Ahh, 4 days off – very nice!

Not that we sat about and did nothing – we climbed a mountain (well, part of one) to see a waterfall, drove around a game park (very dry, dusty and not much to see), we drove to Muona where Kim lives and partied at her house (in what felt like 100 degree heat) and then the next day we came home again did all our washing and got ready to go back to work!

The waterfall at Mulange was less spectacular than I remember but the scenery down the mountain was lovely. We gave Kim her birthday presents there (including the disastrous fudge I’d made which was even more liquidy by the time it had trudged up and down for a while) and then we went for pizza – yum!

Lengwe was very dry, the grass was pretty high especially down one road where it tickled Beauty’s undercarriage quite extensively and there weren’t many animals around. You can always count on a spattering of impala though and a few buffalo galumphing off as we rounded a corner at one point. It was nice to be back out in the bush though, talking nonsense and de-briefing with ‘the family.

Then we got to Kim’s. She lives in a very remote part of the country – a long drive on a dusty, bumpy road through rivers with lots of kiddies waving and playing about in the water. She lives right by the hospital that she works in with goats, chickens, guinea fowl, turkeys, cows and all sorts milling about. There are quite a few other VSOs there and some Peace Corp volunteers too which is good as it’d be very lonely without I think. It was hot too, the kind of temperature that when you get out the shower, you’re still sweating and wish you could get back in! Not sure I could be down there, not really because of the heat, but because of the dust and dirt – permanently grubby and sweaty doesn’t do for me.
Next morning she showed us round her hospital and it was really good to see, first impressions were that standards were better than ours here at Malamulo. We have work to do…