Notes from Zambia

Our time in Lusaka has come to an end. Our last few days were spent running around, wrapping up our project, visiting our old favorite places, and getting in as much time with our friends as possible.
Before skipping to Botswana for the weekend, I got a chance to visit a place that is near and dear to my heart...Planned Parenthood! During the first week here we passed PPAssociation of Zambia and I was so excited to have discovered a familiar face (or org). So during an afternoon when we had some downtime, Debby and I found our way back there and talked with the clinic staff. They referred me to their head office to talk to the head administrators. So Thurs morning after another impromptu shopping trip to Manda Hill, I went to meet with the folks there. I was happy to hear about all the great programs they have throughout the various regions of Zambia.

After my meeting I made my way to the clinic to meet up with Debby and our scheduled Tiny Tim and Friends staff interviews. I'm very happy with the interviews we had with each of the staff members. (Not to mention that Debby and I will be able to do the transcribing of these interviews and not have to pay outside people!!) Clinic on Thurs turned out to be a great experience for me as I got to sit in on the sessions between clients and the Clinical Officer and clients and the PsychoSocial Counselor. It was great to see them in action!

Once clinic was done, Debby and I hopped a bus back to Livingstone--the same 7hour bumpy ride we did a few weeks ago. This time, I think it was even worse since it was over night. We left at 1930hrs or 7:30pm and arrived in Livingstone just before 3am after fighting the bumps in the road and heat in the bus. We had arranged with the hostel that we would be arriving very late.
In the morning after about 1 1/2hrs sleep we packed up again and caught a ride on a minibus with several other hostel goers to a safari camping trip to Botswana. The botswana border is only an hour away from Livingstone. We were ferried across the Zambezi River to the other side where we went through the immigration process--another stamp!

Our day began with tea and snacks on a river boat ride. We were in Chobe, Botswana on the Chobezi river (the Chobe and Zambezi connection). It was basically a river safari! We saw the animals from the river perspective. So amazing!! So many birds, animals, and lizards.
After the boat ride we were picked up by a safari guide in a truck and taken on a wild ride! On our way to the camp site for lunch and siesta, we saw tons of Impala, Monkeys, Kudu, and the Zambian national bird, the fish eagle. My favorite site was the pond of hippos waking up--they make this deep laughing sound to wake their friends in the evening from their nap.

In the morning we woke for another safari and where we saw a running herd of water buffalo! When we got back to Livingstone, we met our friend from Lusaka where we proceeded to lay around the pool.

Back in Lusaka on Monday we took care of loose ends and attempted to gather the remainder of our typed interviews, however that proved more difficult that anticipated. A power surge had blown the computers the week before and the typists were unable to complete the work. We made arrangements to get the rest of our work, but this unforeseen challenge was definitely unwelcome on our last night. But we had a great dinner and dance party with our farm friends one last time. It was sad but a great way to end our trip. And Ntula's dance moves at our definitely go down in the top 10 list of this trip:)
Now its 30hrs of flights and airport living. YAY, such a great trip, and so glad I had a friend to share in it!