Back from the Kalahari

This is basically just to let our parents know we have returned from our New Year's camping trip in the Kalahari and did not get eaten by lions. Heck, we only came close once. : ) Happy New Year everyone!

Some posts from our paris trip last year are up.

For Paris posts follow the below link or click view my complete profile along the right hand side of the blog page. Then click "ready!set!go! Paris".

http://00readysetgoparis00.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=3

Two days posted,eight more days to come.

Yeah, yeah. But what about the FABRIC?

So today I got to do my big time, fill the suitcase, no plan, no worries, modest budget fabric shopping. And oh my goodness. The fabric here is amazing. And so so so so so cheap! And it's COTTON! Excuse me while I go do the happy dance and scare some locals.

You see, in beautiful Botswana, Shweeshwee is the only game in town if you want something that is 100% cotton. Everything else is poly mix and is more suited for suits or window treatments than quilts. So you can imagine my thrill at seeing things like this.Prices vary depending on if you buy it from some guy on the street (always a guy, usually with friends who sing backup on "oh no rich tourist, your offer is too low" or a shop in the heart of a tourist area... or in a place a little more geared towards the locals. On average it worked out to be 2 or 3 dollars a meter. Not bad.

All over Mozambique, women wear them as wrap skirts or "capulanas" over their slacks or skirts. They also work well as babies slings across the back or to hold whatever else needs to be carried. They also work well as towels at the beach and ground covers everywhere else.
Capulanas can be bought but more customarily given as gifts to commemorate a special event or relationship. When a woman gets married she takes with her a bunch of capulanas that tell her story. I was told that the fabric patterns are regional and different patterns are appropriate for formal or day to day wear. Thighs are covered as they are offensive and it is believed that only prostitutes show their knees. (So glad I did not do the touristy thing and wear shorts!) Married women wear headscarves and bundle an additional capulana to make carrying things on the head more stable.

Men use to wear capulanas as well but have switched to western style clothing. According to one article I read, they may still wear capulanas in post-battle cleansing rituals which are taken off and burned on the spot or allowed to drift down river releasing them of whatever impurity of past actions they want to be rid of. (Note: Google is awesome.)

Blurry photos of beautiful fabrics and the stores that sell them.Fabric is printed with the usual flora and fauna but also can have photos of politicians or social issues. Note the AIDS fabric hung in the upper right corner.


So I bought some. Actually I bought some, cut the pieces in half then sold the non-kept half to a Gaborone quilt store.
Much of this fabric will probably be turned into grocery bags like this one I made for a friend for Christmas. And yes, that is lined, top stitched and has a flat bottom thank you very much. Okay, admittedly that pear concerns me greatly. The stuff of nightmares. Who knows?!? Maybe that is what some artist in India's idea of a pear leaf looks like. (Rumor has it that is where the capulanas fabric is printed.) Regardless, easy and useful Christmas gift made from cheep materials that doesn't look like crap... fantastic!

Oh yeah.. then what?

So the following day we saw many things. I took many pictures. And then my camera and phone were stolen later in the evening. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, ANOTHER FAO LEARNING EXPERIENCE! Argh. Luckily, I borrow Lance's camera earlier in the day so have some documentation of our travels.

It's Sunday so the government/official side of the trip was on hold. We headed up the coast in search of Mozambique's famous beaches and check out countryside.

Small villages dot the road where people seem to grow a lot of pineapples and corn and women carry water in the morning in big containers on their heads. Houses are cement or brickpossibly made in one of these ovensRoofs are silver metal sheets or tied thatch purchased in bundles like thesewhich makes roofs/ceilings like these. Well that is actually from a lodge a few nights later. Most of the thatch roofs are simple cone shapes. I just like the picture.

Another common sight were the people selling roasted cashews alongside the road. Your eyes do not deceive you, those are plastic bags tied to strings and making pretty effective flags. The cashews themselves are in the bundles on the left. We picked up a few bags for munching (too much munching - I haven't wanted a cashew since!) and Christmas gifts. Three hours later (!!!) we arrived at a sorta kinda slummy slimy resort area and chilled on the beach for a little while. We of pale skin and happy dermatologists did not go in the water (plus it stank!!) but had a nice time people watching and drinking the obligatory "beer on the beach."
Lunch was macaza (grilled seafood kabobs) and roasted chicken. Musical accompaniment was MTV Africa on a small tv in the bar next door. I recognized the new single by Britney Spears ("Oh oh oh ah! Oh oh oh ah!") and happily nothing else after that.

Back we drove (THREE HOURS!) to Maputo. Dinner was a great seafood restaurant where I again enjoyed the totally amazing Prawn Curry and Lance had crab legs with tons of "unnecessary sauce" which was really messy but good.

AND THEN MY CAMERA AND PHONE GOT STOLEN OUT OF MY PURSE ON OUR WAY BACK TO THE HOTEL!!!

argh.

(do you blame me for procrastinating on this one? tomorrow was much better!)

Maputo in few words but plenty of pictures.

I've decided to be better this trip with posting things in order and within closer proximity of their actual occurrence. To that end I made a list of things we did today but now lack the energy to flesh it out properly. So what you see is what you get.

Up with the sun and worshipers at the ocean at 0530 - yes the sun was up at 0530. Weird country.Breakfast at the hotel and reservations made online for next stop at Kruger National Park.

Drive to the Saturday Morning Craft Market where Jayne and I bargained like crazy for fabric.That guy smiled like crazy when he was selling me the panels!
Lance and Mike discussing all things FAO and Mozambique.A quick walk around the Portuguese Fort next door and a little city exploration. I forgot to take a picture of the fort but here is a view from the roof:Sat down for lunch as a seafront restaurant but Jayne didn't feel well and, coming from a big malaria area (Cameroon) and into an also big malaria area (Mozambique), went to a local doc to get checked out.Lance and I lunch on the patio. Prawn samosas, prawn cakes and a glass of the local "2M" beer. Local currency is the Metical which is .04 US dollars so a good price for lunch. Lots of people walking next to and through the patio selling stuff. Best not to even look at them if you don't want to be bothered. I learned this riding the train into Philly. View from the table:
Lance's got his FAO on and we drive up the coast in search of anything. Ran out of pavement very quickly outside town. Bumps and big mud holes. Turned around after 45 minutes. Still, I could live here. Views from the road:Wanna buy a chicken?Meeting the boats for catch of the day.Back to the hotel pick up Mike for another exploring adventure.
A packed ride.
Wanna buy a shoe?Got stuck in one heck of a traffic jam. The guy in the red shirt worked it out. Back to the hotel Jayne (malaria free!) and buffet dinner at fancy-smancy hotel. We were serenaded by a live quartet and enjoyed the biggest lobster tails any of us had ever seen. Lance was a happy camper.Back to the room, full and sleepy, and crashed at a road appropriate 10:30.

Scenes from the road

Knock Knock

(whose there?)

South African BANANA TREES!Welcome to Mozambique!
Interesting design on Maputo building.

Great breakfast, made our way through the SA/MOZ border (diplomat license plates make everything easier), settled at a Maputo hotel, dinner at a local seafood restaurant (king prawns for Lance, prawn curry for Kristin), back to the room and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

One Night in Nelspreit

'Ello from South Africa! Tonight Lance and I are just 200 km shy of the Mozambique border in the rolling hills of Nelspriet, SA. Today was 9 hours of driving but tonight we rest easy in the totally cute Utopia in Africa B&B. We almost didn’t make it though as early this morning Lance discovered we had car registration issues with the new FAO vehicle. This would have been a deal breaker going into Mozambique as officials there look for any excuse to get money from travelers. But Lance got it worked out and we left just a hour or so behind schedule.

Of course we forgot to bring any of the local currency which is a problem as we were driving toll roads the whole way. Then the first ATM we found was out of order because it was blown up by thieves the previous year and hadn’t been replaced yet. Gotta love South Africa.

On the way down we listened to the Poultry 2008 episode of This American Life. (All praise Chicken for anyone who heard it), two excellent episodes of Wait, Wait, Don’t tell me and an Fresh Air with Terry Gross. I think Lance is a little NPRed out but I was in podcast heaven. I held back on playing On the Media for fear he would crash the car while yelling at the announcers. There are times when safety needs to take precedence over great radio.

The B&B is lovely and we are pooped. Time for bed.