October has been a busy month for us. Since I've last wrote, we attended a Permaculture/Bio-intensive home garden workshop in Kasama, were confined to the Peace Corps provincial house after one person died and one was injured at a political rally in a busy market in Kasama the day before elections, camped out in the village 8km from our home for two nights for meetings, returned to Kasama because I had an infected cut on the edge of my toe that made it painful to walk and kept spreading further down my foot, then took a day trip to Chishimba Waterfalls and a three-day trip to Lake Tanganyika with other volunteers.
Our own village can be a bit apathetic to our projects, so we really enjoy working with the small village 8km south, because the people are very excited to work with us and make sure we are well-fed. We decided to camp out so we could conduct two and a half days of meetings, without biking there and back every day. The first day, Chris taught making and using compost, followed by a meeting on HIV/AIDS that I facilitated. The second day, Chris met with the PTA community school garden committee, I met with the two teachers, and I taught a nutrition class that didn't go so well, then helped a newly-formed women's group to realize their purpose and make plans. The last day we had a question and answer session about farming that turned into questions about family planning.
Bamaayos (Zambian women) adore Chris. They smile warmly at him when he goes to the well to draw water or wash dishes. This is considered "women's work." I always ask people why it is women's work, and they answer intambi, or culture. We've both tried convincing people that culture is not static and men can do women's jobs and vice versa (which I proved to our host father by helping him move 200 kg bags of maize, which greatly impressed him, as he was convinced women couldn't lift heavy things). I don't think we've made too much headway, as I raised the point that men too can help draw water at the well meeting, and all the men in attendance began smirking. Because Chris does women's work and treats the women just the same as the men, the bamaayos bat their eyelashes at him and greet him enthusiastically. Left in single gender groups, women are boisterous, talk very fast, and laugh hard, but in the presence of men they immediately clam up. This is not the case when with Chris; they're very comfortable with him.
Chishimba Waterfalls is 60 km from our village, in the direction of Kasama. It's actually a series of three waterfalls, the tallest and most impressive one plunging deep into a green valley. To the side of where this waterfall drops off, there is a pool where the current is not very strong, where you can swim. Usually the park is empty, but we went the day after the Zambian Independence Day, so there was a group of Zambians dressed in their nicest clothes stripping down to swim.
From Kasama, Mpulungu is a four-hour bus ride north. Only a small portion of Lake Tanganyika is inside Zambia's borders, the majority is in Tanzania. Lake Tanganyika is the largest lake in Africa, the second deepest in the world, and one of a series of geologically old lakes in the Rift Valley. From Mpulungu, the port town, it was a hour by boat to Isanga Bay Lodge, where we camped. It was a private white sand beach with palm trees, next to a quiet village with fisherman and children playing in the water. It has an entirely different feel than the rest of land-locked Zambia. The lodge owner was an older, spunky British lady that cooked us amazing food. The first night it was rich beef stew, creamy potatoes, and moist chocolate cake. The second night we had rice and beef and chicken curry, with mango chutney, spiced mango pieces, coconut, and tomatoes, with apple cake for dessert. For 12 Peace Corps volunteers that survive primarily on nshima and other bland staples, it was heaven.
In addition to swimming, we snorkeled along the jetty. Bright blue fish, schools of tiny black ones, striped ones, and fat ones darted among the dark rocks. Chris went on a four-hour hike to Kalambo Falls, which is the second highest waterfall in Africa, taller than Victoria Falls. I wasn't able to go as I was still limping from my runaway toe infection. Right above Kalambo Falls, I read afterwards in a guide book, is an important archaeological site with the earliest evidence of humans using fire. The Rift Valley has yielded many monumental archaeological finds that have revealed the history of humans.
We really enjoyed Lake Tanganyika and decided it's time for our first proper vacation, so over Christmas we are planning to go to Tanzania and possibly Zanzibar. On the Tanzanian side of Lake Tanganyika is Gombe Stream National Park, the site of Jane Goodall's chimpanzee research. You can take walking safaris to see the chimps, who are pretty acclimated to humans after decades of research there. As an anthropology major in college, I took a number of classes on primates and greatly admire Jane Goodall and her colleagues and their contributions to the field, so going to Gombe will be an amazing experience.
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New Pictures of Chishimba Falls and Lake Tanganyika:
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