This has been a walking weekend for me. The rains have stopped for a few days, and the weather is absolutely gorgeous. Saturday, Choi and I climbed the mountain behind the Chapel, explored a bit, and then circled back down by the Mutare River. We passed some old gold-mine shafts dug by surface miners panning for gold a few years back. Some of the shafts are quite deep, going down fifteen to twenty feet. When we walked by the Kies’ place, they invited us in for a cool drink of water, which was heavenly. Then we all walked to the “Farmhouse” where Ab and Chrissie (two other volunteer instructors) are staying. Ab had a sackful of baby pythons which he’d been given. Ab is widely known around here as the “Snake Man,” because of his interest in snakes. He is lecturing on natural resources, and he is a true herpetologist. I learned from him that a python egg is a little larger than a chicken egg, and the baby python is already two feet long when it cracks the egg-shell.
I went to church service in the chapel this morning and heard a good sermon on having “Faith enough to move mountains.” This afternoon I decided to walk four miles to the large mountain beyond the University farm. It was a great walk. The mountain didn’t budge an inch, so I had a good long walk back, but I saw some long-tailed Wydah birds as well as some Weaver nests.These nests are really amazing. We have a tree outside my office that has a couple dozen Weaver nests hanging from high branches, and there is a lot of activity there every morning. I’ll try to post a few pictures.
Weaver Nests in TreeAfrica University Campus
I love these posts from AU. Thank you!
Thanks, Peg. I’m enjoying myself greatly, as you can tell!
Ed,
Glad to hear you are doing a lot of walking. Wish I could join you on one. I haven’t seen a waever nest or a aweaver bird since my last trip in 2004 when we shared a dormitory room. I spent many of my weekends walking. One of the longer walks was from Greenglade in Mutare to Mutare Heights by way of Christmas Pass. Would have made it a round trip except that Dr. Tagwira “rescued” me at Christmas Pass on the way back. Wonder if he remembers picking me up there? Say hello to Larry Kies for me. I am looking forward to your next blog.
Art
Nice to hear from you, Art. Thanks for your comment and the memories of our VIM trip in 2004. I’ll pass along your greetings to the Kies.
Ed