Marremeu

We are now in a little village called Marromeu near the delta of the Zambezi River. We have been working on the documentary project, and collecting some video and interviews of folks who work with conservation projects. The road from the principal highway was rough…..real rough. I was absolutely amazed that the little Nissan pulled through, as we passed huge 4x4 trucks stuck in the soup-ish mud, and HUGE potholes. Usually, the rain stops by May.  This year, they have had CONSTANT rain. In fact,  we have not really had a rain free day since leaving Maputo.  On the drive down here, we met a South African guy at the bank, whom runs a hunting concession in one of the adjacent hunting reserves. He gave us the directions to a Portuguese man’s home down near where we were heading. Although the man was not at home when we arrived, a very excitable Belgian wildlife biologist was there. His name was Jean Marc Andre, and he was living in this remote outpost studying the African Wild Dog. The dogs are nearly extinct from this area, but he managed to find one pack in the surrounding forest. We stayed with him there two nights, and the three of us ate by candle light, and had to fetch water from the nearby Zambezi river as there is no running water there as well.  We were very careful not to get eaten by the river crocodiles while fetching the water! It is a common occurrence because most of the local people still bath and do laundry down next to the river. We went out trying to track the dogs with him early one morning using a recorded dog cry that the wild dogs will react to, and come to investigate…we had no success that morning, but I did take a nice nap in the quiet jungle! On the drive back home we saw a green mamba cross the road in front of the truck! They are one of the most venomous snakes in the world, and unless you take the anti-venon immediately (if not sooner) you have vey little chance of surviving. However, reports of their bites are so rare, and as with almost every living thing these days….they are far more scared of humans. We met some new friends here, whom are from Zimbabwe, and have been staying with them. Three of them are sister and brother and the other two are also sisters, and they all live together in a pretty run-down, but welcoming apartment. We have been making these great meals together, and roll out a straw mat on the floor and eat delicious food. Despite all of the rain, there have not been too many mosquitoes. This is REALLY nice. We took a few river-boat trips by dug-out canoe along the Zambezi River, to get some footage for the project. It is so beautiful, with the abundance of migratory birds, crocodiles, monkeys, and naked people bathing on the shores