Fugiring the Present: Visiting the Chinhamapere Rock Paintings

Soooo... Since my last post, I have been pretty busy. I am torn between wanting to write the second half of my travel blog – Malawi was pretty interesting and led to some real reflection on the differences between traveling as a tourist and living as a Peace Corps Volunteer, wanting to write about the cave paintings we visited when we got back to Chimoio three weeks ago, and wanting to write about everything going on in the day-to-day. Busy = interesting stuff going on here! 

So I guess I will start with the cave paintings, as it is mostly to post the pictures. When Will and I arrived back in Chimoio on the 29th, he hung out for a day before heading 45 minutes west to visit our friend Anna in Messica. I stuck around Chimoio to start attacking the enormous pile of laundry that needed washing before school started and the almost-as-enormous pile of emails that needed answering. Once my home situation was a little more under control, I joined Will, Anna and Sarah in Messica for a homemade pizza feast and to spend my last day of vacation seeing some sites right here in Manica.
 

Anna and Sarah’s pedagogical director, Jorge, offered to drive us to a few places nearby, including a site just outside the city of Manica where you can see prehistoric rock paintings. It was a pretty incredible experience. First we went to a beautiful old church on top of a hill overlooking Manica.
 

Stairs to the church flanked by stations of the cross; Jorge, Anna, Sarah and Will; the church.

From there, we went to find the paintings. We started by getting to the general vicinity, leaning out the window and stopping passers-by with a "Com licensa! Sabe onde estão as pinturas rupestres?" (This is the preferred method of finding anything around here.) We eventually parked under a tree next to a secondary school and started up the path towards a hill. We continued stopping people along the way until we were directed to the home of the family charged to act as guardians of the site. 
 

As we arrived at their home, we were welcomed and given benches to sit on. After greeting the older man and woman and waving at the kids peeking out from doorways and behind the shed, Jorge explained in Chiute that we would like to visit the site of the paintings. They had a short conversation that we couldn’t understand, but the woman left and returned with a wooden bowl that she placed at Jorge’s feet. He explained that they had requested an offering of 40 meticias per person and they would lead us to the site. 
 

The Chinhamapere Secondary School; our guide.

There are a number of sites – mountains, caves, etc. – in Mozambique that are of spiritual significance and require a similar process in order for outsiders to visit. Recently, some of my friends wanted to climb Vumba, a mountain about 1n hour outside Chimoio. Their colleague visited the tribal elder the day before to find out what offering he required. The request was so complex – I believe it involved chickens, among other things – that they decided not to climb it.
 

We were happy to pay 40 mets (about $1.30) to see what promised to be a memorable experience. Once we had placed the money in the bowl, the woman motioned for us to follow her. We wove between houses and huts, walking across a log over a stream, greeting groups of excited children, until we came to a path that led up the hill. The path was rocky and steep and I hadn’t packed for hiking, but our guide ascended nimbly, barefoot and in a skirt. 
 

Making our way up.

We had been happily snapping pictures throughout the climb, but as we arrived at the site of the paintings, the woman asked that we stop until she had asked permission. She approached the paintings, knelt in front of them and began speaking to the spirits who guard the area. She rose and nodded that we could approach the paintings and take pictures if we would like. She settled onto a nearby rock and let us take it all in.
 

Our guide rests next to the paintings.

The paintings as a whole.

Details of the paintings.

The morning had gotten hot as we were climbing (I was in jeans and a black t-shirt) but the little nook where the paintings were sheltered was shady and cool. We could still hear the sound of children playing below, but high above the village where we had started, everything was calm. As we stared at the figures that had been painted onto the rock thousands of years before, our guide explained to Jorge that although the rock was exposed, rain doesn’t reach it; miraculously, it always remains dry. The paintings are said to be anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000 years old and the figures higher up on the rock are remarkably well-preserved. It felt like we had left 2013 and were hiding out in a little pocket where time stood still.
 

Our guide rests.

Will takes in the view.

Sarah thinks deep thoughts, I am sure.

We alternated between staring – a little bit slack-jawed – at the paintings and taking in the view of the sprawling landscape. I talked with Jorge for a while and he pointed out a village in the distance where he had led a reforestation project years before. As we continued talking, I began to realize what a really interesting man he is. Among other things, he is the first person I have met who can speak Aramaic! Eventually, we began to make our way back down the hill and returned to the present, feeling like we had been in contact with something slightly otherworldly.
 

High above it all.

Looking down from above; looking up from below. 

Heading back; Will helps our guide carry wood (definitely not because she needed help!)