Day 3: Shoebill Island

DAY 3: SHOEBILL ISLAND (Wed 15 June)

Since we are staying in one place for more than one night, I finally got some washing done!  Our dirty clothes were beginning to really pile up, but when you’re driving all day there’s no opportunity for washed clothes to dry out, so I waited until we reached Shoebill.  I brought along a large basin and some soap for the purpose.  Our camp attendants provided buckets of cold water from the river to wash clothes in.

In the morning we arranged for a guide to take us on a Shoebill Stork viewing expedition.  This was the main attraction which brought us to Shoebill Island – this rare and unusual bird which finds its natural habitat here in these isolated swamps.  The boats arrived at 8.30 and we all piled in.  First we stopped at a place where our guide had arranged to meet a scout who would report if the bird was in a certain location.  The scout’s name was Tarzan!  He reported that the bird wasn’t there, so we were taken a long way further to another spot.  The boats were left there and our 4 guides led us on a hike through the marsh!  They carried the children (Cobus, 7, Nelrie, 5, Anel, 14 mos, and Elijah) on their shoulders for us and we slogged along through knee high muddy water and grass.  Most of us ended up leaving our shoes behind as the footing was so treacherous and we would have lost our shoes in the water anyway.  We passed several fishermen’s huts on the way – the poverty and isolation and grime they live in, deep in the swamps, is unbelievable. 

After an arduous trek of at least 30 minutes, we reached the spot where the Shoebill had been spotted earlier by the guide.  The bird was standing in the marsh not too far away – it might have been 30 or 40 metres away.  We took turns with the binoculars to get an even better look.  Heinrich and David were busy documenting the event.  There were a few hippos crashing around which were just as close to us as the bird was!  That was a bit nerve-wracking, but the guides appeared nonchalant.  After standing around watching the bird for a while, we discovered that the water was full of leeches!  Not pleasant.  After 10 or 15 minutes, the Shoebill flew into a tree where we could still see it.  The children were starting to get restless and we were tired of the leeches so we began the hike back, having gotten plenty of video footage and photos of the bird.  Afterwards, we were informed by the guides that the swamp we were slogging through barefoot was home to snakes and crocodiles as well as the hippos and leeches!  Now the question is -- how many of us would have ventured through it if we had known that ahead of time?  And would we have taken the children?  What would YOU have done??  I guess we were all the more courageous for being blissfully unaware! We reached the boats and had a 45 minute ride to camp, arriving back at noon, just in time for lunch.

At 15.30 our boatman came back to take us ladies (myself, Jacomien, and Marjanne) back to the mainland to fetch some things from our vehicles since we had decided to stay an extra day.  Our itinerary originally only called for 2 nights’ stay at Shoebill, but once we had driven such a long way and taken boats to get to our campsite, none of us were in a hurry to leave.  The atmosphere of the island was really amazing – birdlife everywhere, and each night herds of hundreds of black letchwe grazing on our doorstep!  It was a relaxing boat trip back to the trucks, and especially nice to have a short break from carrying the children around. At the vehicles we fetched more drinking water, food, and other supplies and then arrived back at camp at 17.15 to start dinner (another barbeque).  That night there was a total eclipse of the moon which we watched as we sat around the campfire.

Our stay at Shoebill has been very enjoyable so far despite the unexpected situation of having to leave our vehicles behind, which has left us without several essential vehicle-battery-operated items such as the freezer, lights, and pump for the air mattresses!  Thankfully David and I discovered that our air mattress has a manual pump so we were able to inflate ours and thus were the most comfortable of the whole group during our stay at Shoebill.  :)

Day 2: Kasanka-Shoebill Island

DAY 2: KASANKA-SHOEBILL ISLAND (Tues 14^th June)

We packed up and left the Kasanka campsite at 8.35 for a long day of driving.  It was only about 140 kilometres or so that we had to travel to reach Shoebill Island, but the roads were indescribably bad. By 1pm we had only traveled 60 kilometres!  The road was horrible and w e could only drive an average of about 25-30kph.  It was also difficult driving in a 3-vehicle convoy with  no way to contact each other (there was no mobile phone signal) and only one person (Heinrich) who knew exactly where we were going.  There were several times that David and I were worried that we’d missed a turn somewhere and become separated from our group.  There are no road signs in the African bush!    

The narrow, bumpy road we followed wound its way through village after village, all the houses built along the road, an unusual sight here where usually a village is a cluster of houses set back a way from the road.  As we passed, hordes of children would come flying out, their hands outstretched, screaming for handouts.  "Sweeties!  Sweeties!  Water!  Money, money, money!  Give me pin (money)!"  Sometimes they asked for candy (sweeties), or other times it was money, food, bread, cake, water. . . the list goes on and on.  You can tell when you are following a route traveled by tourists.  Some of the children even ran after the moving vehicles and jumped onto the tailgate, screaming.  The irony was that, for all their begging, the villages we were passing through actually displayed signs of being well-off. The houses were made of brick, unlike the houses we are used to seeing in Eastern Province, and most of them were decorated very attractively either with painted bricks or with designs in the brickwork itself.  Some even had flowers on the doorstep. There were schools and shops and even a motorbike.  So you can see what happens when tourists decide to give free handouts without discretion.  Even the adults we came across would brusquely demand money from us.

It was a back-breaking drive but we finally reached Shoebill Island and Bangwuele Wetlands at 15.45 – only to find out that it actually IS an “island”-- and we would have to unload all our camping equipment, leave our vehicles behind, and take a 45-minute boat ride to the campsite!  Chaos ensued, of course, but eventually we managed to get most things sorted (forgetting a minimum of stuff) and get on the boats by 16.30. 

They fit all 10 of us (6 adults, 4 children) and all our camping equipment in 2 long “banana boats”, each with 2 boatmen poling.  We traveled through narrow waterways choked with water lilies, reeds, and different kinds of grasses and filled with numerous kinds of birdlife.  Our boatmen pointed out various kinds of birds as we went along.  The boat ride was relaxing and added to the sensation of being in the middle of nowhere!  Shoebill Island seems very isolated – at the end of a dead-end road, only reachable by boat for 10 months out of the year.  We floated by several small huts set back from the water’s edge where fishermen and their families live.  There are no schools on the island – the children never learn to read or write, and when they grow up they become fishermen just like their father and grandfather before them.  A few months out of every year some of the fishermen move their families to the village on the mainland to harvest cassava, and then they return to the waterways and fishnets.  They travel using narrow wooden dugout canoes which look as though they will sink at any moment – skimming barely above the water-line. 

We arrived at the campsite where there was a rectangular piece of grass cleared for our tents.  The regular campsite was still under water, we were informed.  We managed to get the tents up just before it got dark.  Again, firewood and water for washing clothes and dishes were provided by the camp attendants, and they also let us borrow a grill so that we could barbeque (or braii, as the South Africans call it) over the campfire.  We were given access to a bucket shower and a flush toilet but we were dependent on the attendants for water for washing, as there was no running water and we had brought a limited supply of clean drinking water.  During the night we heard hippos and hyenas, and there were thousands of black letchwe (a kind of antelope) grazing everywhere.  When David got up to visit the toilet in the middle of the night, he stepped out of the tent and spooked hundreds of them, sending them in wild flight into the water.  The campsite was located right on the water with marshland all around.  The full moon provided us with plenty of light at night, which was nice, since the Zwemstras had accidentally left their camping lights behind in the vehicle!

Camping trip day 1: Kasanka National Park

Note: We (David, myself, Elijah, and our colleague Marjanne) traveled from Petauke to Lusaka on Thursday 9^th June and spent Friday running errands – renewing the vehicle insurance, shopping, etc.  The weekend was a really relaxing start to our holiday as we visited with friends and enjoyed good food!

DAY 1: KASANKA (Mon 13^th June)

We left Lusaka at 6.20 Monday morning 13^th June and met the Zwemstras just outside of town on the Great North Road.  The road was VERY good and we were all impressed!  The difference between the Great North Road (also known as the Chinese Road, because the Chinese have engineered it) and the Great East Road (built by Indians) which runs through Eastern Province – a much more backwoods area – was stark.  Not a pothole to be seen!

We reached the front gate of Kasanka National Park around 2.30 but had to travel a further 35 kilometers within the park on a narrow bumpy road before we reached the campsite which was on a hillside overlooking water where antelope gathered.  Phil (who had business in the North and traveled up separately) had reached the campsite the day before and was settled in, waiting for us.  The campsite was not what you would imagine if you are used to camping in American campgrounds – there was no running water, no flush toilets, no picnic tables, no BBQ pit. . .  It was what we would call “primitive.”  J  The camp facilities were comprised of a long-drop toilet (if you don’t know what that is – come visit Africa!  HA HA HA) and a bucket shower, and a hide on the hilltop where you could watch the wildlife and birdlife.  The camp attendant brought firewood and buckets of warm water for anyone who wanted to use the bucket shower.  We set up camp and then the men and Marjanne and the kids went to the Fibwe Hide to explore while Jacomien and I made dinner (in peace!).  The Fibwe Hide is constructed up a very tall tree where you can overlook the plains and is particularly designed to view fruit bats at certain times of year.  On their way back to the campsite, the group saw baboons and two elephants!  I was quite jealous when David told me he’d seen elephants within an hour of arriving at our first destination.  I still haven’t seen elephants. 

We all enjoyed pasta salad for diner and after the children were in bed we sat around the campfire and listened to the animal noises.  The two elephants were in the water below the campsite – we could hear them trampling around.  During the night no one slept well!  Typical for the first night camping.  It was SO cold – unbelievable -- and there were lots of animals around – we could hear the elephants and hippos very close by, and during the night David woke up to see the silhouette of a warthog sniffing around just outside our tent!

 Note: I will be posting these entries in installments. . . please look through the photos David has posted on Facebook if you haven't done so already!

moving house

Yesterday the M family moved away from Covenant College.  We are sad to see them go after 5 years of faithful service here, but it will be exciting to see what new field of service the Lord leads them into.

Our family has now moved into the M's previous house.  It is such a stark contrast to where we have been living that it is hard to describe!  We have at least quadrupled our living space.  This house is large and sprawling.  There are 4 bedrooms plus an office/library which could also serve as a bedroom.  This is the first time since David and I got married nearly two years ago that we are living in a house with more than one bathroom!  We've really moved up a step in the world!  :)  The kitchen has floor-to-ceiling storage cupboards which make my heart sing after the previous kitchen's storage difficulties (total storage: two small drawers, and four cupboards.  For everything, including food).  It is nice to have space for things like my slow cooker and lots of other kitchen items which had to stay in the boxes until we were in a larger house!

It is SO nice to hang pictures on the wall!  We have a lot of family photos which we wanted to frame and hang so that Elijah will learn to recognize the faces of his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and other relatives.  Plus it just adds such a lovely homey touch to our new place to have items of personal significance and sentimental value hanging up.  :)

We were very thankful for the other house, which we had settled into quite nicely since our arrival in February, but this house suits our growing needs even better - and then some!  It has such potential for hospitality.  And Elijah now has plenty of space to roam to his heart's content.  For an 11-month-old who is showing great interest in walking, that's a dream come true.  He also now has a sandbox to play in, which has already been a huge hit!  (For Mommy as well, because it meant a few minutes of peace and quiet. . .)

There are extensive flower gardens which will need a lot of upkeep, but I will have help from the M's gardener.  There is also a small vegetable/fruit garden but not much is growing at the moment - there is a papaya tree, some pineapple plants, and some strawberry plants which might yield fruit in August or so.






The Ms have kindly left some of their furniture (sofas, dining table and chairs, kitchen stove) out so that we can use it for the next couple of months until they return with a moving van to take away their things.  This also means that we can buy our own furniture gradually over the next couple of months instead of having to furnish a whole house at once - I think anyone who has moved knows how expensive that can be!

We moved all our belongings yesterday, which meant that today we could start unpacking and locating specific items we need.  The house is a wreck, because we have reached the "worse before it gets better" stage!  But tomorrow we will need to pack for our upcoming camping trip, so the rest of the unpacking and organizing will have to wait until the end of the month. 

The kittens (which after much thought, have been named Shasta and Aravis) were terrified when we first brought them to the new place yesterday evening, but they are already growing in confidence and happily exploring the whole house.  We will leave them inside the house while we are traveling and have arranged for someone to come and leave food and drink for them and change the kitty litter.

And a note on which to end: so far, the internet is working SO much better over here than in our previous house!  What a treat!  We were able to load a bunch of photos on Facebook today, so if you haven't seen them yet, head on over and check them out.  After our trip I will hopefully be able to post a few on here.


Postscript: as I was about to hit the 'publish post' button, Elijah came crawling up to me. . . and his diaper fell out of his shorts as he came!!  It was quite wet but as I've been using the lower-quality diapers (all that's available in Petauke) they obviously don't hold up as well as the name brand diapers!  But what a hilarious incident!  Thankfully it's bath time so he has already been scooped up and rushed off to the bath.  Never a dull moment. . .

a few thoughts

Regarding blogging.  I want, actively want to blog two or three times a week, consistently.  However, I am resigned to the fact that it seems that will not happen at this point, and I just try to blog sporadically as I am able.  David often asks me about my "neglected blog" and how long it has been since I last posted.  Today, I just said to him, "You know what?  I am a mother first, and a blogger afterwards."  And that pretty much sums up my thoughts on that.  On a day when I am not trying to catch up on laundry, catch up on dishes, and prevent Elijah from catapulting himself into self-destruction and danger, or pulling the cat's tail, or eating a half-dead beetle off the floor. . . I will write a blog post.  After we move house next week, I will inherit more hired house-help from the previous occupants, which means that I will be able to spend less of my time digging myself out of a black hole of housework, and more quality time with Elijah, and I am hoping that it will mean I can devote a couple chunks of time each week to keeping my blog updated.  That is what David wants, too, so I will try to make it a priority.  For now, though. . . well, next week I am moving house and then we are leaving on a 2-week holiday.  So regular posting will happen after the end of June!

So.  Elijah.  My cheery wee boy. . . always into something.  He took his first steps this past Lord's Day, to our great amusement.  Five steps in a row on his first try!  He hasn't shown much confidence to do it on his own when Mama is not there to be walked to. . . but I am sure that will change quickly. What he has shown great confidence in is trying to scale or climb or otherwise maneuver himself around any step, obstacle, or horizontal surface.  This has resulted in him climbing (and laying down on top of) his walker, climbing onto the sofa and sitting nonchalantly (and probably unwittingly) perched literally on the very edge, and constantly attempting to traverse the steps in our house. We have three areas of steps: the front steps (two very large steps with a sheer drop-off on either side), a big step down from the living room into the extra room at the end of the house, and a big step down from the kitchen into the toilet/shower area.  It is becoming increasingly difficult to keep Elijah from plummeting down any or all of these steps multiple times per day -- and there is nowhere to land except on a bare concrete floor!  *sigh* 

Yes, and speaking of not having time. . . I am still trying to edit our mailing lists for our monthly newsletters.  Unfortunately this takes not only a lot of time and work, but also a better internet connection than I usually have.  Then the other day I spent a couple hours working on it. . .made all the necessary changes. . . and Gmail didn't save any of them!!  I was SOOOOO frustrated!  So apologies to any of you who have requested to be added to the list and have not yet received our newsletter.  I did add you.  But you will have to be added again.  I will persevere. . . and one of these days our mailing list will be accurate!  In the meantime, if you are interested in receiving our newsletters and aren't, you can contact me (by email or FB message, rather than leaving a comment with your email address on my blog) and I will add you to the list when I am able to update it.  :)

David's birthday and other tidbits

Hello to those of you who are still checking my blog even though I am failing to update it regularly!  I don't want to begin every post with an apology, so I won't, but I will trust that you understand that life is busy and I really, really WANT to write more often than I am able to. 

I will start by sharing about David's birthday which was last Saturday (14 May).  We had a fun gathering in the morning with our colleagues here at the College, numbering 9 adults and 8 children including ourselves.  I spent 4 days baking treats for the occasion - there was banana bread (homemade), peanut butter cornflake bars (homemade), cocoa cookies (homemade), jello, cheesy soft pretzels (homemade), and popcorn (cooked on the stove) for the snacks. . . and TWO kinds of birthday cake.  Raspberry chocolate brownie cheesecake, and peach yogurt cheesecake.  With icecream!  It was my first time ever making cheesecake and they weren't 100% perfect but everyone seemed to really enjoy them.  In the end I think I made too much food because there was a lot left over, but I was able to share it again  the next day at our potluck supper on the Lord's Day evening. 

So we stuffed ourselves with food, and then David and I introduced to our friends the game "Apples to Apples."  If you have never heard of this game, it is such a fun group game especially for a party!  It is an American game but what makes it fun was that you don't have to have any special "skill" - even children can play - and because the point of the game is to define words (very subjectively!) it also made for really fun conversations with our friends who are not native English speakers!  I think everyone had a good laugh.

For David's birthday I had secretly arranged for an African shirt to be made for him at the tailor in the boma (town) and also a matching suit (skirt and top) for me from the same material.  So that we would have special African outfits to wear particularly when he is preaching in local churches!  To do this, one day I snuck one of his dress shirts out of the closet and took it with me to the boma when I went shopping, and gave it to the tailor so that he could use it for David's measurements!  David of course never noticed what I did.  I found the material in the market - all you need is a chitenge (Zambian long piece of cloth which the women wear as warp skirts but which are multi-purpose material!) to make a shirt, and two chitenges for my outfit.  I found a nice African pattern in blue which I thought David would like.  When the outfits were ready, I hid them in Marjanne's house until David's birthday.  When he woke up on the morning of his birthday, I gave him another present which I had bought for him, which made him think that there were no more presents coming.  Then just a few minutes before our guests were scheduled to arrive for the party, I suddenly said to David,  "Now, this is the time when you have to go into the toilet and close the door and stay there until I come back!  And you are not allowed to look out the window!"  He protested, of course, but I insisted, so he finally went into the toilet.  Then I quickly ran to Marjanne's house and changed into my new African outfit, carrying David's shirt behind my back.  Marjanne came along to take photos of the surprise with our camera!  I called David outside to surprise him with our matching outfits, and he WAS surprised!  It was a lot of fun.  :)  We got a couple of really fun photos but they are on David's computer so I will need to try to upload them later.  I love finding ways to surprise David with nice gifts.  :)

The day ended with a yummy birthday dinner. . . I think David really enjoyed his special day.

In other news, we now have two new additions to our family: brother and sister kittens!  We are still deciding on names for them but they are settled very nicely into our home.  One (the male) has long hair (black, grey and white) and two white paws, and the other (the female) has very short plain hair and grey and black markings very similar to her mother.  They are so much fun to watch!  May they catch many mice, bugs and another unwanted critters and may they guard our property from snakes!

Last week was the Women's Conference hosted here at the College for the wives of our students and graduate students.  I will also share about this in our upcoming newsletter at the end of this month.  About 50 women attended.  It was an encouraging 4-day gathering to minister to these women, many of whom, like their husbands, have not really previously received any training from the Word of God to encourage them in their roles, and some of whom (like many Zambian women) cannot even read or write. During these 4 days Mirjam led the main Bible study in the book of Ruth, which some of these women had never even heard of.  So we were introducing them to the historical context of the book, the significance of the book, and what it was pointing to: Jesus Christ, our kinsman redeemer.  There was much opportunity for discussion in large and small groups to make sure that the women understood each passage.  The program also included health classes, craft times and supplies for knitting, lots of devotionals, and time to fellowship over food.  I especially appreciated the opportunity to meet these women for the first time knowing that I will see them again at future conferences and this was the first step in building relationships with them.

Elijah of course keeps every day very full and very fun.  He is very close to taking his first steps and he wants to talk but mostly just grunts very enthusiastically when he is trying to communicate, although he does say "da da da da" (not to David though) or "goi goi goi goi" when he is really excited!  He loves to play in the sand and the dirt (no shock there). He claps his hands and has recently learned to click his tongue - fascinating himself with the new noise.  He plays "catch" with Daddy with his little yellow ball  - one of his favorite games - and yes, he does throw the ball back to us each time, amazingly!  He has a good healthy appetite and especially loves to eat nshima, the Zambian staple dish of boiled maize porridge. Some of his other favorite foods are rice, pasta, cheese, guava, banana, raisins, and yogurt.  We think that one or two of his molars might be slowly working its way through - fun times.  Of course we are always struggling with the sleepless nights but always hoping that somehow a good night's sleep is just beyond the corner!


So that is some of what has been keeping us busy recently. I hope to blog more within the next day or so. . . and of course I am already starting to compile our May newsletter which will be sent out by the end of the month.

update on Nelrie

We are very grateful for your prayers for Nelrie and are happy to inform you that she seems now to be making a recovery from the severe bout of malaria.  Originally she became sick on Sunday evening, a week ago (the 17th).  Her parents administered malaria medication but her condition gradually worsened until they were very concerned about her.  Although the fever and vomiting had subsided for the most part, she was extremely weak, refusing to eat or drink, very confused and unresponsive (delirious at times) and sometimes not even recognizing her parents.  By Wednesday they realized that they would need to take her to hospital, so her father took her to Katete (1 hour away) where she still tested positive for malaria, showing that the previous treatment had not been effective.  She was given different medication but not admitted, as the hospital staff told her father that he would be able to give her better care and an environment more conducive to care than they could.  They spent the night with friends in Katete and returned home on Thursday, but Nelrie was still extremely weak and confused and they watched her carefully.  During this time they had to feed her and give her drink using a syringe.  By Saturday she had gotten up once or twice and walked outside to see what her brother was doing, but mostly just slept and was too weak to do anything else.  Now there has been immense improvement and she is no longer confused or refusing food and drink.  The malaria is gone, but please continue to pray for her full recovery.  Nelrie, who is 5 years old (sorry I mistakenly informed you that she was 6) has lost at least 3 kgs (over 6 lbs) during this illness and now only weighs 2-3 kgs more than her 1-year-old sister.  She is very weakened by this illness and it will be a while before she is back to normal. 

Please also continue to pray for the rest of us here, that no one else would succumb to malaria or any other illness. We need your prayers for the Lord's protection.

Welcome to our home - PHOTOS!

 

 As you face the house, we have not one, but THREE entrances!  On the left is the door to the toilet, shower, and laundry area.  In the middle is our main front door, leading into our living area, kitchen, and bedroom.  On the right is the door to the spare bedroom.

 

 This is the back of the house, which faces the College.  On the left are the spare bedroom windows – three of them.  In the middle is our bedroom window, and the kitchen window. On the right is the window over the toilet (and our hot water heater).

 This is the front of the house, looking into our enclosure.  The fence was constructed to give us a bit of privacy because the main path to the village used to run directly in front of our front door.  Now the villagers walk behind our house but they can still see into our windows!  As you can see we have a couple nice shade trees on this side of our fence.

 

This is our laundry area and shower.  Here you get the first glimpse of my twin-tub washing machine, which you have already been introduced to.  As you can see, the shower is not enclosed so when we had a house guest (Rev. Macdonald from Ness) we had to rig up a sheet over the doorway to provide privacy and “signal” that the shower was in use.  We always communicated very carefully about planned shower times!  :) 

 

 

The view out the bathroom door.  The bicycle belongs to Asnet, the wife of Samuel who is one of our farm workers.  Asnet helps me clean house once a week.

 

My washing machine!

 

 The view from the front door. Kitchen and bedroom straight ahead, couch to the left.

 My tiny gas cooker with 2 burners, and tiny oven.  And wonderful fridge!!

 My kitchen.

 The view of our living area from the kitchen, looking towards the door to the spare bedroom. The front door is to the right of the photo.

 The other side of our living area.

 

 Our bedroom. Since this photo was taken we swapped the beds around so that ours is on the left and Elijah's is on the right, to accommodate a bigger mosquito net which encloses both the beds.We each have a trunk for our clothing and shoes (to keep the scorpions and other creepy crawlies out.)

Thanks for stopping by.  :)