Fond farewells

Apparently, some folks have waiting patiently for the "last installment" of my blog.  Since I've had such loyal followers, I figure I'd better not disappoint!  I do apologize for taking so long to put up these details on the site.

Before I proceed however, I thought I might share that within the first few weeks of returning to Canada, it was almost as though I'd wakened from a long and vivid dream.  I knew I'd done something extraordinary, but I felt a bit disoriented and actually had a hard time remembering some of the people and places that I'd visited.  A very strange phenomenon to be sure.  Fortunately the "amnesia" has faded and I now feel comfortable writing about the experience.

Obviously, leaving Mazabuka was not an easy process since it meant saying goodbye to good friends and colleagues from the past year and handing over the project.  Though in the beginning it seemed as though I had lots of time, by the end it was impossible to believe it was over.

There were a few major leaving events, not the least of which was a braii hosted by Rob and me at our house.  Earlier in the day, I introduced the game of Ultimate Frisbee which went over very well.  Recent reports from friends indicate that weekend pickup games of Ultimate Frisbee continue on the local athletic calendar.  I only wish that I'd had the thought to introduce the game earlier.  To my great disappointment, the Sunday afternoon frisbee gang here in Ottawa that I so looked forward to rejoining has disbanded!

For the braii, thanks to the typical generosity and creativity of friends, we all enjoyed an exquisite buffet of foods.  Friends came from Lusaka, Choma and Chipata (and Mazabuka of course) to send me off.  I received some lovely presents too: among them a beautiful elephant print chitenge, an elephant business card holder, a gorgeous batik tablecloth, a wallet and coffee, a USB stick loaded with photos, and some small sacks of Zambian staple foods (nshima, coffee, sugar), and a customized Mazabuka Party People wall plaque (to be seen to be believed).

Fun loving VSO's in town for the party: Ben, Dan, Sarah, Helen, (me), and Rob

Another feast!

Sharing a fun moment with Mubiana!

A mischievous trio: Victoria, Lweendo and me.

Barbara's unique sense of humour: to wrap a USB flash drive in umpteen layers of paper.  I do very much appreciate the photos! :-)

My elephant print chitenge.

Among my circle of Zambian and European friends however, football trumps everything.  For the night of the braii, I was duly forewarned that the eating part had to be pretty much done by 9 p.m. so that the football aficionados (i.e. everyone) could go and watch the European Football Finals.  Just about everyone poured out of the house en masse to go and watch the game at Marco's house.

Enthralled by the football action!

Relaxing with Ennie and Pami at Marco's

Enjoying a fun moment with Ian.

 Gathering around the screen gave Victoria the perfect opportunity to show her wonderfully extraordinary slide show recapping my year in Zambia, set to the Black Eyed Peas' remix of Time of Your Life.  Was it ever the time of my life!  My eyes were definitely not dry at the end of the slide show.

The next day, Rob and I hosted a tea with Stella and her family.  It was tough to say goodbye to such a great family.  Stella's daughter Yumbe presented me with a lovely apron she'd made for my mom.  Naturally my mom was astonished when I passed along Yumbe's gift!

In the garden with Yumbe, Suwilanji, Stella and Rebecca.

The night before I left town, the Mazabuka Municipal Council threw a fun cocktail party to thank me and send me off in style.  We all gathered at the Council-run motel for some nibbles, drinks and some rather wild dancing!  The program included speeches by the Acting Town Clerk, the Director of Planning and yours truly.  Everyone in attendance was also given the opportunity to say a few words - I was truly honoured,  humbled and even humoured by the many anecdotes my Council friends related during the evening.  I was presented with more lovely gifts, including a copper serving tray, a decorative ceramic plate, and a card.  My hand never seemed to be left without a cold beer either!

A farewell photos with Collins, the Socio-Economic Planner.

A farewell photo with Chibinga, the Rural Water and Sanitation Officer.

 

Basil and Mr. Nyoni enjoying the party.

Delivering my speech and words of thanks.

Enjoying a moment with Mubiana and Mary.

Enjoying a moment with Collins and Mr. Hanyati.

Dancing the night away!

A decorative plate of Africa.

Well wishes!

On the final night before flying home, I gathered the Lusaka based crowd (about 20 of us!) the VSO's favourite Indian restaurant, Mahak's, for one last super-delicious, super-cheap, all-you-can-eat vegetarian thali.  This is food I now very much miss.

All smiles with Ilene... one of the fine people I met in training.

Evelyn and Ben showing off the magnetic hippo they were about to give me.

Virtually family: Helen and Dan.

A lively bunch!

Much more importantly than any food or any physical locales are the people who, in the benevolent conspiracy that is life, made my experience in Zambia so varied, rich, gratifying and loving.  I miss all of you very much and hope that we will again cross paths in the not distant future.  Twalumba!

"I'm leaving on a jet plane... don't know when I'll be back again..."  Hopefully not long! :-)

Finished!

After 10.5 months in Mazabuka, I am finally coming home.  The reality is starting to sink in, but it still feels a bit unreal.

I'll post pictures and stories about my final weeks after I've landed on Friday.  The last few weeks have been quite hectic!!

Thanks to everyone along the way who has made my time in Zambia an experience of a lifetime.

Desert Fun

After my tour ended, I headed onwards to Swakopmund to meet up with Victoria. We spent a very foggy and alarmingly cold weekend in this peculiar town. Despite the fog and the cold, we still managed to have a great time.

The first night, we went to an old-style seafood restaurant called The Lighthouse Grill, which was decked out in dark stained wood and large brass nautical implements, accented by the green and red lights from nautical buoys. There was no mistake that we were by the sea, even if we couldn't see much of it.

For Victoria, seafood was a great novelty. I managed to convince her that escargots are tasty, especially when they're doused in melted garlic butter. Calamari and mussels were also an adventure. We topped off our feast with a delicious dessert of Cherries Jubilee – YUMMY! Though nightlife options seemed a bit sparse in Swakopmund, we managed to find a great place where the locals were belting out the classic karaoke tunes... some well, and others not so well.

"I can't believe this is edible!"

Tasty prawns!

 

Having a blast at karaoke!

The next day, we headed off into the Namib Desert to do some quad-biking over the dunes, as well as the exhilarating (and more than mildly terrifying) phenomenon called sand boarding. This involves lying face down on a piece of particle board greased up with floor polish and then hurtling down a sand dune at full speed. At the end of our adventure in the desert, Victoria said, “My face muscles hurt from smiling so much!” Come to think of it, I never did see a frown on her face. All in all, it was a wonderful vacation.

Setting out on the quad bikes.

Motorized fun!

Smiling under that helmet.

Yes, this is a crazy thing to do.

But it's too much fun to resist!

The realities back in Zambia were quite obvious however: upon coming through the door, I discovered that the water utility had shut off the water for the day. Later, the power also went off for about 20 minutes. Welcome home!

Landscapes as far as the eye can see!

The itinerary for the camping tour took our group to a few interesting landmarks in southern Namibia. First stop was the Quiver Tree Forest near Keetmanshoop, which the guidebook states is the sunniest town in the world. The town was fairly small and sleepy, but the quiver trees were certainly interesting to see. The trees are actually large aloe plants, which get their name from the way the San bushmen used them. The bushmen would cut off a branch, clear out the spongy material in the middle, and then stretch animal skins over the top and bottom to create a quiver for their arrows. In the late evening and early morning sunlight, the quiver trees were quite a beautiful sight.

Next stop on the itinerary was the Fish River Canyon near the border with South Africa. The canyon was originally created by seismic activity in the area, and has since been gouged deeper over many millions of years by the action of the Fish River. By most educated estimates, the Fish River Canyon is the second largest/deepest/most impressive canyon after the Grand Canyon in the USA. I can believe it.

Afterwards, we spent two nights camping near the tiny town of Aus. Upon reaching the camp, our group went off on a hike around Klein Aus Vista. At one point, we rounded a bend in the path, which gave way to an absolutely breathtaking view of the grasslands and some mountains off in the distance. At that moment, a thunderstorm was also making its way inland from the coast and every so often there were dramatic flashes of chain lightning over the mountains. On our brief hike, we also got up close and personal with some of the feral horses that inhabit the area.

A photo can never do justice to the grandeur of the scenery... but it's beautiful nonetheless.  I felt extremely peaceful here.

The next day involved the exploration of long-abandoned Kolmanskop, a town set up in the early 20^th century to service the Sperrgebiet, or diamond-mining area running about 150 kilometres along the coast all the way to the South African border. The ghost town was both interesting and spooky, especially inside the Krankenhaus or hospital. Sadly, the white (mostly German) managers and engineers had many more amenities than the Ovambo workers, whose houses were set quite apart from the main town. Portions of the Sperrgebiet are still being mined for diamonds, which along with its many other geological resources, provide Namibia with significant income. By lunch, we moved on to Lüderitz where we enjoyed a fabulous seafood meal, and the quirky German colonial architecture. Unfortunately, Lüderitz felt like a modern ghost town; since we'd arrived on a national holiday, virtually nobody was out and about that day!

"The patient checked himself out a long time ago, sir!"

The colours of Luderitz.

Distinctive architecture.

Next day, we set off for the main attraction of the tour: Sossusvlei. Sossusvlei is situated in the middle of the Namib Desert and is the prime place to experience the beauty of the desert landscape. Climbing the large sand dunes to see the sun set and rise again was hard work (especially getting out of bed at 4 a.m.), but it was well worth it. I was amazed with the colours and the ecology of this (normally) arid landscape. I say normally, because it actually rained all night after we'd explored the area during the day. The day of our departure, we decamped in about 20 minutes just as the next wave of thunderstorms began pelting our tents. Breakfast was taken on the road at a German bakery offering up delectable pastries.  More than adequate compensation for the rains, I'd say.  At lunch, we stopped to enjoy a Nama cultural performance - they were great.

Climbing the dunes before dinner was hard work... but running down made me feel like a kid again!

Sunrise over Sossusvlei

Playing with light and shadow.

All this way to photograph dead trees... but they are pretty!

The songs and dances told stories of the Nama people.  A funny one involved a male trying to impress a female with his dancing so she would accept his marriage proposal.

Namibia

It's been a few days now since I returned from my holiday in Namibia. What I found the most striking about Namibia were the landscapes; in my two week visit, I experienced expansive deserts, sea coast, plains, mountains and urban landscapes, all of which offered a feast for the eyes.

Getting there by bus takes a long time, so I broke it up a bit by spending a couple of days around Livingstone before moving onwards to Namibia. In Livingstone, I took the opportunity to catch another glimpse at Victoria Falls, as well as to go zip-lining over a portion of the gorge. That was fun! On recommendation from various people, I also hopped across the border into neighbouring Botswana to spend a day ogling the wildlife at Chobe National Park. Chobe is as impressive as everyone says it is, but really needs a few days to do it full justice.

Takeoff over the Victoria Falls gorge.

Superman!

Taking a drink in the Chobe River.

A nonchalant "log" waiting for an impala to take a drink.

The last of the "Big Five" - a buffalo.  One of the deadliest animals on the savannah.

After exploring Chobe, my dear friend Victoria joined me in Livingstone for the long trek to Namibia. Fortunately, the bus was new and comfortable since the journey from Livingstone to Windhoek took about 20 hours. Victoria and I explored Windhoek together before separating for a week. She went to visit a friend in Swakopmund (on the Atlantic coast), while I embarked on a week-long camping tour in the southern part of the country. After the tour, we reunited in Swakopmund to have some fun in the self-proclaimed “adventure sports capital of Africa”.

After a few days of fun and relaxation at the coast, we started our two-day, 2,000-kilometre bus-bound trek back to Mazabuka. Perhaps not the most relaxing way to travel, but with our backpack of sandwiches, snacks and drinks, we survived!