From Livingstone to Lusaka

Our return from South Africa brought us back to complete craziness in Zambia. For the last couple of months of 2011 there was talk of Mike and I moving to Lusaka so that Mike could work on the implementation of a national database for the National AIDS Council. Momentum gathered in December and we thought that by the time we returned from South Africa we would have some clarity around this. But Zambia being Zambia, of course this was not the case.

So the remainder of January was spent sorting our move out, only to have everything happen in the space of literally two weeks. A frantic two weeks! The car needed repairs, Selina (our cleaner) needed new work, Rambo needed a home, I had to work out a forward plan with my organisation and that was on top of packing and two trips to Lusaka (500km away) to move our stuff. Glad that’s all over!

Leaving Livingstone has been difficult. Although it is a small town, sometimes a bit too small, we had met lots of great people and made some wonderful friends. Fortunately we had the opportunity to see most of them before we left at a small gathering at the Royal Livingstone Hotel where we had sundowner drinks followed by a lovely meal at Olga’s. Very Livingstone!

Mike and I with beautiful Victoria Falls behind us

Livingstone Farewell Drinks:
The people who have made our time there so much more
enjoyable than it might otherwise have been

We also made one last quick trip to Victoria Falls, definitely a highlight from our time in Livingstone. Super wet and now a tad cold, it was great to see them one last time.

Pretty Victoria Falls- I will miss you!

On the edge of the falls

Trying not to get wet

I did manage to find a home for Rambo; he is staying with his dog friends and our landlord in Livingstone who will make sure he is fed. I felt particularly lucky that our house was receiving two new volunteers, two lovely girls, one who reported she loves dogs. They were also able to take on Selina as their cleaner, which gave us some piece of mind.

Late January and early February were also filled with football fever as the Africa Cup of Nations took place. Think World Cup but on a slightly smaller scale, but nonetheless exciting. Zambia did make it to the final against Ivory Coast and against all the odds won! The atmosphere was amazing with people dancing in the streets, car horns, whistles and vuvuzela’s everywhere.

Taken during the Zambia v Ghana semi-final at VJs in Livingstone.
Obviously Zambia won

Happy, happy Zambians

And now we are in Lusaka. Our new apartment is located in an area called Kabulonga, a nice area with a great coffee/ cake shop, handy supermarket, a few nice restaurants and bars. 

Am I still in Zambia????

The Tuesday Market: A highlight of being in Lusaka with lovely
fresh vegetables, fruit, herbs and even tofu!

One of Mike's favourite road rules, the four way stop sign
intersections; a case of first in, best dressed- SERIOUSLY, that is
the rule!

Our apartment hasn't been quite as nice; it probably could be if we were going to be here longer than April and willing to put money into it, but we’re not, so it’s ok for now. Our biggest beef has been the bath/ shower. We don’t have a shower as the water pressure is so lousy so a bath/ bucket bath it is! And to top it off, the bath tub had been painted just before we moved in, but with the wrong paint, so sometimes we come out worse off than when we got in. Not the ideal set up especially with long hair but I’m managing (just).

Our new apartment in Luaska, top floor

Our new lounge. Not super homely but loving our giraffe "mummies"
in the background

Dining area/ study

Our awesome bathtub.....

.....and the even more awesome paint job they did!

Mike’s project has finally taken off with funding and location issues sorted. When he is finished, Zambia will have a national online database of all organisations working in HIV/AIDS throughout the country, as well as a way of capturing data to monitor progress against the AIDS Council’s national targets in prevention, impact mitigation, etc.

My situation has taken a bit longer to sort out. I still continue to support my Livingstone organisation who seem to have finally gotten things together. Just before moving we’d received $5k of office equipment and had two donor field assessments, having passed the desk assessments, each for $100k (Still awaiting the result of these). In addition to supporting my Livingstone organisation I’m also supposed to be working with another VSO partner in Lusaka, the terms of this still being sorted as I write. I also managed to get the opportunity to work with a large NGO here in Lusaka that I’d had previous contact with in Australia. They work in the area of education, especially for girls, something I’m quite passionate about and looking forward to helping them with when I start next week.

The second of the two field assessments conducted at my
Livingstone organisation before I left. Only 6 representatives at this
one; the first had 8 people assessing us

My Livingstone colleagues; hopefully they've learnt something
during my time there!

And so the days to leaving Zambia are going down slowly. The planning for our East Africa trip is now in full swing along with the realisation that we need to get super fit pretty quick if we want to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in June.

Hurry up April!

South Africa: Johannesburg

From sunny Cape Town we flew north to Johannesburg where we had nearly another week in South Africa.

Our first stop however wasn’t actually in Johannesburg but rather two hours out to a town called Rustenburg, where friends from Livingstone had recently moved. So in our very small Hyundai Artos we sped to Rustenburg to catch up with Robyn and Arno.

Mike standing proudly next to his Hyundai Artos

With Robyn and Arno we spent the afternoon at Sun City, a theme park/ casino/ hotel. It’s difficult to explain Sun City, only to say that you actually have to see it to believe it. It’s crazy but fun.

Sun City (as the sign says)

Walking around Sun City.....

.....lots of craziness

Not really prepared for the wave pool, we headed for a nice lunch and beers in the “Traditional Village” Shebeen. 

A Shebeen is kind of the traditional African equivalent of a pub. Well
that's where they drink beer anyway!

Mike and Arno with their beers

And Robyn and I with our beers. Loving the large bottles!

Arno's "Man-size" meal

Enjoying a drink and lunch: Of the four photos the waitress
 took for me, this was the only one that didn't come out blurred!

From there we planned to visit the “Palace” and were very fortunate to be driven there in a brand new Mercedes Benz (we later realised they thought we were guests, opps!). Unfortunately we weren’t able to view the inside of the Palace as it is closed off to guests only in the afternoons, but we did get the general idea.

The entrance to the Palace. Imagine the inside!

And Robyn, Mike and Arno looking quite impressed with themselves
for getting that Mercedes transfer, hehe

Leaving Robyn and Arno in Rustenburg we headed to our accommodation in Johannesburg, getting a much needed sleep before heading out to the Cradle of Humankind the following day.

I absolutely loved the Cradle of Humankind! There are two parts to it; the first is the museum, “Maropeng”, the second the Sterkfontein Caves.

The Cradle of Humankind

The museum was very cool and interactive, basically providing the story on the creation of earth and the evolution of humankind. It also contains many of the fossils discovered and their stories, in the nearby Sterkfontein Caves.

Maropeng entrance

I took a photo of this just because I liked it!

Mike on his way to the boat ride...Yes! They have a ride!

The museum had lots of these sort of signs, quotes, messages.

Another ride! Well it was sort of a ride. The turning colours really
mess with your head as you walk through. I think Mike walked
through this at least half a dozen times; I couldn't get him out of there

As mentioned, it was a very interactive museum

Nelson Mandela's handprints

My hands were only a bit smaller than Nelson's

And my foot is about the same size as Jacob Zuma's

Skull found at Sterkfontein Caves, also referred to as "Mrs Ples"

The caves were also pretty cool, but it was more the stories that made them exciting. After all, caves are still only caves. Currently within the caves, and unfortunately unable to be viewed by the public, is the discovery of “Little Foot”; the most complete and well preserved skeleton found for its age (3.5 to 4 million years old). The skeleton is still being excavated, approximately 15 years after full excavation first started. Tedious work!

Entrance to Sterkfontein Caves

Heading into the caves

From memory, our guide tried to tell us that this formation looked
like an elephant; I couldn't see it!

Lime deposits within the cave

In the caves (with out guide)

Still in the caves...apparently they used to allow diving (for research)
 in the caves until someone got lost and couldn't find their way out

Our next (and last) tourist stop was the Apartheid Museum, which I also loved. Done much better than Robbin Island, it provides a full history of how South Africa ended up where it did, the full story of Apartheid and how it finally ended.

The entrance to the Apartheid Museum. Each ticket designates you
as white or non-white, separating you at the entrance for the first
10-15 minutes. Really well thought out

To be honest, if you have read Nelson Mandela’s book, you would already know a lot of the story, however it was good to get an understanding of how it actually all came about to begin with, and the video documentaries and photography were fantastic.

This exhibit was called "Journey's" representing those from different backgrounds
who journeyed to the "city of gold" in the years following 1886

Different faces of Mandela

We didn’t manage to get on a tour for Soweto as originally planned. Tours were expensive and getting there was difficult as we had by then given our car back (btw, we did around 450km using only 28 litres of fuel, very impressive!). Plus, we felt a bit strange about the idea of drving through a township where people still live and staring at them through a bus window, doesn’t feel right.

So instead we enjoyed our remaining days relaxing, eating good food and drinks, we saw a movie in the cinema (!) and I got my first “real” haircut since I left Australia. It was nice feeling “normal” again.     

Koi, my favourite restaurant in Johannesburg: Peking Duck Pancakes

And Mike clearly enjoying his duck :-)

Thai food, in its abundance!

I know Johannesburg regularly cops a bad rap, with a reputation for crime and just being a difficult city to get around; the later is a little bit true in my experience, as a car really does help. Nonetheless, I really like Johannesburg, there is something about it.  And again, I would highly recommend a visit for anyone who hasn't been there.

Skyline of Johannesburg from our hotel room