7 (not so) quick takes

14 February

7 (not so) quick takes

Good afternoon! I hope you are well, and that you had a relaxing weekend. I also hope yours was less eventful than ours, but more about that later. It’s Monday afternoon. This morning we kept ourselves busy with school and cooking, and now the girls are listening to an audio book and playing with Lego. I have just sorted the pictures from the weekend, and now it’s blog time.
It’s valentine’s and because I think you should grab every opportunity to turn a day into something special, the girls and I are making a special valentine’s dinner. Because the girls were in charge of the dishes, we won’t necessarily eat the best food ever, but it has loads of hearts, red and chocolate and when you are 6 or 7, that’s what counts. It doesn’t really matter, as long as Hartmut feels loved.
One of the things I really wanted to do with my parents was go to Liwonde. It is one of the national parks here, and it’s absolutely stunning. There are tall palm trees, a beautiful mountain, a river and lots of animals. Unfortunately, my parents had to do it alone, as we were sick, so we planned to do it a couple of weeks ago. We had to cancel that too, as ‘tropical storm Ana’ caused flooding everywhere, so we were so excited to finally go this weekend. We had checked the weather forecast and the predicted rain was minimal. Perfect! It started well. Our accommodation was a charming tree house from where we had a stunning view and the girls were enthralled. Saturday afternoon we joined a boat safari on the Shire river. We saw loads of hippos, elephants, a crocodile, antelopes and, the highlight for the girls, loads of birds. Some of them were ‘lifers’, birds you see for the first time. The girls' mission was accomplished.
On our way back from the boat to the lodge, it started to rain. A proper, Malawian rain season downpour from which you cannot escape. Not when you’re outside, but it turned out that we couldn’t escape from it inside either. The tree house, as charming as it was, wasn’t very waterproof, and we found ourselves shuffling beds and our stuff around constantly, as more leaks became evident. In the end, we decided to just call it an early night. Only two of the four beds were somewhat dry, so we shared beds to settle for a very interrupted sleep. It didn’t stop raining, and at some point I heard a flash flood rush go through the river next to the house. It was too dark to see anything, so I comforted myself with the idea that the river was deep and wide and that it could easily hold all the water.
Before we went on our weekend away, I said that I was looking forward to some new stories and adventures. Well, be careful what you wish for because stories we got! There is a first time for everything. Some of those ‘first times’ are the fulfillment of long cherished wishes, while others are events you would have rather avoided. Yesterday we had our first experience of ‘getting evacuated in a flood’. We woke up early. It was still dark, and still raining. But as it became lighter, we could see that the river, that had been two meters below the shore when we went to bed, had completely filled up. It was flowing rapidly, taking branches and other debris along. Low-lying places turned into puddles. And as the sun was rising, so did the water level. The puddles became bigger, dry places fewer and further between. But by then we didn’t realise how bad it actually was, and we decided to go to the lodge’s central area to be with other people. We made our way, trying different routes, but had to turn around as continuing was too dangerous. The water was too deep and the current too strong. And it was still rising.
We were in communication with the lodge manager. He told us to just stay where we were, as they would come to evacuate us. So while the water rose, we waited. Fortunately, I had packed lots of snacks, so at least we had something to eat. The kids (and some adults in our family too) can get terribly grumpy when they have an empty stomach, and grumpiness would not help the kind of situation we were in. After a while, some heroes came with a small rubber boat. There was a lot of confusion about who should go and what we should take but at the last moment it was decided that we should all go, and that we should take all our stuff, if possible. I was glad that we didn’t pack much, so it didn’t take long for all of us to get on the boat. The guys didn’t take us through the paths we had tried. They confirmed what we already knew, ‘it’s too dangerous, the water is too high and too strong’. Instead, they took us through the bushes, on a route we would have never found. The water was deep, the bushed low hanging, but somehow these heroes kept us and our stuff somewhat dry. We ended up at the big electric fence of the park. Sophie said that the part that followed was the scariest part of the day, as we had to follow the fence but could absolutely not touch it. We also couldn't walk too close to the other side, as that’s where the water was. Finally, we made it to the lodge’s central area. We had somehow thought that it was a bit higher and not flooded. It was probably wishful thinking, as it was the place where we had parked the car. But when we arrived, we found the car tire-deep in water. Trying to see if it could still start, while it was filled with water seemed like a bad idea, but after a while one of the lodge’s safari cars came back from evacuating the first group of people to a better place. It was chaotic, and I didn’t have faith in a good ending, but together they managed to pull our car to a higher place, and it started miraculously! The inside was completely wet, but that was something we would deal with later. While Hartmut and I were busy with this, the girls were baking sand cakes on a dry side of the road. Our constant affirmations that they shouldn’t worry probably helped, although it wasn’t easy for them throughout the whole ordeal.
We were at a dry spot, but the water was still rising, and it wasn’t sure if that place would stay dry, so the lodge workers told us to pack our stuff again and jump on the back of the safari vehicle. They would bring us to a spot where we could wait things out and get some food. Unfortunately, the water was way too high. The road that the vehicle had just passed while dropping off the first group of evacuees was now a full on lake, more than a meter deep and too much for the car. It died in the middle of that ‘new lake’. While I was wondering what would happen next, all the people from the village jumped in the water and what followed was beautiful. Everybody joined their strength to pull the car out and after a few failed attempts, the car started moving again! Unfortunately, only human power could move the car, as the engine had flooded. Instead of letting us walk, or trying to get another car, the strong men from the village pushed the car all the way to the place where we were supposed to go. We had no idea where they were bringing us, or how far it was. If we had known, we would have probably protested because the longer it took, the more awkward it became, but they pushed us for what felt like forever until we arrived at a kind of restaurant. The restaurant had been flooded too, but the water was going down, and it was dry again. We were served food and waited until the roads were passable again. It took hours of playing games, reading, checking the water level and wondering if we would have to stay the night, but then, at around 4 o’clock, we could catch a lift to the lodge. We couldn’t believe our eyes. The road, that was a river when we left, was dry! But it was also obvious how much damage the water had done. The road was in a bad state, but houses, and corn fields looked even worse. While we drove out in our car, that was still working, to a house, that is mostly dry, we could only be grateful. Sure, what happened was a scary experience, but we are fine. We got hit on a weekend away, with a normal life to go back to. Many other people got hit in the very heart of their existence. They lost their house, their crop, and they told me about a baby who drowned in the chaos. Please pray that all these people will be fine. Another storm warning was issued for later this week. My prayer is that it won’t be so bad, that not more people will lose what they have and with that, all their hope.
Sorry, it’s a long one. But I wanted to write that down before I forget everything. The afternoon is almost over, it’s time to finish the food and set the table so that we can celebrate love, and that we have each other. Because, after yesterday, saying that suddenly doesn’t feel so cheesy.