In Dar.

Made it to Dar es Salaam about an hour ago. Checked into the Peacock Hotel, and now resting up for my meeting with UNDP and TZ Met tomorrow morning!

What a whirlwind.

I'm even crazy enough to think that I might head back to Zanzibar this weekend before going back to Malawi on Monday (28 Jul). Last time, it was.... interesting. Hope the TZ border guards are more friendly this time.

Mt. Michiru

So the hike this morning was fun... it was only 2 hrs or so (I thought it would be longer) and only about a 500m (1500ft) elevation gain, but it was nice still, and the views were amazing.

When we got to the gate of the Michiru Conservation Area (the guidebook claimed there was a 'visitor centre'... all we found was a locked gate), my taxi driver and I waited for something to happen. He didn't speak a lot of English (I've found that for being an official language, along with Chichewa, not as many people here speak English as did in Uganda), so I just kept staring out the window, looking at the trees. Pretty quickly, a man ran up and began speaking with the driver. All I heard during this time (about 5min) was, "...*chichewa*....... conservation area.........*chichewa*............*more chichewa*.........conservation area... (some pointing)....*more chichewa*....." The taxi driver then asked me if I wanted to climb the mountain, and I said "sure". "...*more chichewa*...." "Ok, let's go."

I walked up to a little guardhouse, paid 50 Kwacha for the park entry fee (the equivalent of about 40 cents), and I was off.

My guide (armed with a shotgun, though, I'm not sure what for) walked up the dirt road for about 15 min before we turned off on a trail. It seems as though the only two things that people around the mountain come there for is 1) collecting firewood (they have to pay K10 for the permit... and yes, it's a conservation area, but like in most of Africa, there are concessions made to local people trying to maintain their way of life near the park) and 2) to visit a large christian shrine halfway up the mountain. We saw many signs for "The Way of the Cross" and a few fancy looking metal pieces of art (almost) depicting scenes from the stations of the cross. (probably related to the very large, very fancy, and very new-looking christian church I saw in the taxi on the way... it kind of upsets me that people come in and build these churches (as if people in Malawi need a new church more than clean water, or mosquito nets, or jobs for that matter - but don't get me started. At least at this one there was a "workshop" next door). In the background though through this first part of the hike (and again coming down), we could hear women (and men) singing in Chichewa and occasional drums. It was beautiful.

My guide was super nice. (maybe b/c we could really understand each other that much) I saw a lizard on a rock... and got a little excited - stopped and took a few pictures. When I caught up with my guide he made a motion like "what was it?" and I held out my two fingers about 6 inches apart "A lizard". "Oh, a snake...?" Close enough. I did find out that he has been working at this conservation area (about 10-20 sq miles, pretty small) for 17 years. He didn't look too much older than me, but I think people tend to be older than they look here. I imagine he knows the park pretty well.

Walking up the trail, every now and then he would point at a smaller trail and say "A shortcut". We took a lot of shortcuts, and he was definitely in better shape than me. Occasionally, I would stop and "take pictures", to catch my breath. He would also end almost everything he said with "Sure, sure"... as in, "these are natural trees, and those ones are pine... sure, sure". "Are there many animals in the park?" "Yes, we have many animals, sure, sure." ........ "What kinds of animals do you have?" "...Excuse me?" "Which animals are in the park?" "We have many monkeys, yes, many monkeys, sure, sure". I didn't see any monkeys today, but I did see a few pretty cool lizards.

We got to the top pretty quickly, and he pointed out everything you could see from the amazing view. "Over there is <> township, and over there is Chileka airport (the one I came in to), and waaaay there are the mountains of Mozambique." Awesome.

Back at the bottom, I gave him K2000 ($14) for the 2hr hike. I don't know how much I should have given him (they didn't say... but the K50 entry fee was a bit crazily low) - but that's how much I paid for dinner last night. Seemed appropriate.

On the way back to Blantyre city, I took my first "matatu" ride since I arrived. In Malawi, these overcrowded means of public transport are simply called "minibus". At most, there were only 8 people in my minibus (stated capacity of 15) - I think the record back in Uganda was 22.

So, now I'm back again, just 4 hrs after I left. Good trip though.



the road up the mountain


the "trail" and my guide


the first viewpoint


blantyre from above


lizard #1 (he blends in so well!!


lizard #2


carrying firewood


mountains in the distance... "natural trees" in the foreground


from the top

Hurricane season update

So, I've not lost track of my priorities while traveling around Africa the last few days.

Things are brewing out there... and this coming week could be an active one with storms potentially heading for both the Carolinas and the Gulf... but keep reading.

Hurricane season has been off to a quick start so far this year, in both the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific. The Atlantic just got its third system yesterday (with another one to come soon... more on that later) and the E. Pac is up to 6 already. Less than two months into the 6 month season, that's a lot. (Both basins normally get about 10-12 named storms per year). Generally though, when the E. Pac has more storms than the Atlantic, that trend usually holds for the rest of the season (as in El Nino years). So, counter to the pre-season forecasts, what we've seen so far seems to point towards a more normal-ish season for the Atlantic. But as a wise forecaster once said, "it only takes one storm to have a bad season." Very true.

Hurricane Bertha has been alive nearly the entire month of July. A pretty amazing storm, really. It was the farthest east-ward forming storm in recorded history in July (just a few hundred km off the coast of Africa!), and is now the longest lasting hurricane in recorded history in July, and the longest lasting hurricane in the Atlantic since Hurricane Ivan in 2004. Bertha went through two periods of rapid intensification during its lifetime - reaching Cat. 3 twice. Earlier this week, Bertha scraped Bermuda as a Cat. 1 - but other than that has pretty much stayed out of people's way.

Last night, a depression formed off the coast of Georgia - and is expected to barely reach tropical storm strength (it would be given the name Cristobal) as it heads along the coastline toward North Carolina and out to sea. Probably won't be too much of a problem.

The one after that... is what I worried might happen while I was away. Right now, it's not technically even a depression yet... but it will be given the name Dolly when it forms in 2 or 3 days. The storm has remained consistent for the last couple of days off the coast of South America. Its expected track should be south of Jamaica, near the Yucatan peninsula, and into the Gulf of Mexico - where, as you know, hurricanes have a tendency to do some bad things (at least in the last few years). Yesterday, one computer model (GFDL) had this storm hitting Houston as a Cat. 5 next Thursday (Jul 24th). At this point, it should be taken as just barely more likely than science fiction, but it gives you a hint at what is possible - just a heads up.

I'll be giving more updates as things develop.

meeting the director

This morning I met with the director of Malawi Met. He was a very friendly guy, and pledged to support us in our project. I didn't really do a lot of talking, actually, just kind of sat there and listened to him talk with my colleague (who he knew back from his training days). He did seem really interested in what I had to say though when I did talk, and I think he or someone from his staff might join me on my trip next week to the village.

I also got some rainfall and maize yield data that we will use in our contracts for the Malawi village, which we hope to complete this year. That was maybe more exciting to me than meeting the director - b/c my job is living with this data - and trying to get it to do what we want. So, I'm excited to look through it this week.

So, I'm getting used to this, I guess - having some meetings in the morning, writing a report/follow up email to my boss in New York in the afternoon, and then a walk in the evening. Rough life, I know. Tomorrow though is officially the weekend, which means that I can rationalize taking the whole day off to do some hiking. I think I'm going to go here.

I'll let you know how it goes.

UPDATE: My taxi is booked for 9am for Michiru Mountain!

my walk

so, again, i don't have the capability to upload any pictures... but my walk didn't let me get many really good ones anyway. the age old question in africa: can a black person be a mzungu? (mzungu = "traveller", at least according to david, who if there ever was one was a black mzungu) basically, mzungu = white person/tourist. if there ever was a black mzungu, they would have to look something like carlton on the fresh prince of bel air. plaid sweater and fanny pack.

so, they DO use the word mzungu in malawi. and once again, it's amazing to me how much attention a person can gather just by walking down the street. i took my camera with me, which was kind of the point of the walk, but also just to get out of the hotel, which, though i've only been here 24 hours, seems like i've been in this room for weeks. probably cause i stayed up until 1am last night making my powerpoint for the lecture this morning. i'm going to bed early tonight.

but anyway, the walk. i walked up and down the length of both "main streets" in blantyre - supposedly the largest city in malawi (i'm not disputing that fact, but it would have only taken me about 20 min to do that walk if i had hurried). just so you know, at the intersection of those two streets, there is a small bank, a guy selling phone cards, and a hotel parking lot. very anticlimatic.

the most interesting part was walking through the main market. (i couldn't find the mzungu market - crafts and such) so, africans like their cheap chinese-made electronic gadgets. stall after stall was cell phone covers, misc. power adapters, cheap little toys (like the happy meal kind), one guy was selling handfulls of naked barbies, and i DID see a guy selling suit coats but i chickened out b/c i was getting too many strange looks. i can just hear it: "hey mzungu, what is your size? i give you nice price. where you from? this is your first time in my country? come, please have a look!" as i left the "market" (the one with all the brick stalls and covered roofs), i saw, across the street, on the curb spread out on dirty tarps, the vegetables, potatoes, pyramids of tomatoes, and fish that i had expected to see. guess they know their priorities. there were a couple of awesome pictures i missed of women dressed in brightly colored traditional clothes picking out tomatoes with a baby bundled on their back - but the vegetable sellers wanted to charge me to take a picture of them. so i kept walking.

i stopped at an ethiopian restaurant on the way back (the guy has been living in malawi for 12 years and was dictating prices for a new menu for his employee to write out the whole time i was there). it was nice to have ethiopian food in africa - but about the same. except instead of being in a trendy, dimly lit room in the village, this "restaurant" doubled as a small grocery store (but the only thing i saw for sale was bananas and sweet potatoes), a cd store, a sunglasses store, and also.... you'll never guess.... new suits! but i want a USED one... jeesh.

heading back to the hotel, it was getting dark. the brightly full moon was rising behind some pink clouds, above the mountains on the edge of town. so... i looked to my right, and...... the southern cross!! it was much higher in the sky than i expected. but, i knew it right when i saw it. awesome.


the main intersection in blantyre


on the street, with a baby bundle


vegetable market


street vendor


the southern cross

1st presentation to Malawi Met

This morning I made my presentation to Malawi Met. Pretty anticlimatic considering how nervous I was about it. Actually, it went very well. They seemed very interested in the project, and our willingness to include them as a full partner not just as a data source. I'm meeting with the director tomorrow, to confirm that they're on board.

They were definitely all wearing jackets and ties. I at least had a belt on and my shirt tucked in. Guess I'll need to buy at least a jacket for my next trip. Actually... I might be able to buy one here. A lot of my longsleeve button-up shirts I bought in Uganda. Recycled from clothing donations from the US and Europe. Pretty cheap for good stuff.

The most memorable part of this morning though was probably the breakfast and walk to the met office. Full buffet here at the hotel - and I mean everything. There was a woman making eggs made-to-order, so I had a tomato/green pepper omlette, fresh pineapple, some small croissants, potatoes, juice and coffee. But they had a few different types of yogurt (real yogurt is hard to find in Africa!), and tons of other meat and breakfast things, all impractically presented on big plates with cloth napkins all around. Nothing yet has shown me that this isn't the nicest hotel I've ever stayed at.

But the walk to the met office brought back the out-of-place rich foreigner feeling (if the super fancy breakfast hadn't yet). Several times in the 5-6 min walk I was approached by street children, and walked past mothers begging. Once, a small girl walked past, with a baby bundled on her back - pretty common to have kids here take care of their younger siblings - only this girl was only slightly bigger than the baby. The older one couldn't have been more than 4 or 5. It's just shocking... you think you get prepared for it, but then it's like nope. Not prepared. The worst part is that it's not that great of idea to give to people begging on the street in Africa - b/c you get swamped. So unlike life in America, you can't buy your way out of this one.

UNICEF is high on my list. Donate now.

The whole meeting process, from leaving the hotel to back in my room, including a breakfast meeting, only took 4 hours. So, I'm about to change into jeans/t-shirt and walk around for a bit. Wish me luck... I'm sure I'll have more stories tonight.


malawi met building

some bad news and good news...

good news first... meg, you'll appreciate this. i went down to the business center to try to get a better internet connection, and the song playing on the mp3 computer is "O Christmas Tree". Classic, classic Africa. Hey, it's technically winter here in the Southern Hemisphere, right? Speaking of, that reminds me that I want to go out and look for the southern cross tonight.

Ok, the bad news is... Malawi is very similar to Uganda in that the bandwidth for the internet (country-wide, probably) really, really sucks. It took about 10 min to upload that last blog post, and it was only text. I've been trying for about 2 hours to upload a picture from my camera phone (1mb!!) and it's still not done. So, unfortunately, that probably means no pictures from this trip on the blog until I get home.

But the stories will still be worth checking... so stick with me guys!

what just happened?!?

talk about totally different worlds.... I now fully stand behind my earlier opinion that South Africa is very similar to the UK or US. At least compared to Malawi.

Landing in Blantyre about 2 hours ago was like landing in the village in Uganda - directly. Megan, you'll appreciate that. A different world. I saw kids gathering water by a small river, little groups of houses with dirt paths connecting them, some men working on a broken minibus, and the beautiful, rugged landscape of Malawi in the dry season.

Stepping off the plane, I couldn't help but think, where the heck am I, and what am I doing here? About half the plane was filled with a group of people from North Carolina on a mission trip to an orphanage. There were also some white south africans and random other europeans on holiday. Only about 10-20% would I guess were Malawian natives. And those were pretty clearly businessmen. Basically, I felt uncomfortably wealthy making this trip.

There was about 100 school children on the second floor of the airport (and by airport, I'm thinking of the one in Nepal... if you looked at all of our pictures from last fall, you'll remember) - I don't know what they were waiting on, but it reminded me of a school fieldtrip. "Look kids, those are all the people that are coming to visit our country!"

This was also the first time I have ever had someone pick me up from the airport holding my name up on a sign. The met service sent me a driver. My first business trip: Blantyre, Malawi.

About 5 minutes out of the airport gate, we already had to stop to let a man with four goats cross the road. Along the way, the driver pointed out local places to me (the road to Lilongwe (the capital), the boundary of the city, the names of two nearby mountains I had seen from the plane. This whole time we were following an overloaded pickup truck carrying a trailer filled with who-knows-what under a tarp. The driver told me "when you see a truck like this, you can be sure they are coming back from South Africa." "So... are they traders?" "No, they are people that have been kicked out of the country as they were looking for jobs. But these are lucky ones. They got to bring their belongings back with them." Africa. Unemployment is so high in poor countries like Malawi that people will drive 1000 miles to south africa just to take a chance on their booming economy. When a country where 3 out of 10 people have AIDS is considered booming, you know you're in trouble. My driver said that he finished his education 10 years ago (college) and just got his first job last year, as a driver with the met service. And I can see in his eyes that he is very thankful.

At the airport, I changed $50 to Kwacha. This got me about 7000 Kwacha. 500 of this I gave the driver as a tip, 200 I gave to the man at the hotel who took my bag up to my room for me. I have decided I am leaving tips this time. Megan, you have to admit we got a little bit stingy in Uganda.

The hotel. Is. Probably. One. Of. The. Nicest. Hotels. I. Have. Ever. Ever. Stayed. At. For real. When I was checking in, a girl brought me a fresh glass of passion fruit juice (joo-iss). Just so I had something to do while I waited. You can see pictures of my room below. It's pretty self explanitory. It reminds me of all those hotels we went in just for lunch, and to gawk at how people could afford this sort of thing in Africa. Honestly, I'm thinking about switching to another place. Diplomatically, my boss said that I should book at whatever hotel the met service suggested - but I have some serious issues with staying here when those kids back at the airport will probably sleep on matresses on a dirt floor tonight. If they have a matress.

AND a housekeeping girl just knocked on my door, gave me a chocolate mint... "I have this for you"... and left.

More later.



airport in south africa



airport in malawi


malawi village while landing


malawi hotel room (compare with above picture of village)

Back in Africa!

Just landed in South Africa - after a pleasantly uneventful flight. I guess it helps to prepare yourself for a real headache cause then you'll be ecstatic when all you have is a little jet lag. Not doing too bad really in that department either.


Some thoughts:

I just covered more ground in 24 hours than people could have covered in 24 months just a few hundred years ago.

I saw the sunrise this morning in Senegal. Again, I saw the sunrise this morning in Senegal. Pretty amazing.

There are deciduous trees in South Africa. I wasn't really expecting that. And it's a little chilly outside (they're in the middle of winter right now - it's probably 65F or so). Weird to see something so familiar so far away.

There's no one here to take pictures of me without Megan.


A run down of the last 24 hours:

Walking up to the boarding gate in Atlanta, I was greeted by a few friendly faces that were boarding towards the rear of the plane, like me. Chatting a bit discovered they were also going to Blantyre, Malawi. Although, they didn't know exactly when. They informed me "you might be interested in this" that the latest rumor they heard was that the landing lights at Blantyre airport were stolen this weekend. I suppose that's Africa. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

I kind of like that I'm going to a place where it's not that uncommon for the landing lights to be stolen at the airport.

I'm kind of nervous going to a place where it's not that uncommon for the landing lights to be stolen at the airport.

Like I already mentioned, Delta outperformed their reputation (which wasn't very high - see last post) for this flight. All the seat backs had video screens. On demand music (Amy Winehouse, Tiesto, and Madonna? Sure.), on demand movies (Cloverfield, Young at Heart, and Jumper? Sure), and on demand games (I was the plane-wide trivia champion on the first flight, but got beaten by 50pts on the second flight). ALSO, and a BIG also.... free drinks, anything you want, the whole way. I was out after the 3rd whisky and coke and slept from Bermuda to Cape Verde - almost a full night. AND they put a special sticker on my seat that declared me a vegetarian, and got served dinner before everyone else b/c of it! Pretty not bad. I didn't even mind being in the middle seat.

My seat mate (A Kenyan working in Los Angeles on a development/education program) failed to make a reservation at the Transit hotel here in the Jo'burg airport for her 6am flight tomorrow to Lesotho, so I offered her my reservation. When we got the the hotel check in counter about an hour ago, we were both like, there's two beds, why don't we just share?

The whirlwind continues.

More tomorrow, from Malawi.



on the plane


seatback map - almost there

A whirlwind already!

Deep Breaths.

So, being excited for my trip to Africa, and not having anything better to do this morning, I decided to head to the airport a little early and do some work on my laptop at the gate. The good folks at LGA and Delta had other plans. The checkin line was SO long. Delta had only 3 agents working. When a 4th one joined, the line literally erupted in applause. Quickly, however, we were back down to 2. As the time for my flight approached (and waiting time passed 3 hours) I decided to take matters into my own hands. I skipped my place in line (we were all friends, or "line-mates" by this point), walked up to the ticket counter and said, "Excuse me, I have a flight to South Africa in 30 min. Can you check me in please? I think I can still make it." Within 5 minutes, I was on my way through security. Why didn't I say something sooner??

So despite being 4 hours early for my flight, I ended up officially checking in 1 min before the cutoff time - and then proceeded to run through the terminal (in my socks) to catch my flight to Atlanta.


Not sure how much I'm looking forward to the next flight (Atlanta - Senegal - South Africa "direct"), especially after I read this review.


The line at La Guardia.

A baby Atchison is on the way!!

Heartbeat: 160
Birthday: January 2009
Parents: Ecstatic =)

"Cheap is the new Expensive." -America

This is the scariest thing I have read in a couple of years. Well, besides this.

Now that the coming recession is back in full swing, missiles are being launched in Iran, and we will likely have an ice-free north pole for the first time (in recorded history) this summer, we're inevitably moving closer to the day where a long term trip to Canada might not seem too bad.

As insurance, this is the last book I bought.

Going to Malawi!

So, it's official. I'm going to Malawi next week. The IRI along with our partner Swiss Re is sending me there to have a series of meetings with the national met service of Malawi, some people in the agriculture ministry, and local village leaders. I'm excited about the opportunity, even though I will only be gone for about 10 days.

These meetings are relating to the project I'm working on at IRI relating to drought insurance for rain-fed agriculture - the primary source of livelihood for most of the people that live in Malawi, and most of Africa for that matter. The idea is to help protect their crops during droughts - and that if the rains fail, they will be paid back for the cost of their seeds and fertilizer - which will allow them to plant the next season's crops. According to local officials in the villages we are working in across Africa, drought is the #1 risk they face for hunger, education (kids are forced to work more in hard times), health (more diseases are spread when people are weak), gender equality (women often bear the brunt of manual labor duties in Africa), and general prosperity - since most rural areas are based almost entirely on an agricultural economy. Helping make droughts more bearable will help to reduce poverty in Africa.


In other news:

I'm starting to love this guy. Especially since he was the guy that invented PECOTA. How amazing.

Is it normal to see a family of mother and baby turkeys on your walk to work?

If you know me, you'll understand why this is the first site I check each morning. Even before email.

And, the first Atlantic hurricane of the season formed today. Bertha. She's beautiful. No threat to land (hopefully - but watch out if you're in Bermuda). Scary still though because this storm followed a pattern more typical of August or September - normally the peak months of the season. And if storms are forming like that this early.... well... did I ever tell you how much I like Portland? It seems safer there. =)

Long time no post

Hi fabulous friends & family.

So it's been quite a while since you've seen thoughts from yours truly (I wouldn't be surprised if you don't even recognize my handwriting...). Sorry about that! Who ever knew this whole full-time job would take up so much time???! Some random thoughts of late:

*I miss Maia. I LOVE (love love) being able to see Ella & Jackson more often than when I was in NYC, but I really haven't seen Maia that much...the six-hour away thing kinda puts a hold on that. She is at SUCH a fun stage (1 yr. & 4 months!) & Michelle is awesome about sharing cute stories, so I do still feel connected.

*I really like my job, which took a few weeks. When I first started, I was constantly wondering what I had gotten myself into; now I feel much more settled, & I enjoy the amount of responsibility as Program Coordinator for the TAP program (Transitional Assistance Program...program). I work with some really wonderful people too.

*Please say some prayers/send some positive energy to my sister Melissa & her family...their car was stolen last Monday, their other car stopped working, her mother n law is sick, & her family was sick. Raining, pouring I guess.

*Eric is in NYC again, this time not knowing when he'll be back. Yesterday's goodbye was NOT fun, but I'm sure the time will fly by. Plus, he gets to do some exciting stuff on this trip (more thoughts, E?)!

*Barack Obama is the Democratic Presidential nominee. I got nothin.

I need to go...I'm heading to a new meditation class, which I'm real excited about.
Thanks for tuning in!

A new photoblog: greenchili

I finally got up the courage to launch a semi-professional photoblog today.

http://greenchili.aminus3.com/