Everybody's got a Water Buffalo... er,

maybe that's a Cape Buffalo

(of course, mine is blue)

To Kaelyn, Nessa, and Austin

impala, African deer

banded mongoose

Do you think these look like Austin's elephant? Do you see the baby elephant?

He is a little bigger than yours, Nessa!

zebra.zebra.zebra.
Heather and I saw hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them!

a baby crocodile out in the sun!

a mommy lion and her two cubs

This mommy leopard was eating impala meat up in a tree after I took the picture.

Baboons!

Jackal- a wild dog, not like Dodger and Charlie

wart hog (I think Grandma Cook would think these are REALLY ugly!)

Love, your African Auntie

WIP

(Work In Progress)

ahhh... such a good feeling to enter a tidy office the following morning

Chemistry

Heather and I were having fun with food chemistry the other day when she made caramel frosting.
I could have borrowed Dad's lab coat from process engineering :)

Thuma

Thuma told his auntie he wanted to take pictures with Heather and I. 

On Sunday afternoon, Thuma borrowed his grandpa's camera and showed up at our door

ready for some shutter action.

he's got my vote already! :)

marshmallow time

Thanks to a kind Stateside friend who sent us Kraft Jet Puffed marshmallows,

we were able to celebrate our American heritage by toasting a few of these fluffy treats.

Soap and Sugar

I have not ceased to be amazed at the amount of soap Zambians use—or the number of baths they take each day! I am also still astonished at the number of spoons of sugar the average Tonga dumps into each cup of “tea” multiple times a day.

Soap and sugar.

Baths and tea.

Cold and hot.

Buckets and mugs.

Bathing rooms and kitchens.

Clean and dirty.

Outside and inside.

Baths and tea.

Soap and sugar.

(that’s about as close as this accountant can get to composing poetry)

The Fourth

In Zambia.

M

Heather got up at 5am Sunday morning and made a special breakfast.

We sucked in the tears, and hugged each other one last time before Malinda left at 6am.

She rode out of our drive for the last time... at least until the day she returns to visit Zambia. 

After a brief visit with her sister in London, Malinda will fly across the 

ocean and return to her Stateside home.

Confessions of a Michigander in the dead of Zambia’s winter

What some folks don’t realize… is that Zambia can get COLD.

Yes.

Cold

As in fifteen-degrees-Celsius-in-my-bedroom-cold. 

(That’s like fifty-nine-degrees-Fahrenheit in my bedroom. That’s also the temperature at which my thermostat is set for Michigan winter nights. The only time I find such an indoor temperature comfy is when I’m layered in pj’s, fitted with toasty socks, and burrowed under my flannel sheets and wool comforter. Then, it is a delicious temperature, just right for sleeping.)

For warm-blooded creatures in the world, fifteen degrees Celsius may not seem extreme.

For me, this temperature is frigid.

It’s been a rough week.

A cold week.

Even my  bicycle-rides to and from gym have been chilly.

(cold sweat. Yuck)

There are only so many hot drinks one girl can manage each day… and that number is not enough to keep me perpetually warm in Choma’s winter. 

Our house is up on a hill in the shade in what’s known as the coldest town around.

After crawling back under the covers this morning (after I continued to lose instead of gain warmth under my tiny wool blanket in the sitting room…), I remembered my down jacket. So, here I sit, in my green, down jacket, wisely packed last October when Michigan temps were similar to current ones here.

Some things in life are very difficult to believe. The weather in Choma is one of them. 

In a couple short months, I’ll be so hot I won’t stop sweating day or night. 

The thought of a blanket on my bed will be similar to imagining the feeling of curling up in a running clothes dryer. My down jacket will be stuffed in the back of the closet, and I might wonder why I packed it anyway.

But for now, I’m ever so glad for my layers and our cupboard stocked with hot drink supplies.

And,

I must admit a jealously for my friends and family who are warm—yea, even hot—today.

I confess.

*sorry, no picture. You'll just have to imagine my green, down jacket.*

If at first you don't succeed...

don’t try skydiving.

What about bungee jumping?!

one of the many bungee jumpers we watched  last Monday afternoon

The bridge at Vic Falls between Zambia and Zimbabwe is one of the highest 

bungee jumping locations the world over!

contemplation :)

no such thing as a free lunch

Here in Zambia, we don’t have cell contracts with Verizon, Sprint, or AT&T. Instead, we purchase airtime on the streets (comes on little cards with scratch-off codes) and load it onto phones in order to make calls and send sms messages using Zamtel (green), Airtel (red), or MTN (yellow). Most of our Zambian pals have at least two or three cell phones (with different sims) in order to capitalize on the lowest rates for all communication. 

Heather and I each have one boring “dumb” (not smart) phone (fancy phones are popular here). Our sims are Airtel, which means we frequently purchase Airtel talk time in order to keep in touch with the world.

For the past couple months, Airtel has been running a highly advertised Ichongedwe! deal. With the press of a few buttons each day, I can purchase 7 free minutes of calling time for 1 Kwacha, or 25 free minutes for 2 Kwacha, OR 50 free minutes and 30 free sms’s for just 4 Kwacha.

All that for free! Imagine.

So, depending on my day’s schedule, sometimes I buy 7 or 25 free minutes to make business calls throughout the day (all free minutes expire at 18 hours each day). These special free minutes cost less than one brief phone call costs using regular rates.

…I still find Airtel’s “Free” Ichongedwe! deals ironic…

all work and no play

What a pile of guys!

The field officers of the economic development office recently spent a day escorting 

a group of donors to Victoria Falls.

On Tuesday Heather and Malinda rode an elephant!

Promise

Dr. Phil

Up until our last visit to Lusaka, Heather was unable to join the local Spectacles Club. Marvin teases Heather that he and I receive more respect, because we wear specs.

However, due to the frequency of headaches behind her eyes recently, we decided Heather should visit Phil Opticians Ltd while we were in Lusaka. Phil Opticians (according to their brochure) has a “Registered ophthalmic and dispensing optician [and] contact lens practitioners,” because “Eye care is a must.”

I might never forget listening in on Heather’s call to her Mom while we were standing in the lighting aisle of Game (like Wal-mart) after our visit to Phil Opticians Ltd. 

“Mom, I’m having an emotional crisis!” [pause] 

“I need specs!” [pause] 

“I have to get spectacles.” [another pause] 

“Mother, I need glasses!!”

Welcome to the newest member of the Choma Specs Club :)

The Boiling Pot

It’s not every day Heather and I get to visit Victoria Falls (~2.5 hour road trip from Choma), but… due to all sorts of factors in our lives recently, we’ve been regulars at the Falls the last few weeks.

 For the first time, last week we hiked down to the Boiling Pot and took the trail around the outer rim of the gorge opposite the Falls (to the Zim bridge). Words are inadequate to express the grandeur of the Falls, but I thought I’d share some more pictures anyway—just until you can come see it for yourself.

the Boiling Pot 

at the Boiling Pot

Heather & Lukondo

from the ridge above, looking down at the same view from the Boiling Pot

on the way to Zim, view of the rainbow bridge

Zim bridge

view down to the Boiling Pot-- down, WAY down!

the adventurous Heather and Malinda

I have NEVER seen such an incredible rainbow as the one we saw Monday at Vic Falls. Standing on the foot bridge (getting soaked in the “rain”), the radiant bow wrapped all the way around as close to a full circle as possible! I didn’t realize rainbows could be circles! (don’t laugh—science was never my strong point)

Un-be-liev-a-ble! (sorry no pics of the awesome rainbow due to the major wetness factor at said location)

Anyway. I was going to tell you about our hike down to the Boiling Pot. It was a great cardio workout.

such a lovely little rain forest :)

Before we started our descent, we asked our friend Lukondo if she’d been down to the Boiling Pot before. She said she thought so but didn’t remember for sure. Well, I think she will NEVER forget the time she hiked down to the Boiling Pot (and back out!) with three crazy friends!

When you come visit, we can hike down to the Boiling Pot again. Just beware of the baboons! (they’ll swipe anything! quite pesky and a bit hazardous)

The sign says it’s a 15 minute trek down to the water and a 25 minute climb back up from the Boiling Pot. It all depends on how fast you move and whether or not your heart can keep up with your legs :).

we weren't the only folks visiting the Falls on Monday's holiday!