Chitimba: Mdokera’s Beach Campsite - A Bed in a Tree

Posted by daveb on July 23rd, 2008

Follow the daring adventures of daveb & Squiffy as we circumnavigate the globe and broaden our minds to what the world has to offer.

You can get free updates delivered directly to you by subscribing to our full RSS feed or, if you prefer, simply register for e-mail updates.

We do hope that you find something of value here: You can use the cloud to the right to read our country-related posts or the search box if you need something more specific. We value your comments -- thanks for visiting!

(This is Part 3 of our stay at Mdokera’s Beach Campsite. You should definitely read Part 1 - Introduction and Part 2 - Dance Festival first.)

Exhausted from the dance festival that Mdokera had organised for us, Claire & I retreated to our tree bed for the evening. Neither of us had slept in a tree before and so were quite excited about the prospect. It was nice to look up at the stars and listen to the waves sweep into the shore. We were a little concerned about cold from the lakeside breeze, but had brought our superb sleeping bags with us to complement the plentiful woollen blankets that Mdokera had laid out for us. Sadly, the bed was a bit too small for the two of us. This was worsened by the fact that there was scant support on either side to stop us falling fifteen feet to the ground, if one of us rolled-over in our sleep. As you can imagine, we jockeyed for position towards the middle of the bed and spent the night semi-consciously calculating our positional risk.

We awoke in the morning, quite relieved to find that the other was lying beside ourselves. This meant that either we (a) were both still laying on the bed in the tree as planned, or (b) had both fallen out of the tree and thus blame could not be apportioned to the other for causing the fall.

It was a bit of fun and has given rise to a new derogatory phrase: “It looks like you slept the night in a tree!”

We clambered down the Health and Safety unapproved tree-ladder to meet our fellow travellers, who had just returned from a Mdokera-organised photographic tour of the nearby fishermen and children. Mdokera appeared and revealed a frog in a cloth he was carrying. He set it down on the beach and insisted that I took a photograph. Children appeared and a table was placed in front of us, so that we could sit with the kids and play. As well as table drumming, I devised some basic Olympian challenges for the children, like high-jump, long jump, catch-the-stick and limbo. This was a lot of fun for both us and the kids, and I believe a very genuine experience too.

After half an hour or so, the kids were told to clear-off and we were called to the restaurant straw hut to eat. Over breakfast, Mdokera told us that today we would be taken to a local school to see how they were taught and to listen to his stories.

(Continues tomorrow.)

[Show as slideshow]