Trip to the eastern part of Africa, just above SA...

I'm being cryptic... I know. I have been censored and am not allowed to say where I am, what I'm doing or who for.  So you will have to guess.  But let's just say it is an amazing part of our continent.  

The life here is simple.  The only evidence of Western influence is in the towns and cities and even then it is minimal.  The only litter found is in these areas. The country side with the traditional villages hardly has anything vaguely Westernised and no litter.  The people live simply in mud and wood huts with palm roofs.  They make their simple furniture from poles cut from the surrounding area.  No padded Goma Goma couches here.  No "comforts" at all actually.  They smash their Cassava roots to make flour in the traditional way using a large mortar and stick. Food is cooked on an open flame outside the hut and the only light at night is from the fire (which doesn't last long, they have to carry all the wood on their heads each day so the fire is small) and some have small lamps which they power with the use of solar panels lying on the ground during the day to charge car batteries.  Mostly they live in the dark at night. We drive around doing our night work and see large groups of children happily playing together in the total darkness.  Their eyes are obviously accustomed to it and they can see.  

Homes are really small, hardly more than one room.  I haven't see much of ablution facilities so not sure where that happens.  We often find men bathing in the nearby water bodies and women washing clothes there.  Little kids fish for their lunch in the same place and a variety of bird life is found there too. We are told to be careful of crocodiles but have yet to see one.  Sometimes we find evidence of hippos moving around the area as well but have only seen them in the Big River (name withheld for confidentiality reasons).

The main mode of transport is the motorbike.  There are cars but they are mainly driven by the foreigners.  Obviously in the cities there are more cars but here in the rural areas, they are not as plentiful.  The locals are completely un-street-smart and due to the large increase in the number of cars in the area due to development, the speed limit is 20km/h through any town or village.  Motorbikes are abundant though as well as bicycles which are used to transport everything from 20kg bags of rice and flour to the long poles needed to build houses.  They are pushed through the soft sand of the rural roads with great effort and are quite used and abused.  No racing bikes here.  Due to the physical effort of life and the meagre diet, I have yet to see an obese local person.  I have seen some Kwashiorkor children though, due to malnutrition but not too many. 

This part of the country is mostly Muslim due to a northern neighbour's influence  and it would appear that there is little alcohol use.  Also very few people smoke cigarettes.  These are peaceful people getting along with minimal fuss.  I have never witnessed any anger or fighting, even though almost everyone walks around with a machete, including the kids.  It is a necessary tool for living here and I guess they need to learn to use them from a young age.  It gives them a frightening appears to my Western eyes but after a while you get used to it and hardly notice it.  They are supporters of the ruling party in this area and as the results of the recent election were released on Wednesday, with the same party winning again, there was much celebration in the streets of the little town.  Thankfully... might have been different if the other one won.

As you all know, my favourite place in this area is the beach.  All the beaches are amazing!  Coconut palms everywhere, soft white sand, the most amazing shells I have ever seen, great seafood aplenty, some great waders, and lots of those mud and reed huts nestled under the palms.  

I could happily find myself a hut and stay here for a couple of months. I could help build myself a hut, buy a bike to get around on, teach the little kids English in return for supplies of fresh seafood, coconuts, pineapples, mangos, paw paws and goats milk.  The fruit grows all over the place, in abundance!  Mangos literally fall from the tree, onto our suite's roof with a very loud explosion every time the breeze picks up.  The paw paw trees line the streets of the town, laden with up to 30 pieces at a time. The coconuts can't be eaten fast enough.  The pineapples take a bit longer to grow but there are plenty of plants.  Goats are everywhere as well as scrawny little chickens.  Very few cows, in fact none in the is area.  I had my first taste of raw Cassava the other day and it is quite good eating.  Very juicy and thirst quenching.  I don't like the cooked Cassava, it is exactly like mielie pap which I don't like anyway.  And no pets!!! No township dogs breeding into a plague!  And very few cats.  I've seen maybe 5 cats and 2 dogs since I've been here.  I am told that there are more animals in the cities but here in the rural areas, no one keeps pets.  I suppose due to the very primitive lifestyle, there is no money or food for pets.  

This has been a very quick run-down of what I have found.  I will try to repeat what I put on Facebook that had to be removed due to my confidentiality agreement.  And then I will add the days that followed that so you all get to see the whole thing.  I am going to send this blog to only those that showed an interest in reading my daily posts and it will not be made public so as to prevent myself from getting into trouble.  Hope you all enjoy.  Feel free to leave a comment if you so wish.  You can do it "anonymously" if you don't have a google account if you want to, just put your name in the post so I know who you are.  Thanks y'all.