into Namibia

We had an early start and quite a long drive to get out of the Central Kalahari Park. We drove to the border, where because we had no Namibian $ two of the group had to go through the border into Namibia to get $ in order to pay the fee for the cars back at the border. We had lunch and set off again. We made it to Gobabis in good time but had not realised that our destination was 'near Gobabis' which meant a further 97km on a road that was under construction and very rough going! 

We stayed at Harness which is an animal sanctuary with a lodge and campsite. There are over 200 animals including lions, leopards and cheetah. The larger animals are semi-wild and let loose amongst the impala and buffalo to catch their dinner but kept in large pens the rest of the time. The younger animals provided an opportunity for the kids to to get up close. The site was a bit of a culture shock after being in the silence of Kalahari for three days and we spent time discussing animals in captivity with the children. 

The next morning we shared our breakfast with an over-tame ostrich! 

all alone

On our third day in the Kalahari although we saw two other cars we felt quite along, our campsite was very remote. The gps co-ordinates were wrong (again) so we followed the signs and after a long drive off the main tracks we found our campsite. We had a lovely afternoon camping as the way out was quite rough and we had seen quite a bit of wildlife on the way in.

The ostriches were beautiful and we saw lots of giraffes.

kalahari day 2

We have seen lots of oryx, bit fed up of them now. For our second day in the Kalahari we had a leisurely start and on the journey to the next campsite we saw lions. One strolled past the car, stopped under a tree while another walked along to join the first and they both wandered off. It was amazing. There are about 300 lions in the central Kalahari (about 52,800 km square) so to see two is quite something. As we've done most of the driving later morning or mid afternoon we decided to do an evening and early morning game drive. In the evening we all piled into one vehicle and found a lovely spot for sundowners and saw giraffe, and wilderbeast but no leopards.

The following morning the alarm failed so it wasn't quite such an early start but we did see aardwolves and more giraffe. This was followed by a big fry up back at camp. 

kalahari

We are now well into our trip. We have had no internet connection until now in Swakopmund. 

From Jo'burg we drove to Gaberone and stayed at a sanctuary called Mokoldi, where we came across kudu, impala, giraffe and ostrich. We had two nights at this campsite which gave us time to stock up on food for nine people for 4 days. The campsite was luxurious with running water and a hot shower – heated with a fire below the tank! The two tents on the car work well, the upper tent is just a mattress under canvas and is accessed through the other tent or up a ladder over the bonnet. The other tent has fold down mattresses which sit on top of storage cupboards and the tent has fold out sides. This tent is not quite as waterproof so we were supplied with an awning. On our second night we discussed putting the awning up but decided not to. We then spent the evening watching lightening all around us and then directly above us. It was a dramatic storm, and although we have seen African storms before this was huge! The doc decided to join the girls in the tent above in case the storm woke them, in fact they slept through the whole thing! The other tent leaked and we ended up with a lot of damp bedding! We have since perfected putting up the awning after the tent is up so we will be better prepared! 

Harnass and into the Kalahari

From Gaberone we drove to a rhino sanctuary called Harnas. We saw lots of wildlife and rhino including the elusive black rhino. Following our game drive we turned the corner to find our travelling companions and enjoyed an evening comparing travellers tales. 

From there we set off for the Kalahari. The final shop and fuel stop took a long time, as we added extra water and cans of diesel to prepare for any eventuality. 

We arrived at the gate and set off to find the campsite. The sites are all numbered and have to be booked in advance, their location moves regularly. We were provided with about 3 different gps references, which was confusing and frustrating. In fact the signs along the dusty tracks proved the most accurate! Our first campsite was quite a long drive and we arrived tired and dusty. The Kalahari is huge and the animals hard to spot, despite this we saw lots of oryx, impala, springbok, ostrich and secretary birds. Each campsite is quite small with a fire pit (it's a myth that a fire burning keeps lions away) a pit toilet and a shower area (not much used as you need your own water!). This first site had spectacular views and on waking on our first morning the doc and I saw giraffes from our roof top tent. 

cold

Today was spent feeling slightly chilly in Jo'burg. We have packed for hot so the clothes options for cooler weather are limited. 

 

We caught up with a cousin of my mum's who I have met just once before and enjoyed a coffee. We had quite a long shopping list and managed some before feeling quite overwhelmed with people and choices. The shopping centre wasn't very busy but we found it hard to decide which shop to go into.

 

Our home for the next 4 weeks arrived today. It's amazing! It's a Land Rover with a tent on top of the cab and then behind that is a camper van, the sides open up and a roof pops out and we have seats, a kitchen, a shower (attachment) and beds. The girls will sleep in the higher tent and we will be behind but with just a couple of zips for access. There are lots of spaces for putting stuff and already we're not sure where the batteries or my cardigan are! We had a quick demo and tomorrow night we put it up for the first time .... 

Day one

The blog should now be re-named "the Kalahari, 3 docs, 4 kids and a friend"

I should introduce our travelling companions, who we will meet up with in a few days: 2 more docs, of the academic sort (micro-biology and medical anthropology), their sister and two kids.

Our first day involved an extraordinarily early start to Blantyre airport. Normally to get the 13.30 flight to Jo'burg we arrive at the airport at 11.30 and have time for a drink on the waving deck. Rumours of passengers being bumped and the lack of Air Malawi flights made us all panic so we arrived at 9am, before the desk had even opened. This was followed by a very long wait, the waving deck was closed and the flight was delayed!

The flight went smoothly and the doc has booked a very lovely hotel, I fear that the standards of accommodation will not match this for sometime.

packing

So the last stage of our adventure is the most exciting. 

We fly on Sat to Jo'burg and then begin the journey into Botswana, across the Kalahari which will take 3 days, we will have to carry enough fuel, water and food. There might be pit latrines at the camp sites. 

From there we travel to civilisation in Namibia but that's about all I know and the places are difficult to spell! The doc with a friend of ours (who is an academic doc) have planned the route and I am just along for the ride. Watch this space! 

We co-ordinated the packing and each person is allowed 10 pairs of pants, 6 tops, 3 pairs of shorts and some warmer items and 4 books which must be suitable for someone else to read too! For for of us this amounts to 4 fairly large bags – hhmm! 

banking

After almost 3 years I have worked out the secret of a pleasant banking experience here in Malawi. Never try and do banking errands in a hurry, approach relaxed with plenty of time. Greet everyone on the way in, complete the forms (with duplicate paper) standing at the desk (not in the queue while holding bags etc, it always leads to errors); join the queue and enjoy the air conditioning and BBC news on the TV. This is also a good time to catch up on text messages. Greet the teller before handing over the slips. Keep smiling as you leave.

And the total in my cheque book agrees with what the bank says, a balanced book is very satisfying!

lonely

Our youngest and I are adapting to life with only half the family. We had a busy weekend with some challenging behaviour and drawn out bedtime as well as sleeping badly. Tonight bedtime went better thanks to the arrival of a new friend. We got a parcel from a fairy godmother, which included a new doll who has done everything with us, from lunch to watching swimming and brushing teeth and is now snuggled up in bed. The parcel was posted in March, apparently it arrived in June but we never had a receipt so it wasn’t collected, but the arrival today was perfect!

nov

This month has proved to be a bit too busy. Usually Oct is the month for bugs but this year the season is still catching up so it’s now! Colds and runny tummies abound.

 

I have just packed my daughter’s bags for a journey I’m not going on. She’s going to the UK with the doc for a hernia op. Our youngest had the same op last year here in Malawi, but the surgeon who did that one is not around. They will be gone 10 days which is going to be tough.

 

We have started selling our possessions, here in Blantyre we have a lady who has a large mailing list and will advertise any goods for sale (for a fee) so I have spent the last 48 hours fielding calls about stuff for sale. It’s amazing which items generate lots of interest and which will be slower to sell.

nellie the elephant

.. if only it was that easy – to pack my trunk and leave! We have begun the tedious job of packing and sorting again. I have pasted one of my very early blogs (April 2009) below because it is so true for this move as well as the last.

 

“Life is a rather peculiar mix of spending as much time with friends, seeing friends for the last time and packing up the house. If you know anyone who would like to rent a delightful 3 bed cottage next door to the village pub please let us know! We would all prefer to be with our friends but there is still an awful lot to do at the house.”

 

We have 3 months before we return but one month will be spent travelling over Christmas so it’s really only 2 months to do all of the above. Only this time I am looking for someone who wants to rent a lovely 6 bed house and employ an awful lot of lovely staff, a gorgeous dog and 10 chickens. I am also selling an obscene amount of toys, furniture and two cars. I am not enjoying any part of the sorting selling experience. We are selling things that we had intended to bring back and it’s difficult to set a fair price and be available for people to come and look at and discuss the sales! And it’s far too hot to do anything apart from find a swimming pool and jump in!

hot

The hot season is a bit late, but it’s arrived. It took us by surprise and the kids have colds which seems all wrong when it’s so hot!

 

The fuel situation is getting worse, there is almost no petrol or diesel and any fuel that arrives causes queues and chaos. It’s beginning to affect businesses and fairly soon we expect that food prices will rise.

 

We have some petrol left in our small car but we are trying to decide which journeys we should make and which trips or events to miss. There are rumours upon rumours about what is causing the problem and it’s difficult to tell what is the real reason.

bit chilly

October should be one of the hottest months of the year. Usually we spend afternoons at this time of year in the swimming pool but it’s hard to persuade us into the water, because it’s so chilly. It’s wonderful - we’re sleeping soundly (under our duvet) and the kids have energy and are playing outside without the paraphernalia of sun hats and sun cream.

 

The downside is we keep getting caught out. The photo shows mermaid and fish outfits that I made, assuming that the party would be a hot afternoon spent on a water slide! The girls were fine and very pleased with the sparklie-ness of their costumes!

quiet weekend

So a quiet weekend in the middle of a normal week. We were out to dinner on Fri night. Looking after a friend’s daughter on Sat while they moved house, I went along to another friend’s for goodbye drinks and a dance performance at the Blantyre Arts Festival. Today was church followed by scones with friends and a 2 hours queue for fuel. The fuel was amazing as my phone was in the car on silent and I remembered it just before a friend called to say there was diesel at a petrol station on the other side of town. The queue wasn’t big and our friends were still there.

 

Watching friends pack up and leave makes us realise just how much we have to do before we leave Malawi in Feb. But by starting I would be admitting that we’re really going and I’d rather ignore that. I can understand now why others have said no to goodbye parties/events it’s much easier just to slip away quietly.

normal life

There has been a lack of blogging because I was away (out of Africa), I have been meaning to photograph the jacaranda trees and include on my blog and we are all doing normal life just now so it’s not very exciting!

 

Normal life for the kids is big school, five days a week 7-12pm or nursery three or four days a week (same time). The early start is hard going, some of the family are awake and ready for breakfast at 5.45am but some of us are not! The doc is finding the early start is productive in the office but would prefer not to be up so early! He is also working at home more as he is doing less clinical work and more writing/thinking.

 

My normal life involves kids stuff in the afternoons - lots of play at home and some socialising with friends.  The mornings are spent doing a mixture of work, social and sport. The work is expanding and at the moment I am writing up an exhibition project, advising on an arts project, editing a document on agriculture, developing a training session for staff at the National Museum and looking after 13 gap year students – communication from them varies from “there’s a government official who says our visa papers are not in order and wants to speak to you” to “I think I’m really ill, I have a temperature of 39 degrees” to “do you have a spare saucepan”! so normal life it might be but it’s not dull!

cof

A COF is a Certificate of Fitness. All cars need one each year and the correct disc in the windscreen is a legal requirement and failure to have the right one results in an on the spot fine.

 

Having been ill for the first 10 days back in Malawi I missed that the cof was overdue on our big car (known as the beast) this means that we can’t drive it until we get the paperwork sorted. The cof can take a few days to sort out and this is made more complicated by a new law which requires new number plates on all vehicles, the price of these has already gone up and so we are without the beast.

 

This is particularly frustrating as this weekend I had 13 gap year students arrive in Malawi and usually ferrying them around is easy with 2 cars, but more difficult with just one small one!

real africa

I feel like a real African adventurer as I have now experienced malaria.

 

The doc and his cohorts are all finding it an interesting case as I was on prophylaxis and we had been in the UK for eight weeks before I showed any symptoms. I suffered for 2 weeks, we tried two malaria tests in that time and they both showed negative. A friendly doctor friend suggested trying antibiotics so we tried two different sorts. The doc did some blood tests, I think the results were quite impressive as he was much more sympathetic after that! He did a second lot of bloods and after a lot of time at the microscope spotted 1 malaria parsite! The local treatment had amazing results and I feel so much better. I expect that I am probably still anaemic and I am not quite ready to play tennis again but I can get through the day without going to bed and have had no fevers since starting treatment.

 

I have never felt so ill, or for such a long time. Continuous fevers are really quite de-habilitating. The knock on effects are being behind on work and the household is pretty chaotic.

home cooking

I had forgotten just how much convenience food we eat in the UK. I would claim to be someone who cooks quite a lot and do cook from scratch but here in Malawi it really is cooking from scratch and the unreliability of power means that we don’t keep much in the freezer. There’s also a lack of snacky things, the biscuits are either grim or expensive and there’s no bought cake. Getting over nasty virus I crave nice food that requires little preparation and our cupboards have nothing suitable. It’s tomato soup and nice yogurts and tasty things to tempt me to eat that I am missing. Oh and I forgot to bring back any jelly babies, we do have chocolate but it’s not that sort of illness!

back home

Our flight home was ok, this was the first time we had flown back to Malawi via Johannesburg which is an 11 hour night flight and definitely better than lots of shorter flights when we have flown the cheaper route (via Nairobi or Addis). We managed to spread the sleeping children over 3 seats and I found a spare seat so we all got a bit of sleep. The stop at Jo’burg airport was nice and there were quite a few friends also returning to Blantyre all enjoying a last latte or cappuccino!

 

The contrasts between here and home are much more noticeable when you first arrive back. We were amused by the “customer service” at Jo’burg airport when the lady checking our passports carried on a conversation with her friend the whole time she was serving us! The chaos of Blantyre airport felt worse than usual, there weren’t enough trollies and most of us had more luggage than we could carry and the space is not big enough and it’s a hot building. Once you get your trolley loaded you have to steer it around the guys who are all wanting to help and who pretend not to understand “no”.

 

The first few days back are always spent organising things, there’s often things that can’t be done until others have been completed. So the car battery was flat but we couldn’t charge it until we had more electricity, we couldn’t get more electric until we got cash organised and then there was a delay as the electric co. had problems with their computers!

home James

After more than 8 weeks away it’s time to head home. I miss normal life, with some time when kids are at school/nursery and time to do exercise and time alone. It’s been lovely to see friends and family and I’d much prefer to stay here and settle down but as we’re homeless I am ready to head back for the last leg of our adventure.

a good guest

We are coming to the end of our UK trip and will be returning ‘home’ soon. We’ve had a great time and it’s so lovely to see lots of family and friends. We have stayed in over 12 different places so far and have another two to go. We’ve tried to be good guests, not creating too much havoc and doing some of the shopping, cooking and washing up and remembering how it is from the other side – we’ve had lots of visitors in our house in Malawi and try to do the things we appreciated.

 

We have hired 5 different cars, in ever decreasing size as we reduce the amount of luggage we are lugging around the country and try to stick to our budget!

 

 

 

narnia

We have enjoyed the latest film from the Narnia series on DVD and I think I know how Lucy felt, our life back in Malawi feels a bit like Narnia, such a long way away and slightly dream-like and not quite real. We have been back in the UK for almost 6 weeks with 3 to go. We have stayed in five different places already and about to do another three next week, and then repeat the venues that we’ve already done. It’s not as complicated as it sounds but the kids take a few nights to settle into each place.

eclipse

If you read this on Thursday you should take a look at the Google search page, it shows the lunar eclipse, just as we saw it.

 

It started at 8.22 and at first it was hard to tell if it was just another crater or a shadow, 20 minutes later it was clearly an eclipse, it took about an hour to fully eclipse. It’s quite (relatively) cold here so we didn’t spend all evening outside but kept popping out with the binoculars to have another look. I had hoped that I might be awake about 1am to see it go the other way, but we all slept through that bit! It was amazing and the next one won’t be visible in southern Africa until Nov 2030, when it will be warmer but it will be at 3am – not so convenient!

hmmm

This is the doc with a gift from one of his patients. The doc like most of his colleagues goes to work in lightweight trousers and either a shirt or a t-shirt (with collar) this particular patient thought that consultants should dress more formally! The shirt has been given to one of our staff who was delighted!

 

Not much blog action as I am just soo busy. I am trying to finish off things for my exhibition, do some bits for the archives and then because we’re going away I need to organise my volunteers and leave the house and staff for some lodgers. All the bills will have to be paid and some of the cannot be paid in advance so I have to leave little piles of cash and note about what to pay when! We also thought that it would be a good idea to get more eating chickens that will be ready to eat when we get back but again there’s all the food and immunisations to sort.

 

grasshoppers

This much loved Malawian delicacy is plaguing us. It’s the time of year when these insects squeeze through the window frames to leap about the house! Our youngest hates them and will tell of the time one landed on her “spotty dress” the rest of us just find them irritating especially in a power cut when they are attracted by the single lamp. I am assured that they are a very high source of protein and iron, apparently the doc is not prescribing them for anaemic patients!

 

The weather this week is amazingly unpredictable. I spent a chilly afternoon at our only cafe which is outdoor, followed by an evening of cocktails at another outdoor venue where we huddled around charcoal stoves. We have also had some warmer days and hot nights when we managed to have two or three mosquitoes stuck inside our net. I was woken three times by the doc who got bitten.

argghh

Being someone who only does small bits of work I am much less frustrated than many of my professional friends. I am currently doing some editing work and becoming really frustrated. I was asked to check spelling, grammar, formatting and make changes (using track changes) and where there was a query put a comment. I have just had the document returned for final editing to find that the author used their own version (with all formatting errors) and then used my changes sometimes and added other bits in (no tracking) complete with spelling mistakes!! I now have to work with 2 documents to sort out the changes and then proof the whole document again. Arggghhh!! I think that I should just stick to being a lady who lunches!

 

The good news is that my exhibits for my exhibition project have been released from customs after only 3 weeks so we can begin our workshops which is very exciting.

too much

Even after almost 2 years I keep forgetting that there is a limit to how much you can squeeze into one day! I spent the weekend completing some work for a Mon deadline, having visitors, doing Sunday school, then out for the day on Mon (public holiday) Tues am was rush to get kids to school, play some tennis, prepare a bible study, go to a formal lunch for the archives I help with, get petrol, do 3 hour round trip to get maize and have people for dinner. I managed all of that until get petrol (well diesel actually) and after waiting for an hour it was too late for the maize trip.

 

Looking forward to a weekend camping with elephants.

less stuff

This blog began with pictures of boxes and musings about what we really needed for 3 years living abroad. We are now looking at dates for our return to the UK and starting to talk about the logistics. Although we talk about our return we do want to make the most of our time here and enjoy the last year, rather than worrying about the next.

 

Some colleagues of the docs have just tried to organise to ship their possessions back home, to find that for political reasons it is going to be impossible. This means that they will have to sell or give their furniture and belongings away and move back home with suitcases and a few boxes. We always knew that this might be a possibility but it’s quite challenging when it comes to it. We have learned a lot about managing with less living here. Every day I feel extravagantly wealthy when I look at my possessions compared to those around us. I have no idea what our staff think about how much stuff we have, they earn a ‘good wage’ yet I expect that their possessions would fit into 1 small suitcase. Despite all this I feel a bit sad at having to leave some of my furniture behind and wonder how many pairs of shoes will fit into our luggage and what about my books?

 

royalty

Two royal events this week in Blantyre. Many of us found friends who own a TV and rushed to get there in time for the start of the royal wedding last Fri and this weekend we can at last see the King’s Speech at the cinema. I realise that it’s probably out on DVD by now but here in Malawi we will be watching tonight.

 

I don’t think that there were many other people watching the wedding in Malawi. There was a photo of the happy couple that appeared in the two Malawi newspapers which featured a blond bride and someone who wasn’t William! There was a report that was leaked on 1^st April that the couple would be honeymooning in Malawi!

pneaumonia

Not us but there are quite a few cases already and winter is only just starting. There are lots of colds around and we are all sleeping under duvets. Neither of the children are very good at this and we get woken in the night by crying, put the cover back on and it’s off again very quickly!

 

The cool weather is a nice change from the heat and it’s still warm enough to play outside and when the sun shines it’s like those early summer days in England.

 

Power cuts are worse at this time of year and one of our staff was saying that they get very little power, often only half an hour in the middle of the night.

fish

While away there was only one day that the doc didn’t eat fish! We also had a great morning at the aquarium where we saw fish and penguins.

 

back home

We had a lovely holiday and now it’s back home. It was nice to come home and the weather here is definitely better than it was in Cape Town. I spent a long time queuing at the bank yesterday to get money out for paying salaries and have just paid our staff their monthly wages. Usually the doc does salaries and I do day-to-day stuff for the staff. I feel guilty giving them their pay, I know that we pay good wages and they are in the majority, as 75% of people in Malawi live on less than $1 per day, but when I look at the paltry pile of notes and think about how we spend that amount of money.

 

Being a tourist on holiday was lovely, I wasn’t responsible for anyone (apart from the doc and the kids) the only decisions were what to do and where to eat lunch. We ate lots of lovely food that we don’t get here in Malawi and spent time with our friends, who joined us from the UK. There is something refreshing about being around people who have known us a long time, there is so much that doesn’t need explanation.

 

We played on the beach and swam in the sea (it is renowned for being particularly cold). On our last day in the city itself we asked the girls what they would like to do and rather drive down the southern point or see penguins they chose to ride the big red bus! We all really enjoyed it, we got a great overview of the city and its history (through funky red headphones) and it was warm enough to sit up top and enjoy the views.

Cape Town

We have just got back from 10 days in Cape Town. We stayed for one week at Camps Bay, the posh bit of the city on the coast just below the 12 apostles of Table Mountain. I am not sure when we last had a holiday where we stayed in one place for that length of time. The girls enjoyed the beach and the parks, they played for hours on the swings, slides and climbing frames. We enjoyed the food and the regular stops for coffee and cake as well as choosing a bottle of wine for dinner.

 

Cape Town took us all by surprise. My first impression was that it reminded me of Sydney, a laid back city with beaches and plenty of places to shop and eat and a large choice of museums and galleries. It certainly didn’t feel like Africa. The visible part of the population were mostly white, although most of the waiters were black. The curios and crafts reminded us that we were in Africa, the familiar beaded animals, wooden carvings, necklaces and vibrant ceramics. The architecture is amazing, with lots of older buildings as well as modern glass and concrete constructions. The waterfront is huge and the mixture of a working harbour with lots of boats and big shopping centre worked well. We didn’t do much shopping as the prices seemed really high, fortunately food and drink were much more reasonable.

2 weeks solo

My solo two weeks is almost over. I was not looking forward to it but with only a few hours to go I feel a sense of achievement. I have had lots of help from our staff and friends and a busy social life, all of which have helped keep me sane. The girls have been brilliant, we had a some issues at bedtime the first few nights but have got over that and they have been well and on great form. I am pretty tired and looking forward to not getting up before 6am tomorrow.

 

We had very few power cuts and despite the rest of Blantyre going down with a nasty flu bug we have remained healthy. We will leave for the airport in a few hours where we can eat or sandwiches, watch the plane land and the passengers disembark before waiting in arrivals.

 

The doc assures me that he has done lots of shopping and comes bearing gifts of chocolate, magazines, wine, jelly babies, books and clothes.

banking

Banking here is a very slow business.

 

Forget internet banking or doing it all through the cash-point, step back in time to: long queues (especially at the end of the month); forms for every transaction, that have to be completed in duplicate; cheque books; and different queues for deposits, withdrawls, transfers, enquiries, balances and statements. The bank stopped posting our statements (they’re not really sure why, we get a different answer every time we ask!) so we now have to go to the bank to request a printout every month. Yesterday I was in the bank organising a transfer from our foreign currency account, this was my third attempt as the transfer can take over 2 weeks, and after success thought I would collect our statement.

 

I took my place in the queue and passed over the completed slip, the cashier took her time and then asked if the account was still active. I said that I thought so, she disappeared for some time and eventually came back with a blank statement, apparently we’d had no transactions this month. I then checked the cash-point – we can occasionally get mini-statements - this too came back blank. On my way home I realised that we had made a few transactions and checked at home, this was a bit worrying. Discussing this over lunch with a friend she said maybe it was to do with changing our account numbers, this was news to me!

 

Another visit today and apparently we were told about the change of account number in October last year. Even with the new number I still can’t get a statement. The man at the foreign exchange desk who knows me quite well (and even let me take our youngest to the staff toilet) was able to check my balance and reassure me that the money is all in the account – phew!!

 

I then popped to shoprite to buy a plastic doll for a princess birthday cake that I’m  making for a friend and discovered that I had lost my purse! This involved driving home trying not to look guilty as the police are very present and failure to have your driving license is a fineable offence. The purse was eventually found in the car and I returned to shoprite somewhat flustered to complete my shop!

 

long way

Some things make us feel further away from home and other times it feels like we’re only just around the corner. Being able to talk to friends and family, especially when it’s a good line means that we keep up to date. The doc has been away a week now, and we’ve managed to email or talk most days which means that he knows the minutiae of the children’s days.  However, he has missed our youngest getting onto the bike. Her legs are only just long enough to reach the floor and she can’t get off but this has not stopped her having a go at scooting.

 

perspectives

A bit out of order but this blog is from our trip at Christmas and never got posted!

 

I expect that we all get different things from our road trip. The doc is relaxed, enjoying the open road, adventure and family time away from a busy job. Our eldest (aged 4) was impressed by lions and the waterfall and has spent the hols asking lots of questions but was particularly excited by the child size shopping trollies in the Lusaka branch of Spar where incidentally they also sell green & blacks chocolate! Our youngest finds the travelling more unsettling but has enjoyed having us altogether and has kept up with her big sister the whole trip.

 

And me, I enjoy being away and always pretend to be more adventurous than I really am. I would have been quite happy with a few nights at Ntchisi and some at the lake. Victoria Falls were worth the journey but I do find travelling quite tiring. We think that we drove 3,500 KM (about 8 days driving between 5 and 9 hours per day) I spent the journeys doing entertainment and some navigating and some more entertaining.

this week

I have done six days of my two week solo parenting.

 

We are doing ok. My tolerance levels are not too low, helped by three mornings of school and not too much work so that I can keep on top of everything. On Tuesday we made pink play-dough and paper boats and had another six children playing with us at various points in the afternoon!

 

I have had lots of social invites which is lovely and I have only managed to watch a couple of episodes of Brideshead Revisted. We are going away for the weekend to some friends who live just out of town which will be a nice easy weekend. The doc is busy with meetings and travelling from one end of the country to the other, to fit in visits to family. He gives his paper next week at the conference and also has a long shopping list of essential items!

Mulanje pt1

Three amazing days walking up Mount Mulanje with 2 other mums and a granny!
We had to change our plans at the start as the river was too high to cross
so we took a detour which added one and half hours. The porters suggested a
direct route up to Chisepo Hut, direct was the right word! We started off
gently and then after about five hours we started really climbing, the
contour lines are so close together on the map they have to miss some out!
The photo shows two of our porters coming up the vertical section. The wet
weather and stream coming down the path made this all the more exciting.

There was a huge sense of achievement at the top, but then we were told
there was another one hours walking and it wasn't down. We briefly saw our
destination then we turned a corner and came across a beautiful waterfall
which was refreshing when we paddled through. Our hut was simple but we had
it to ourselves and after a delicious meal of salad and spaghetti bolognaise
we turned in for an early night. A substantial breakfast set us up for the
day (I am always surprised by how much I eat when walking) and we had a
leisurely start.

The porters are amazing they carry most of our kit, leaving us to take our
lunch, waterproofs and water. They know the routes and gave us a hand over
tricky parts. You get to know the porters quite well over a few days and by
the end we all smell the same!

waking up

Three days up Mulanje Mountain - amazing! This was the view we woke to on
Saturday morning. More to follow ...

making it up

Most parenting feels like you’re making it up as you go along. Here when there are less friends with kids at the same stage, I feel like we really do improvise, with few guidelines. This may make us more relaxed but sometimes I feel like I could do with advice or friends to reassure me that my kids are not brats! We’ve had a tough few weeks with our 2 year old, she does it in style often starting and ending the day with tantrums and I don’t want to fight every battle. However, the nice thing about living here is that we do have much more family time. I had a lovely morning with our youngest on Fri, painting and doing jigsaws and we’ve had a quiet weekend doing very little apart from watching the girls play.

sunny day

After two days continuous rain the sky is looking brighter. I have made tremendous progress with my work and had an enjoyable morning with our youngest, who turned on the charm!

 

Life here is very up and down, some aspects are difficult or complicated which means that the little things can appear big. Generally a power cut is just part of life but after a day of getting nothing done it can be so frustrating. Although lots of these things make us take life a bit slower and the only thing to do in a power cut is to open a bottle of wine and eat crisps or if there’s enough battery watch a dvd!

 

 

Another goodbye this afternoon for a friend who is leaving Blantyre to head back to the UK for a few months to have her third child. We will miss them. And here comes the rain, again.

fed up

There is a general feeling of things not going to (our) plan. The doc is preparing for his UK trip, where he is a keynote speaker at a national conference and the star of a short film about tropical haematology, but wants to finish recruiting patients for his study and see them all before he goes. The girls are still recovering from coughs but now have enough energy to annoy each other. The staff are accusing one another of theft and false accusations and I seem to be spending a lot of time managing them. Friends were subject to rather nasty break in and we discovered that our security alarm has not been working for some-time!  I am editing a document that has been so badly written I can’t believe that anyone has been paid to write it! And I am working with my team to a really tight deadline for the exhibition project. And we have lots of lovely social invites and all I want to do is go to bed early and be grumpy!

 

All I really want to do is lie back and take in the view!

lazy sun afternoon

After church (hot and lively) we enjoyed full Sunday roast lunch on the veranda for 8 with Yorkshire puds followed by ice cream and millionaire’s shortbread. Our youngest was demonstrating her independence by going to the toilet alone, as she can (at last) with the aid of a step reach the taps, and we didn’t realise that she had left a tap running so came inside to find floods from one bathroom all the way down to our bedroom (shows just how much the floor slopes!). At weekends our staff are all off so we had to get the mops out as well as clearing up the lunch. This was followed by another ant infestation! The doc is becoming a little bit obsessed by the war on ants and spends time tracing the entry points and exterminating them with copious amounts of chemicals.

at school

All back to school after a couple of days of nasty colds. It was lovely dropping the kids off, a bit late as they had a good long sleep last night, the school was very peaceful place this morning. I heard today that one of the reception teachers had died this week, not sure what from, but it reminds us that this is a country where mortality is high even amongst the younger population.

 

My work is very cyclical at the moment, some weeks are quite busy and others are quieter. The exhibition project is ticking along and we are about to produce some prototype hands on activities which will be trialled in the community it will be interesting to see what people make of the proposed giant mosquito! I have some more editing work which easily fits around the kids, the reports themselves are quite interesting although they make my punctuation & grammar look amazing! My students all seem to be settling down but I think even after a month and a half aspects of life here take them by surprise. They are living in quite basic accommodation with 10,000 MK (about £40) per month for everything except their accommodation, although they were shocked when we realised that the ladies who work on the tills at Shoprite earn about 5 – 7,000 MK (£20-28) and they will be paying rent and some school fees from that. Costs are all going up and there’s still problems over fuel which means that they may go up more.

camping with elephants

Just had very relaxing weekend camping at one of the national parks. This particular campsite is well known for the elephants that wander through, so I was a little nervous. However it’s green season so all wildlife was well away from the camp and the roads that we drove along. In fact we only saw 1 elephant the whole weekend.

 

We went with two other families with kids similar ages so it was very relaxing. We had sundowners watching the hippos and admired the stars and full moon on the way back. The kids were too excited to get much sleep and the light woke them very early! Our eldest is off school this morning, with a combination of heavy cold and exhaustion!

home

Generally life in Malawi muddles along much like life anywhere else. We have started planning our visit back to the UK and I am now feeling homesick and very much missing friends and family. It was ok until we started to think about when to come back and for how long and looking at events that we might be around for, I’m also bracing myself for my first solo spot out here, when the doc returns to the UK for 2 weeks at the end of March.

Here are the three girls (I have been 1 of 3 girls for a long time)

breaking news

Malawi has made international news for something other than farting & gay rights. There were demonstrations planned in Lilongwe today but they have been broken up by police, who arrested protesters and have fired shots. Please pray.

http://www.nyasatimes.com/national/malawi-demo-to-go-ahead-despite-police-refusal.html

I’m sure that my mum is relieved that we’re not in Lilongwe but it’s a tricky one, if we were would I be there? I believe that we should support the people who live here but by doing so we could jeopardise the reason that we’re here. I always thought that if I had lived in the early 1900s I would have been campaigning with the suffragettes for the right to vote. Here the issue is about the use of forex (foreign currency) and transparency.

drifting

We often feel like we’re drifting, not really sure where home is. For the kids life is here in Malawi and the doc’s work is here but for me I couldn’t say. We’re discussing our annual visit back to the UK due July & Aug but which could include all of June too (for me and the kids). It feels like I have to choose, but on what basis? What’s best for me or the kids or the family or financially? Too many choices and like most decisions we’ll muddle through.

 

I am particularly tired this week after a busy time working with a colleague from the UK on a small exhibition project, which is very exciting and been great fun but I will be looking forward to a quiet week where I can do some editing and lots of household stuff and cutting/sticking with the kids.

stork

This is a Malibu Stork, he was very splendid and one of favourite spots on this safari trip, he’s also known as the Undertaker Bird and I can understand why. Our eldest remembers that his legs are not really white, but they go that colour because he poos on his legs, we can’t remember why he does this and google cannot give us the answer! Any suggestions on the comments box, thanks.

obstruction

On our way to Liwonde National Park for a bit of safari (we’ve not been for a few weeks!) with our current visitor I managed to acquire an unusual fine. We had pulled off the main road onto a side road for a bit of a leg stretch and a ginger biscuit, when we were approached by a police lady who explained that although this was a wide one way road I was causing an obstruction and would have to pay a fine. I did try to persuade her otherwise but she was adamant. Not only was there a fine but we had to go to the police station to sort out the paperwork, I’m not sure what would have happened if I had just driven off. The proximity of the police station explains why I was cautioned for an offence I see flouted all the time, it was just around the corner! Once we got to the office she agreed to reduce the fine but explained that as it was Sun there was no cash office at the station so I would have to go back to the road block that we had passed sometime before. I offered to go the next day as we would be returning but that would mean that the receipt had the wrong date so we had to make a detour and then continue our journey. Those who have driven with me in Malawi will feel sorry for my passenger who put up with my frustration!

bring & buy

Tomorrow is my baby & children sale – goods & clothes, no live specimens! I advertised it through the ex-pat network and have had the most bizarre requests and a lot of interest – just shows how little there is to do here in Blantyre!

 

My staff all seem to be falling sick, so it could be an interesting afternoon with the household running below capacity. It will be quite chaotic as there are about 10 of us selling stuff – equipment, clothes & tat with a wide range of prices and refreshments and we have been warned (by those experienced at this sort of thing that security is very important). I will report back ...

remembering

I find that I can go along for a few weeks at a time tied up in my nice ex-pat life, worrying about the kids and not taking much notice of what’s going on around me. Then I have a week like last week, nothing big but some small reminders that this a poor country with some major problems.

 

I went to a talk about the current political situation, which was very interesting and I have also been editing some reports about local government and the state of water and sanitation in particular districts. One statistic that I had forgotten: Malawi has the 3^rd worst record of child mortality in the world, the two countries that are worse are both war-torn. So many good things are happening, that make a difference but there seems to be an enormous effort to get them to happen. Local government is a bit of a mess but elections are due to take place next month, let’s pray that they actually go ahead.

 

I have begun to realise the role the English language plays here. Pupils do not learn English at school until the latter years of primary education, by which point many children have dropped out of school. Many are reluctant to speak English, understandably as it is not their language but it is the official language of the country and all government documents, newspapers, information from the banks and most signs are in English. I found out recently that all job interviews for government employees are in English so without this language people are at a huge disadvantage.

amayi

In Chicehwa “amyai” means mother or woman. But it means much more than this, in Malawi people rarely use first names. To attract attention they shout achimwene (brother) or achimwali (sister) for those who are equal and  bamboo (father) or amayi for those who are more senior or to be respectful. This translates in English to madam or sir and after trying for a few weeks to get our staff to call me Ruth rather than madam we compromised and call each other amayi or abambo.

 

A few of the staff have told me that I am like their mother as I provide for them, help them and take care of them. I now have a further 10 children in the form of some gap year students. I am sure that they don’t want me to be their mother, but it’s hard to not help out and make the start of their gap year easier. I ran an induction weekend last week which went very well and ended with a lovely trip to a small national park and picnic. But this being Malawi, all did not go smoothly and two students have been staying with us as there is no furniture in their accommodation and another two came for a night as one was ill.

mon feeling on tues

We have just had a bank holiday weekend so this morning is like a Monday morning. The holiday was to commemorate John Chilemwe and most people headed off to the lake for a weekend relaxing. We were based in Blantyre as I welcomed 7 new students who are starting work out here as volunteers, during their gap year. I think that they’ve got a feel for life here, after difficulties with cash, phone cards, transport and misunderstandings! Two of the students are staying with us as the accommodation at their project has no furniture.

 

Anyway my morning did not go to plan and I am struggling through some editing work, which I was hoping to finish at the end of this week, work in the evenings sounds like a good way of juggling kids and life but I am just too tired.

coffee

A note on accommodation in Zambia. In my opinion it all comes down to the coffee! If a lodge or hotel serves coffee in a lounger then it’s going to be OK. We did find 1 exception to this rule and that’s the lodge in Livingstone which is in a beautiful setting with lovely furnishings but only instant coffee. I did hear an American enquiring about filter coffee and was told that there was only instant but it was Nescafe! We have just sat on an amazing balcony at the Royal Livingstone hotel (the most expensive hotel in Livingstone) and the kids were served lovely fruit cocktails and we had instant coffee, so even if you pay $400 per night you still can’t expect filter coffee!

 

I am also becoming a bit obsessed by double beds, so far we have not had a room with a double bed which I find a bit strange.

open road

Driving in Zambia I find myself comparing it to Malawi. The roads are much more empty, there’s less traffic, no minibuses (except in Lusaka) and far less pedestrians and goats meandering across the highway. The whole country is more sparsely populated and the roads are truly empty. Generally the roads have been ok apart from the road to S Luangwa. This was terrible, part of the problem was that much of it is being rebuilt so cars were directed off onto dirt tracks alongside the road. Navigation has been straightforward, usually there’s only a couple of roads to chose from and despite the lack of signs we’ve been ok. The dearth of signs and villages means that we often had little idea of where we were until we reached our destination.

car troubles

Halfway through our road trip and we have had a few technical problems. At our first stop after leaving home we discovered that the catch which secures the boot shut was broken. We tied it together with string and then persuaded a friendly welder in Lilongwe to fix it back on. So far it’s still ok but it will need a new part eventually. The drive from Ntchisi into Zambia and onto S Luangwa took 9 hours and the last 3 were on dirt tracks. Some stretches were on road but for much of the route the road was under construction so we were directed off the road onto dirt tracks. This was made worse by heavy rains and enormous puddles. We noticed a strange noise as we turned off at the first sign for our lodge and further investigation by the mechanics at the lodge suggested that it was probably the bearings on the front right wheel. He assured us that we would be ok to drive back to Chipata, where he knew a garage we could take it to. The drive back was very slow and a bit stressful!

At Chipata the doc left me and the girls at a very odd motel and went to find the garage. All was going well when they found a 2^nd hand part, but it turned out to be too long so he removed the broken part and told us we’d be fine so long as we didn’t need 4WD! He’s hoping to have the part ready for when we come back through Chipata on our way home.

frustrated

It’s good to be home. We arrived in the rain last night, have had a power cut for much of today, have made a mistake with the accounts so our Malawi bank account is overdrawn and a cheque bounced, another chicken died (apparently we have been over feeding and allowing them too much exercise!) and I have lost the power cable for my laptop. There are more holiday blogs but we have had some technical problems with the ipads so I am having to rewrite them!

no lie ins but lions

Holidays on safari are nor for those who want to sleep. The first leg of our Zambian trip was to s Luangwa National Park. It was amazing. It’s green season (so called because the foliage makes it difficult to see the wildlife) so we weren’t expecting to see much, just looking forward to watching any wildlife that came our way. We arrived at the park after an epic 9 hour drive and decided to go for a game drive. We set off at a cracking pace because the word was that there were some lions finishing off a buffalo. We made it and watched a pride of lions lounging around after their festive meal.

 

The park is on a different scale to those in Malawi; we’d seen elephants, giraffe and zebra as well as lots of different antelope in Malawi but not all in one place and no big cats. We saw lions on a second occasion but not within photographing distance and the kids couldn’t see them. We were hoping to see leopards and our eldest will tell you that while on a grow up night drive I saw the back legs and tail of something that might have been a leopard!

 

The park is so huge the wildlife sort of spill out into the areas around it, this must make daily life for the local people quite hard elephants could wreck crops and houses. They also hate bicycles so if you meet an elephant while cycling you should always dismount.

christmas in Malawi

Our first African Christmas; we stayed at one of our favourite lodges where we knew that the food would be good and enjoyed lovely walks through the rainforest on Christmas day. It was slightly surreal singing Christmas carols and eating mince pies in the warm but it was definitely easier trying out the new presents in a warmer climate!