The answer is Haven. I love it here. Any homesickness I feel
in the infection filled wards is gone here. Tuesday morning, we drove about an
hour and a half outside of Zomba to Liwonde National Park to stay at Liwonde
Safari Camp for 2 nights. It was sort of a celebration of being halfway though
the trip. I got to be an honorary T&L girl some more since Ashley and Penny
wouldn’t arrive to Liwonde until Wednesday night.
Upon our arrival we were shown around: It’s basically a
collection of thatched roof pavilion type buildings grouped together in the
trees and bushes connected by paths. There’s a lounge/bar place with stone
couches with great cushions. The floor is sand and there’s cool masks and books
and candles everywhere. Also it’s really cool because it’s an “honest bar”
where you just write your name on a little form and put tally marks next to
anything you take, and it’s just self serve! So we got to be bar tenders except
that I don’t think anyone ever had any alcohol but wine. I’m not a big wine fan
so I stuck to water and passion fruit Fanta (the best).
lounge and honest bar
Also there’s a raised pavilion with picnic tables, a kitchen
that we don’t go in, a dorm that has a bit more in terms of walls and had a
bunch of cozy looking beds. We would stay there. Patti would stay in a raised
zipper tent called the “luxury tents.” They even had little anti-chamber type
rooms and full beds inside. Also, the best was there were 2 look-out stations
at opposite sides of the camp with chairs and tables and thatched roves and
they were SO great. We encountered a Swiss guy named Stephen reading on one of
them.
our dining room!
perfect for hippo watching
100 times better than girl scout camp
After the tour we went for a game drive! We piled in a big
jeep and went into the park and saw many animals: water bucks (which I
originally heard as “water butts” which was better in my opinion), impalas, kudus,
hornbills (little Zazus from the Lion King), warthogs (Pumbas), and elephants!
We weren’t very close to the elephants because they go down to the river in the
afternoon, but we hoped for better luck in the morning. It was also a blast to
just be jostled around in the jeep and have very few cares.
some impala ladies
On our drive back I looked around at the small village near
the camp. After talking to Ben last week, I couldn’t help but see the villagers
and think “who here is sick and able to be saved now but still will wait to go
to the hospital?” It made me so sad to think that the people smiling and waving
may not be healthy and may end up hopeless in the hospital someday.
Many of the houses also had little goats running around. I
love goats, mostly because they seem to watch people and they have long
eyelashes. I decided that I really adore any animal who can look at me
intelligently enough for me to believe it loves me.
goodnight sun
It was nearing dark at the camp so we got sweaters and
gathered around the big fire and drank Fanta. Fire always makes me feel so
content and happy. When it was truly dark I went to one of the lookouts by
myself to see some stars. I laid back on one of the chairs and looked up. It
was a little cloudy but they were spotty clouds so the stars winked in an out
from behind them. At one point a very bright star peeked out at me and grew
brighter and brighter as the cloud cleared and there was something so calming
about watching it. I started thinking about how that instant of light started
traveling from that star probably hundreds of years before I was born, and it’s
sort of amazing that I ended up here on the underside of the world ready to
catch it. I know that’s not exactly how light works but when the problems here
seem huge it helps to think that there are people I’m supposed to see here, and
stars I’m supposed to watch.
Dinner was a big buffet since there were so many of us, and
it was SO VEGETARIAN!!! There were veggie patties made of veggies and peanuts
(YUM), and eggplant donuts (also yum. Actually just know everything was
delicious), and Irish potatoes and sweet potatoes and pumpkins and mixed veggies
in sauce and eggplant in white sauce and carrots and beans and peas and spiced
cooked bananas. It was the first time since being here that I ate a full meal,
and it was so tasty. And ALSO DESSERT! That’s dessert number 2 in Malawi and it
was a brownie with custard. Yum yum yum.
Dinner was also fun because we talked to Stephan who sat at
one end of the long table and an adult named Rebecca, who grew up in
Charlottesville and now lives in Mozambique! She intended to come for 2 years
after graduate school to do community HIV education but stayed for 13 now. I
picked her brain about living in Africa and asked if she was ever lonely, and
she said “yes, but it suits my personality type I think.” So that is really
good to know. I’ll be thinking about that.
Everyone went to bed after dinner and I grabbed my laptop to
work on my med school application in the bar hut. I had been working for a
while when I heard loud screams from the dormitory. I thought they could either
be screams of fun or terror, so I assumed fun so I could not be obligated to go
check it out. Not my best friend moment. There were more screams a few minutes
later and I kept typing away type type type. About 30 minutes later Patti came
by with two of the girls and informed me that there were spiders in the dorm.
The girls were a tad (very) arachnophobic and were going to sort out a better
sleeping arrangement. Patti asked me if I’d like to be tucked into my mosquito
netting like she had just done with the other girls.
As a past girl scout and 6-time alumnus of camp Skimino, my
impulse was to decline and do it myself like a big girl. I thought the worst
case scenario though would be to actually end up freaked out by whatever
man-eating spiders they found and go running back to get tucked anyways. So I
packed up for the night and followed them to the dorm. We tucked in one of the arachnophobes
first (the other would stay in the zipper tent and Patti would take her dorm
bed) and then checked my bed for crawlies and tucked me into my net. It was
actually super cozy and fun; I was shaking a little with how happy I was in a
big dorm with all my friends tucked in my net. I talked to Rebecca who was next
to me about our greatest fears (hers heights, mine being chased) until we were
all sleepy and slept.
The dorm was very cool because the walls were mostly reeds
so we could see starlight through them. I had to pee twice in the night so I
got to slide out of my net and take a walk to the bathroom hut. The stars were
incredible, almost as good as the outback of Australia. I saw the milky way and
even 2 shooting stars, which I wished upon. Quality night.
squad on a game drive
Day 2 on the safari began at 5:30 breakfast to prepare for a
6 am game drive. We hopped in the jeep again, but this time it was experiencing
some troubles: next to a farm in the village we all had to hop out and push the
jeep so it could start again after having died. We then had to push it anytime
we stopped the car or the few times it just randomly died on us. Some of us privately
questioned the wisdom of taking an unreliable jeep into the park but we ignored
that and pressed on.
That day was elephant day. We saw SO many elephants SO
close. And we were extremely excited every time.
hello!
We also saw some more kudu and
impalas and warties. Also we saw a Baobab tree that is 2,900 years old, you can
tell because it has 100 years for every meter of circumference. It was a big ol’
tree.
That was the morning, then we relaxed on the lookouts, took
some naps in the sun, and wrote in journals and such. Lunch was more tasty
foods and then It was time for the boat ride. We took a short drive in the sketchy
jeep to the river bank, and then crossed some burned maize to the river and
hopped in a boat. It was a blast. Our guide, Henry was really funny and most
importantly-
WE SAW HIPPOS. I could never have predicted how much I love
hippos but I just love them. I like the way they watch me with their little
eyes and ears above the water and how when they want to go fast they gallop in
the water. I love how they never swim, they just sink to the bottom of the
river and walk across that way. I love how the babies are tiny and cute. I love the
snorty sounds they make. They are just the best and we saw lots and lots, but
they were hard to photograph because when you get close they hide in the water.
You sneaky hippos.
they're shiny
We also saw elephants eating right on the river bank, and
birds and grass and water. And crocodiles. It was also just beautiful on the
river. What a day.
peek-a-boo
Then we had some more down time before dinner. It was great
to relax so much because it was our get away from Zomba, where even our “free
time” is filled with little outings and learning and stuff. Shortly before dinner, after it was dark,
Penny, Ashley and Jessica arrived. I hugged Ashley and she told us all about
Blantyre. I ate at a table with all of my med team people and got to see Jess
for the first time. She is a card. She has the best, sincerest laugh and she
loves to use it. She makes jokes and helps people feel comfortable, and just
fits right in wherever she goes, you can tell. I’m really excited to work with
her. Also dinner was delicious as per usual.
I went to work on the app again in the bar after dinner. I
talked to Rebecca and Lindsey when they stopped by for a while and that was
really great. They are also returning to tech next year so I’m happy to be
building relationships with them. Also they are really nice. Lindsey doesn’t
love spiders though so when it came time for bed, she and I stayed up so we
could have more fun and she could put off heading to the dorm. It was more fun
in our starry safari camp anyways. We even got one of the night guards,
Charles, to take us up to the lookout with a big light so we could spot the
hippos, who leave the river to much on reeds at night. We saw them and I love
them. Also Charles's accent makes him say “heepos” with with an “s” sound at the
end rather than a “z” sound. I loved that too. He would say things like “I
think the heepos, they are here with us.” I sure hope so Charles.
What’s the worst these spiders can do (no disrespect,
spiders)? Give me a non-poisonous bite? Tickle me a little? A hippopotamus can
bite me in half in one go, and it’s hippos that we go out at night hoping to
see, secretly avoiding the possibility of spiders in our deet-soaked dormitory.
C’est la vie. I did just see my first spider here though and it was pretty
gross, all hairy and striped and many-eyed. Hippos are cuter for sure.
Eventually we headed to the dorm but I tucked Lindsey so we
were all safe and snug and we got more great sleep. We would leave Liwonde the
next day which was sad but I was so grateful for our little vacation with the
hippos under the stars.
With love and heepos,
Lauren
June 7
I am grateful for…
Mamma
Education opportunities like medical school
Drums
What will I do to make
today great?
A SAFARI
Working on AMCAS
Look at the stars
Daily affirmations. I
am…
Hopeful
3 Amazing things that
happened today…
Lots of animals
Shooting stars in the Milky Way
Dinner, wow. Eggplant donuts, brownies, veggie patties
How could I have made
today even better?
Being more social
June 8
I am grateful for…
Night walks last night
All the girls here
Warm clothes
What will I do to make
today great?
See HIPPOS
Sit outside
See Ashley, Penny, and Jessica
Daily affirmations. I
am…
A hungry hungry hippo
3 Amazing things that
happened today…
HIPPOPOTAMUS
Getting to know Becca and Lindsey
Nighttime heepo spotting
How could I have made
today even better?
Smiling more
No comments:
Post a Comment