Road from Chimala to Mbeya, part 2, scenes along the way

Our first stop on the way to Mbeya was at the gasoline station. Notice the hand pump! We were told that the electricity bill had not been paid, so the gas station had to resort to hand pumps! Menard is standing beside the car, and Bill is by the open door.

Beside the gasoline station, two men were cutting and bundling thatch for roofs.

First the thatch is cut to length.

Then it is tied into bundles.

After I took the photos, one of the men held out his hand for money for taking the photos.

The 50 mile drive from Chimala to Mbeya is a beautiful drive. There are lots of hills and cultivated fields. The cultivated fields are noticeable in the first photo and in many of the other ones. The main crop along the way is rice.

The following few photos show the rice being harvested by hand.

The boy in front is carrying firewood. Every week most people must gather firewood for use in cooking.

Next are police women.

Cultivated fields make the hills look like patchwork.

The bicycle is loaded with sacks of rice.

Road from Chimala to Mbeya--- Part 1, Hidden Falls

On the way to Mbeya from Chimala is Hidden Falls. From the road it looks just like a place to pull over to stop the car, and there are no signs indicating what is there. One must know what is there to see!

From the road the hill down to the falls is steep and very rocky. It is not at all the kind of place to walk in sandals or flip flops---- or wearing a long skirt!
Ron, Debbie E. and Muriel are in the following photo.





From the top, it looks like a normal stream of water.





As you walk further, you can see the beginning of the falls.

Eddie and Ron

In the next photo you can see where the big drop off is.

Debbie D.

You can't see where the water finally goes!

The next photo shows the scene looking back up the hill toward the car.

Everyone starts back up the hill. The first three people are the medical students from Ireland. You will notice that they are wearing pants. Pants are acceptable for women to wear when away from Chimala on our days off, but skirts are still the preferred dress.

Both times we went to Hidden Falls we attracted some local children. Cyndi is with the younger children.

Jan is with the older "children". They really wanted to talk to us, but their English was limited to about three words!

Everywhere there is water, someone is washing clothes!