August 8, 2018
Esther, a resident of Mfuwe village at the edge of the park, led us (together with two Chinese guys living in Zambia) on a bike tour to the village. We were preceded on the dirt road by a car to warn us if any elephants were in the area.
Our first stop was to see an 1,800 year old baobab tree, before seeing the very few remnants of an elephant that had died at the edge of the village the day before. The local residents had taken the entire elephant (except for a few small pieces of the hide) for good, etc. The humans were more efficient at using the elephant carcass than the lions and other animals in the park, who took a few weeks.
We stopped at the local school to for a visit. The lodge where we were staying provides support for the school and its library through "Pack for a Purpose," which encourages guests to bring school supplies with them (1).
We rode through the village watching people make bricks and houses, sew clothes with foot-powered sewing machines, etc. The ride back to the lodge completed our 2 hour visit.
(1) Donations of money are less effective because supplies are very difficult to purchase locally (Mfuwe is in remote part of Zambia). Donations shipped to the school apparently do not always make it all the way to Mfuwe. Hence, guests are encourage to bring supplies with them.
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