Today, let’s visit with the people who inhabit the Massingir Lake area.

This area is extremely rural and it was sad to see the living conditions, however everyone that we met were smiling and ready to help us!

As we drove to the lake each morning, we passed various small villages.  When the kids would see a truck coming, they would all wave and smile.  One group saw that I had a camera stuck out the window so they gave me a great show.

As we approached the lake, the two lane roads quickly turned into one lane roads and finally to trails that were barely big enough for the truck to pass.

And, the trails were often shared with small herds of cattle….

The herds were being tended by young boys looking to be between 10 and 15 years old.  That is a lot of responsibility for someone that age!

We also passed many oxen-pulled skids…..

…carrying everything from household items, to mud bricks, to tree branches.

The ingenious skids were made from a large tree branch that “branched” out to provide a place for the loads to be stored….

People along the lake live a hard existence!

The family unit lives in a small area….

….that contains their shelter for sleeping, and their kitchen….

Their “dining” is normally done sitting on the ground….

….and their clothes are hung to dry in the few bushes that exist….

I actually enjoyed seeing these “clothing trees”. 

I watched these two boys playing a game using stones and simple holes in the dirt……

As I watched, the game seemed to resemble Backgammon.

The primary income source is from fishing, most of it done with nets…..

Sadly this fishing method is hard on the environment and there is a good chance that they will “out-fish” the lake and lead to its demise.

Some of the fish are used for family food, but most are dried…

 …and taken into the next village to be sold.

Every time we arrived in the truck, it was a village occasion…..

….with people gathering to see what the “crazy white people” were up to!!

It was hard to see the living conditions of these people, but, as always,  the kids were a highlight in the darkness.

This young girl was proudly carrying a smaller sibling on her back and she could outwalk ME!!

I always asked (ie…motioned to ask) if I could take their photos.  In each grouping, there were normally one or two who would move away but most were happy to have their images captured….

One young boy was enamored with my camera and phone and I asked if I could take his picture…..

The shy smile gave way to a big grin when I showed him his image on my phone!!

And, as I said in Monday’s post, the kids were always willing to carry anything….

This little girl was so proud of the load that she was carrying….

Now, let me end on a sadder note. 

One of the purposes of this trip to the lake was to kill a crocodile that had eaten a villager about three weeks previously. He was a monster…..

….14 feet long and weighing about 1,500 pounds!

Most of the locals eat crocodile meat and they walked away with about 450 pounds of meat…mostly from the tail of the animal.

Take a closer look at his teeth….

It is satisfying to know that this one is no longer a menace to the lake villagers.

As always, I worry for the kids in these situations.   I worry for their safety as they bathe and play along the lake.  I worry for their nutrition.  I worry for their education.  But mostly, I worry for their future.  I desperately want them to know that they can do something different and be something different, but unfortunately, that is out of my hands!

I am grateful for the opportunity to have seen into their lives.

Michael and I love to travel and see new parts of the world and then I love to take those memories and turn them into quilts!!! I hope that you enjoy traveling along with us!!

Be sure to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a single trip!!

Yesterday, I showed you the building of the blind for crocodile watching, so let’s start the story from there!!

As we arrived at the lake shore and started unloading all of our equipment, we were wondering exactly how the 4 of us (Michael, myself, our guide Dylan, and our tracker, Albino) were going to get it all to the boats and to the island.

We needn’t have worried!!

As if on cue, a HOST of kids arrived with arms ready to carry whatever we needed!!

When we arrived on the island, the bait was put into the water and we settled into our “home” for the next few hours….

About 30 minutes later, a small Crocodile appeared, grabbed the bait, and started splashing around.

Dylan had told us that, if one Croc starts splashing, then all of the others will come running to see what is up.

Sure enough, almost immediately, we started seeing Crocs in the water, heading our direction….

In this photo, you can see the three “lines” in the water toward the left. Those are three Crocs heading in!!

I was reminded of looking at the ocean from an airplane and seeing the “lines” in the water from the ocean liners. As over 40 animals descended on our island, Michael said that it looked like the storming of the beaches at Normandy!

Here is a super quick video of a small portion of the feeding frenzy….

At one point, I counted 9 crocs on one little spit of land in the lake…..

We spent two days sitting in the blind and then took to an aluminum boat on the 3rd day, with plans to cruise the shore and look for other animals in the area.

And, man did we see Crocodiles, including this BIG BOY…..

One of the cooler things about traveling in the motor boat was being able to move quickly across the lake and get closer to other animals along the way.

It was fun to see these mostly submerged hippos, especially with the people on the shore behind them.

I fell in love with this pod of Hippos……

It was such fun to hear them calling and making their laughing sound. I also enjoyed watching these two slip into the water and simply disappear….

It was interesting that the crocs and hippos apparently had a truce and were living together well….

Other “non-lethal” sights on the lake included these two fisherman throwing out their nets…..

… these Egyptian Geese…

….cormorants…..

….and a “Goliath Heron”……

These birds can be 6 feet tall, although this guy was an immature bird and probably only 4 feet tall.

My favorite animal spotting on the lake were these 4 elephants heading down the slope to drink from the lake….

This was the first one that I saw…..

…and it was such a thrill to my heart!!

I had previously seen all of these three big animals from a helicopter, but never on the ground!

I was SUPER excited!!

Tomorrow we will spend some time traveling the rural roads and visiting in some villages. Be sure to come back.

Michael and I love to travel and see new parts of the world and then I love to take those memories and turn them into quilts!!! I hope that you enjoy traveling along with us!!

Be sure to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a single trip!!

The first day of our sightseeing was in the city of Maputo, Mozambique. There were numerous fun things to see and I have put them into a video that will premier on Friday.

After that day, we moved to the Massingir district of Mozambique.

The story starts here…..

On this trip, Michael is looking at various animals….Crocodiles in particular!!

The search for crocodiles on the Massingir lake was an interesting exercise.

The first plan was to bait them into a small island (aptly named Alcatraz) so we could observe them. The day prior to our plan, our guide, Dylan, and his tracker, Albino, built a blind for us to sit in.

It was interesting to watch them pulling up large plants by the roots and replacing them on a rock ledge overlooking the shore…..

As the blind grew…..

….Dylan contracted with some of the villagers to bring fresh branches across the lake….

With the addition of a tarp and camouflage…..

…. the structure quickly turned into a comfortable den for us to sit in….

Michael had a chair at the front opening, and I was awarded this mattress that I could choose to sit on OR lie back on!! Such luxury.

The final preparation step was to cut a hole in the brush to give us a viewing window….

We left at the end of the day with the blind set up and ready to go.

Tomorrow morning we will get busy watching crocodiles!!

Michael and I love to travel and see new parts of the world and then I love to take those memories and turn them into quilts!!! I hope that you enjoy traveling along with us!!

Be sure to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a single trip!!