Libapo Preschool and then Uyoba School

This morning we divided the kids into two groups of about 12 each. Again we worked on colors and coloring. Evidently these guys have only been working with muzunga's, or white people, for about 3 weeks now. They are new at coloring and of course there are many different approaches. Some stay in the lines, some color off the paper. Every single kid put forth great effort. The main teacher, George, wondered how they were supposed to color the picture of the zebra, pronounced zaybra, since zebras were black and white? Good question! At the end of class, we posted all of the colorful zebras on the wall. This afternoon was my first day working with the 84 2nd graders. We went yesterday, Monday, but the teacher had sent them home early so she could correct their tests! If I had eighty-four 2nd graders, I'd send them home too, haha!! Two volunteers, ages 16 and 19, and I found the kids outside waiting for us today. Their teacher, Helen, started sending them all into the classroom, until I caught on and said, "we are here to work in small groups." A previous volunteer, who was here for 6 weeks, leveled and grouped them into mangoes, bananas, apples and oranges. So I took one group at a time, dividing them further into yet smaller groups. Small groups is a foreign concept in Africa, or a luxury for us in America! We counted off 1,2,3; 1,2,3 etc and it seemed they may have done this before, because twice a kid, a boy no less, tried to detour to the group he wanted to be in. No such luck! We eventually got around to the 'keywords' flash cards. This is a new series, called Happy Readers, which the previous volunteer began just months ago. I just followed the directions. Here's a quote from the manual; Computer Analyses of word counts in books and other texts in English reveal some interesting findings. Approximately 100 words make up 50% of all the words in a typical text. These are called Keywords, and they can be thought of as the "glue" around which the other 1000 words are built.
Anyways, the series comes out of Zimbabwe, and the volunteer coordinators are thrilled to have it. I have a slight problem in that the kids haven't put their hands on a book yet, but I'm just following the manual. It was fast and furious for a little over an hour! The kids were very well behaved, eager and it was a joy to be teaching them. Lucky for me, I had read enough African Volunteer memoirs to have a plan when the teacher tried to send all 84 kids into the room with me! I forgot to take a picture, but I'm sure that's a good thing. Taking pictures causes quite a commotion around here.

Local Nursery School

Spent the morning at a close by nursery school with about 25 little 3 & 4 year olds. They have two caretakers, no certified teachers. It was the culminating day for a Froggie unit and they wore the masks which they colored yesterday. Megan, another volunteer has been with them for about a week, and we will both be with them this week. They also learned to hold a doll and carry it with a chitenge cloth. They had never had masks on before. Of course, some liked the masks and a couple refused to wear them!

Project Luangwa

I arrived yesterday to Croc Valley Camp where I plan to stay for two weeks while working with students and teachers. It's a VERY relaxed camp with mainly overland campers, both large groups and smaller families. At the time of arrival, the pool was being drained because a wounded hippo had spent the past two nights in it! Evidently enough water was left in it for him to return, because this morning a pile was left. The staff is back to cleaning it today. Last night Karen Beattie, the director of Project Luangwa, and her husband Dave drove to my camp to introduce themselves. So, now I am officially beginning to volunteer. Originally I was going to help at the Victory School, which is really a nursery school housed at the Victory Church. Now it's sounds as if I will be helping a new reading program get established with a group of second graders in a near by school. They wanted to buy me a drink, but I had to pass since I have diahrea. Is this more info than you care to hear !? More to come later. Last night I needed to leave my little room to use the outside bathroom, but could not get out! There was a hippo grazing in the very small courtyard. OMG. I had an empty water bottle and there was a pair of scissors in my first aid kit to cut the top off so all went well. It was definitely a first!

Markets and Rhinos

Maramba Market is the local market in Livingston used by the local people for day to day living. Crowded, congested, very alive and vibrant. It assaults the western perspective with odors and sounds. Everything is for sale! From fresh meat to clothes to food stuffs of all kinds, bicycle parts and catepillars. A woman who works at Chanter's Lodge, Susie, guided us through the market yesterday and helped us make good purchases. We learned that bargaining is only found in the tourists curio stalls and not used in the market, which was refreshing. We bought a chitenge for Hannah, a Zambia stocking cap for Eliah, socks for Michelle and a hoe and broom for John. From the market we went to the Livingston Museum where we learned about David Livingston, the first white man to see and name Victoria Falls. From the museum we went on a walking rhino safari. Eight rhino live in Mosi Oa Tunya National Park. They are heavily guarded but roam the park, no fences or gates. We we fortunate enough to see five of the eight, and got as close as 50 feet from one of the males. They are amazingly big, we were told 2 1/2 tons. I am moving back to South Luangwa Valley today and John is heading home to Wyoming.

No Man's Land and Tire Changing

We left early to go to Victoria Falls. A $10 taxi ride from downtown Livingstone takes you to the Zambian/Zimbabwean border. When we were almost there, our cab driver stopped on the side of the road and changed a perfectly good right rear tire with an also functioning spare. We're still wondering what that was all about and we won't ever know. The border between the two countries is the Zambezi River. Victorious Falls is on the Zambezi River. No Man's land extends both sides of the river for about a half kilometer, also known as ZimZam according to a very friendly young man on the bridge. He was also proud to recite the names of US presidents; Mr. Obama, Nixon, Ford, Papa Bush and Lincoln. No Man's land is full of touts who aggressively persue every white tourist with endless goods and services. They walk beside you talking steadily from border to border. I resisted in the morning but bought a copper bracelet and Zambezi River God necklace in the afternoon. We viewed the falls from both sides. Zimbabwe's side has the best views, is more expensive and aggressively pushes rain jackets and guides. It's more relaxed in Zambia and the sunset views are magnificent. I scored a great pair of used shoes from a croc type shoe/raincoat rental stand. I'd been wishing I had my crocs from home so it was very exciting. Unfortunately we didn't haul FCSD#1 along so will post pictures in a couple of weeks. The falls are absolutely stunning in length and complexity. They are a series of dozens of falls and the name given to them by the local people, Smoke that Thunders or Mosi oa Tunya, really is the best description. Lunch was at the Victoria Falls Hotel, one of the classic colonial hotels of old Africa. If you want a visit to Africa of the past, this is the place. White hunters were at a table next to us. I wanted to hang out in the bathroom for a while because there were tissues, TP, hand soap and body lotion. In my survey of women's bathroom in Africa, this was the best and Olduvai Gorge was the worst! Research is continuing however. :)

Part Two; Potato, Crocs, and High 5's

A few minutes of paddling quickly trained Julian's English family of four and us to be rafters, as long as Potato stayed on the oars at the stern. The boat was rigged as a combination oar and paddle boat. A few riffles were followed by a class three and a legitimate class five rapid. The boating was accompanied with frequent banter between Potato and Stanley, the guide in the other boat. Numerous high fives in the center of the boat with our paddles kept our minds off the crocodiles. Have I mentioned the crocodiles in this river? They really were there on the banks in the calm pools below the rapids. They weren't the big ones and there were no stories of anyone being chewed on in this stretch of the river, but the thought of swimming with something that can eat you kept me out of the water. John, on the other hand, swam a few rapids, by choice! My eyes never left him while he was in the water and I was pretty nervous. Twenty-five kilometer and about twenty rapids later we reached the sandy beach take out. We had no flips, no one flushed out of the boat, and we all had our feet and hands intact. The four men in Stanley's boat swam repeatedly and flipped twice! The guides have this river so wired they can flip or not based on passenger desires. Some of the rapids are as big as the Grand Canyon waters. A cable car, which we needed to sign a waiver before getting in, takes you from the beach to the rim of the canyon. However, the porters deflated the rafts and carried everything up by foot, almost beating us to the top. A delightful lunch and an hour shuttle through three local villages, where we dropped off the porters, brought us back to Chanter's Lodge. The banter lasted until we dropped Stanley off at his village with Potato' departing words, "Say hi to your wife and my children!" River guides are the same all around the world. The company, Bundu Adventures, and the guides were save, professional and very competent boatmen.

The Mighty Zambezi with the 'Potato'

Yesterday we flew from Mfuwe to Livingston via Lusaka. We wandered around Livingston which is the adrenaline capital of Africa. There is everything here from bunji jumping to walking with lions to rafting. John being the river rat that he is, really wanted to raft the Zambezi River. I was a little fearful, but knew I had to do it. John and I met on a Grand Canyon raft trip, so ... We were picked up at 7:30 by a typical African shuttle vehicle, the back of a truck. Our guide introduced himself as Potato, or we could call him 'Spud.' On the way to the put-in we stopped at a village where about ten men hopped on the truck. We shortly learned they were the porters to carry everything down to the water. A great safety briefing by Potato was followed by a one mile hike that dropped about 500 feet to the water. The porters carried everything including the two rafts which were wrapped to resemble two giant pythons. Three porters carried each python. Two self-bailing rafts, ten clients, two guides, two safety kayakers and one kayaking photographer set off down the Mighty Zambezi. More to come.

Leopard

This leopard was setting on a branch in a tree with a dead bush buck on the branch above and a spotted hyena on the ground below. It's not an uncommon site for South Luangwa National Park in Zambia.

Elephant at Flat Dogs Camp

Quite a different lifestyle avoiding elephants on the paths and in the villages.

Back at Flat Dogs Camp

We just got back from 6 nights in the bush of South Luangwa National Park.   I am having an amazing time and have been up close and personal with giraffes, elephants and lions to mention a few animals.  We spent our first three nights with a guide by the name of Isaac Zulu at Crocodile River Camp and Chikoko Tree Camp.  We were the only guests which is pretty lucky if you ask me.  I have a lot of pictures and interesting stories to work with Lori and the 1st graders next year when we do an African Powerpoint. Isaac helped with labeling pictures so that when I got home I didn't say, What kind of scat is that ???  Then we spent 3 nights with Deb as our guide and she is one of my new heros!!  She is a very special person!  Soon we spend 4 nights in Victoria Falls, which is one of the 7 wonders of the world.  Then, I'm back here for my volunteering and village life.  I've met a few people, mostly UK folks, who live here and I'm feeling perfectly comfortable with the area and people.  I should have internet connection from now on.

Lusaka Airport

Just like Riverton! DC hotel to hotel in Lusaka, Zambia took 26 1/2 hours.

Dulles

DC to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, and then into Lusaka, the capital of Zambia.

Zambian Embassy in DC

Stopped in this morning, just because I was in DC. 2419 Massachusetts Ave. No one was available to visit with since the previousTourism Board Director had moved on and the new person in charge hadn't arrived yet. No maps. I did pick up a Zambia Export Product Catalogue which advertises Savanna Beef, Mables African Creations, freshpikt,MIAPEN Zambia Crafts, Copper Belt Forestry, Hipego Zambian Handcrafts, York Farm LTD, Tiger Animal Feeds, MMobile Telecommunications, Sylva Food Solutions, Mukwa Creations, Capital Fisheries Limited, COMACO, African Joy, Zambezi Gold, Bien Donne Farm, UBUCHI, Zambia Coffee Growers Association LTD, Zamseed, and Bobbili Gems.

Packing for Project Luangwa

The two bags are packed and weighing in at 44 pounds each. We're taking reference books, educational puzzles, two lap-top computers, erasers, pens & markers and composition books. Thanks to Baldwin Creek Student Council and FCSD #1 Tech Department.