Birthday Surprise

My ex-patriot housewife friends- Alix, Nubia, Caroline and Stephanie- all surprised me this morning at coffee with 2 beautiful African pillows and a piece of Lemon Meringue pie delivered by the singing crew at Kilamanjaro. What a nice surprise. (As the singing crew went into the 2nd round of "how old are you?"- I quickly told them we don't ask that in American especially when you are nearing 40, like me!!)
What a great way to start my weekend. The rest of the weekend will be involved in sports starting with Chelsea's basketball game today at 2pm then an all-day Volleyball tournament at the American school tomorrow from 9-1. Bradley, Bob and Erik will be spending the day at a local football (soccer) tournament with our logistics manager, Stephen. Bradley will have his first swimming gala next Saturday morning at his school from 10-12 then the school is having a barbeque- they call a braai. Should be a fun day.
Moses started his reading lessons this week and I must say he is a very fast learner. I have learned from him that he has memorized quite a lot. We went to the Rose Garden the other day for fertilizer and he read the sign on the door "Staff Only"- I said, "You know how to read" but he proceeded to tell me that he use to work somewhere years ago and one door said "Staff Only" so he had memorized that. It is amazing what you must do to survive- as in everything in life- we all have choices- to learn to survive or lay down and die!

The Real Jungle Cruise

This weekend we escaped to the Kiambi Safari Lodge, about 3 hours south of the city. We were able to drive on a great road through the mountains then just prior to the Zimbabwe border we made a left turn down a rough dirt road. That road took us through many little villages, still so cool to see, with lots of goats, chickens and children. We came to a branch of the Zambezi River where we had to take a car ferry across. My kids thought that was really cool!

There were 3 cars on the ferry and again, we are 3 hours out of town, and I run into my new friend Stephanie from Paris- who can in no way even compete with my old friend Stephanie:)

We arrived at the lodge at 5pm and had 2 1/2 hours before dinner. The kids wanted to swim so off we went! Stephanie and Phillipe and their 2 girls joined us for a swim. After the swim, we went to the sports bar to watch soccer on the big screen, order a few Coke Lites and play some pool, and there was air con(air conditioning).

The lodge was set up on a bluff overlooking the Lower Zambezi River. Our dinner was served on the terrace. We had Butternut soup, chicken, beef, rice, potatoes, relish and nshima. For dessert we had a fruit custard. It was really good!!

Our cabin was a big tent built on a wood platform with a deck and bathroom then a thatched roof on top. It was very clever and quite comfortable for those who wanted the feel of camping with the necessities!

Saturday morning I heard my kids getting dressed and sneaking out of our cabin. There were monkies everywhere. Tons of them on the ground playing, swinging from trees, my kids had their cameras and were in heaven. Chelsea has never been more in her element. This was her kind-of place. She even said to Erik, "Thanks Daddy for bringing us to Africa so I could see all these animals."

Saturday afternoon we took a sunset cruise. It was a small boat that seated the 4 of us and Stephanie's family of 4 with a driver. We started out down river and our driver spotted a few crocodiles- that was interesting but I'm from Florida and have seen my share of Gators!! We then saw some hippos, lots of hippos, playing in the water. The River is shallow right now so they were walking in the middle of the River. They would go under water as soon as we approached. The driver then took us close to the riverbanks where there were lots of women and children bathing, washing clothes, washing dishes, playing...later down the River, we saw the men fishing and bathing. Then...we saw a Grand Elephant standing on the edge of the River- He was huge with tusks and he stood there as we approached- Chelsea was closest to him in the boat at about 5 feet from him. It was awesome!! I must say that was by far one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life. That was the only elephant we saw so I'm glad we got to see him so closely.

We returned home Sunday afternoon well-rested and so thankful for our weekend adventure!!