So many places to see and not enough time...

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Well, my congestion won't seem to go away, but I am still tons better than last week at this time. This weekend we are heading to Swaziland for the Bushfire Music Festival. It seems to be a big deal, as almost the entire USG community here appears to be going. The weather is not looking too promising (low 60s and rain), but hopefully, we will find a way to stay warm and dry. We are staying at a game reserve known for their hippos. Hopefully, some good pictures will follow.

We will be moving on Tuesday back to a hotel, so I will have to say goodbye to Luna and Lobo. I am very sad about this. They are such good company, though they do expect constant attention and tend to wake me up every morning around 4 am to let them out. Last night, I refused to let them sleep in my room and actually got to sleep through the night with no interruptions.

The internet situation at the place we are going to is also not optimal. You have to pay for access, which just seems odd considering the other hotels in the city do not appear to do this. It also isn't cheap (over $10US for an hour). I may have limited access to update pictures, but will do my best. I am hoping that I get at least some reimbursement for internet/phone services while I am here and may just eat the cost of what isn't reimbursed. The good news is the hotel has a gym, which I need desperately. I will be so happy to get back into a normal work out routine.

Some pictures of our current abode, since I never posted any previously. You can see why I am not looking forward to the hotel so much. I will post some of the outside on another day.

I am finding my work more challenging than expected. If you saw the description of my assignment, it looks simple. However, I think I highly underestimated the state of disarray of the files here. Everything is a mess and I can't find most of what I need. I am trying to implement a new computer tracking system for all documents related to the research going on here, while cleaning up and organizing old files. I am also working on a training presentation for the staff here on everything (that I will have to present before I leave--it is already 40 slides long and is not nearly complete), along with drafting/finalizing instruction documents for the various procedures here related to clearance and filing. I am mainly focusing on various types of documents and procedures related to the research that is going on in Mozambique. It has helped me to get an idea of the various activities that they are trying to implement here and the challenges along with them. My supervisor is also assuring me that I will be doing site visits before I leave here. I think I will find this the most interesting part of my experience. I feel like I am failing her, though, because my progress on cleaning up these files has been slow.

I am getting excited as some fellow IETA participants are all making their way over to Africa in the next couple of weeks for their assigments, including a girl (Jackie) who is coming to Maputo. We are already starting to map out travel. :-) The only downfall of all of this is that there appears to be too many places to see and not enough time. I am having trouble picking and choosing where and where not to go. I am contemplating taking a personal vacation after I get back to the states to come back to Africa. Wonder how my boss and people covering my work will think about this. If I have learned anything from my stay here, it is that life is too short, be grateful for what you have as there are so many in this world that have nothing (but still are hapy), and take advantage of all opportunities given to you. With this thinking, I must say a vacation will be in my near future. :-)

Praia do Tofinho=Improved Health

I really wasn't sure how this past weekend was going to go. We were scheduled to fly to Inhambane on route to Tofo and Tofinho beach around noon on Friday and the tickets weren't refundable. I woke up Friday morning actually worse than the day before. After coughing up what appeared to be blood and having really bad lower back pain, I decided a stop at the Embassy Health Unit was in order. I got there early and after about an hour of sitting with a very nice (and retired) doctor, I got some zithromax and codeine cough syrup. (I do believe, though, the doctor was trying to get me to go home and make my own cough syrup with alcohol and sugar...to which I kind of looked at him like he was crazy--haven't made an elixir since pharmacy school and have no intentions of doing it again anytime soon). Anyway, it may have been viral, but there was a small chance I was developing bacterial pneumonia and neither one of us wanted to risk me getting worse, so I got the zithromax. This isn't the place to try out the health system and since I was going somewhere with even less civilized medicine, I took my zithromax immediately and hoped for the best. I had already resorted to the fact that diving was not going to happen for me this weekend due to this little bug that I had picked up. :-( I also hoped Mozambique was not taking the Chinese approach to swine flu. I had joked to Christine that if we were in China, I would have been quarantined at the airport and never even allowed near a plane.

After the flight, which appeared to be delayed because the President or some other VIP needed to land at the airport, and a lovely ride through the countryside, we arrived at our home for the next two nights. We were staying at Cafe no Mar at Tofhino Beach. It only has 5 rooms and Christine and I were the only guests they had on Friday evening. It was really nice getting the personal attention from the two guys (Casper and Hine--pictured at the end of this entry) that are running the place. We had a lovely dinner in Tofo, but I must say I was feeling quite awful by the end of it.

I went back to my room, chugged some cough syrup and probably was asleep before 9 pm. Next morning, I felt better and actually had some color back in my face. The breakfast was lovely. This was the view from our little "cottage."

The marine life was amazing. We could see dolphins and whales from shore. Christine and I took a walk along the beach from Tofinho to Tofo..stopping to marvel at all of the different marine wildlife and the beautiful colors of the ocean, along with the wind and kite surfers.

Later, we went on a horseback ride along the beach and through the country side. I must say, at first, I was not liking this. I had never been on a horse before and they give you like ZERO instruction on what to do. Then they take you up and down a hill right away. Luckily, our guide, Alfredo, took ahold of my horse (Riverdancer) and led us along, because he could see I was a bit worried. It actually turned into a lovely ride. We got to go through the country side and see all of the little villages. The coconut, cashew nut, and mango trees were really beautiful, too.

Then we stopped to watch the sunset before grabbing a drink at one of the local beach hangouts before dinner. Again, was feeling better, but not great...so I went back to my room, chugged more cough syrup, and was asleep pretty early again.

We got up early on Sunday to watch the sunrise. I took a walk looking for whales before breakfast, but had no real luck. We were able to see them during breakfast, though.

After another quick walk along the beach, we had to head off for the airport. :-( Hine and Casper gave us a little personal tour of Inhambane before sending us off back to Maputo. The city is definitely forgotten and it is such a shame. Some of the old buildings are very beautiful, but time has definitely taken its tool on them.

For everyone back at FDA that may be wondering how work is playing into my little adventure..don't worry...I am still working...in fact, i will be working extra in the coming weeks to get caught up on the time I was sick last week. I am now way behind on everything that I have to get done here.

I keep thinking through out this trip that Mozambique has two faces. It has beautiful scenery, beaches, wildlife, and people (EVERYONE in Tofo and Tofinho were extremely nice and we felt safer there than in Maputo), but then simple things are just not taken care of...like the garbage in the streets or basic up keep of sewage systems, buildings, and roads. Everyone keeps telling us that before the war and before the Portuguese left, the country was amazing. I believe someone even said Tofo was once one of the Top 5 beaches in the world at one point. Maybe one day, Mozambique will somehow regain this glory. It seems more and more travelers are starting to take notice of the country for its beaches and amazing dive sites, so I think there is hope.

Sorry, for my side bar...but it was a lovely weekend, even though we weren't able to go snorkeling with the whale sharks like I had hoped. We would not have made it back on time on Sunday for our flight and the water was a little rough for snorkeling on Saturday. It is probably for the best for me (but not for Christine), as I probably shouldn't have been near water yet. I have vowed to go back before I leave Mozambique, so that I can dive Manta Reef and see the infamous whale sharks. God love Hine, Casper, and Christine for putting up with me and my sickness all weekend. It could not have been fun hanging out with a girl who sounded like she smoked a pack of cigarettes every day for the last 30 years. There must be some sort of magic healing powers of Tofo, because I feel a million times better today...or maybe it was just the zithromax doing its job. (Being a pharmacist, I guess I would have to say my improved health is due to the power of modern medicine).

It was bound to happen

Well, I caught some nasty cold/virus. Not fun. I had to stay home 2 days (including today) this week and am a little bored. No TV and no ability to download movies/TV episodes. A word of advice for all the IETA folks that are heading out in August. Take videos with you or somehow download stuff on your computer before you leave the US. I thought I would use netflix, hulu, itunes, etc. and no luck. They all now block users outside of the US from dowloading from their sites. I don't know how they can tell you are in another country, but trust me, they can. I tried to dowload stuff after they gave me the warnings and they were able to detect that I was not in the US. I thought I would have some luck with itunes, but it looks like it is going to take 10 hours to dowload one movie.

I am still headed up to Tofo beach tomorrow. We are flying to Inhambane. The plan WAS to go diving, but if I am able to do anything by Saturday, it will have to be just snorkeling. I don't think it would be a good idea to dive when my lungs are as congested as they are. I don't see myself getting better that quickly either.

It is amazing how the common cold can knock you on your butt. All I want to do is sleep.

Kruger Birthday Safari

Well, I had a great B-day weekend at Kruger National Park in S. Africa. Five fellow TDYers and I ventured off on Friday afternoon after work to the infamous park in hopes of seeing some of the "Big 5." After managing to get through the God-awful process of crossing the border into S. Africa with the help of some wise colleagues, we drove to our 'our cottage' outside of the park. (I have never seen a border crossing so bad in my life. Luckily for us, we got to go through the special VIP section or I might still be standing in line to cross the border). Our cottage was the perfect wilderness escape. We enjoyed some grilled chicken for dinner and had a nice early b-day celebration for me (as someone--I won't name names, Steve-- convinced us to eat the cake we were able to buy in S. Africa a day early) on Friday. Then we went star gazing. The night sky was absolutely amazing. You could see a million stars, the milky way, and shooting stars. I made some wishes on those shooting stars, so we will see what happens. :-)

We got up early on Saturday to get to the park before sunrise. There were still over 50 cars ahead of us waiting to get into the gate when we got there. After about an hour and half wait, we were finally free to drive around the park in our little VW. I suggested that we take one of the dirt roads inside the gate and it turned out to be one of my better decisions. About 5 minutes into the drive, we literally ran into a herd of buffalo crossing the road. There had to be at least 200 of them in the herd. We watched them for about 20 minutes before the road was cleared for us to pass.

Then we went on and saw almost everything imaginable, except for the lions and other big cats--they are harder to find and see. My b-day wish to see lots of animals, especially giraffe (my fav) came true. They say a picture says a thousand words, so I will just post some here without much narrative. I will be uploading more to shutterfly in the next couple of days, which you can access by the link to the side of this webpage. The bird pictures are for my mom and friend Jenn--who is one of my few friends who actually took the time to sign up to follow my blog. :-) And yes, this is a big hint to try to get more of you to become one of my blog followers.

After a day of seeing all sorts of animals, we went back to our cottage that backs up against Kruger. We decided to walk down to the park border (only like a 5 minute walk) to see if we could see any animals. To our luck (and astonishment), we were able to witness a herd of about 30 elephants very close up. It was amazing and the highlight of the day. There were even baby elephants. Sooo cute, but also a bit scary to be that close.

Sunday, we did a game drive in an open safari vehicle. Not even a flat tire on one of our vehicles could stop us from seeing more wildlife. It was a bit cold, so the animals were a little scarcer, but we got some close up pictures of zebras. We were able to hear the lions, but still no sightings. We missed them by only 5 minutes.

Then it was back to Maputo to get ready for another week of work.

All things considered, this was probably one of my best b-days ever. Still miss celebrating with everyone back home, but if I had to be away-- this really couldn't have been beat.

P.S. I hope everyone enjoys the pictures, because they took me a ridiculously long time to upload tonight for some reason.