Though I am making this post way after my trip, I wanted to capture a brief post on my London experience. We spent two days in London to visit with our client, debrief the trip to Africa and our work for him, and also hang out for a day or so to see the sights.
The first day, Friday, was mostly spent recovering from the long trip and going over our project. In the evening, we did go out for a nice dinner before hitting the sack. It gave us a good chance to get to know our client and his girlfriend during the stay, which was nice, since it has been all business up until this point.
Saturday, Santiago and I took off for the day to try to see some sights around London, but we didn't actually try that hard. We were mostly wandering, and we went to the National Gallery, had some lunch by Westminster Abbey, and walked along the river towards the Tate Modern, where we stayed outside for a long time to watch the street entertainers. One of them was a master bubbler, or simply a guy that blew soap bubbles to entertain the kids. He was very much like the pied piper, but wielded a soap bubble wand rather than a pipe. In the evening, we played some ping pong and I grabbed some dinner with Henri and his girlfriend before going to bed. I skipped out on the Agentinian tango night that Santiago found, but that would have kept me up until 3 am.
It was very nice to be back in a modern society after a 3 week run in the rough.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Departing Ngala Safari Lodge
It's now time to depart Ngala lodge in Kruger National Park. It has been a very fun time and we have seen all of the big 5 animals that most people crave to see. Last night we checked off two leopards who were getting it on in the bushes and today, we saw a rhino on the runway from which we are about to take off. Every time we went out on a drive, we saw something new and different. It was somewhat grueling to endure the cold in the mornings and the long bumping terrain, but it was a lot of fun and well worth the time.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Cheetahs at the kill
This morning was another exciting game drive. We got up at our usual time of 5:30 am to grab some hot chocolate and head out on the savannah to try to see some animals. After an hour of struggling to stay warm under blankets and then taking a small break for some more hot chocolate, we found something cool.
Off in the distance to the side of the road were two giraffe heads sprouting out of the tall grass. Instead of the usual glares straight at us, we saw them facing the opposite direction, which alerted our guides to the fact that something was up. We turned off the car and promptly heard some impala grunting and making alarm sounds. So we took to offroading into the bush. Soon, we saw a hyena galloping along the right side of our vehicle, then another from the left crossing our path. After driving a bit farther, we spotted the cheetah at the site of the kill. We were there in just in time to see two more hyenas chase the cheetah off and grab the impala and start furiously devouring it. They were ripping it apart from limb to limb, gutting it, and gulping down all the internal organs. It was super gross but raw and uncensored Africa. As we watched, we saw the blood flowing, heard the sound of skin ripping, and smelled the disgusting internals of the ripped open intestines.
The cheetahs, were slowly trotting away as they gave up their kill. There were 3 of them in total, young males who were most likely family. As they wandered off, we followed, to watch them cleaning and relaxing in the morning sun.
Off in the distance to the side of the road were two giraffe heads sprouting out of the tall grass. Instead of the usual glares straight at us, we saw them facing the opposite direction, which alerted our guides to the fact that something was up. We turned off the car and promptly heard some impala grunting and making alarm sounds. So we took to offroading into the bush. Soon, we saw a hyena galloping along the right side of our vehicle, then another from the left crossing our path. After driving a bit farther, we spotted the cheetah at the site of the kill. We were there in just in time to see two more hyenas chase the cheetah off and grab the impala and start furiously devouring it. They were ripping it apart from limb to limb, gutting it, and gulping down all the internal organs. It was super gross but raw and uncensored Africa. As we watched, we saw the blood flowing, heard the sound of skin ripping, and smelled the disgusting internals of the ripped open intestines.
The cheetahs, were slowly trotting away as they gave up their kill. There were 3 of them in total, young males who were most likely family. As they wandered off, we followed, to watch them cleaning and relaxing in the morning sun.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Project is finally over, mostly
We are sitting at the Fedair terminal in Johannesburg ready to take off for Ngala for our Krueger Park adventure. It's rather exciting to finally start vacation and be done with this project. Over the last two months, we have put in countless hours working on this project and it all culminated with a final business plan that we finished yesterday, not without a bit of stress as we should have probably finished up the day before so that we could be free a bit. There was always just one more thing to double check though. After this adventure for 5 days, two of us are going to London to talk about the final deliverable, which is a bit more work.
After taking a few weeks break and finally enjoying a summer vacation from school, I could see myself becoming an advisor on this project and working on it again, but for now, I could use some time off.
After taking a few weeks break and finally enjoying a summer vacation from school, I could see myself becoming an advisor on this project and working on it again, but for now, I could use some time off.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Africa Poem
Africa, Africa, rugged, rural, and raw.
We came, we met, we conquered, we saw
How to do business here, how to do agriculture and how to do education,
All the while we were hoping for a two week long vacation.
We met with ministers, with vice chancellors, and with department deans
We saw that they had great opportunity but lacked significant means.
We can help these people we said
We’ll bring them education in agriculture to keep them well fed
There is nothing that’ll stop us as long as we pursue
The good project that we came here to do.
All our good hopes, inspiration and dreams
were somewhat tempered by the encounters and scandalous schemes
that we ran into some times in our adventures out
after dinner when we took a most disastrous route.
It took us by policemen each carrying a rather large gun
They stopped us and decided to ruin our fun
They wanted our passports, a bribe, threatened to take us away
We proclaimed this is not a warm welcome which could entice us to stay
After a half hour of sublime and subdued protest
They could save face and finally gave us some rest.
But all is not lost with this country, Mozambique
It is worth some investigation before a critique
The people in general are kind and sincere
They are simple, lack knowledge and also lack fear
This in itself is entrepreneurial enough
We just have to find the diamonds in the rough
Who are enterprising and willing to do what it takes to succeed
Who have the abilities to learn how to prosper, how to follow the creed
Of those who find capital, invest, make crops to sell
Rather than being a part of a drug cartel
For in the former is the future, in the latter is the past
While we bring this to Africa, we’ll have quite a blast.
Africa, Africa, rugged, rural, and raw.
The place of hope, change, and awe.
Maputo Special Elephant Reserve
Yesterday was our first weekend day and that meant that we finally get some free time. To spend the free time, we booked a guided trip to the Maputo Elephant Reserve, which isn't too far away from the city and is a small wildlife sanctuary where they are reintroducing animals to the region. Many of the animals were killed during the civil war for meet and there are virtually none left in the area, so this reintroduction program brings some herbivores back to the area.
The day started at 5 am when we met with our guide to make it to the ferry for the first ferry ride across the bay towards the reserve. It was a pretty chaotic scene at 5:30 in the morning. While talking with the guide, we saw a crazy driver speeding down the road (probably drunk) in a Lexus. He ran straight into this barricade that was protected the department of defense, which was probably not the best place to run into. The Lexus hopped up the curb and somehow managed mount a 3 foot tall cement post before coming to a stop. Lots of people rushed to the scene and amazingly nobody was hurt. The army guards on duty were there and eventually the driver had a friend pick him up and they went screeching away in a new vehicle, where they peeled out for 5 seconds prior to the departure. They left the Lexus as is. Perhaps there was a lower class employee of the driver that came to the scene as a stand in for the driver to take the rap. During this time, the police arrived on the scene in 5 minutes, but they were only interested in giving a parking ticket to some taxi driver that had parked nearby illegally, and they commenced their corrupt extortion practices.
So, that was a morning started with a bang. The ferry ride over the bay was fun, and on the drive to the reserve, we saw the sunrise, which was very pretty.
Most of the day was spent driving through the park on tiny dirt roads, through bushes and over grass, to try to spot some animals. We saw a group of giraffe, some zebra, a couple of hippos, a family of bush pigs, and even 4 elephants off in the distance in tall tall grass such that we could only see the tops of their heads. It was a lot of effort to see the animals in this park compared to my other experience in Tanzania and Kenya. I hope that Krueger Park is a lot better.
On the way back, we had a really hard and long time finding lunch, which was included in the tour but not easy away from the city of Maputo. It became 3 pm before we had our first meal of the day. Things move so slowly around here and workers seem so unmotivated to get anything done with any sense of urgency that it is rather disappointing.
On the way back, we had to wait for the ferry boat which has the capacity of about 22 cars to go across the river. This process took about 2-3 hours, but it comes while surrounded by a bustling market of fish, shrimp, drinks, pool tables, alcohol, and random electronics shops. People coming back from Maputo are ready to buy dinner for their families and there are eager merchants trying to make a buck or two. I think that we got home at about 7 pm and were so tired that we crashed until now, where I am at breakfast enjoying the buffet at 8 am.
The day started at 5 am when we met with our guide to make it to the ferry for the first ferry ride across the bay towards the reserve. It was a pretty chaotic scene at 5:30 in the morning. While talking with the guide, we saw a crazy driver speeding down the road (probably drunk) in a Lexus. He ran straight into this barricade that was protected the department of defense, which was probably not the best place to run into. The Lexus hopped up the curb and somehow managed mount a 3 foot tall cement post before coming to a stop. Lots of people rushed to the scene and amazingly nobody was hurt. The army guards on duty were there and eventually the driver had a friend pick him up and they went screeching away in a new vehicle, where they peeled out for 5 seconds prior to the departure. They left the Lexus as is. Perhaps there was a lower class employee of the driver that came to the scene as a stand in for the driver to take the rap. During this time, the police arrived on the scene in 5 minutes, but they were only interested in giving a parking ticket to some taxi driver that had parked nearby illegally, and they commenced their corrupt extortion practices.
So, that was a morning started with a bang. The ferry ride over the bay was fun, and on the drive to the reserve, we saw the sunrise, which was very pretty.
Most of the day was spent driving through the park on tiny dirt roads, through bushes and over grass, to try to spot some animals. We saw a group of giraffe, some zebra, a couple of hippos, a family of bush pigs, and even 4 elephants off in the distance in tall tall grass such that we could only see the tops of their heads. It was a lot of effort to see the animals in this park compared to my other experience in Tanzania and Kenya. I hope that Krueger Park is a lot better.
On the way back, we had a really hard and long time finding lunch, which was included in the tour but not easy away from the city of Maputo. It became 3 pm before we had our first meal of the day. Things move so slowly around here and workers seem so unmotivated to get anything done with any sense of urgency that it is rather disappointing.
On the way back, we had to wait for the ferry boat which has the capacity of about 22 cars to go across the river. This process took about 2-3 hours, but it comes while surrounded by a bustling market of fish, shrimp, drinks, pool tables, alcohol, and random electronics shops. People coming back from Maputo are ready to buy dinner for their families and there are eager merchants trying to make a buck or two. I think that we got home at about 7 pm and were so tired that we crashed until now, where I am at breakfast enjoying the buffet at 8 am.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Friday, first work day in Maputo
It's nice to have the whole team together and to be exploring the city a bit, though most of our days are filled with meetings and collaborative work on our project. We had a couple of meetings with representatives of the private sector and also had to get formally dressed for our meeting with a member of the department of agriculture focused on promotion and support of agriculture in the region. We also had a chance to share some of the learnings and insights from our respective sub team destinations.
The evening brought freedom again and we just went out to dinner at a pretty popular place called Dolce Vita which promised to have a healthy group of expats and working people. It was a good dinner, and we decided to call it an early night because of our plans for Saturday.
The evening brought freedom again and we just went out to dinner at a pretty popular place called Dolce Vita which promised to have a healthy group of expats and working people. It was a good dinner, and we decided to call it an early night because of our plans for Saturday.
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