Sable Sands

Pictures here 🙂

When I was in Zim in January I wasn`t very lucky regarding the wildlife. And that wasn`t really the objective of the trip either, but it kind of sucks when you`re in the backyard of elephants, lions and hippos and don’t see anything. After the first five weeks I`d only seen one of the big five (the rhino`s in Matopos). So for the first weekend back in the bush I vent to visit Sable Sands, a safari lodge not far from Dopota. Meshack drove me to Mabale, and then Mr. Dube from Sable came and picked me up. Driving in to the concession we met two elephants, my second and third one 🙂

The lodge is run by a very sweet couple, Marleen and Brian. They took over the lodge a couple of years ago, after it had been abandoned for more than five years. They said it looked really horrible when they first came, time and weather along with baboons had done a number on the rooms and the main area. But with hard work and determination they made Sable Sands to the wonderful place it is today, it is absolutely amazing to be there!! 🙂  Marleen met me when we drove in, and we sat and talked a bit before I ate a quick lunch and got ready for a game drive. I was SUPER stocked to go on this drive, and we were going in to the national park itself and I`d only ever been on the concession of the other lodge I went to. It was me and a couple from Australia who went on the drive together, and with our guide we had a very good time! Before we could even get out of the concession we met several parades of elephants, and. Oh. My. WORD! What magnificent beautiful majestic creatures! It was such a powerful experience, they were so close to our car that I could almost feel their breath on my face. Of course I was a bit terrified also when they came close up, but our guide ensured us that it was perfectly safe. I`m sure they can read the elephants and know when to back off, but I still prefer my personal space elephant free 🙂

We made our way into the park and started the main part of the drive. I was crossing my fingers that I would see more of the big five on the drive, but we only saw more elephants and smaller animals. Not that I was disappointed, I was smiling from ear to ear the entire drive! And as long as I haven`t seen it all it just means I need to come back 🙂 We stopped at a viewing point for sundowners, and let me once again and not the for the last time just say: WOW! The sunset on the African sky is just something very extraordinary and the most stunning scenery ever. The park closes at 6 pm, and we overstayed a bit with the sundowners so we had to rush back to the gates to avoid getting a fine. Driving back it was FREEZING cold, so I was so happy to get by the campfire when we got back to Sable. Not long after a group of American women (middle age to retired women and one man, poor fella) came in, and we got to talking around the fire and we had dinner together as well. I had a long day, so I went to bed early in my amazing room. At Sable they have some rooms in the main camp area, and they have some down by the vlei (dried up riverbed), and this is where I was staying. At night you need somebody to take you to your room, you know, just in cases. Marleen and Brian had given me (in my opinion) the best room they could offer, with a direct view down to the waterhole which they very recently had lit up. So there I was, in my wildly comfy bed, looking and listening to the elephants drinking. Perfect ending to a fantastic day ❤

The next morning I slept in, and by slept in I mean 8 am. Huge difference from 6 am. I woke up to hear lions roar, what could possibly be better? I got up and went over to the main building and took in the view and quiet with a cup of tea. And also to warm up in the sun, man it`s freaking cold in Zim in May!!! Marleen and Brian came over and joined me together with their super sweet kids, Thandeka and Khaya. These kids are so lucky to have the bush as their playground and open and easygoing parents like Marleen and Brian. They were high and low, not scared of me at all even though they just met me, laughing and having so much fun! If I ever have kids I`m raising them the same way 🙂  I didn`t have any activities planned for the day, so I was just waiting for the sun to heat up a bit more, then I was just laying at the pool and reading. One thing I love about being out here and in Dopota is that you are never alone and almost always laughing. But it is also exhausting at times, so toget some time alone to you thoughts at a place like this was simply perfection. In the afternoon I met up with Chennai, one of Brian and Marleens best friends. We sat with the kids playing and talking until it was time for them to go to sleep. We sat by the campfire having a drink with Brian before we headed out to a braai with some of their friends. Love braais, some meat on the grill, a beer in your hand and good company around and it`s all you need 🙂  We went back home late, and I crashed in bed pretty tired and tipsy. The next morning I was supposed to be heading back to Dopota, but I was invited to stay another night, and I was very happy to do so! I spent a lot of time just hanging outside my room coz the view down to the waterhole was so good this day! A lot of sable antelopes were gathering around the water, and with zebras, baboons and impalas it was sooo awesome!

In the afternoon I went over to the campfire,  we were sitting here and having a few beers before dinner. After dinner there was a dance group performing, they usually do this when big groups (the americans) are leaving. It was so much fun with dance and laughter, we were loving it just as much as the kids! After dinner we went down to the campfire again and were sitting here and having fun until we couldn`t keep our eyes open any more.The next day I needed to go back to Dopota, so Mr. Dube drove me to Mabale at around noon and we met with Meshack so he could take me back to Dopota. It was Africa Day this Monday, so it was a public holiday. We had a very relaxing day in the shadow, just sitting around and talking 🙂

I had such a fantastic time at Sable, Marleen and Brian have a beautiful relaxed way of being that makes you feel like home. They are so humble, kind and generous to all their visitors, that you want to stay there forever and ever. Now, I`ve said a lot of good things about a lot of places I`ve stayed during my months on the road, but this. This is hands down the best one 🙂 As I`m typing this I`m wishing I could be back, having a beer by the fire. Until next time I`m just gonna enjoy the good memories 🙂

Next up (hopefully soon): Last part of Dopota!

 

Dopota III

Woops! Been a long time since I`ve posted anything, too much going on 🙂 Pictures here 🙂

After being back in Zim for two weeks, we were finally getting ready to go to Dopota! 🙂  Sungano and I had planned the previous week to do all our office work fast, do the shopping and then head out as early as possible so we could be there before dark. Of course that didn`t happen. I had somethings I needed to send out and to print but surely there had to be a power cut this day!!!! If I have learned one thing on this trip, it is to always do today that you are planning to do tomorrow. I was thinking about doing all I needed on Friday, but I just thought I could do it before we left. Lesson learned.  We tried to work with what we could, before heading out and do our shopping. Even though we were a few hours later then I wished for, we would still be there by dusk.  With the car so stuffed that Thomas hardly could reach the gear stick we headed out. We had a good road trip and stopped for dinner at Halfway (Halfway to Victoria  Falls) before the last stretches in the road. Driving off the road and down to Dopota was so amazing I almost jumped out of my seat! And seeing my whole family again was wonderful and a reunion with laughter and smiles. A couple of people didn`t know I was headed back, and it was the best surprise ever! 🙂

It got dark and late after we had finished talking and catching up, so we all went to bed. Su and Sibonile slept in another room, so I had the bed to myself this time. Didn`t sleep much though, coz my bed was tilting and I felt like I was falling out every time I moved. Next morning I found a couple of the extra mattresses we have in the office under my mattress. Tilting solved.

This was Su`s first time in Dopota, and I took it upon myself to be her local guide 🙂 Of course I have no navigation skills, so we had to bring some the guys from the working committee with us for help. And I promise, anyone who isn`t born and raised (or lived in Dopota for several years) would be lost in that labyrinth of a village. We started down with the borehole and stopped by one of the gardens. Like I mentioned on the previous post it haven`t been raining enough this year, and so the garden was all dried up and with no crops. The women responsible for the garden were trying to save some of it and have also tried to plan new vegetables so they can have something to eat. You`ll see in the pictures how dry it is, pour some water on it and it will immediately vaporize. The second garden we saw later that day was in much better condition, and by the looks of it they would have more food of it. The gardens are close to the bore holes so they don`t have to walk too far to fetch water. But still, it`s not a easy job when everything is done manually, in other words carrying every last drop of water needed for the garden. And they are pretty big.
After seeing one of the gardens and walking around the school, we went up to the first sewing club, and I was very happy to see that they have almost finished the construction, only the working table is missing. Finally the ladies will have place to work 🙂

When we went down to the dam, I was very sad to see it. There is hardly any water left, you`ll see in the photos that the water level is very low and they told me that by a month`s time it will be completely dry.  It`s very hard to hear the stories from the people in the area, and to realize the reality they are facing. Droughts and food shortage is very real, and extreme. You could try to imagine how you would feed your whole family when there is nothing to harvest, you`re unemployed and have no source of income.

On a more positive note, the next day we were handing out food to our helpfund clients. Sabona gives people in the community here a ration of food supplies every month, so they have the basics they need. In the package they receive there is mealie-meal for making sadza, beans, soya chunks, soap, sugar, capenta (dried fish), juice, cooking oil and spices.  They guys in the working committee were at it all morning to prepare everything, and soon the whole ground surrounding the office was covered in food and people. It was such a beautiful sight, people were so happy and thankful for all that was given to them. It doesn`t get more real than this, Su and me were talking about it while we were handing the food out. To get these bags of food every month is so crucial for them, it really is the difference from starvation to a somewhat livable life. Since it was Su`s first time in Dopota is was her first time meeting the clients and so she was talking to this sweet sweet old lady. She lived about 8 km away, and had managed to walk all the way over here to get her food supply even though every step looked painful.  She has given birth to 11 children. Of those there were now only three left. The others have died from HIV/AIDS. Two of her remaining daughters had moved to South Africa and she was taking care of their daughters. She was too old to work and had no income other the occasional vegetable she sold. I had to bite my lip so I wouldn`t just break down in front of her, if she was so strong I had to be too. I carried one of her bags for 5 m, seriously 5 m, and I have never seen someone so happy over something so little! She laughed and laughed and said I was now her grandchild too, and she would be my gogo (grandmother in Ndebele).  These moments are so good that it makes your heart wanna jump out of your chest with joy! 🙂

The already great day was turning out to be a fantastic one. I did an interview with one of our higher education students, a poet in the making. He`s studying to be a forensic, but he is also a man for great words. After we spent the day together I have received no more than five beautifully written  poems!
Thomas is always giving me lessons in Ndebele culture and he said that since this is my second time coming to Zim I needed an official Ndebele name. I said I would like to be Nina Ndlovu, which means elephant. Now, I still hadn`t seen one (after almost 7 weeks in this country, including 4 in the elephants backyard) so he said he would never let me out of the country before I`d actually seen one. So, after we had been driving around the village to visit some of the projects we drove towards Main Camp to see if we could spot some. The car was full so I was sitting in the back of the pickup, and I swear it has got to be one of the best days in my life. Driving towards Main Camp while the sun set the sky on fire and thousands of stars slowly made the appearance is seriously breathtaking. Freezing freaking cold, but stunning. Just as we were about to give up and turn around we spotted an elephant in the moonlight! It was a small bull (biggest creature I`ve ever seen and couldn`t believe that was supposed to be a small one) walking peacefully in the grass eating. I`ll never forget the day I earned the right to my new beautiful Ndebele name 🙂

The following day Thomas and the girls left me and headed back to Bulawayo. I was excited to start working and to learn more about Sabona. Meshack and me went around to some of the other schools in the area we support and had meetings with the school reps.  We have two secondary and two primary schools in the district which are the schools we have most kids on the sponsorship.  The work I`ve been doing is mostly with the schools, so I get to know a lot of the kids. Every time we drive in to Lupote, our second primary school and the kids have a break they run to the car and flock us and goes: BYE BYE!!!!! And waiving and laughing 🙂 I always say the same thing: When I`m arriving you should say HELLO, but they just laugh when I talk to them. 🙂 And then when we leave again it’s the same: BYE BYE!!!!! They`re SUPER CUTE ❤

Friday morning we had another school meeting and then after lunch I went to Sable Sands, a safari lodge not too far off. More on that on the next post 🙂

Touchdown Zim

Photos 🙂

Hello again Zimbabwe!! 😀 I will never be able to tell you the rush of joy I felt as I  stepped out of the plane in Bulawayo and knew that I was back. Tears of pure happiness was running down my face 🙂 Nozi picked me up at the airport and drove me to Berkeley Place, my Bulawayo home. Nomsa, (the lovely woman working at Berkely) didn`t know I was coming back, so it was such a good surprise! I was completely exhausted from the traveling, so I just got something to eat, and then went to bed.  Coming from a different time zone I was so jetlagged, and woke up at 5 am, and couldn`t sleep anymore. Great. I came during the weekend, so I had some time to try to get used to Zim time. And that was good, cuz by 6 pm I was down and ready to sleep again, but I had to try to keep it going until the night.  Nozi and her sister came and picked me up in the afternoon on Saturday and we dropped Nozi at school before roaming around Bulawayo for a couple of hours. It`s always someone to meet, someone to help and someone who needs a lift. So at 5pm we were going to dinner. But then we needed to pick up a friend. 30 min later we were going to dinner. But we had to stop by the liquor store. Of course we met someone we needed to chat to. 1 hour later we were going to dinner. But then we needed to pick up Nozi. 15 min later we were going to dinner. But then we needed to find their friend and take her to the train station. 2 hours later we were going to dinner. We actually drove to the place we were having a braai (barbeque) , we couldn`t get in with the car unless we paid 10$. I offered to pay, but no. Drove around  for 30 more minutes only to go back cuz their friends were there and they had food. FOOD! Going back to the braai, leaving the car outside. The food wasn`t ready. 1 more hour and I ravished on chicken and sadza like there was no tomorrow. And by this time I was exhausted, so by 10 pm and two beers I just had to go and sleep. Ah, love being back on African time 🙂

The next morning I went with Nozi and her friend to church. And that was an experience I can tell you. Out in the rural areas of Bulawayo, and when I say church I mean a house. A broken down one, with some benches and cheesy music playing before they started. The minister spoke in English, so I could follow the most of it. It was something of an experience: speaking in tounges, healings and a halleljula every two second, singing and PREACH! Hehe, I loved it! 🙂 After church we went back to town, had some lunch and then I went to our office to hang there while Nozi was studying.

Monday morning, and finally back at the office to meet the rest of the guys again! It didn`t feel like I had been gone for more than three months, I was so happy to be back! 🙂 This time around I`m helping out on the sponsorship for Sabona, but I wont to into details on my everyday job. But what I can tell you about is how it works in Zim with school fees, and why there is a big need for sponsors. Even though most schools are run by the government, they still have to pay fees to go. The fees vary from 15 $ per semester for primary, but the further up you go in the system, the more expensive it gets. Now, 15$ might not seem like a lot of money, but when you have nothing, it`s everything. And by nothing, I literally mean nothing. Because of the HIV/AIDS epidemic there are a lot of children in the area who are orphan. They might be living with one or two grandparent, most of which are unemployed. Their source of income, if any, would be to sell whatever they can grow or make their own. But then you have years like this one, when the rains failed to come. If there is no rain back home for a couple of month (which rarely happens) we applaud it and love it. If the rains fail to come here, you are facing serious food shortage. It will in the end be so bad that there is no food left, for people or for animals. As a result of the water shortage the bigger animals come in to the villages and eat what they can find, that means they are eating what the people are supposed to eat. And so the circle never ends.  If a child is lucky to have both parents, chances are that they are not employed, as 90 % (yes, 90. Let that sink in) of the population in Zim are unemployed. So, much are those 15 $ now worth you think? And to top it, they need uniforms, shoes and book. So the need for sponsors is BIG. And I do suggest that if you don`t have a child you sponsor (Sabona or otherwise) sign up for one here 🙂

After the first week in Bulawayo I went to Matopos for the weekend. I was picked up by Josh, Anette`s boyfriend. Sadly Anette had gone home only a week before I came after staying here for three months working for Sabona. I love love love Matopos, it is such a beautiful place! I described the park the last time I was there, so I won`t bore you with facts. I came just in time for lunch, and afterwards I just sat down with a book and took in the view. It`s winter in Zim now, but winter here is a warm summer day back home. It gets kinda cold at night, but nothing too bad. Later that day, me Josh and Pierre ( a guy from Belgium living in Congo visiting Zim) went up to one of the hills and had a couple of beers with a camp fire. It is SO nice to just sit with a Castle light and take in the scenery and talking about life. I was in heaven. And when it got dark all the stars came up and I don’t think I`ve seen such a beautiful sky in my life. The Milky Way was so clear and gorgeous, and could just sit there forever. We went down for dinner a little bit later, talked and had fun until it was time for bed.

Pierre and I had agreed to walk up to the hill behind the lodge for the sunrise, and I was up and waiting for him by 5.30am. After ten minutes he hadn`t showed up, so I went back to bed, put in my earplugs and went to sleep again. It was still dark, and there was no way I would walk up to that hill alone with snakes and other animals around. He had knocked on my door 5 min later of course, but I was fast asleep. After breakfast I sat down with my book again, waiting for Pierre to wake up so we could go up the hill in daylight. It was just a short hike up, and it was the most amazing view of the park. We had a 360 degree view of the whole thing, and it was just unbelievable. We could see over to Cecil Rhode`s grave, the place I went to the last time. That place is called World`s View, but I think that ours was way better. After the hike I went back to my books, as Pierre and Josh where going to town so Pierre could catch the train to Vic Falls. He never did, so they both came back in time for dinner. After a few beers and talking, I was done for the day and went to sleep.

Sunday, warm and sunny and time to work on my fading tan. I borrowed a book from Josh, which his mum has written and I highly recommend to get a feeling about Zim (Sibanda and the rainbird), and was reading about Hwange, village life, rural life, wildlife and was getting more and more excited about going to Dopota very soon! It was Mother’s Day in Zim this Sunday, so there were a lot of people coming for lunch. I met Josh`s parents and listened to stories about their lives in Hwange and Motopos. Everybody I meet down here are so welcoming and nice and kind, I`m just amazed by it all. During lunch be started talking to another family and they were just so incredibly sweet, I had such a good time!
Josh drove me back to town after that, and when I got back to Berkeley I sat down with Nomsa and Jonas and showed them pictures from Nepal and told them about my journey. Those two are taking such good care of me, and we have so much fun together that I`m not lonely to a second 🙂

The following week was rather uneventful, I just worked on what I needed to do and helped Su with a few errands. Both Nozi and Sibonile were out on study leave, and Thomas was in Harare for a couple of days, so Su and me had the office to ourselves. I tagged along for a visit to the hospital to give one of our patients on the helpfund her chemotherapy. She is suffering from breast cancer, but after only one treatment she was showing signs of improvement, and so we are hoping that the tumor will shrink more so her treatment won`t be too hard on her body.

On Saturday, Nozi was finished with some of her exams and could take the weekend off and hang out. We went out to her house and while she was resting I was sitting in the garden and soaking in the sun. She lives about 30 min out of Bulawayo, and so it`s quiet and beautiful. When she woke up we made lunch, and her boyfriend came to join us for food and a few drinks. A few turned into a few more, and so we went to town a little later and went out in Bulawayo. It was boring, so we didn`t stay long.  On Sunday it was 17^th of May and Norwegian constitution day! 🙂 Which I never got a feeling of and thankfully I wasn`t homesick.  But I still felt like I needed to celebrate it in some way, so I brought Nozi and her boyfriend out for a dinner and a beer 🙂

Next up, going back “home” to Dopota 🙂

 

The beauty of traveling

Like I`ve said before, one of the beauties of traveling like I do now, is that your never know what`s gonna happen the next month, week or even day. You make plans, but they change, you change and things around you change. For me, everything changed in Zimbabwe. I don`t know how I best can describe it but it was amazing enough for me to think about it every day and miss it ever so much. It`s been my lifelong dream to go to Africa and work and do good for others. I feel so privileged for the chance I got.

So now my plan have changed and in beginning of May I`m going back to Zim to work for Sabona for 6 more weeks before I head home! ❤  I am so happy and feel so lucky to have this opportunity that I just don`t have enough words to describe it 🙂 In my heart and soul this feels like the best decision I have ever made ❤

End of chapter one

Random pictures: https://plus.google.com/photos/107669900002775533788/albums/6114997423649872801?authkey=CIidx7LrzcPYigE

Like I have been telling you this experience have really been life changing and a huge contrast to everything I know. Coming to Dopota was a huge shock at first, and I really didn`t know if I could do it. But I`m so glad I did, and actually came to love it as much as I did. I have told you a lot about the things I have done, but I also want to share my everyday life, and how things are done. This is also the last blog from my wonderful African adventure.

So, my room works like the Sabona Trust office, a storage room, a kitchen and of course a bed room. In the beginning I felt overwhelmed by all the people everywhere all the time, but after some time you don`t think about it and it`s actually really nice.
Rural life starts early maybe around 5 am. This is the coolest time of the day, and many get up this early to go to the fields and work before the sun is too hot. I was usually woken up at 6 am and tried to drag myself out of bed. We have a shared bathroom with toilets and showers in Dopota with running water, but hot water is something you have to make yourself. So in the morning I would fill a pan with water and wait for it to boil. Then you fill a half a bucket with the hot water, the rest of it with cold and take a nice refreshing shower from the bucket. Actually not that bad 🙂 When the weather was hot I could easily take a shower directly from the tap, but some day were really cold and there was just no way to do it without the hot water.  The hair is a problem from the bucket though, so I usually always used the tap for this, and on the cold days I would scream for everybody’s amusement.

I then had breakfast and went to work. If I were with the school work starts at 7.30 am, and the days with Meshack started around 8 or 9. For lunch Florence had prepared a wonderful lunch for me, I was so thankful for that every day! Florence is responsible for the sewing clubs and also the food station. They were all so concerned that I didn`t eat enough, so I had to make sure somebody saw me either eat or doing my dishes or they thought I would go to bed hungry. Especially Mrs. Khumalo, her worst fear was for me to lose weight and then my mum or Ynghild would be crossed at her for not taking care of me 🙂

After work I spend my time either reading or hanging out with the teachers and kids that live there, washing my clothes, from a bucket that is, and cooking.  We`d talk about almost everything, they learning me about their culture, and me telling them about Norway.  I brought with me a calendar from back home, each month with a picture from the season. Snow is of course the thing that’s most interesting, with the midnight sun and everlasting darkness during winter on a good second. We all agreed on my very good decision to run away from winter this year 😉

The sun sets around 7 pm and this is bug time. I. Hate. BUGS!! They freaked me out so much, and every night I had small panic attacks trying to avoid them. Of course I slept under a mosquito net, but the little devils get in everywhere!! And just going to the bathroom at night, the sink would literally be black, just COVERED in bugs! They mosquitos had a feast on my expense, loved that. I took malaria tablets and really glad, I`m sure that from the amount of bites I would have gotten it the first day.
I also had a roommate, Gonzo. Actually there were two. Gundwane stayed for the first night in Dopota, but we figured out he had to go the next morning. So we, and by “we” I mean Nozipho and Sibonile with me standing 10 m away, took the box he`d made into a house and threw the whole thing out.  Gonzo is the Shona word for rat, and Gundwane the Ndebele word for rat.  But Gonzo and I had an understanding, he stayed out of my way when I was awake, and I let him stay and he could come out when I was sleeping.

Rural life, you either love it or hate it. I loved it and can`t wait to go back!!

For the last week I went back to Bulawayo, I was thinking it would feel wonderful to come back to the city, but I felt really sad about leaving Dopota. Everybody was sending me (and still are) messages about how much they were going to miss me, and didn`t want me to go. Wonderful people.

During my last week I met Anette, from the Sabona office in Oslo, she`s staying in Zim for three months working. It was actually very good to have somebody to talk to who have done it all before, and share experiences and she have a lot of knowledge about all the work Sabona does. We had so much fun that last week, hours spent at the post office, drinking wine and eating Freia Melkesjokolade (!!!!!), sitting out during a thunderstorm, barbeque and many hilarious moments!  Thank you Anette!! 🙂
The last night we all went out for dinner, and I was of course struggling not to cry, I really didn`t want to leave! Even though the next chapter of the trip sure will be wonderful as well, this was just such a fantastic experience and so special.

People in Zimbabwe are some of, if not the most, warming and welcoming people I have met in my life! During my time there I haven’t once felt unsafe or scared (except from animals and bugs), I`ve always been helped if I needed it, been offered food and shelter from people who have less than me, and I have shared so many good laughs and extremely good memories with so many people here that I will never ever forget.

Sabona have done and are doing so many good things in Zimbabwe, and their work is so important for the communities where they work. Without donor and sponsors they couldn`t have done it, and so if you are interested in becoming a sponsor or want to donate anything, please visit www.sabona.no 🙂 I`m extremely thankful for the opportunity to come and see everything, to work with the locals and learn all I have. A special thanks to you Ynghild, without you this adventure would never have happened. I still remember the first time I asked and you almost jumped out of the chair with excitement! 🙂 The things you have done and are doing, I have no words for the amount of respect and admire I have for it all. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!

Now chapter two: Thailand.

And by way, no I didn`t get to see an elephant. Five weeks in Africa. And nothing.

Victoria Falls

If I`m ever going to be able to share everything I want I have to exclude the photos in my posts (it`s taking too much time with the connections I have to upload) and rather upload them to Google +. I`ll add a link in the beginning of the posts from now on, but I would recommend reading the post first for it to make sense 🙂
Photos: https://plus.google.com/photos/107669900002775533788/albums/6113860471065389025?authkey=CIuEg4Hng7XpTg

Seeing that I didn’t go to the falls as planed the previous weekend for various reasons, I planned to take the whole next weekend there. Originally I had a transfer, but now I was taking the bus.  I have heard the most horrifying stories about busses here, so I wasn`t really looking forward to the journey. Mrs Khumalo assured me that it would be perfectly safe, and so we went for the bus stop. I had good company waiting for the bus, and glad for it as I ended up waiting for 2  ½  hours. Now, I will try not to complain, as this is the everyday life for many people. Let`s just say I won`t complain the next time the bus or tram at home is running late by 2 or 3 minutes.

Well, I got on the bus, and I had nothing to be worried about at all, it was a very good tourist bus. It was just a bit hot, like 40 degrees inside. For 2 ½ hours. When I got to Vic Falls I grabbed a taxi to my hotel, and just fell down on the bed. It was a really good hotel, so I instantly felt guilty for staying in such a fancy place. I often felt and feel guilty after my stay here, but I`m working hard not to, and rather try to focus on the positive aspects.

Since  I`d spent the entire day traveling I didn`t have any time for activities, and the park closed at 6 pm. So I just chillaxed in my room which had internet and went down for dinner later on.

The next morning during breakfast I met a family from South Africa, they saw that I was alone and were asking we what I was doing in Zimbabwe. After talking a bit, they asked me to come with them just down the road where there was a huge baobab tree, the biggest in the area. I thankfully said I would come, and so we went down. Now, it might look like just a tree, but it was huge and I looove baobab trees, they look super cool! 🙂

They were heading out shortly after, but they gave me some tips on what I should do or not. It was still early morning, so I went back to my room for another hour before I went down to the falls. I felt like I hadn`t moved my legs at all the last weeks, so I wanted to walk down to the park. Regretted that after about 5 min in the sun. When I got there, I didn`t know I was there, so I just kept on walking passed the park and this guy stopped me and asked me if I was on my way to Zambia. Felt like such a tourist. He pointed me in the right direction to the park; I paid the fees and went on to the falls. As I have only seen photos of the fall itself, I didn`t know it was soo huge! Approaching it you can hear the roar from the falls, and when I first saw it I had goose bumps all over!! It is hands down the most spectacular view I have ever witnessed, I stood frozen and just went: WOW! This guy came up to me and just laughed and said he totally agreed 🙂

I spent the next few hours just walking the trails and stopping by the viewing points. Some of the views are close to the water, and there were so much water now that the spray was like rain. Hot tip if you ever go to the falls, do not put on a white t-shirt. Luckily I also had jacket, so I could stand there in the rain and just enjoy the moment. I walked as far as the bridge that separates Zimbabwe and Zambia, and thought of all the crazy people who actually jump of that bridge. It`s a looong waaay down.

Eventually I was soaking wet and happy and so I went back to the hotel to get cleaned up before dinner. The family from SA told me I should go for drinks at the Victoria Falls Hotel and enjoy the view, and so I did. The hotel was ridiculously amazing! And had a view you could just get lost in. After dinner I went back to the hotel and packed up all my stuff, as the bus back was leaving at 7 am. Felt really exhausted after the long day, so I quickly fell asleep. The next morning my taxi driver picked me up and drove me to the bus. It was late of course. Not that I`m complaining. At around 11 am I was back “home” 🙂

 

 

Dopota II

I came back to Dopota on Monday from Ivory, ready to work and do what I came to do. When I got back everybody was so happy to see me and just felt so extremely thankful to be in such a wonderful place! The following day I had decided that I would go with Mrs. Khumalo to her class just so that I could see how they do things. I have no teaching experience, so I knew I couldn`t be much of help in the classroom, but I wanted an introduction to their subjects so I could understand better. Mrs. Khumalo teaches grade 3, and they were so super cute and so shy! 🙂 Every morning they stand up and greet me: “Gooooood morning Miss Nina, hoow aaare youuu”. And I greet them back: “Good morning class, I`m fine. How are you?” “Thank you sistah we are fine.” Aaah, I love it!! 🙂

Here is Mrs. Khumalo, aka mum in Zim and some of the student.

 

As I was watching Mrs. Khumalo teach and talk to the class I was just observing them, and they sure were observing me too. If my eyes met with them I`d give them a big smile and they would burst in laughter and turn away. We played this game everyday 🙂

These kids were really happy kids, but you can very well tell that they are poor. I sometimes forget, but Sabona is there for a reason and during the first day this became very clear. I`m such a soft person, and so I was struggling not to cry. Most of them look healthy luckily, but you can see the uniforms are old, too big or too small, not all have proper shoes some of them might not even have shoes,  and some don`t have books. They don`t get anything from the government, and so they need to buy it all for themselves, and if the parents don`t have the money they have to work with what they have.

Now, I don`t want to give you the impression that it is all miserable, cuz it really isn`t 🙂

At around 12 the kids start going to the food station just off the school yard. The youngest kids start first, and then they go all the way up to grade 7. Everyday there are five women from the community that comes and cooks for the kids, and there are about 320 something kids so you can imagine how much they cook.  They make around 60 l of sadza, like a thick porridge made of maize, together with beans, fish or soy chunks. Sadza really fills your stomach up so you won`t feel hungry again for a long time. Dopota is the only school in the area that provides food for the children, but I sure hope this spreads out.

The following days I helped with updating lists and charts using my computer. I had a load of things to do, and so time went by fast. There are certain regulations the school need to follow and representatives from the school authority can come at any time to check that everything is in place. So a lot of the lists I was working on were things they need to have available at all times in case they make a surprise visit. The school doesn`t have a computer so previously it`s all been done by hand. Imagine creating lists by hand for about 320 children and teachers and having to keep it all in a system that will make it easy to quickly find the information you need. Made me really appreciate excel for the first time in my life.

One of the days there were some nurses that came by the school, so all of the kids could get dewormed, also for the youngest ones in the community. I was happy to hear that the government provides all children in the country with it until they are about 15 years old.

A normal day started with school at 7.30 am, then working until around 10 am. We`d then have a 30 min break, before starting again. Grade 3 goes to the food station at around 13 pm, and then we`d have one hour for lunch. Depending on the day, they would either go back to class for an hour or two, but Mondays and Wednesday were sports day and then they all go to a huge field a couple of hundred meters from the school 🙂

I spent some of my days with Meshack, he is usually very busy going around to overlooking the projects, meetings with teachers, students and parents and helping the help fond patients. One of the days we went back to Nechilibe High School for a meeting with the parents. Now that whole meeting was in Ndebele, so I just sat there smiling and looking like I had the smallest idea what was really going on. Afterwards we met up with some of the students again; I had my hardest moment during my stay here with one of the students. He was standing with Meshack and talking, and he was crying. So I stared talking to them, and it turns out this young man was an orphan. At home he had 3 younger brother and sister he had to take care of, and a sick grandmother. He had no money. No food. No uniform for school, and if you don`t have a uniform they`ll send you home. The uniform he was wearing that day he had borrowed, cuz he needed it for the school photo.  No books, so he couldn`t keep up with the others. This is one of the really hard realities that people here have to deal with, and how can you really deal with it? What do you do if you don`t have any money for food? He would sometimes get some food from the people in the community, and people really don`t have a lot here, but they will share what they have.

His story broke my heart and I still think of him every day. Luckily for him there are ways to help him and his family to a better future, but it would never have been possible without the support from the wonderful donors!

Well like I said, there are a lot of fantastic things too, and Meshack also brought me to one of the sewing clubs to meet the ladies. By far, they gave me the best welcoming here, singing and dancing and hugs all around! The soft part of me took over again, but these were happy and amazed tears! 🙂 So they showed me how they work, and what they do. They make uniforms for the schools in the area and these beautiful baskets that I love so much!

Now, this is getting too long, so I`ll end this one and get back with my trip to Victoria Falls 🙂

 

Hwange National Park

After the first week in Dopota, Ynghild helped me book a night at Ivory Lodge, which is the same company as runs Amalinda, the place in Matopos. Ivory is really just down the road from where I was staying, so after picking me up I was at the camp 15 min later. I had pictured kind of the same settings as in Amalinda, but here most of the rooms are tree houses, to get a better view down to the waterhole they just off camp. I loved it, it was so beautiful! The camp is pretty big, the reception area,if you can call it that,  is also the dining place and the bar. I was ready to attack that thing right away. I totally forgot to take some pictures of the camp site, so I stole them from their web page: http://www.ivorysafarilodge.com/

Seeing as this is a wild area, and by wild I mean wild animals, the camp is surrounded by electrical fences, thank god. I also had an emergency horn in my room, and was told if I heard something strange during the night or felt threatened in any way I should use it, switch on my light and stay in my room. So yeah, that didn’t freak me out at all.

My tree house was amazing! It had no front door or walls, so it was right out in the open. I immediately worried about the bugs at night but they had sprayed the whole thing luckily. The first few hours I just sat in my room looking out listening to the sounds and trying to spot animal, this place is just WOW. This was my fab view and my room.

After lunch I went out on a game drive, hoping to see some of the big five. Ivory have a huge area surrounding the lodge but it`s not actually Hwange park. The park is still further away, but they still have all the major animals inside the area they have. Hwange Park is about the size of Belgium I hear, so pretty damn big. The drive started up good, and right off the camp we met some kudus.

The drive went passed one of the water holes belonging to another lodge, and there were a lot of animals around that day.

The nature is, and I`m running out of good verbs, beautiful!! Even though people have told me it`s better to come during the dry season, cuz you see more animals, I think it was totally worth it to come now and see how fantastic it all is when it`s green. But it means I have to come back, cuz I didn`t see any of the big ones. There were a whole lot of dropping and traces, but no elephants or lions. But I saw a lot of other animals, so the trip was totally worth it. I came back just after sundown, and were told after that there were two elephants down by the water hole just minutes before I came back. Crap!

I had dinner with the manager at Ivory, Warren. We had lots of fun and I had one too many drinks.  When I woke up I deeply regretted the last three drinks and with a hangover from hell. At 10 am I was supposed to go to Victoria Falls, but I just had to face the fact that I would die sitting in a car for 2 ½ hours. So I decided to stay another night to recover, and head to the falls the next weekend. After breakfast it was straight back to bed to try to sleep of the worst of it.

Around lunchtime I was feeling a bit better, so I managed to drag my sorry ass down to eat. A lady from Scotland had checked in while I was dying in my room, Pamela, a 72 year old globetrotter passing by on her way to South Africa. During lunch she told me about all the places she has been, and funny enough she had been on almost the same world tour as I have in front of me. But this was over 50 years ago, and she traveled for about two years before going home, so yeah. Not actually the same. But same places! In any case, and it was very interesting hearing about all the places she has been to, and how things were back when she traveled. I have talked to my mum every day since I left home, Pamela however relied mostly on letters, and a very seldom phone call. She went out for a game drive just after lunch I thought about joining but was still too hungover. Well, I again deeply regretted that decision, as she saw both a lion and an elephant. Crap! All I enjoyed that day was baboons.

The previous day, Warren had told me that he had adopted a bush baby, which I have never heard of before. When he showed me the pictures I thought I would DIE, they are so cute! They live in the ceiling in the reception at Ivory, and come out just before sundown. Warren gave me yoghurt so I could feed them, and OH my word!! They were so cute it was almost unbearable! 🙂 🙂 🙂

Pamela, Warren and me had dinner together that night, and Pamela entertained us with more stories from her life. We scared off Warren ever coming to Europe with stories of snow and cold weather, and cold summers.

As I was a still not at my best, I could barely get a beer in and went to bed early. The sounds the bush can be quite loud and sometimes scary, but that night I fell asleep before my head even hit the pillow. Waking up fresh and feeling a lot better the next day, I had to go back to Dopota. I met Pamela after I had finished breakfast, she had been out on a morning drive (it starts at 5.30 am, so there was NO way I would be joining her) she could tell me that she had seen no more than 3 lions, a hippo and a crocodile. Crap!
I had sometime after breakfast to just relax I my fab tree house, and enjoy the fact that I`m on one awesome adventure. That is until a freaking baboon almost came bursting in. Think he was just as freaked out as me, he ran pretty damn fast.

That was my little safari tour, loved it! Now, I only have to see some elephants. I can`t be in Africa without seeing a freaking elephant.

Dopota

I have spent the last three weeks in Dopota, which is in the rural area, and I can hands down say it`s been one of the most challenging things I have ever done. There is so much new to take in, to learn, to deal with and accept. I have so much so share, so I have to split it up in to more than one section, and so I`ll start with the beginning.

Dopota is a village about three hours from Bulawayo. It was here that Ynghild started her work, and how Sabona came to life. Sabona helps the schools in the area, they have a food station for Dopota Primary School, and they have helped women to start sewing clubs, built a dam, sponsors clinics in the area and a whole lot of other things. Admincontrol (my job) and I have been involved with Sabona for a couple for years now, and I was absolutely stocked to have the opportunity to come and see for myself how much have been done.

We arrived late on a Monday night, so it was really just straight off to bed, it was pitch dark anyways, so there were not much to see. The next day, having slept absolutely nothing because of all the bugs and the heat, I was ready to explore. We stay in the teachers houses, which is right next to the school. My room is the one straight ahead on the left picture. And the one to the right is all the houses.

And this is the view down to the school.

The first five days the girls and Thomas stayed here as well, and I`m so glad I had a smooth transition. Even though we have electricity and running water, it is still very basic. And being the city girl I am, not counting the two nights I stay at Tine`s cabin once a year, I`m not much of a camper. I`m sure I would have starved without them here. The first day there were no power, so then you cook outside.

Anyway, the first day was one of the hottest ever, so we couldn`t do much but just stay in the shade and wait until the sun wasn`t as strong. I met up with the teachers who I would be helping the following two weeks, and they gave me a very warm welcome. They didn`t really have a plan, so the plan was just to figure it out as time went by. Later on we  walked down to the dam, just 10 minutes from the school. This was built by the locals with funds from Sabona.

Then we drove a little further to visit the houses being built for the sewing clubs. There are two houses being built, this will provide the women with a place to stay to do their work. Up until now they have been working under the threes around to get out of the sun. When it rains they can`t work, so these houses are so fantastic! Right next to the house is one of the gardens from Sabona.

Driving around the area totally confused me, so I have no real feeling of how big Dopota is. But what I can say is that it is absolutely gorgeous. It`s green trees, red sand, lovely vegetable gardens, animals and smiling people as far as the eye can see.

 

The following days we visited the nearby schools to update the school lists. The students are all starting in new classes now, so we have to make sure that they are all in the right place. The first school we visited didn`t have enough room for the number of children they have enrolled, but they have a huge field where they are going to build a new one. We went down to see it, and we started to talk about the challenges the children here face. One being the long road some of them have going to school. I have heard that some of them have to walk more than 10 km, one way, to get to school. This means getting up in the middle of the night and start walking. After school they have to walk all the way back again, and so they are not home until its dark again. Makes you think about how lucky we are, our parents drove us the short distance we had to school if it was raining, here some children  can`t come to school it it`s raining, the roads will just be mud, and they have no clothes to shelter them from the rain. Last year, a young boy was killed by a lion on the way to school.

The first week was an introduction for me to Sabona and how they work in the field. I took school photos of all the students with sponsors from Sabona, and for the first 50 photos I thought I was doing something wrong. None of the children were smiling, even if Nozi had told them to and they all looked miserable. I had to ask Nozi if they were scared or if I had done something to offend them, but she said it was because they were not used to the camera. Luckily they were all laughing before and after the photos, and some of them of course smiled to the camera as well 🙂

One of the days we went to a place called Tsholostho, which is about 2 hours from Dopota. One hour we spent on a hellish road, it was so dumpy I thought I would lose my mind. We spent the whole day there meeting students and teachers. One of the teachers was a former student who had been sponsored by Sabona, it was really good to see that the sponsorship helps! 🙂
After driving aaaall the way back, we went for a tour to the many lodges in the area. Just short drive from Dopota there are several lodges that offer game drives to see the wild animals in the area.

We stopped by some of lodges; all of them have huge fields surrounding their camp site, so the wild animals walk close up for the tourists to see. We saw zebras, baboons, kudus, waterbuck, giraffes, impalas and wilder beasts. It. Was. Awesome! Last stop of the day was Main Camp for dinner, as Tomas and the girls were heading back to Bulawayo the next day.

Saying goodbye to them the next day terrified me slightly, just the thought of being here alone. But I forgot that I`m in no way alone, and just after they left, Mrs Khumalo came over to check that I was doing ok. She is the deputy of the school, and took very good care of me. So we sat down and had a wonderful time with the other teachers, I gave them a calendar from Norway and bragged about it as much as I could. Then Meschak, he is our man in the field in Dopota, took me for a trip to Hwange again, and I saw more animals, and a stunning sunset.

So, that was my first week in Dapota, I hope you`re not board yet, cuz I have a lot more coming 🙂

 

Matopos National Park

After the first few days in Bulawayo, I was fortunate enough to go to a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The Matopos National Park is an area of granite kopjes and wooded valleys commencing some 35 kilometres south of Bulawayo.  The hills were formed over 2 billion years ago with granite being forced to the surface, this has eroded to produce smooth «whaleback dwalas» and broken kopjes, strewn with boulders and interspersed with thickets of vegetation. Mzilikazi, founder of the Ndebele nation, gave the area its name, meaning ‘Bald Heads’.
Totally stole that one from Wikipedia.

I was picked up around noon at Berkeley, and 40 min later I was in the wonderful Amalinda Lodge where I was staying.  Zimbabwe is pretty flat, but getting in to Matopo you can see the surroundings change, with more hills and huge boulders.

Driving in to Amalinda, our first encounter was a flock of zebras and a zonkey, that is a mix between a donkey and a zebra, and it`s so gorgeous. They say the zonkeys are aware that they are different, and so they are really shy, and also they are infertile.

Reseption area at Amalinda Lodge:

My hut, or room or lodge, at Amalinda was AMAZING! It was huge, I had two beds, a sitting area, a porch, bathroom with a huge shower (and hot water) and a view from the toilet. Cus why not have a view from the toilet?
I just walked around and around and around the room smiling, cuz it was sooo nice.

I then went down to the pool, for lunch. There was couple from Scotland as well, Kyia and Nele. We all had lunch together, before I went on a guided tour. There were a lot of activities; I chose to see the place where Cecil Rhodes lies to rest.

I went with my guide Howard, who had been working in Amalinda for over 20 years, to the Rhodes Park, also known as World`s View. You can supposedly see the whole world from there. After a 30 min drive we got to the park, and started walking up to the grave. The scenery was so beautiful, I don`t even have words. Green hills and rocks and clear blue skies for as far as you could see. It was completely different for anything I have ever seen, and absolutely breathtaking. Going up the hillside, there were actually a few other graves:  The remains of  Charles Coghlan, Zimbabwe`s first prime minister, Allan Wilson and his brave men, and Jameson who was Rhodes`s right hand.

On top of the hill, surrounded by huge rocks, lies Cecil Rhodes. He had loved Matopo so much, he declared the whole area a protected one, and only to be uses for agriculture purpose. Standing on top of that hill was so amazing! I could see so far away, no wonder they call it World`s View. Howard made me clime the largest rock, with him helping of course, and the view got even better.

  

After World`s View, Howard showed me some cave painting, dating back some thousand years back. This area used to be inhabited by Bushmen for some 30 00 years before they were attacked and chased off by Bantu tribes.

And as if I already hadn`t had the most wonderful day yet, it was topped by seeing wild rhinos! Howard said we would try to locate them, and lucky for us we met the rangers who are looking out for them on the way in to the bush. They were headed back for the day, but wanted to help us look for them. It was so cool going into the bush, keeping quiet and trying to observe. After about 15 min, one of the rangers signalized that he could see them, and so we slowly walked toward them. It was so cool!! There were three adults and a baby, she was so cute. We went as close as we could, and the mother looked at us all the time. Howard assured me they wouldn`t charge, but I was on edge the whole time.

I think there are six adults and two babies in the park at the time. They are all marked and the rangers look for them every day to prevent poachers from killing them. Luckily they didn’t lose one in whole 2014.

I was so happy when we went back, but to top it all off once again, Howard spotted another rhino on the drive back. We jumped out of the car, and went on in the bush again. It was another mother with a baby, this one just two months old. They ran before I could take a picture, but I had a good look before they did. I had a huge smile on my face all the way home 🙂

Sunset by a lake.

Zonkey and zebra, just by the lodge in the evening.

We got home just before dinner, which all guests eat together. We sat there eating and drinking and having fun until none could keep their eyes open and we went to bed. I was sooo looking forward to sleeping in my exclusive bed, but it was ruined by a bug that somehow managed to get in under the netting, and I wasn`t sure if I managed to get it out or not during my panic attack. But I fell asleep eventually.

After breakfast I went down to the pool and tried to get my pale winter skin some sunlight. The suns is way too strong though, so after about 1 ½ hours it was enough. I moved to the shade and read my book, when some new guest arrived, three of them Norwegians actually. One of them works at the embassy in Harare, and the others were visiting him. So funny bumping into Norwegians out in the middle of nowhere!

I loved loved loved Matopos, and would definitely go back! To days after I came back we went off to Dopota, where I have been for the last two weeks. Currently I`m sitting in a hotelrom in Victoria Falls, and going to the actual falls tomorrow, super stocked! 😀
After I get back, I still have one more week in Dopota before I go back to Bulawayo the last week. I won`t have any internet before I`m back in the city, but more updates will soon come 🙂

Wish you all a good weekend!

nina