Bulawayo

The United States government has labelled Zimbabwe as one of the world’s six outposts of tyranny and suggests not entering the country due to the current political and economic instability. Suggestion noted and ignored. I have no excuse for going into the heart of Zimbabwe, but that is the thing about going back to one’s roots, you don’t need an excuse.

It all started about a week ago. I haven’t been sleeping well due to the heat and increased insect activity at night. I kept having thoughts at night. I have come all of this way and am so close to where my family rebuilt their lives but haven’t gone to visit. I would be leaving in a few weeks and miss the opportunity to visit the place that my family called home for so long, Bulawayo.
I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to go back. It is true that the current economic and political situation does not make it ideal for an American to be travelling through the country. There wasn’t even much for me to see; my uncles that are left there spend most of their time in Cape Town, the old house got converted to a market long ago, and I don’t even want to know what condition the old farm is in. I did have one thing left in Bulawayo that I had never visited on my previous trips and this is what kept me up at night, drawing me to go and see my grandfather’s grave.

I had never met my grandfather, as he passed away many years before I was born. I had never gone with my father to the cemetery to visit on any of the trips that we made to Bulawayo when I was a child. I was alone in Africa now and it was my time to go. The only problem was time was running out and I wasn’t sure how to get down there. The bus does go down, but it is an eight hour bus ride that I wasn’t too keen on taking. I was lucky enough to run into my friend Nicole on Wednesday evening though. When I mentioned the fact that I wanted to go down to Bulawayo she told me that she was driving down the next day to pick up her brother from school and take him back up to Livingstone for Christmas with the family. She offered me a ride and I quickly accepted.

The next day I met up with Nicole in the morning and we headed off for the border and what would turn into quite an adventure. What is usually a quick stop to get a stamp turned into an hour of paying new taxes that the Zimbabwe government instated for motor vehicles. I’m not sure if these were actually required, but being one of the most corrupt places on earth right now everyone was looking for extra money at Christmas time. After sorting through all of the paperwork, getting the required stamps, and dealing with every single immigration officer asking for a "Christmas present," we were through the border and off for Bulawayo. It is a lovely drive down to Bulawayo through the rolling hills of bushveld. The drive is only marred by the fact that the locals don’t lock up their livestock and you have to watch out for cattle, donkeys and goats that tend to graze on the side of the road. It is normal to stop every now and then for some cattle crossing the road; it is unusual to have seven police road stops on the five hour drive down. We were in a country where the police are as corrupt as the government and at each one of the stops the officers were looking to make sure all of the taxes were paid and documents were in order. We had all of the proper paperwork, but the police still asked for a Christmas present. We gave them all a small tip so we could be on our way. Unfortunately the car in front of us wasn’t as lucky because they had an outdated radio permit… yes, you need a permit for the radio in your car. Thank Mr Mugabe for some of the most ridiculous taxes you have ever come across in his attempt to relieve the economic strife.

We finally made it to Bulawayo and made a plan for Nicole to drop me at the cemetery, go pick her brother up from school which was forty kilometres outside of town, and then return in about an hour to pick me up at the cemetery. Looking back on it now it wasn’t the best of plans, neither one of us had a phone or getting a hold of the other if something went wrong. I didn’t think too much about it though because I was on a mission to find my grandfather’s grave.

Nicole dropped me on the side of the road by the cemetery with the advice, "please don’t get mugged." This left me with a warm and fuzzy feeling. I started my trek around the cemetery trying to find the Jewish section. I decided to head north towards the train tracks. No luck, as all I could see were crosses rising from the ground. I then walked around the top of the cemetery to the other side. There I found different religious burial grounds, Bahai, Muslim, Buddhist, back to Christian; where was the Jewish section? I made it back to the South end and started walking back towards the road that I was dropped off at. My only thoughts were that I was at the wrong cemetery. Just before reaching the road I saw a building with a Star of David on top. I had finally found the Jewish section. It had taken me fifteen minutes to walk around the entire place almost completely back to where I started. I was now left to walk row after row through the Jewish section looking for my grandfather. Almost forty minutes later I found his grave. It was a beautiful polished marble grave that was in good condition. I introduced myself to my grandfather Heinz Goldschmidt. According to Jewish tradition you are supposed to leave a stone on top of the grave, I left three, one from me, one from my father and one from my grandmother. I was even able to find the grave of my great grandmother and many more of my family that I remember visiting as a child. It was my opportunity to say goodbye.

I had accomplished what I had wanted and was glad that I went. I headed back out to the road to wait for Nicole and head back up to Zambia. The plan was to meet her there at four o’clock at the bus stop on the main road. Four soon went by and then five. It looked like we wouldn’t make it back across the border that day because it was a five hour drive back and the border closed at ten. Not to worry, I have some friends in Vic Falls that we can stay with. Now I was only worried about where Nicole was and if she would get me before it was dark. It was almost six o’clock and I decided to walk towards town so that if Nicole didn’t show up I could at least find a place to stay for the night. I walked back to the turn off for Victoria Falls and decided to wait there for fifteen more minutes to see if Nicole would show up. Fourteen minutes later I finally saw Nicole’s car heading down the road. I hopped in and she apologized profusely for being late. Her brother’s bus didn’t arrive until five and she got completely lost in Bulawayo trying to remember where the cemetery was. No need to worry, I was with her and we could be on our way, but first we needed to find diesel to get back.

Finding petrol in Zimbabwe is quite a task due to the numerous sanctions in place. If one is able to find petrol, expect to wait in a long line at the station. We drove around Bulawayo for half an hour trying to find a station that had fuel. At last we found one, but they didn’t have diesel. They were able to tell us where we needed to go to find diesel though. After a short drive down the road, we found the station with diesel and without much of a line. Next problem, we didn’t have any Zim dollars. Not to worry, US dollars go very far in Zimbabwe. We filled up with the twenty five dollars I had left and finally were on our way back.

It was my turn to drive on the way back to Vic Falls. It was seven thirty now and what was such a nice drive on the way down, was sheer hell on the way back. The darkness in the bush at night is overwhelming with even the high beams not illuminating nearly enough of the road. It was the animals that we had to watch out for though, not only the farm animals, but now the active wildlife. Luckily we made it back without a problem and only had one near run in with a donkey. It was the hardest five hours of driving I have ever done in my life though.

We made it to Vic Falls at just before midnight. Now we had to find my friend Fritz so we could crash at his place; again, no phone but I knew where he would be. We headed to the local bar and I asked where Fritz was. They hadn’t seen him all night… not good. Last resort, we headed to the house where the managers of the lion project stay. On our way there though there was a complete blackout in Vic Falls. I found the house, but now had to find my way through the house in the middle of the night with no power to try and wake someone to see if we could crash there. I was able to feel my way to Greg’s room, knock on the door and ask him if we could crash there for the night. After a quick explanation, he let us crash there. I felt my way to the couch, lay down and was soon asleep. What a day, what an adventure.

One in a million…

The rains have arrived and it has been pretty consistent that every afternoon we get quite a storm that comes through. Last weekend was no different, but still I wouldn’t let some rain ruin my day. Emma had convinced me that we should do the bungi jump off of Victoria Falls Bridge. This used to be the highest bungi in the world, but had recently been surpassed by two other bridges. Still, over one hundred meters to the rushing Zambezi below I’m sure would be quite a rush. We headed down to the bridge in the morning, with the storm clouds threatening as they closed in. We made it down to the bridge with no rain and all was go for the jump. I let Emma jump first. The guys that run the jump are pretty good. They talk to you the whole time and are really quick to get you set for the jump because the longer they take the longer you have to opt out of jumping. Emma was set to go and I stood there on the bridge watching as they counted down five, four, three, two, one, bungi. There was a short scream and then she fell silent as she dove down towards the river below. A few trips back up and then down again and it was over.
Now it was my turn. For some reason I wasn’t too scared. A lot of my friends that are here have done it. Their only advice was to jump as far out as you can and enjoy the ride. I nervously watched as the staff wrapped towels around my ankles and then slip knotted some industrial straps on top of the towels. Before I knew it, I was ready to jump. You have to hop towards the edge of the platform. A quick smile, or in my case look of fear, for the camera and then… five, four, three, two, one, bungi. I jumped out as far as I could. I soon found myself out of breath and unable to scream. I was just plummeting towards the river. The bungi soon caught and I slowed down only to be catapulted back up towards the bridge. Down, back up, down, back up, it was an amazing feeling, unlike anything else that I have ever done in my life. It was thrilling and exhillerating.

I was excited that I jumped, but the best was yet to come. Monday arrived and I was back teaching at school. It was much of the same, I was teaching long division to the boys all morning and then we would head to the football grounds to play in the afternoon. I picked up the boys for the game in the afternoon and headed to the grounds. It was Alex and I coaching them this day, but we decided to skip the drills and head straight for a match before the rains started again. Alex was refereeing so that I could play in the game. I decided that I would play offence and try and score a goal. About half way through the first half I had my opportunity. I got a pass from one of the boys which I took to the near side post and angled in past the goalie. It was a brilliant goal and I was excited to have scored. My excitement was short lived as Alex blew the whistle and called me off sides. There was no way I was off sides, so I chased after Alex and pleaded my case. Too bad, no goal. I was pissed off and decided I would go back on defence to calm down. A few minutes passed and my team was threatening again at the goal. The team lost control of the ball though and the other team cleared the ball high in the air. The ball was heading straight for me at about half field. I decided that I was going to just wail on the ball and see what happened. I expected the usual miss kick or complete lack of contact with the ball at all. Instead though, I made full contact with the ball and it went speeding towards the goal. It bended in, contacted the top side of the post, ricocheted off the post, the goalies hands and went in. The boys went crazy as I did the traditional taking off of the shirt and running around like crazy. They caught up with me and tackled me to the ground, all piling on top of me. It was a one in a million shot and I probably could never do it again, but luck was on my side and it was a brilliant shot and the highlight of my trip to Zambia. Yes, my scoring a goal against my teenage students was the best thing so far that I did on my trip because the boys finally accepted me and were proud to see my football skills had improved to their level. They had taught me as well.

These are a few of my favourite things…

The past two weekends I have been able to do those things that I remember and love most from coming to Africa as a child…

First was a visit to Victoria Falls or Mosi ou Tunya (the smoke that thunders). Saturday morning Emma and I headed down to the falls to spend the day exploring in the park. We arrived at the park and were greeted by all of the men at the curio market. This has to be my least favourite part of Africa is having all of these guys come up and talk to you like you are best friends so that you will buy something from them. I’ve gotten good at the phrase “zikomo sinifuna,” thank you I don’t want. It is really nice to be able to go and visit the national parks and get the local rates. Instead of paying $10 US, we get in for about 50 cents… it allows for a few more beers.

I had never been on the Zambian side of the Falls before. We started off by walking along the top of the gorge towards the bridge. We were able to watch someone do the bungee jump, and I even caught a steam train stopping on the bridge. Next, we walked to knife’s edge. There is a bridge that you have to cross to get across the gorge to get to this “island” across from the falls. It was nice seeing the falls from the Zambian side here but the water is still very low and there isn’t much water coming over on the Zambian side. We walked around and had a few great looks down the falls. The best part was that I convinced Emma that we should walk along the edge of the falls to Livingstone Island which is in the middle, about 1.5 km walk. We first headed down the gorge though down to the boiling pot. This was a fun walk as you go down about 300 meters to the river. It is quite a walk, especially when you have baboons stalking you. About two thirds of the way down you enter a rain forest and walk through small streams and thick plants. It is amazing down here, as it doesn’t seem like anywhere else in the area. We proceeded through the rainforest, along the stream to the boiling pot. Here along the edge of the river just below the falls there are massive boulders that the stream runs down leaving a bunch of small waterfalls and pools. We went for a swim here to cool off, it was over 100 degrees that day, and enjoyed a packed lunch here at the bottom. The hike back up proved even more exciting as we ran into an African tree snake on the way. I don’t think that they are poisonous but I’d rather not take a chance. Once back at the top of the falls we headed to the falls themselves to start our venture to Livingstone Island. It isn’t really suggested that you do this walk, and no muzungus really do it, but I thought it best that we give it a shot. It is a pretty hard walk and swim through the river and over small islands. The swims were the hardest as the water is moving pretty fast and the stones are extremely slippery. Good thing I had my four year old worn out flip flops on… no problem. The walk was amazing. It took us over an hour to make it out to Livingstone Island. Along the way we were able to catch some incredible views of the falls, especially when you stand on the edge and look down to the rocks a few hundred meters below, it gets the heart pumping. We had made it all the way to the island but once we got there, we were turned away by security guards so we weren’t able to go and visit Devil’s Armchair again. I was pretty upset that this island, which is a world heritage sight, can be controlled by one of the hotels so that people have to pay fifty dollars to take a boat there. Oh well, it was a good walk anyway. Going back was much easier, as we now knew which way we needed to go. By the time we got back we were extremely tired and dehydrated. We were able to sneak into the Sun Hotel to meet up with some people for drinks and a swim before heading to the Royal Livingstone for sundowners. It was the end to a perfect day.

The next weekend, I was afforded the opportunity to head down to Zimbabwe to Hwange National Park. This is the park that I loved going to as a kid. Since I was last there, twelve years ago, the park has been going through problems with drought and lack of money to keep the park running properly. I was a little worried about what I would find there but I wanted to go anyway. The drive down was amazing. It is a few hundred kilometres south of the falls through the rolling hills of Zimbabwe passing along many small villages along the way. Even though things haven’t been great in Zimbabwe things seemed the same as I remembered. We made it down to the camp that we would be staying at, just outside of the park near the main camp. The lodge was beautiful and we each got our own small hut to spend the night in. I had a quick dip in the pool to cool off before heading off to go to the Ivory Lodge for sundowners. It was getting pretty late though and out drive to the lodge soon turned into a night drive. We came across a few elephants crossing the road. The highlight though was running into a pack of wild dogs. This is one of the hardest animals to spot in Africa because they are endangered and there are less than two thousand left on the entire continent. The pack consisted of ten dogs and they seemed to enjoy playing in front of the truck. It was exciting to see the dogs running around the truck playing with each other, a rare treat. We made it to the lodge and were greeted by Kelly, the woman that ran the camp. She was incredibly nice and invited us all in to have some drinks and watch the animals at the water hole. I decided to skip the drinks and head directly to the waterhole overlook. I’m glad that I did as I was greeted by an elephant having a drink by the water. After everyone else showed up, I quickly ran up to the bar to have a Zambezi Lager and a quick chat with Kelly. I then headed down to the overlook. Soon another elephant came along to have a drink. Luckily I figured out how to do the long exposure shots on my camera and caught some nice pictures of the animals. Most everyone took off for the bar but I wanted to stay and watch the elephant. I’m glad that I did; soon a large lion approached the water to have a drink. After a short standoff with the elephant, the elephant retreated and the lion helped herself to water. It was amazing watching this massive cat toy with an elephant and win. Now I was really glad that I knew how to work my camera. We headed back to the bar and gloated to everyone about what we just saw. They were quite jealous. We headed back to our camp getting an amazing view of the moonless sky along the way. We even came across a jackal, some zebra and some elephant on the way back. When we arrived back at camp some of the locals had come by to do the local Shona songs and dances. This was followed up with a good Zimbabwe brai of steaks and borewors. The trip just kept getting better.

The next day we woke up at five to make the sunrise and morning game drive. Our guide Cedric took us off for the park as the sun was rising. Before even making it into the park we were able to come across some massive elephants, 7 giraffes, a herd of zebra, impala, wildebeest and even some guinea fowl. Once we entered the park, the animal sightings slowed down a little. It took a little bit, but eventually we came across some more impala and even a duiker. We then came across three female kudus, which are the second tallest antelope in Africa. Unfortunately there were no males with their massive, spiralling horns. Soon after leaving the kudus, we came across the highlight of the day, we came across a herd of about a hundred elephant having a morning water and bath. We were soon right in the middle of this entire herd crossing in front of us after finishing at the water hole. It was amazing to see this many elephant and especially to have them this close. It also gets the heart pumping to have a large bull only ten meters from the truck, especially when there were quite a few babies with them. I definitely got a bit of a fright when a few of the bulls decided to start fighting right in front of us. After watching the herd for a while we took off to try and find some more game. We headed off to another water hole. On the way we say quite a few vultures, eagles, hawks, kites and storks. The only animal that we came across on the drive though was a steenbok. We arrived at the water hole to some grazing zebra, hippos in the water and a crocodile trying to feed on some of the birds along the water’s edge. After leaving the water hole, we came across some Roen Antelope, zebras and ostriches. We arrived at the next water hole to watch some hippos fighting in the water, while a crocodile watched from the banks. Just before leaving we were treated to a black backed jackal coming to drink at the water. We needed to head back to the camp but on the way were stopped by s herd of giraffes. It was weird though because instead of the giraffes running away, they just stood there, a few meters away staring us down. We spent some time there just watching them, but they didn’t move. I soon realized why. We had separated the herd and one of the small females was on the other side of the track. We decided to leave to let everyone reunite. Heading back to camp we were greeted by some more impala, zebra, giraffe and even caught a glimpse of some sable antelope. What an amazing day. The park was just as majestic as I had remembered. It seemed to be coping and surviving the tough political situation. The only difference in the park from what I remembered was that it was empty now. This park was once teaming with visitors but now seemed empty. It is a shame that people miss this amazing place.

The ride home to the falls was a bit of an adventure. After going for a quick drive to look for the wild dogs again, we headed back for the falls. Just a few kilometres after leaving, we had our tire blow out. It was completely shredded and of course it was my job to fix it. Thank goodness it did. Once we stopped the car and I heard a rumbling coming from the engine. The coolant water was boiling. Something was wrong. I was working on the tire and so I asked Phil to check out what was going on with the engine. I didn’t expect him to open up the water tank. Genius, the tank exploded. Thank goodness Phil didn’t burn himself, but because we were in the kombi and the engine is underneath the front seats, he was able to flood the entire front of the car. We put everyone except for Phil and I in the other car and had our car towed back to the camp and I check out what was going on. For some reason someone had put oil in the reserve water tank and thus the engine overheated. I was able to clean out the tank and radiator of all of the oil and then refill the water. After loading the car with as many bottles of water that we could, we were off to the falls, without a spare tire and questioning if the engine had a bad head gasket. We ended up making it back to the falls without a problem except for getting caught doing 85 kph in a 80 kph zone. We paid the 500 Zim dollar fine (about 10 cents) and moved on. Once back in Zimbabwe we picked everyone up and headed for the Victoria Falls Hotel for drinks overlooking the falls before heading back home for some needed sleep. What a weekend!

Schools out for Summer

I can hardly believe that I have been in Livingstone now for two months working with the kids. Teaching the grade 7 class at Linda Community School couldn’t have been any better. The kids all love learning and are all anxious to get me to teach them as much as possible. The group of kids that I had for the first month took their examinations and will get their results in January. It is unfortunate that I only got a month with them because they needed a lot of work on their English, Math and Science. We worked very hard to prepare for the exams though and hopefully most of the class will pass the exam and be able to continue with their schooling.

Once my original class went to take their exams I got the grade 6 students to start preparing them for the same exam that they would have to take next year. This was a whole new group of students that were excited to have me as a teacher and start learning. We wasted no time at all. I started going through the Math and English that the children would need to know. It is frustrating with how little the children actually know. I had to start from the very beginning with addition, subtraction, nouns and verbs. The kids want to learn though and try very hard to do as well as they can. I had these kids for one month before school ended for the summer, last Friday.
The last day of school, December 1, coincided with World Aids Day. I talked with some of the teachers and organized to have the children put on a talent show instead of having classes on that day. The children organized to do traditional dancing, ceremonial dancing, songs about AIDS, and drama about AIDS. The day couldn’t have gone any better. I invited the other volunteers to come and watch the children as they performed for us and their classmates. There was a lot of dancing and singing to the boys playing the drums. It was amazing to watch the children, as they were all incredible dancers. The children performed for about two hours while we all sat in amazement.

After the performances finished, the boys invited us to play a football match. It was another poor showing for me at football, but I am getting better. The football match concluded when lunch was ready. I decided that because I wasn’t going to get a Thanksgiving dinner this year, instead I would have lunch with all of the children on their last day of school. I had bought all of the ingredients for the local women to cook us all lunch. The lunch consisted of nshima (the local staple of corn meal), rape (a spinach like vegetable), and tomatoes and onions. The kids even got a treat and we made meat balls to go with the vegetables. This doesn’t sound like much, but this is a typical meal for most of the people in Zambia. It was a wonderful lunch and it was great to get to eat with all of the children. They laughed at us eating the food, as we didn’t quite have the right form for eating with our hands.

I enjoyed teaching so much that I decided to stay in Zambia for the month of December to be with the kids and set up some more projects in the community. I was invited to stay on with the project to set up summer revision classes, sports coaching and organize some other projects for the volunteers to do once the rains started to come. I couldn’t turn down this opportunity to stay and do more in the community than I ever imagined.

With school finished it was time to do some work with the children that were around during the holidays. It was hard at first to get the kids to come to school. Most of them are expected to go and work for their families over the break. Most of them end up in the fields, getting the crops ready before the rain season. Once I talked with the kids though, I was able to get quite a few to come to school to do revisions. This is almost more enjoyable than teaching my class. I know all of the kids already and I get to teach whatever I want. For now it is back to basics, learning what these children were supposed to be learning for the duration of their education so far. The kids are having fun though and I play a lot of games with them to help them learn.

The afternoons are just as good as the mornings. We pick up the children and head to the community football fields which we now have access to use whenever we want. We head over to play football for two hours. I admit that I’m not much of a player, but the kids like the fact that they now have a coach. I made up some drills for them to do and we go through them every day after warm-ups and stretches. It is a great way to spend my afternoons and the boys are really enjoying themselves.

Attempting to Kayak

Mom please don't read this...

The rafting had got me excited about being on the Zambezi again and this time I wanted to go down the river again, this time in a kayak. Last time I was in Victoria Falls, I had a guide try and teach me how to eskimo roll in the swimming pool. I wasn’t able to roll after 4 hours of trying so I decided it be best to not try and go down the river. I was convinced that I could make it down this time though.

I talked with Sven, the local kayak guru and he arranged to have one of his friends teach me how to kayak on the river. The weekend arrived and Sam arrived at the house ready to take me to the river. We went down to rapid 6 so that we could do some work in the pool there and some of the moving water just above the rapid. The morning went by without me being able to roll, but getting some work on the moving water. Kayaking is definitely harder than I thought it would be. It is amazing how unstable that little boat is in the moving water. The good thing is that it is a lot like skiing in what you need to do in the water… Going from still into moving water you need to lean downstream so that the water can flow under the boat, otherwise you go over. Going from moving into still water you have to lean upstream because as you leave the moving water you get fishtailed out into the still water. I started understanding the concepts, but was still quite wobbly in the boat, as I would get thrown around pretty good in the different currents and eddies. It is a lot like walking and I was just learning how to crawl. We spent the entire day just on the moving water and in the pools working on the roll. By the end of the day I was exhausted but pretty excited about what I had learned.

That night was Sam’s going away party. We headed over to Jolly Boys to start the evening out with some mojitos… how gay does that sound. The thing about alcohol in Africa is that you don’t have much of a variety. The only rum that is available is called cane, at least we assume it is rum, and pretty much is 141. Just add some mint, sugar and lime and you have yourself an African mojito. The road to belligerence was a fast and treacherous with fourties to follow the mojitos. I don’t remember leaving Jolly Boys that night but I woke up to my alarm the next morning feeling like a sledge hammer was pounding against my head. I spent the first few minutes trying to piece together what had happened the night before. Then I realized I was kayaking that day and had to meet my guide James about 5 minutes before I woke up. The good news is that James was out drinking with us the night before so he was feeling just as good as I was. After a quick breakfast and hydration we headed off for the gorge. It was more time in the morning just practicing rolling with me finally getting over by myself. But as quickly as I got it, I lost it. We had lunch and then headed to the moving water to do some more work. After a bit of time in the moving water it was finally time to head into the rapids. This required a little bit of work, as we walked up the gorge over the boulders to reach the set of rapids above us. This was a good hike up the gorge where we encountered a water monitor on the way that scared the shit out of me. After cleaning the crap out of my pants we continued to the top of the rapid. This was a nice long grade three chute with a three nice waves. We started from a nice little eddy just upstream from the rapids. I fairy glided to the middle of the river and then was off heading towards the rapids. My heart was racing and I was a little nervous heading into the waves. I hit the first one going through the center of it. I made it through the rest of the rapids and had such a rush coming out at the other end. James asked if I wanted to try the next rapid. Of course I did, I just had such a good rush and I wanted to keep going. Little did I know what I was in for. The next rapid was the Devil’s Toilet Bowl (as I was to find out later a grade 5). It is a section of pretty decent rapids followed by two massive waves about half way down the rapids. I headed into the rapids, following James’s instructions to stay by him and keep right on the big waves. The first section was a blast, powering through the rapids. Soon I was headed towards the waves but was too close to the center. I hit the first wave right in the center going into it, powering through to the top. I survived the first one, but had almost no speed going into the second wave. I dropped in and the front of my boat got flipped backwards and next thing I know I’m under water. There was no way that I was going to be able to roll here so I decided to pop out of the kayak… bad move. As soon as I was out of the kayak, and still under water, I was sucked into the toilet bowl. This was a massive whirl pool right after the wave. It felt as if my ankle was caught on a rock, but it was just the water pulling me down. It was strong enough to pull me under, pull my skirt off, and almost take my shorts off. I was under and there was nothing I could do about it. My mind was quite clear at the moment and all I could think about was how this wasn’t how I wanted to go. After a bit of a panic I spread my body out and eventually made it out of the whirl pool, about 30 seconds later. Those were probably the longest 30 seconds of my life. After making it out, James collected my paddle, boat, and skirt. I was back in the boat and had one more section of rapids to go. These were nothing big, thank goodness, and I proceeded without any more near death encounters. We pulled the boats out of the river and made our way up the gorge. Thank goodness for that horrible climb because it definitely took my mind off of what just happened.

The next week I didn’t sleep too well. All I could do was dream about being sucked under water and not being able to get out. I wasn’t too keen to get back in the kayak any time soon. I told myself that I should take a week off and rest a bit to get the incident out of my head. Thursday night though I ran into James and his friend Ian. James unfortunately had to take some clients down the river on the weekend and couldn’t take me down. Huge sigh of relief. Ian was free though and wanted to take me down. Balls to the wall, if you fall just get back up again. I was heading down the river on Saturday with Ian. We met up on a sober Saturday morning and headed down to the gorge. I told him I wanted to do some work in the still water on my rolls and then do some rapids, but not the Devil’s Toilet Bowl. After only a few minutes in the boat I was glad that I decided to get back on the river. After a few more minutes I was questioning myself again. I couldn’t believe how sore I was still from the week before, not in my shoulders but in my hips. A few rolls and they were burning. We did a little moving water work and then had lunch. After lunch it was time to hit the rapids again. This time it was only grade 3’s. I progressed enough to get through the rapids without any problems and even was able to get into and out of eddies without much trouble. I was feeling really good in the boat and having a blast going down the river. I’m really glad I went back into the water but learned my lesson not to try to run before one can walk.

Life on the Zambezi

It didn’t take a lot to convince me to go rafting down the Zambezi, all she did was ask. It was Leilani’s last weekend in Zambia and she wanted to go rafting. I hadn’t been down the river yet on this trip, but have made it a priority every time I make it up to Victoria Falls. This trip was no different, I’m just surprised it took me so long.

Saturday morning we headed down to the river with our roommate Kent who would be taking us down the river. I had one request to Kent, please just make sure we flip the raft. This shouldn’t be much of a problem on the Zambezi as the water is low and the rapids are big.

The day starts with a nice long trek from the top of Victoria Falls down the gorge to the Boiling Pot. This would be where we would start our day rafting down the river. We headed off with a pretty full boat with 8 people that would be on board with us. The day starts off pretty easy with a grade 3 rapid called Morning Glory, but quickly progresses to the reason it is one of the hardest rivers in the world to raft with grade 4 and 5 rapids for the rest of the day. Stairway to Heaven left us a bit jarred around but again no flip. After a bumpy ride down The Devil’s Toilet Bowl, we pumped our leaking raft back up to try and ensure a flip on number 7, Gullivers Travels. This rapid has three options with the right being the easiest, the middle being harder and the left, Star Trek, for those that have lost most of their braincells drinking the night before. We headed to the left down Star Trek, a twenty foot drop down into giant ten plus foot waves. The raft got folded in half with the front of the boat nearly touching the back. Unbelievable we somehow made it through without flipping, but with only 3 people left on board. We had one more chance to flip on the Gnashing Jaws of Death but again our boat was about as soft as a Cadillac and we just got thrown out of the boat without a flip. We stopped for a lunch break and said goodbye to those who were only doing a half day. Most importantly we were able to switch rafts and get a nice firm raft which should be easier to flip. We didn’t get much time to digest before we were off down the river again. Kent promised us a flip on number twelve, the Three Ugly Sisters, a progression of three rapids with number two being the big one. We headed down the first rapid without issues and continued to number two. This was a massive wave off of a big drop. We went in getting sucked in for a decent surf which turned our boat around backwards before throwing us out. I was out of the boat and was quickly swimming for the eddy on the left. I made it to the eddy and was able to get back into the boat. We were going back into the rapid by paddling up the eddy and swinging back into the rapid. It was amazing to go up the river and get sucked into the rapid. All you can do is get down and hold on while the raft surfs. We got another classic surf and lost some more people from the boat but still no flip. Unfortunately, as one of the ladies got tossed out of the raft her oar hit Leilani and knocked out one of her front teeth. She was a champ though and we headed back into the second ugly sister three more times without a flip but with some great surfing. We continued down the river, front tooth missing, and still no flip. There was one more chance to get a flip, on number eighteen, Oblivion. Oblivion is my favourite rapid on the river. It is 3 massive waves in a row. If you hit it right you get a good surf on the second rapid and then it throws the boat up into the air vertical with people getting thrown everywhere. Today would be no different. We had our surf and got tossed into the air, but not far enough and we were left without a flip on the last big rapid of the day. Kent was on a mission though and on number 22, Morning Shave, we finally flipped the boat but only by everyone sitting in the back quarter of the boat going into the rapid. It was like a row of dominoes as we all went tumbling on top of each other and the boat coming down on top of us. We had finally flipped. It was a classic day of rafting down the Zambezi and was topped off with the walk out of the gorge with cold beer waiting at the top for the ride back to town.

Zambezi Sunset

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Originally uploaded by kgoldsch.

Sunday was a bit of a crazy day. I was supposed to go to Zimbabwe to pick up some sports equipment for the sports program I was setting up this past week in Livingstone. Unfortunately they wanted to charge too much money for me to head across the border to pick up the stuff. Phil and I then headed into Livingstone on a frantic search for some footballs (soccer balls). Amazingly after searching every store we could and even heading to both local markets, we couldn't find one football. This is Africa at it's best. It is really hard to find anything that is even remotely a luxury item here. Not to worry, Phil had to head to Zim during the week anyway so he would pick everything up then.

Seeing as we had wasted an entire day running to the border and around town, we decided it would be a good idea to have another relaxing sunset. This time we would do it African style. We all packed into the back of my friend's truck and made a quick stop at the Zimbabwe market. This outdoor marked sells booze and other goods on the black market. Everything is smuggled in over the border from Zimbabwe and is much cheaper than any of the shops in town. We went to my favorite lady and bought a few cases of beer. We then headed off towards the Zambezi. We turned off onto a dirt road that took us along the banks of the Zambezi to where the Maramba River dumps into the Zambezi. There is a little peninsula here, right along the banks of the river, but a few meters above the waters edge, so safe from hippos and crocodiles. We sat up here on the banks and cracked open a few beers. Soon we were greeted by a herd of elephant making their way from Zimbabwe to Zambia, swimming across the river. It was amazing to watch the elephants swim, completely submerged with only their trunks as snorkels. The ended up on the banks of the Maramba river, just across from where we were sitting. It was an amazing sight, having them this close and truly nothing between them and us. After the elephants disapeared into the bush, the hippos got a little curious as to what was going on with us. They were checking us out from ten meters away in the water, poking thier eyes out of the water and every so often giving a grunt and yawn to entertain us. The hippos were great, but it was time for what we came for, the perfect African sunset. This was truly one of the best sunsets I have seen on the Zambezi, being this close to nature with the locals. This is heaven. As the sun was setting, another herd of elephant arrived on one of the islands on the river and had a drink with us at sunset. This is the Africa I remember... heaven.

Zambezi Sunset

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Originally uploaded by kgoldsch.

Elephants strolling by as we sit on the banks of the Zambezi having a few beers.

Victoria Falls

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Originally uploaded by kgoldsch.

Last weekend was a trip to Victoria Falls. I have been to the falls many times befor, but this time I would be on the Zambia side, doing a trip to Livingstone Island. We took a speed boat from the Royal Livingstone Hotel along the Upper Zambezi River. We sped along the river, winding through rapids, rocks and islands towards the falls. We arrived at Livingstone Island and were greeted by our guides and some energy drinks. An energy drink in Zambia consists of some orange juice, bananas and milli meal (corn meal). It was a bit gritty, but good. We walked along the island towards the edge of the falls. This island is where Dr. Livingstone was taken by the Tonga people to be the first white person to see Mosi A Tunya, the smoke that thunders, later to be named Victoria Falls. Upon viewing the falls, Dr Livingstone decribed them as, "Scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight." I couldn't have said it any better. We walked to the edge of the island before we had to go for a swim in the Zambezi about thirty meters to a small island. It was a nice swim, but I was still nervous about it, seeing the water falling off of the falls only fifty meters down stream. Once on the small island, we made our way to the edge of the falls. When at the edge of the falls, it is a thrilling sight, watching all of the water rush over the edge. It was time to go swimming again and take a closer look.

Our guides showed us a pool at the edge of the falls that was three meters deep and safe to dive into. This pool is called Devil's Armchair. It is only about two meters wide and we had to jump off of a cliff into this pool that was right at the edge of the falls. One of the guides went first, showing off and doing a back flip into the pool. We followed, minus the backflip, jumping into the pool and swimming to the rocks right at the edge of the falls. My heart was racing being right at the edge of the falls, in the water, with only a few rocks for me to grab on to. As I looked over the edge, I saw one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen in my life. A wall of rushing white water was falling all around me and crashing into the gorge two hundred meters below. The force of the water crashing down was amazing and causes mist to come rising up from the falls, high enough to be seen from twenty kilometers away. Looking down was like looking into the mouth of God. It was just a breathtaking sight. We spent some time at Devil's Armchair, staring into the falls and doing some more dives off of the cliffs. We then went for a rough swim up the rapids a little to sit in the "poor man's jacusi." I can't think of a better jacusi in the world, just don't slip!

After the trip to Devil's Armchair, we swam back to Livingstone Island to have a few drinks and take a walk around the island. I hit up the "loo with a view," which puts the view from the 95th floor of the Hancock Tower to shame. I took a walk around the island, checking out the views of the falls and some of the wildlife on the island. There were also some flowers that only come out for a few weeks a year called fireball lillys. They were pretty cool flowers about the size of a softball and looked like bright red balls of fire. We eventually had to leave the island and got back in the boat for a ride back to the Royal Livingstone.

We stayed at the Royal Livingstone to watch the sunset while having a drink at a bar built on the banks of the river. There were amazing views of the falls from here. I was even treated to a phone call from the parents who were a bit jealous of me sitting back and enjoying life on the Zambezi. We had a beautiful African sunset and were joined by some hippos along the river. It was the perfect ending to the perfect day.

Victoria Falls

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Originally uploaded by kgoldsch.

Looking over the edge of the falls.

Victoria Falls

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Originally uploaded by kgoldsch.

View of the falls from Devil's Armchair.

Photos

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Walking with Kings

I needed to get my visa extended for Zambia, which required a quick trip over to Zimbabwe for the weekend. It has been four years since I was last in Zimbabwe, and since then things haven't improved any with Mugabe running the country further into the ground. I walked over the bridge that connects Zambia and Zimbabwe because the view from the bridge are breath taking. Unfortunately, we are in the middle of the dry season and there wasn't much water falling over the falls.

Once in Zimbabwe, we drove over to the house that we would be staying at. I was staying at one of the program's houses with a few friends that I had met a few weeks back in Zambia. It is amazing the difference between the towns of Livingstone and Victoria Falls. Even with all of the concerns, Vic Falls is still a tourist town, catering to tourism while Livingstone is an African town in its true sense.

Friday night I headed to the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge to go have a few drinks with my friends. This is one of the most amazing places to have a drink, as the lodge and bar sit on the top of a hill overlooking a watering hole. At sunset, animals come to the water hole to have a drink. I joined them with a Zambezi Lager. There is no more relaxing place in the world. All of your worries seem to fade away as you watch the sun drop from the sky. This is the Africa I remember, God's country.

That night was a planned party night at the local backpacker bar, Shoestrings. Drinking in Zimbabwe is dangerous because your money goes so far and is even more dangerous when your friend is working the bar. It was a night of Zambezi Lager and windy windy shots. Around ten that night the power went out in Victoria Falls. The party continued with drumming by some local guys by candle light. It was a really great evening with almost everyone by the end of it ending up in the swimming pool. Somehow I managed to stay dry.

The next morning seemed to come too fast. I didn't get too much sleep and was a little hung over. I needed to get over it quick though because I was heading to the project that morning. After a little breakfast and a lot of water, we were off to one of the game parks in the area. This was about to be a morning that I would never forget.

My friend Phil greeted us at the park and we went to go meet his friends that we would be walking through the park with that morning. There waiting for us in the shade of a tree were three year old lions. The two boys and a girl were big though, each weighing about 150 kg. I said hi petting them and rubbing their belly. It is an amazing feeling to pet an animal that can take down a buffalo that weighs more than a ton. Respect.

I was at the Lion project, which is working to breed and reintroduce lions into the wilderness in Africa. They breed the lions, raising them in the park, which allows them to be comfortable with humans, but still wild animals. The lions I was walking were about as old as the lions get before the project takes them to a game park to reintroduce to the wild and hopefully start breeding in the wild again.

As comfortable as these lions were with humans, they were still the boss and there are strict rules that you have to follow: Never get in front of the lion, never show a lion your back, never touch its head, never show fear, and most important, never run away. These lions are still wild and will take you down... with that, we were off for a walk through the bush.

It was amazing walking with the lions through the bush. They are such beautiful animals and to be so close and walking with them was an incredible feeling. There were a few stops along the way, to lay in the shade for a bit. This afforded me the opportunity to get close with them and pet them for a bit. It was nice and relaxing siting there with the animals, until one of them decided he was tired of me being there and made a quick turn for me with his head. I jumped back with a fright. He wasn't going after me, but didn't want to be bothered by me any more. I got the message. We stopped by the river so the lions could get a drink of water and we rested there watching them for a bit. A few hours went by faster than I could imagine. I said goodbye to the lions and went to have a drink with my friends. What a feeling to know that you had just been part of the pride.

Saturday night, after a bit of rest, we were headed for the ugly side of Victoria Falls, the tourist traps. We headed for a dinner cruise on the Zambezi. We were greeted at the boat by some African dancers and musicians, all wearing loin cloths. I think I felt more embarrassed to be there then they did. We headed out onto the river at sunset and cruised down towards the falls. We saw quite a few hippos on the way, but no other animals before it got dark. The dinner was nice, but I felt like too much of a tourist. Hopefully everyone else enjoyed it a little more.

Sunday I woke up and spent the morning at the pool while the others went to the market to go buy curios. Phil and I were a bit bored so decided to head to the bar to watch premiership and have a few beers. I could only think that it was noon and I was pissed (English for drunk) already. It was only a year ago that I was sleeping preparing for the marathon. My friends back home would be starting the race in a few hours and I felt a little guilty... "Another Zambezi lager please."

Life in Livingstone

I have been here for two weeks now and things finally seem like they are normal. Or at least normal for African standards...

Teaching is going really well. I am officially the grade 7 teacher at Linda Community school. I apparently have about 50 kids in my class, although I really only see 30 of them in the classroom. It is so jam packed in there right now, I don't know how 20 more would fit. I love my class though and for the most part everyone is really good and trying hard. It is incredible hard to teach with out any of the basic supplies that we take for granted in the States.

I have three books which I teach from, all of which are approved for use by the Zambian Ministry of education. The three subjects are English, Math and Sciences. The English is a combination of grammar, vocabulary and reading. I find this the easiest to teach to the kids and get a laugh out of it sometimes. They love giving examples for the vocabulary instead of a definition. One of my boys, Moses "the man of love," gave me the definition for advice: "It is like if you go up to a prostitute in the street and tell her stop having sex or you will get HIV/AIDS." I can't argue, it is good advice. Math isn't too bad to teach, but the kids don't seem to be as good at it and just getting basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division correct is a problem more often than I want it to be. I like the math though and it is fun to give examples of how to use it. I just hope that the kids understand. Sciences is quite interesting because everything is focused around Zambia. The other day I taught a lesson on Copper Mining up in the Copper Belt of Zambia. I'm not sure that the kids quite understood it but I'm not too familiar with the subject myself. Physics has been more fun though and the kids seem to like it as well. I'm definitely getting the hang of teaching and it is an amazingly good feeling to know that the kids are learning from me.

I made a deal with some of the kids that I would let them teach me Nyanga. This is the local language and spoke through most of Zambia. I started last week and have a lot of studying to do, but it is nice to walk down the street and be able to have basic conversations with people. Hopefully my teachers don't give me too much homework though.

It turns out that I need to brush up on my soccer skills as well. Tuesday and Thursday Dan and I head over to the Linda school to do sports with the kids. They are all really good with the ball, handling it well and doing some tricks. I'm trying to get better but have a lot of work to do. I think that by the time I'm done here I'll at least be able to get around some of the boys with some tricky moves. For the moment though I feel like a dog just chasing a ball around.

One of the older boys John is actually going to help me with my soccer. John plays on one of the Livingstone Football Club teams. I went to go watch his game yesterday. It was a lot of fun. I arrived at the pitch which is next to the Maramba Market. This is the large local market on the outside of the town. I was definitely the only white person there, but had a really good time. I got to meet John's team and the coaches. They had me stand there with them for the game and explained to me about the team, the game and the players. John's team, the Young Warriors ended up winning 4 - 1 and it was quite an exciting game to watch because African style of play is very aggressive and offense oriented. The field they play on made it even more interesting as the one side was pretty much a sand pit, there is a dirt field and there are quite a few divots and rocks which throw the ball in different directions, there even was a taxi which decided to speed through the field in the middle of the game. There are games here every weekend so this might become a regular event for me, it sure beat the nil - nil ties I'm used to seeing on TV.

I did have a bit of excitement in my life last week. Wednesday night I went out with a bunch of the people on the program for some drinks. As the night progressed, we ended up at Chez Mtemba, the local dance club. I found the place hilarious as almost every wall was covered with mirrors. The locals seem to like dancing, watching themselves in the mirror. I will admit, I do dance like a muzungu and I'm sure I look more goofy dancing next to all the locals than they do dancing with themselves. I was on the dance floor when a local lady bee lined it to me to dance. I had seen her before and realized that she was one of the prostitutes that I see around town. After what seemed like a really long song, I was getting a little worried about this girl dancing with me. I looked over to my friends to come and help, but they were too busy having a good laugh at me. Thank goodness for Ciara because after she got done laughing she did come and rescue me. Only regrets are that there are no pictures... sorry.

We also have two new people in the house this week. We have two rafting guides that are staying with us now. They are quite nice and I get along really well with them. They are going to bring a kayak over to the house so that I can practice in the pool. Hopefully soon I'll be heading down the Zambezi with them. Good thing I got that insurance...

I am finally adjusted to life here in Livingstone. The locals still see me as a muzungu but I am dealing with it a lot better. I now know a lot of people in town and it is good to see them on the street and be able to stop and talk with them. It is a small town and everyone seems to know everyone. I really love it here. Everything isn't perfect, but it is how I remember Africa. It is going to be hard to leave.

African Imact - Livingstone

Sunday I was actually able to sleep in a bit. For some reason I woke up inspired to start exercising again. It was 10 in the morning and I made it about 2 km down the road before it got too hot to run. At least I gave it a shot. Back at the house we had breakfast and waited for Sofia to arrive. She would be taking us through town showing us the essentials, where to get money, a phone and internet. After walking through town for a bit (the main portion is only 4 blocks long) we headed off to grab a bit of lunch with everyone at Zig Zags. After lunch I explored town a bit more. It was Yom Kipur and I thought that I would at least attempt to try and find a synagogue to go to. Unfortunately, this trek ended without finding anywhere to go. Sorry Mom, I tried. The rest of the day was quite uneventful. We had dinner together and I got a lesson on dirty English words. Now hopefully I can understand what everyone is saying.

Monday morning we had to get up early to start work. Ciara (Keira) woke me up at half past six to go for a run. It was much better going out early in the morning when it is still somewhat cool. After breakfast, Dan, Rachel and I got the introduction about the project, the communities that we would be working in and the conditions there. It was actually quite shocking, as I didn't realize how bad things really are. It is published that the AIDS rate is around 40 percent, but in actuality about 80 percent of the population is HIV positive. It has been very difficult to educate the people about AIDS and it is still spreading. It has been an on going struggle to get people to use condoms. The men don't like wearing condoms because if they wear a condom they are seen as being sick and the women won't have sex then. The women won't ask the men to wear a condom because then they are seen as dirty and sick and the men won't have sex with them. In addition people won't go and get tested to see if they have AIDS. It is taboo for it to be known in the community that you have AIDS.

After the introduction, we took a tour of each of the three schools and a clinic where the volunteers work. The first stop was the clinic. This is where the women go to give birth, as well as take their children to get their immunizations and health checks. It was a constant procession of mothers bringing their children in. I couldn't believe how young all of these mothers were though. Most of them looked like they were in their early teens.

The next stop was the Linda community school. This is the poorest school in the district and anyone can go there because there are no fees. Because there are no fees, it is not unusual for the teachers to just not show up. There are about 100 children there of all ages and 3 classrooms to teach in. In addition, there are so few books and supplies that it is usually 10 kids sitting at a desk and sharing a text book. The kids all flocked to us when we arrived though. They all wanted to say hello. Dan and I were big hits with the boys as they were told that we would be organizing soccer for them. After meeting all of the children and teachers, we took a quick tour of the orphanage on site in which 18 of the boys lived in one room.

After the Linda school we went to the Dambwa Community School. This was more of a proper school with three buildings and teachers that worked there full time. The difference between the Dambwa and Linda is that all of the children that attend the Dambwa school have to pay to go there. The fee isn't very much, but this is normal for any school run by the Zambian government. All of these children were still very poor, but their families were able to pay the small fees. Education is seen as very important in Zambia so the parents will often work very hard to be able to pay these fees. The school also required that all of the children wear a uniform. The uniform at Dambwa consisted of a neon yellow shirt with neon green shorts and tie.

The last stop was the Zambezi school. This was the most well off school in Livingstone and volunteers only go there if there are enough to work at the other two schools. Zambezi Basic School mission statement: To provide quality inclusive education aimed a producing hard working healthy pupils who will serve the nation in all aspects of life.

Driving through the communities was amazing. Most of the houses were small onebedroom buildings made of some sort of building stone and a tin roof. Almost every house had a mother and numerous young children sitting outside. When we passed the houses, all of the children would come running to the street just to wave to us. It was amazing how friendly everyone was. So many people came up to shake our hands and thank us for coming to teach. Aparently the children now want to go to school because the volunteers are teaching. It was a bit overwelming to see and meet everyone from the community and schools, but they were all so happy that we were there.

Monday morning we prepared for our first day of teaching. Alex and I would be going to the Linda school to teach. There was no set plan for the school and we would go where ever there wasn't a teacher. I ended up teaching the fourth grade class which consisted of 30 children ranging from ages 8 to 16. They were situated in a room that had 6 tables and 6 books for everyone to teach. We started the lesson with simple pronouns. I was amazed at how difficult it was to teach the children, as it took them a very long time to understand each lesson. Just getting through the words me, my, mine, he, him, his, they, them, their and you, your, yours took about 2 hours. I had just a blackboard and some chalk but spent most of the time going around the room helping the kids write out the examples in the lessons and correct them. They like it when you correct everything on the page and put lots of checks and stars. At 10 the kids go on break. The boys took me outside and we played keep away with a soccer ball for half an hour. The boys were really good at soccer and I found myself spending quite a bit of time in the center chasing the ball around. After break we went back inside for the math lesson for the day. Todays lesson was decimals and it went much better than the English lesson. The kids soon were understanding everything, but it was difficult to find good examples of when they would use decimals because the smallest currency note that I have seen is 500 kwacha. We got through the teths and hundredths before the school day eneded. Class is usually only taught from 7 until noon. All of the kids then go home for lunch and then return in the afternoon for activities.

In the afternoon we participate in community projects. I am starting with the community farming project. It is a small farm in which a group grows vegatables and raises chickens in order to sell in the market to raise money for the clinic. The farm is actually pretty nice and everything is growing pretty well. I spent the afternoon weeding the vegatable rows and watering them. This is easy work compared to the tilling that needs to be done on the new land, but that isn't ready yet. In addition to the farming, there is a small group from the clinic that is run by a minister named Joseph. The American girls had been leading yoga (stretching) with this group every Wednesday for the past month. Because this is their last week, they asked me if I would be willing to continue the lessons. This is the most bastardized version of yoga that I have ever seen as everything is done standing in the fields. It is funny watching and listening to them try and do some stretches. We usuallly have some kids that stop by as well and try and mimic what we are doing.

I will be also teaching the kids soccer on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. I start next week so look for some updates then. I have been working on my skills at the house with one of the locals named Bright. He is really good and helping me with my game a bit. I have a feeling I am going to be embarassed by the kids next week though.

Arrival in Africa

I arrived in Livingston on Saturday. It was quite the trip to get here...

I left Philadelphia on Wednesday evening. My father took me to the airport. When I booked my ticket, the agent said to just go to the desk when I check in and pay for everything then. I walked up to the desk, and about 10 minutes later started to worry when the agent got on the phone and asking questions. It turns out that some how my seat from Frankfurt to Johannesburg got cancelled. They said that I would need to contact my booking agent to find out what happened... but US Air is who did my booking!

An hour later, I was still on hold on the phone and had no finger nails left. The agent came back out and said that she was able to fix everything and get me my ticket. It was now less than an hour before my flight left and I was just happy that everything got worked out.

I made it onto my flight and had a good flight to Frankfurt. I read the book "The Alchemist" on the way and arrived filled with a sense of purpose now. My journey was under way.

Frankfurt was pretty uneventful. I arrived at 10 in the morning and had an 8 hour lay over. I decided to go into the city and have a look around. When I arrived in the center of town I was shocked at how empty it was. There was hardly anyone around and the place almost seemed like a ghost town. I ventured through the main park and made my way to a market where there were a bunch of street vendors. I got myself a bratwurst and glass of wine and joined all of the locals to lunch on the street. I then wandered down to the south part of town which has all of the neighborhoods. There were many more people out and about here and it was much nicer. I then headed back towards the river and did a tour of the churches in Frankfurt. Most of them are actually replicas of the originals because almost everything was destroyed during the war. I walked around for a bit longer, grabbed a pretzel and then headed back to the airport to catch my flight.

I arrived in Joberg early Friday morning, grabbed my bags and headed through customs. A quick call to my Aunt Isabel and she was soon there to greet me. We headed back to her house so that I could grab a shower and a nap. A bit had changed since I was last there four years ago. John the gardener was still there and remembered me, but Maggie the nanny got sick and passed away in July. It was sad not to have her there as she took care of me and the family since I was a child.

After cleaning up a bit we headed off to my cousin Mark's house. His wife had three children since I saw them last, a three year old and one year old twins. I spent the afternoon playing with the children. They were adorable. I got offered a job to stay and babysit, but turned it down. We headed back to the house to get changed and pick up my Uncle Brian because we were having dinner at my other cousin Steven's. Since I saw Steven last, he now is married and his wife is expecting their first child in December. Dinner was nice and I got a lesson on the rules of cricket afterwards.

The next morning Aunt Isabel dropped me off at the airport again. The airport is probably the best example of African efficiency. I stood in a line for half an hour to get my bags weighed, afterwards I waited in another line to get my boarding pass. When I got to the desk though, they couldn't help me because I didn't have a ticket. Apparently when you buy an electronic ticket in Africa, you then have to go to the ticketing counter and present your credit card and ID in order to get a ticket. It was now an hour before my flight and I had to go back to the very beginning to stand in line to now get a ticket. I picked up my ticket, headed straight for the first class line, got them to weigh my bags again and then quickly check in. Of course my gate was on the other side of the airport and I had to run over. I made my flight and got on the plane. The plane was quite empty but it turns out that they seated me in between an African couple that probably should have been separated to even the weight out on the plane. After the door closed though I excused myself from their company and grabbed a window seat.

Two hours later I arrived at Livingstone International Airport. It is the start of the hot season and I was greeted by 100 degree temperatures as I exited the plane. Customs were a bit of an adventure because the people don't seem to understand the idea of volunteering. After clearing things up I grabbed my bags and was met outside by Phil and Sofia. They were both volunteers that decided to stay and were now coordinating the program. It was a short drive into Livingstone and to the house.

I arrived at the house and was greeted by nine ladies that were excited to finally have a guy there. I soon realized that I needed to brush up on my Irish, as I could barely understand what they were saying. There were five Irish girls and four Brits. We talked for a while and I told them about my adventure so far and all of my plans. One of the girls, Jemma, decided that she was going to go bungee jumping that day because she was to leave on Monday. We took a taxi ride down to the border and headed onto the bridge. It was my first sight of the falls and it was great to see them again. We watched Jemma jump off the bridge and swing for a bit hanging by that little bit of cord. They ensure that it is completely safe. Like everything else in Africa, they use the best new second hand... it looked a little frayed to me.

After the jump we headed back to town. The girls got in a fight with the taxi drivers because they wanted to charge us 5000 Kwacha more to go back. This is only a little more than one dollar, but it was principal. In the 100 degree heat we started walking back the 15 km to town. Luckily about half way back, Phil passed us in the VW bus and we all got in and headed back. We stopped off at the other house first and I got to meet all of the other volunteers. There were three Americans there and I chatted with them for a while. The other male, Tim got an update about everything that happened in the NFL for the past three weeks. Hopefully I can stay better up to date with my fantasy team.

Back to our house and I was soon a little worried about the living situation, as the girls proceeded to put on the "Ice Princess." If you haven't seen this Disney classic, you really aren't missing much. The most embarrassing part about watching this was that the other volunteer, Daniel, arrived that night to find me with the girls watching this movie. Who knows what he was thinking.

We had dinner together and I got to chat with Dan for a bit. He is a Brit who quit his job as an engineer for a rail company before coming down here. We get along really well and share the room together. I think it is a competition between us to who has the more complex insect net set up... I think he is winning. After a bit more chatting that night, we headed to bed and I was done with my first day in Zambia.

Time to start my journey

It is just over a week before I leave for Africa now! There is a lot left for me to do before leaving but everything is coming together quite well and I will be in Africa before I know it.

I have put a few links on Livingstone in the links section if you would like to check out some more information on where I will be staying. Livingstone is a small town located 10 km from Victoria Falls, located in the Southwest region of Zambia.

I land in Livingstone on September 30 and start teaching the following Monday. I hope to have some free time the weekend that I arrive to walk around town for a bit and update everyone with where I am staying and what Livingstone is like. Hopefully there will be at least one internet cafe where I can post updates from.

Look for more once I arrive...

Time is ticking down

The days are flying by right now as my departure date nears itself. I plan on being Africa bound soon now... work starts October 2.