The Bat Migration of 2009

by Andy Fritz
Every year in Zambia’s Central Province is the single largest mammal migration on the planet. Millions of bats (around ten million this year) congregate in the caves and trees at Zambia’s Kasanka national park. They stay there from early October to early January which is the first few months into the rainy season. Ashlee and I planned on going with a group of volunteers form our province, but were waylaid by the beginning of the rainy season. The first heavy rains blew out a window in our house and poured through our roof in buckets(literally). Since I had planned on seeing this phenomenon last year, Ashlee sent me on my merry way to see the bats with a few other volunteers while she stayed in Mansa with a few sick volunteers and to keep an eye on the temporary rain protection I had put in place.

Those of us going down were able to hitch a ride with the Peace Corps truck on its way to Lusaka. They dropped us at our campsite for the next few days with all our food, gear, and bicycles for both Grayson (our nearest volunteer neighbor in Mansa) and I. Over the next few days we saw the bats numerous times and amazing wildlife. We had a park guide walk us around some of the park and point out some things, including hippos. While we didn’t see other major game, their tracks were everywhere in the morning when we woke up. Elephants passed right by our site in the night and we were not even aware.

We huddled together many times to wait out what were incredible storms, but by the last day the sun was shining. Grayson and I woke up at 3 am packed our bikes and made our way to the Guides’ camp by four. Our guide from the day before said that Grayson and I were free to cycle the 25 kilometer (15 mile) out of the park without a guide. So that began our 285 kilometer ' (171 mile) bike ride back to Mansa. Unaccompanied for an hour of bush riding through a national park with lions, crocodiles, hippos, and lord knows what else.

By midday we had crossed into Luapula Province via the largest bridge in Southern Africa. We rode continuously taking short breaks in the shade until close to dusk. With no hope of making it to our nearest volunteers house we set up our tent in the back of a farmers cassava field hidden from from view, ate a pile of food, and passed out hard. We woke the next morning to find we were less than 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Mansa. After a brief stop for a rest at a new volunteers house we were back on the road and in Mansa before late afternoon. While the national park was a great time, the two days on bike was equally fantastic.

Caterpillar season

So right now in Zambia it is caterpillar season, that is right - caterpillar, and I recently got to participate in the main activity of the season, going in to the bush and hunting caterpillars. It was a lot of fun. I was in Chipili Village with another volunteer assisting with an HIV/AIDS education and testing program when we were invited by the children to go with them to pick caterpillars in the bush. How could I say no? So Staci, the other volunteer I was visiting, and I headed into the woods with five children, the oldest of which was probably ten or eleven. Now at home I would never blindly follow a child into woods, but here I did not even think twice. We hiked just ten minutes way from Staci’s house and into the woods and right away the children started to yell. They then ran and started to climb different trees, Staci and I just stood there confused. We had no idea what had gotten them so excited, but soon we understood, when the each climbed down from their trees they had handfuls of bright green caterpillars. There are three different kinds of caterpillars that are eaten here, but the children informed us that the green ones are the best (I just took their word on that seeing that I had no desire to taste test caterpillars.) It took a good hour of hunting before Staci and I were able to spot the green caterpillars, I mean how are you supposed to see green caterpillars on green leaves ten to fifteen feet in the air? It was amazing, I swear the children could spot them from 10 yards away. Thankfully there are also black and white caterpillars that are quite easy to see and these are the ones that I mostly picked.

There are many types of caterpillars that can not be eaten, unfortunately Staci and I had no idea which caterpillars were good to eat and which were not. So the children kept a close eye on every caterpillar we put into our jars, and every once in a while the would remove one or two. When we would ask why they would shake their heads at us and just say “That one will make you itch.” We could never tell the difference between the good ones and the bad ones, to me they looked exactly the same. We collected three tin cans, one large peanut butter jar, and one large Tupperware full of caterpillars and we could have gotten many, many more, but we just ran out of containers to carry them home in.

When we returned home we had to kill and clean all the caterpillars before they could be cooked and eaten. To kill them you just squeeze them. And to clean them you once again just squeeze. When you squeeze them pushing from the head down all of there insides literally squirt out. Sounds gross, but actually it is pretty cool. After they are cleaned you boil them in salt water and they are ready to eat. I did taste one, it kind of tasted like beef jerky, but honestly I would not recommend them to anyone else, there is something about eating caterpillars that makes the gag reflex kick in. So even though caterpillars are not exactly suited to the American palette, they are very important to the Zambian diet. Most village children get little to no protein in their diets, meat is very expensive and fish is hard to find unless you live close to water, so caterpillars are very important part of a child's diet here in Zambia.

As much fun as I had caterpillar hunting I was actually in Chipili to work. Staci and I were doing HIV/AIDS education in preparation for a day of counseling and testing. We talked to the students at the high school and many of the people through out the community teaching about HIV/AIDS and encouraging them to be tested. When the counseling and testing team come from Mansa we had 85 people get tested. This was an amazing day for me. To help 85 people to get tested and know there status is huge accomplishment and was very proud to be a part of this program.

Zambian Independence Day

October 24 is Zambian Indepedence Day and Andy and I traveled to the nearby town of Samfya to celebrate with some other volunteers. Samfya is about 80 kilometers from Mansa and is located on Lake Bangwelu, one of the great lakes of Africa. One thing that you learn when living in Africa is that getting to where you are going is part of the adventure. Our transport on the way to Samfya was Toyota Carola with a manual transmission.

We had six people in the car, I had to ride on Andys lap the whole way, while we played dodge the pot hole. It was, to say the least, not comfortable. But once we arrived it was totally worth it.

After arriving and dropping our stuff at the house we where staying at we headed to the beach. That is right, a beach! We were not the only ones going to the beach, I think everyone in Samfya and about half of Mansa were also at the beach.

There were many different activities going on volleyball, football(or as we in Americaland call it soccer) and dug out canoe races, but mostly we just people watched (while being watched by other people.) But no matter where you are in Zambia you will be entertained by the children.

It was a great weekend, the beauty of Zambia just keeps amazing me. I have seen a lot of this country, but there is so much more to see.

Back to Normal in Zambia

Life in Zambia is back to normal for Andy and me. Our trip home was really nice and exactly what we needed. It was so nice to see all of our friends and family. And all of the delicious Americans food, well let's just say that both Andy and I gained at least a couple of pounds while we were home.

It has been pretty busy here in Mansa since we returned. We received seven new volunteers in Luapula this month and Andy has been busy preparing their sites for them and preparing them for their sites. Taking seven people shopping for everything they will need living in the village for the next two years is not an easy task. He now has all of the newbies safe and sound in their villages and now it is back to regular business. Regular business for Andy is managing the provincial house and office, supporting all of the volunteers in the province both mentally (Peace Corps can be quite stressful so this is a big part of his job) and with projects, being a go between between all of the Luapula volunteers and Peace Corps staff in Lusaka, and taking long bike rides all over Mansa district.

I have also been quite busy. I am currently working with three different schools here in Mansa, a preschool, a basic school, and school for tutoring grades nine and twelves. The basic school I am working with is a Seventh Day Adventist school in Mansa proper. It is a private school so the children at this school is quite privileged. At this school I am assisting a teacher to start a Art Club for students in grades three to seven. our first meeting is on Friday and it should be interesting, we currently have 52 students. I think it will be a lot of fun.

The preschool and tutoring for grades nine and twelve are very different. These schools are for OVCs (Peace Corps lingo for Orphans.) The schools are both located in the village and there are little to no resources. The students in grades nine and twelve come to after school sessions because they can not afford text books so they are not able to study out side of school on there own. In Zambia you have to pass exams at the end of grades 7,9, and 12 in order to go on to higher grades or on to college, so it is important that they pass their exams so that they can keep going in their education.

I am enjoying working at all of the schools, but I must admit that the preschool is my favorite. Right now we have 85 students between the ages of three and eleven. Even though it is a preschool we have older students because their guardians can not afford to buy them uniforms so they can not go to government school. We just split the children into two classes according to age to decrease the number of students we are teaching at once. Right now we are working on numbers, colors, and the alphabet. The school and students have no resources so everything that we use to teach I have to make myself. I have been very busy making posters and flash cards. I am really enjoying working with the little ones, and it is really rewarding.

Update

I know that may of you have been wondering what is going on with Andy and Ashlee. We had to go under the radar for a while as we planned a surprise visit for them to the States to surprise Ashlee's mom, Bev, and Andy's mom, Marti, for their 60th birthdays. After several month of careful planning they left Lusaka on September 1st and traveled to London, on to Chicago and landed in Kansas City on September 2nd in the evening. It was harder than you would think to get them from one place to the other without anyone finding out.
They didn't have a lot of requests other than food and a soft bed. Ashlee wanted chili dogs and tater tots with root beer floats the first night. I thought they were going to be sick but they both managed to keep on eating. Next was breakfast food, giant cold cut sandwiches, Popeye's chicken, American BBQ, some dirty Mexican and finished up with Italian and some Granite City. I thought they were going to pop, but they both just kept on eating.
We had a surprise party for Bev in Kansas City at the Brio Tuscan Grille on the Plaza on September 5th. There were 30 guests, including Andrea, from all over that made it to surprise Bev. It was a great success and we manage to pull it off without her even guessing. Now that is an accomplishment! Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen, I know it was a very special day for her and the rest of the family.
From KC they traveled back to Columbia for a couple of days to see the parents. From there they jumped in the car and headed to Michigan where they surprised Marti for her birthday as well. They had a surprise of their own as Andy's brother Brian and his wife were in Michigan after telling a long tale about having to go to Hawaii for a prepaid vacation, so they were pleasantly surprised to see Andy's family as well.
It flew by, but they were happy for the break and the visit with family and friends and of course the food. I think it was a good recharge for them to head back and keep on working hard to make a difference in a very different world.

Fargo in Mansa

Andy and Ashlee were watching Fargo when we spoke to them on Sunday. They were placed at their new site in Mansa, Zambia last week. They will be living in the Provincial House from now on. They are thrilled to be living in a house with running water, electricity and a working kitchen. There will be people coming and going so that will take some adjustment, but their room is at the end of the hall and they can close off a door to their area and have some privacy if they need it.

Their room is a good size and they have two closets and storage above the closets where they have put away all of their camping gear. They also have their own bathroom with sink, toilet and shower. They will share the kitchen but do have their own pantry and small refrigerator. They also have a maid and gardener that cares for the house and grounds so they mostly just have to keep the office in order. Ashlee said she will probably still do her own laundry except for the bedding which is still a daunting task. My how things change!

They have to house dogs, Stupid and Dammit, and a house cat, Chuck Berry. Ashlee said she was going to have to rename the dogs, but she said after being there for a week she now see how they got their names.

They already stocked up on groceries at the local ShopRite with green peppers, green beans, snap peas and baby corn. Ashlee was thrilled to have some color on their plates. They are very excited to have a well stocked grocery store at their disposal. They can't get bread at the market so Ashlee plans to make their bread. Flour is a provided house supply so she will be able to make the bread for next to nothing. They also get to have all of the excess food that the volunteers leave behind after their visits, so far Ashlee had made a carrot cake and some brownies with leftovers.

They don't speak any of the local language so they have been trying to pick up a few words of the local tongue. Ashlee has found several places that she may be able to volunteer including an Adventist school and a couple of orphanages. The maid and gardener also run an orphanage that she may help out with from time to time. Andy has been working on getting a bank account set up and getting the office organized. He will now have a vehicle, a Rover like the one we had while there, but it is currently in Lusaka, but it will be returned this week. One of the volunteers has been helping a women's group that makes and sells pottery. He was happy to learn of Andy's skills and admitted to faking it with the ladies and is happy to turn the reigns over. Andy is excited to help them with their techniques. They currently fire their pots by filling them with sticks and putting sticks around them and starting a fire. The fire doesn't get hot enough to make the pots very strong, so Andy is going to help them build a kiln.

Ashlee commented that the houses have much more creativity put into them in this area. The have decorative brick work in different colors and they have nice front porches with columns. They also make an effort to plant flowers and plants in the yard. There is actually variety in the design of the homes. Downtown Mansa has several three story buildings and paved streets which is also a change.

The drive up from Lusaka along the Luapua River Valley was incredibly beautiful. There were people in dugout canoes fishing and rowing around the marshy areas similar to the Chobe River. It is a totally different landscape than the Kasempa area.

Jeff update: Jeff is now back in the States getting physical therapy. As stated in the last entry he was run over by truck in Solwezi, we now know that the truck had absolutely no breaks and the driver has been arrested and will serve time in jail. Jeff's injuries include a broken cheekbone, nose, sternum and damage muscles where the vehicle ran over his legs, which is why he needs the therapy. It will be his decision if he wants to come back to Zambia. At least it looks like he will have a full recovery. Not sure I could make myself go back after that kind of trauma. Amazingly the truck did have insurance so it will cover all of the medical costs and he will get a cash settlement.

On the road again...

Andy and Ashlee were pulled from their site on Friday and they are now in Solwezi. They had to leave the site while the truck was in the area to get their stuff from the village. Now they will be at the provincial house for a week or so until someone comes to move them their new home across country. Dorris was going to cook a big meal and kill a chicken but Andy couldn't come home because he was helping with Jeff (see paragraph below). Everyone from the village had come by and asked what they were going to leave for them. Ashlee told them that they were not leaving anything to them because they will need it at their new home. They were not happy about that. She left a few things for Dorris but that was it. The villagers didn't seem to understand that they are moving to another house and will need their things. She said the men were running to scavenge the but they only left a few broken chairs in the kazanza. It was kind of a downer to see that they couldn't even wait for them to get out of sight.
Jeff, one of the volunteers we met while visiting, was hit by a truck outside the market the other day. The truck hit him and then ran over him outside the market. There were several volunteers in Solwezi at the time so they got him right to the hospital. His nose and jaw may be broken.They drove him to Chingola in an ambulance with an American doctor and then they flew him to South Africa as soon as the sun came up the next day. They won't know more about his condition until he gets access to a phone because the PC cannot tell them anything more because of confidentiality. They are confident that he will be fine but do not now if he will be returning to Zambia or not. Jeff was just placed a few months ago, so he was new to the area. It will ultimately be up to him if he wants to return.
Dad called and gave Ashlee his own state of the union address this morning. He filled her in on the Obama's low approval rating, California's mounting debt, the death of Michael Jackson, the murder of Steve McNair, the decrease in the wine industry and other issues in the news these days. She was aware of most of it on her Internet phone, but enjoyed the commentary.

"I am so excited about our new job. A shower, yeah!" Ashlee Fritz 12 July 2009