed! But no, this HUGE plate of rice and egg and sauce arrived. What to do? The women had cooked it especially for us and I couldn’t even eat a quarter of it. So the whole lot was shoved into a plastic bag, tied and placed in my cap. A quick dash to the car, past the cooks and it was dumped in the boot! We got away with it!!!
The Boat Trip
Up nice and early for the 2 hour boat journey to the TDC. Everything went to plan for the first hour. We collected the advisor of the TDC, then nothing! The engine was playing up. We sat on the beach in the sun while it was fixed. After another hour we were off again (some problem with the plug??!). Again it stopped so we rowed for a while until it started. After 4 hours we made it to the TDC. It was so hot and my arms were now turning pink!
After a good 2 hour trip we were ready to set off. The men had apparently fixed the problem plug and we were off! Again after 1 hour the thing cut out again so more rowing and fixing. Luckily the owner had brought a spare plug with him so he kept changing them around. We dropped off the Advisor and we continued. All was going splendidly for half and hour when clunk!! The look on the owner’s face said it all! The propeller had fallen off and sunk to the depths of the lake! This poor man just sat on the bottom of the boat and began to scoop out the water! By the way, the plug was fine!! We rowed ashore and ended up walking the rest of the way back!
In summary a 4 hour round trip took 4 hours on the way and 5 on the way back! Only in Malawi!
The rest of the trip was great and we had to work on Saturday to reach our last TDC. We had managed to cover a grand total of 5 TDCs!! Oh well there is always next week!
On the way back home we stopped at a ‘tourist’ spot. A locally made basket bridge and a small museum (hut). Our ‘tour guide’ took his job very seriously and even dressed up in a traditional costume thing and made us dance around some pole things. The tears were streaming down my face and I had to go out side and pretend to sneeze just to compose myself! It was one of the funniest things I have participated in for a long time!!
Other news
I now have a house that just needs a lick of paint so fingers crossed I will be able move in after my second training in Lilongwe!
Watch this space
It is the rainy season over here at the moment but up until now the rains haven’t been that bad. Until we actually want to drive along dirt roads to get to the TDCs! We totally failed to visit 3 of the TDCs on the Tuesday as the rain was too bad and the roads were awful. We didn’t fancy a 4 hour drive in the mud. We postponed the visits until next week. But on a bonus point we managed to visit one TDC early as it is on the main M1 road!
Wednesday was still rainy but we decided to go for it as the road to the first TDC is quite new. We managed to get along fairly easily until we reached that part of the road that wasn’t actually built yet!!! We got stuck in the mud but reckoned we only had about 2kms to go. We stared walking. The mud was so thick that my shoes kept falling off and getting stuck. Very funny, especially as we ended up with a trail of 10 children behind us! We were able to get there and back and later even managed the afternoon visit as well. Things were looking up!
Thursday. More rain. We decided to set off. We were planning to stay overnight as the next 4 TDCs were quite far away but relatively near each other. We made it up the main M1 with no problems, up and over the escarpment and admired the views. Then we took the road up to Livingstonia. Oh my gosh!!!! The road was in good condition for the weather but…. 20 hairpin bends, a single track road and one false more and you are for it! It was a very steep climb and we had to do a few 3 point turns just to get up the bends. I was hanging on for dear life! Thankfully Sue is a good driver and her car is 4 wheel drive. We made it to the top and were in high spirits as we had passed the difficulty challenge. Wrong! More mud, more getting stuck and add in the engine over heating for good measure. We were told that it was only another 2kms so again we decided to walk it. However, we met and ambulance (more like a people transporter than an actual ambulance) who was stuck. The driver managed to get unstuck and offered us a lift. Apparently it was actually 7kms away. We declined as we didn’t fancy the walk back in the mud and rain. 2 hours later and another trip down past the 20 bends. Basically the whole day gone and nothing to show for it!
We made it to our resthouse and were looking forward to the boat trip the next day. We ordered dinner from the ‘manager’ but after several hours and the cooks eating their own dinner, nothing. The manager hadn’t told the cooks that we needed anything so he ordered them to cook for us. By the time it was ready I was past hunger and ready for my bed! But no, this HUGE plate of rice and egg and sauce arrived. What to do? The women had cooked it especially for us and I couldn’t even eat a quarter of it. So the whole lot was shoved into a plastic bag, tied and placed in my cap. A quick dash to the car, past the cooks and it was dumped in the boot! We got away with it!!!
The Boat Trip
Up nice and early for the 2 hour boat journey to the TDC. Everything went to plan for the first hour. We collected the advisor of the TDC, then nothing! The engine was playing up. We sat on the beach in the sun while it was fixed. After another hour we were off again (some problem with the plug??!). Again it stopped so we rowed for a while until it started. After 4 hours we made it to the TDC. It was so hot and my arms were now turning pink!
After a good 2 hour trip we were ready to set off. The men had apparently fixed the problem plug and we were off! Again after 1 hour the thing cut out again so more rowing and fixing. Luckily the owner had brought a spare plug with him so he kept changing them around. We dropped off the Advisor and we continued. All was going splendidly for half and hour when clunk!! The look on the owner’s face said it all! The propeller had fallen off and sunk to the depths of the lake! This poor man just sat on the bottom of the boat and began to scoop out the water! By the way, the plug was fine!! We rowed ashore and ended up walking the rest of the way back!
In summary a 4 hour round trip took 4 hours on the way and 5 on the way back! Only in Malawi!
The rest of the trip was great and we had to work on Saturday to reach our last TDC. We had managed to cover a grand total of 5 TDCs!! Oh well there is always next week!
On the way back home we stopped at a ‘tourist’ spot. A locally made basket bridge and a small museum (hut). Our ‘tour guide’ took his job very seriously and even dressed up in a traditional costume thing and made us dance around some pole things. The tears were streaming down my face and I had to go out side and pretend to sneeze just to compose myself! It was one of the funniest things I have participated in for a long time!!
Other news
I now have a house that just needs a lick of paint so fingers crossed I will be able move in after my second training in Lilongwe!
Watch this space
posted by Caroline Pitcairn at
11:19 am
4 Comments:
hi pitcairn
dave says to tell you Hearts got beat today 1-0 to Aberdeen
I like the sound of your boat trip (!!!) lol and your eggy rice story, poor cooks, glad you were able to disguide the uneaten food!!
So I gather everyhting in malawi takes FOREVER!!!
My birthday today!! Went to the fort in edinburgh and H berry walked round the shops grabbing things form shelves, licking things (dont ask) and pointing at everything saying "wut?" which means "what's that?" lol I spend my days saying that's a doggy, that's the birdies, thats the lambs, that's the flowers etc etc. She is absolutely fascinated by animals and nature, "horsey's" are her fav animals! And Spring is on it's way here, the daffys are out, the lambs are skipping etc, plenty things to keep her entertained.
take care out there xxxxxxx
cant seem to sign in the publish this comment lol so I better say it's suze xxx
By
Anonymous, at 10:07 pm
Caz,
Loving the updates and you are certainly already collecting an abundance of amusing tales even before you have taken to the motorbike (hope the training went well this week)!
Hope my letter reached you with success.
Take care
P x
By
Anonymous, at 12:12 pm
Bonjour
You have just cheered up my lunchtime with the latest update, sounds like you are have a fantastic time. Was slightly concerned to hear that your sleeping may have been affected by the drums and chanting but glad to read that it’s the one thing that you are doing the most of – wouldn’t expect anything less from you!
The rice, eggs and sauce doesn’t sound too appealing though, are there any of the special k bars left to get you through such situations or are they past tense – let me know if you need a supply sent out – ha ha!
Not much happening here, works busy, been living quite a quiet life as im so skint now I have my little chloe! Got my holiday booked for September- off to Spain for a week so sorry will not be taking my summer hols in Malawi – don’t think its quite my scene!
Have you heard anymore about Pumpys man, she mentions him very briefly but im sure there are details she is not tell us – you know what she is like (Pamela Gidney if you are reading this, we want the goss!)
Anyway better get back to work, how boring, keep enjoying yourself and behave!!!
Jillxx
PS What is this about you writing to PG - where is my letter??!
By
Anonymous, at 1:06 pm
Thanks for the comments guys. Glad you are all still alive and reading my blog!! Caz xx
By
Caroline Pitcairn, at 12:57 pm
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