Jungle Trekking

Our recent trip to the Nyakyusa language area (our favourite countryside – though don’t tell anyone!) was, as always, eventful. But, again, as always, not in the ways that we might have expected!

Our trip followed a similar pattern to previous areas, visiting our teacher supervisors, the literacy workers and conducting a Sunday School Teacher Training Workshop. So on Thursday morning we set off for Itete, the village our Nyakyusa teachers are located around. This involved around an hour’s driving on a good tarmac road climbing into the mountains and then another hour on ‘good’ dirt road down into the mango and banana lands. Itete is still relatively high but it was already noticeably hotter there and with all the mango and banana trees it really did feel much more tropical! We had lunch with two of our teacher supervisors, discussing their work and new ideas we have had to help encourage the teachers. After lunch we carried on down (altitude and direction wise), south to Lake Nyasa and Kyela. Again this involves driving through the ‘jungle’ and this route always reminds us why we love this area – so lush and furtile. Kyela, our final destination and location for the workshop, is only at about 1700m above sea level and so MUCH hotter and more humid than Mbeya.

Friday and Saturday Liz and Katherine conducted the workshop with nearly 20 very keen and appreciative Sunday School Teachers. One teacher even said at the end (and here I am paraphrasing and translating!): “I’ve been to many workshops but none have been like this”. And yes, she meant this in a good way! Matt spent these two days with the literacy workers and doing other work.

Come Saturday late afternoon we were all hot, sweaty and ready to go home. We set off at 4pm leaving ample time to make the more direct, tarmac road, 2 hour trip home. However nothing is ever as you plan here in Africa. 20mins into the trip on the crest of a steep hill suddenly the water temperature gauge shoots up, there’s a shrill whistle from the engine and we know we need to stop! Opening the bonnet we see steam and smoke and a pipe leaking slightly. After waiting some time we try re-filling the water but on starting the engine the leak is worse and we know we need some help. Matt flags down the next car to pass and it happens to be a landrover full of police! The driver helps tighten the tube and it seems we’ll be off again. 5 minutes down the road the needle is heading up again and so we stop and see the water is boiling! Oh dear, big problem. Thankfully the same vehicle heading the opposite way this time comes by just 20 seconds after we stop! The long and short of it is that they know a good car mechanic who happens to live just 10 minutes away (and most importantly downhill!) at a local coalmine! There we head and after examining the problem he says it is the ‘something head gasket’ which he could change tomorrow (by this time it’s about 6:30pm and getting dark!). Judging him to be a trustworthy, and knowledgeable, guy we ask him if there is somewhere to stay in the coalmine village and we are soon heading to a 1980’s Chinese built coalmine manager’s house! Africa – a world of new experiences!

Fast forward to Sunday afternoon and after much waiting by us, and much hard work by our mechanic friend (in some seriously strong sun), he finishes putting the engine back together and we think we are good to go. 2 minutes down the road, dropping off the mechanic at his house, the problem arises again! It seems the problem was larger than thought, he had said that replacing the part may not be enough, and so we are no closer to home! Knowing we need more help we speak to our colleagues in Mbeya and they arrange to come and pick us up (its already 5pm now!). Our mechanic friend politely invites us into his house where we are given tea and grilled meat – us feeling just as sorry for his unsuccessful hard labour as he probably does for our troubles!

After some discussions we decide its probably best to leave the vehicle there and get some people from a local garage in Mbeya to return with a tow bar tomorrow to collect it. So off we head, arriving back home around 9pm at night! As soon as we arrive we know there is a problem… all the lights are off at our compound despite other houses around having power. Talking to our neighbours we hear that there has been a problem with just three houses all day and so we need to wait for an engineer to come!

As I write this it is now 3pm on Monday afternoon and the power is back on! We are both very tired but we know that the trip was important and very worthwhile. We knew life here would not always be easy, but sometimes things do seem to add up a little! Am still trying to decide the significance of my starting to read a book about the Book of Job on Saturday morning. At least we still have our health... well most of the time anyway!