Late home

Well, that was an adventure, just getting back to Lusaka from London. We had planned to spend a night in Dubai to catch up with friends and have a decent sleep in a proper bed. What we didn't plan however, was that Emirates airline would change the type of plane going to Lusaka, meaning that the seats we had booked were not available. Oh there were a lot of very unhappy people at the departure gate I can tell you. The staff weren't too thrilled either, trying to deal with the fallout.
We were offered the option to stay overnight (at Emirates's expense) and travel the next day when we were assured that our seats would be available. So that's what we did, although it took a few hours to work out all the details and get vouchers for the hotel and go back through immigration.
Unfortunately we didn't have phone numbers for our friends so couldn't let them know we were still around so we just spent the day at one of the many shopping malls. It was very hot and humid and we didn't have swimming stuff so we couldn't even hang out by or in the pool.
The next morning it was déjà vu all over again! Our seats were not in fact available.....surprise surprise, but as my DH needed to get back to work and we were fed up with the whole process, we agreed to the seats they offered us and eventually got on the plane.
Happily, we arrived safely, as did our luggage and so we are back to the sunshine and blue skies of Zambia.
More adventures to come, no doubt!

Busy, busy

Phew that was a busy week! I can't believe I was ever bored here. Last week was my busiest week ever in Zambia, in fact the last two weeks have been very exciting, interesting and eventful. DH and I had a wonderful trip to Lower Zambezi national park at the end of April to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Two nights in a lovely lodge, sunset boat ride, game drive, canoe trip and watching an elephant who likes to wander along the paths in the lodge!

Oh and did I mention lunchtime margaritas?

Then I joined DH on a 600km road trip to the far west of Zambia, to a town called Mongu, on the longest, straightest road I have ever seen (were the Romans ever in Zambia??). While he had meetings, I wandered around the town and visited the market, which gave me the impression that Mongu is the tomato capital of Zambia. Shame I didn't need any tomatoes at the time.

On the edge of town is a road which looks over the Zambezi flood plains. It was quite a spectacular scene at sunset.

On the way home we stayed at Mukambi lodge near the kafue national park, another chance for game and bird viewing plus a bit of serious chilling out.

Trip to Livingstone

I had a wonderful trip to Livingstone with my DH and some friends over the easter holidays. Lots of highlights: the view from our room was stunning, we could see the cloud of spray from the falls,  the trip to Victoria falls of course was amazing (we saw them from the Zimbabwean side 20 years ago)  the experience from the Zambian side was wonderful and.....er.....well...very, very wet! We did a walking safari to see some rhinos, saw seven out of only eight left in this particular game reserve. They have armed trackers who keep an eye on them to prevent poaching. Lovely to see them but so sad to think they could be extinct in my lifetime. The sunset cruise was spectacular, can't find the words to describe how thrilled I was, best sunset like ever!!

Sunshine

Having been reprimanded (by more than one person) while I was in England the other week for not keeping my blog up to date, I promise to try harder in future! (I'm doing the whole brownie's honour salute thing, shame you can't see it).

Right now I'm sitting in a cafe in lusaka with my coffee and Internet access with time on my hands so here goes.

It's been a busy since I got back. I did have one relaxing day to recover from the journey and sort out all the stuff I brought back. Then I plunged back into by lusaka life by visiting friends for coffee, shopping, cooking, knitting and looking for a car. Can you spot the 'odd one out' in my activity schedule? Yes, I have decided I need a car here as relying on taxis is soooo frustrating and expensive. I saw a lovely car on Saturday but stupidly expensive for the age of the car.......but it was soooo nice I really wanted it! Ho hum, onwards and upwards. Will trawl around the car dealers later in the week and see what turns up. The other option is to have a car imported from Japan. That's quite a common thing to do here but might take a couple of months.

We went out to a farewell party yesterday and have another one next Sunday....was it something I said? That is the nature of this 'expat' life, always saying goodbyes which is a sad thing but that is usually balanced out by the 'hellos' which are good things. Then there are the 'in betweens' like 'it's nice to meet you but I gather you're leaving next month'! I had on such meeting on Friday, a very nice Japanese lady who lives almost next door but is leaving in May, how sad is that?

The weather in Lusaka is very nice at the moment, warm and sunny but not too hot. Can be a bit windy at times though. I went on a birdwatching walk yesterday (bit naughty bunking off church) out to a farm with lovely ploughed fields, a pond and big trees. It was a lovely morning out and we saw wonderful birds and I enjoyed being out of the city and seeing how agriculture is done here. I don't have a camera so no pictures of birds to bore you with, although some of my birding colleagues were very serious about their pictures and have very serious equipment!

Well, time for my next appointment, a committee meeting for one of the groups I'm involved with.

Better not forget to pay for my coffee!

2014 nearly over

Another year almost done. I'm not particularly fond of the traditional pastime of ruminating on the past year's events, nor am I partial to making resolutions for the year ahead so I'll just say 'bye 2014, thanks for having me!' and 'welcome 2015, let's see what we can do together'.

Christmas in the Henderson household was a quiet, sedate affair. I felt like dressing for dinner, John didn't, as this photo shows.
We have no plans for Wednesday night but I guess a toast with something sparkling at midnight will feature followed by a cup of tea and then bed.
Happy new year everyone!

December

Suddenly it's December! How did that happen? I went on holiday to England in November.......that's the last thing I remember and ....oh wait....its coming back to me now! Ah yes...I had a lovely trip, saw my wonderful family and my good friend up north, caught up with the special people at my home church, my other family and my neighbours at home. Even the weather was not too bad I recall. There must have been some shopping involved but maybe I've blanked that out (or maybe just lost the bank statement so DH doesn't see it!) and I dare say something alcoholic and sparkling was in there as well.
However, here I am back in Lusaka and already I have three and a half weeks of memories to share.
For those who haven't heard, Zambia celebrated 50 years of independence in October and it was a very colourful time, lots of people wearing the national colours and flags and bunting everywhere.

Then only a few days later the President passed away plunging the country into a period of mourning. Long queues were to be seem daily outside the building where the late president's body was laid in state. I was in UK when the funeral took place but I gather it was a dignified and peaceful event attended by various regional heads of state.
Mourning was over by the time I returned so events such as the St. Andrew's Night ball went ahead at one of the big hotels and a great time was had by all. I even got to dance with my DH!

My darling husband had moved house while I was away so I came back to a new home not knowing which cupboard my t-shirts or the cooking oil lived in! Visitors arrived the very next day so we explored the new house together really. It felt good to be back.
Now I know the house a bit better, have found a suitable hiding place for DH's presents and even had friends over for coffee and dinner so I feel very comfortable here. The grounds are green and flowery and well looked after and there are lots of birds to entertain me.

 

 Various Christmas activities have been happening these last couple of weeks. I attended a ladies Christmas lunch last week which included a fashion show. Volunteers were asked for to model jewellery and clothes so guess whose hand shot up first! I got to wear some stunning earrings and rings and then a dress designed by a local designer and I got to do the whole strutting around the hall thing!! Loved it! (pictures may follow, haven't seen them yet).
But, inevitably, the annual Christmas migration began and last week I said lots of 'merry christmas' es and 'see you next year' s,  kissed lots of cheeks, got a few hugs and drank lots of coffee. Not too many of the group left the celebrate Christmas in Lusaka, as some those who haven't returned to their home countries will be travelling to a game park or Victoria falls with or without visiting family or friends. So I expect DH and I will spend a peaceful time here in our lovely home with its pretty gardens......well it should be peaceful....as long as he doesn't find where I've hidden the presents!

Few more photos

See, I have some friends......really!

A cute visitor!

The living room in our flat.