Wow, so today started off with me hearing a rooster early in the morning. And my roommate Danielle getting left behind because one of the professors on the trip said she was taking too long. We were headed to the Tikondwe Freedom Gardens which is known because it is a sustainability garden. We picked up this man named Dr. Absolom Phiri on the way to come along with us to tour the garden. Dr. Absolom Phiri is a very smart man he earned his master’s degree in Malawi, but then traveled to the United States to earn his PhD at Virginia Tech is Science Education which is how he became good friend with some of the professors on our trip. Currently he has retired from the ministry of Educations in Malawi and now works as a private contractor for USAid.
Driving to the gardens was cool we saw numerous goats all over the road, small little villages, and a lot of little boys carrying fried mice on a stick.
I was soooo scared to cross this bridge on the van!
When we reached the gardens Mrs. Chinkhunta had prepared tea time for us. I’m not a big fan of tea so I tried the coco. The coco in Malawi tastes nothing like our coco it was very, very bitter so I didn’t enjoy it that much.
After tea time, we sat around in a circle as Daniel, Mrs. Chinkhunta’s son, told us the entire history of the gardens. Apparently, his father Dr. Glyvvyns Chinkhunta was the founder of the gardens. He brought a small piece of land for a cheap price because the land was very swampy so everyone thought it was a waste of land since you couldn’t do anything with it. Well he spent about three years digging up the land to clear it of the swamp. And then he spent about ten years digging, planting, and working towards this garden. He knew a lot about agriculture so he was able to dig up his own irrigation systems and be able to water his plants, vegetables, and fruits a healthier way than using pumps and pipes and things of that sort. His garden is completely organic so he does not use fertilizers or anything like that. It was pretty cool to see how his little tiny land has grown this huge garden it is today. Before Dr. Glyvvyns Chinkhunta passed away he was very sick so Daniel left the university he was at to watch over his father and take over the gardens. So Danielle is now the head person of the garden.
We took a nice tour of the whole garden and learned about the system.
In this picture they used these leaf things on a stick to spread around this liquid they made from natural resources that makes bugs go away instead of using toxic pesticide sprays.
Sugar Cane.
This is what it looks like when the bananas bloom.
Some students tried to do the hard work themselves; let's just say they weren't very successful.
We got to pick our own oranges! :)
We never seen a sweet potato that big before!
After leaving the gardens we were headed to the memorial of Malawi’s first president. On the way there this man named Tony who always drives with us since he works for Annie’s Lodge had the driver pull over so we could take pictures of the fried mice on a stick, but he scared all of us when he took the boy’s stick and brought it in the van with us. We all started screaming especially me and this lady named Patty because it was right in front of us. Dr. Absolom Phiri started laughing at us, so we asked him what food in America did he react the same way with and he said oysters and crab which is pretty interesting.
Then we drove to the memorial of Malawi's first president.
After reaching the memorial we drove to the market place and got out to go see what the people with stands were selling. It was sooo overwhelming because as soon as all of us got out all of them came to us saying “Hey friend come take a look at my stand.” We were surrounded and they were not taking no for an answer. And if you did go to their stand they kept trying to put bracelets and necklaces on you to get you to buy it. After a while I just kept telling them that I’m not buying only looking but all they kept saying was “okay looking is for free” but when I came over to look they kept trying to sell me something repeating “I give you best price, best price.” Finally, we got to leave.
When we got back to the lodge the power was out so there were candles everywhere. While waiting for dinner we were all in the conference room talking and telling stories when we saw a lizard on the wall. I was the brave one who touched it, but I did start screaming when the tail hit me when it started running away. It was pretty funny since it was real dark so we could not really see where it ran to.
We got to have a candle lit dinner. I had this really good fish called chambo; it was so good I decided to have two. Eventually lights did come on which I was happy to see because I was ready to take a shower. But this time me and Danielle learned our lesson and took a shower in the hallway bathroom which had a real shower and hot water.
After my shower, everyone was watching the world cup in the dining room and we had friends over. I had met two guys named Simba and Moses and they were both really nice.
By the way, my luggage still has not arrived.
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