Satemwa Tea Estate - a bit late!

All the way back in February I posted about our trip to Zomba but never got around to posting about our side trip to Satemwa Tea Estate where we had lunch. I love visiting the green tea estates of Africa and it is also interesting to see an example of colonial Africa preserved at the estate house. Although the house reflects a bygone era, tea is still in production on a large scale in Malawi, Kenya and Zimbabwe where John and I have visited estates and always enjoy the beautiful sea of tea plants. 

The tea plants go as far as the eye can see.

A step back in time:

Lovely spot where we had lunch.

When we were leaving we thought there had to be a shorter way to get to the road than what we had used on our arrival. So we wandered for kilometers before realizing that in fact we had come in the correct way to the estate house, several kilometers off the main road through fields of tea. 

What's a Naartje?

Okay, so this one may look like a tangerine, but I promise you these local varieties are different. What makes them special is that they are super easy to peel. Here's the etymology of the word, which has several different spellings (I swear I've seen it without the t and a I definitely don't remember hearing the t pronounced): From Tamil நாரத்தை (nārattai, “citron”) through Afrikaans. Has been used in South Africa since 1790, but the first written recorded English use is by Lawrence Green in Tavern of the Seas, 1947. And the definition: a soft, loose-skinned tangerine. Most of them look quite a bit uglier than this one so if you are ever in the region and come across them my advice is to buy a bunch - even if they look ugly! Besides being easy to peel, in season they are juicy, sweet, and cheap!

You Know You're an Expat When/Civil Unrest

This is a common line amongst expats (perhaps more often - you know you have an expat kid when...). For me, one of the signs that I "really" live someplace is getting my hair done. When I moved to Zim I was NOT happy with the color on my first visit to the hairdresser. And it took probably a year to get it back to what I liked. Therefore, I just avoided this in Malawi so far by waiting until I was back in the US to get it done since I've had two trips there. This time I knew I could avoid it no longer. Fortunately, a friend of mine in Zimbabwe has a sister who works at a salon here in Lilongwe and she assured me her sister could handle it! I had walked past the shop many times since it's right across from one of my favorite grocery stores at the mall. The sign in the window also assured me they were up for the task:

So, rather than heading to Zimbabwe and playing a concert with unseemly grey roots, I made an appointment. Of course, it turned out that the day I made the appointment also happened to be the day that the local population decided to hold a massive demonstration/march - right in the area that I would have to cross to get to the salon. Wisely, I asked to postpone to the next day. There turned out to be more crowd gathering the day I went but in an area that I could avoid. It may be an interesting last month in Lilongwe - these protests are ongoing from the elections that were held over a month ago. I wonder if any of you have seen that in the news. 

Fabulous Five Weeks Part Three - Zanzibar

Have you ever read reviews right before you go on vacation for the place you booked? ALL the reviews - including the one stars? Or have you planned a big trip and had a couple of your friends tell you they didn't like the location? All those little moments of "I hope we made the right decision" to go to Zanzibar - traveler anxiety perhaps? - were forgotten during our fantastic family trip.

Planning a "big" family vacation took almost two years and we had such a hard time coming up with a time and a place for summer 2018 that we postponed until 2019. As always, there is no perfect time but I'm so glad we carved out 8 days to explore Zanzibar - a place that was high on the travel wish list for all four of us. Big benefit was that the girls were on their last US Government ticket to visit us in Malawi so at least we didn't have to pay for that part of the trip!

Stone Town is the old part of Zanzibar City and we thoroughly enjoyed our 4 days there (even the day we arrived after a 2:30 am flight out of Lilongwe). So much to see that the photos speak better than words:

Beach in front of the main building of Tembo House 

Arianna and Abigail ready for our walking tour. We were glad to have our lightweight pants for the hot but conservative location.

Below is a well known Stone Town spot called Jaws Corner. It's where 5 alleys converge and is a meeting place for locals. There's a public pay phone and there's a TV screen for the public. We visited the famous fish market and enjoyed the spice stalls on our tour.

Typical carved doors

The Swahili House - with a rooftop restaurant.

Winding alley - Stone Town is full of them!

Besides shopping and wandering around Stone Town, we enjoyed two great excursions during our stay there. 

The first was to the Spice Farm where we had a fabulous tour which was a highlight of our time in Stone Town. It took about 45 minutes to get to the spice "farm" - a demo plot that shows how spices are grown. We had a great (and humorous) guide who showed us all sorts of things growing and entertained us in the process. Cinamon, vanilla, turmeric, and ginger were just a few. At the end we feasted on a variety of fruit - coconut milk and the BEST pineapple I think I have ever tasted. 

The second excursion was to Changuu/Prison Island. The island has been used to house prisoners and quarantine yellow fever patients. Nowadays it's famous for the giant tortoises that inhabit the island. They were fun to feed and pet and our guide was gracious enough to take photos and WhatsApp them to me since none of us had a phone along!

This view from our room for the second half of our vacation pretty much sums up how perfect the five days were at Breezes Beach Club and Spa. For a long time I have wanted to take Arianna and Abigail to a beach resort since they have heard us sharing happy memories of our vacations in Jamaica. The half board quiet, but not too quiet, resort fit the bill perfectly. Thankfully, the rainy season that lingered longer than usual cleared out and we had sunny days the whole time.

The colors in this part of the world are just amazing. In part because the tides are so wide so the look of the ocean is constantly changing throughout the day. I haven't even captured dead low tide but you can get an idea of what it is like from the swim float placement in the two photos above. 

The lovely swings above are another view of the changing tide. In low tide you can walk a mile out from where Abigail is standing to take the second picture (of Arianna and me on the swings in the water). We did that walk one day (a "reef walk" because we went all the way out a mile to the reef) with a guide and saw amazing sea creatures. Besides the reef walk we enjoyed snorkeling, sampling the spa, and a wide variety of food especially on the themed buffet nights.  It was a vacation we will not forget and the whole trip to Africa with the girls was a fabulous way to end our time together as a Foreign Service family.

Fabulous Five Weeks - Part Two - Malawi, Zimbabwe, Malawi

After Arianna's graduation the four of us got ready to head back to Africa as a family! We had been planning the trip for months and now that it has come and gone I can say that for me it was a dream come true experience.





We landed back in Malawi the day before Abigail's birthday with a concert on the books over the weekend. So, it wasn't the most relaxing birthday but we still enjoyed celebrating her with a trip to the spa, lunch at a nearby restaurant and a home cooked meal with homemade ice cream (purchased ice cream is not usually good in Africa).

Breakfast on the Khonde and the usual stack of birthday gifts/cards for the traditional post dinner gift opening. 

After less than 48 hours in Malawi, we headed back to the airport for our return trip to Harare. I have been several times but neither John nor the girls had been back since our departure almost three years ago. Most of the girls' friends have left the country but a few remained and we had a wonderful time sharing meals with friends. One of the things we love about life in Africa is that whole families spend time together so our kids enjoyed seeing the parents of their friends because they spent time with them when we lived there. 

Besides eating meals with friends, Arianna got to attend her Saturday night Bible Study (it's been going on for 20 years!), Abigail was able to see a famous Zimbabwean sight (Domboshava) which she always wished she had visited when we lived there and I got to perform in a concert with my girls and John got to reconnect with many old friends.

Sunset at Domboshava

Post concert photo

Our return to Lilongwe was quite interesting - plane troubles on our layover in Zambia, reports of unrest back in Lilongwe due to the recent elections, many no show bags when we arrived at the airport, no driver waiting for us (which was highly unusual). Fortunately, there was another American/Zimbabwean/Malawian family along on the journey whom we had met when we first arrived in Zim who then transferred to Malawi and now we know them here! They also had their two girls visiting and had made a trip back to Zimbabwe (where they had lived even longer than we had). It helped to lighten the load of traveling woes to have company!

After landing we had a bit more than 48 hours back in Malawi to prepare for and give another concert, repack for our vacation in Zanzibar and get back to the airport. We were a bit uncertain as to whether or not the concert would go one due to the civil unrest but the day before and day of the concert were quiet so we went ahead with the plans. The turn out was on the small side since many people were still staying home but it was a lovely appreciative audience and fun to do a concert at an old theatre in Malawi.

Fabulous Five Weeks Part One Cont'd - Graduation

Although it was lovely to spend Mother's Day with my mom and daughter, the real reason for the big trip to the US was Arianna's college graduation! Though there have been quite a few grandchildren who have had graduations in the Macy family, this was the first one on my side of the family and it was wonderful that our whole family supported Arianna for her achievement. Many joined her in person and those who couldn't watched via livestream!

Arianna with her apartment mates.

The underdressed family at Arianna's Baccalaureate - we hit an unbelievable amount of traffic and I was oh so thankful that the car I was in (with my mom) made it just in time to scoot into the back of the beautiful chapel (but not in time to get changed) while the faculty were walking in. John and Abigail caught most of it on the screen in the overflow room.

The crowd that supported her in person. Also in attendance was her mentor/fiddle teacher Amy Cann who was a major influence in Arianna's decision to become a music educator (and inspiration to continue playing during those teen years),

It was an absolutely perfect day weather wise. Arianna graduated with a BM in Music Education and will be pursuing employment in Pennsylvania which is the state that she understandably considers home. She will be a great teacher!

After the young crowd helped Arianna clean and pack out her apartment (they did a fantastic job) we all celebrated with dinner. 

The family that watched via the livestream probably had the best view of the graduate receiving her diploma! We have an amazing family that has helped support our whole immediate family, but especially Arianna, in so many ways while we have had our overseas adventures. We are deeply grateful to all of them. 

Fabulous Five Weeks Part One - Family

I left Malawi five weeks ago and life has been full ever since! First stop was a visit with my parents with various family members coming and going as we gathered in the US for Arianna's graduation. My dad had a stroke last October and so part of my sabbatical has been spending some time with them even though it's far from Malawi! Big bonus was a three generation Mother's Day - I don't know if I've ever had that!

My mother and my eldest daughter together on Mother's Day!

With my dad.

Later in the week when John and Abigail joined us.

My dad with his two look alike daughters.

My parents with their three girls.