Monday, November 7

Well this morning started with great excitement.  Some guests at the resort left their door open and a troop (is that the right collective noun?) of baboons came in and started to rearrange things!!  (and, no, it wasn't one of us leaving the door open!).  Just shows you that even on your worst day THAT wasn't something you had to deal with!!

We spent the morning packing up and getting ready for the trip back to Harare.  Time for a short shopping trip in Victoria Falls to buy a few more trinkets ... although judging from the size of the trinkets that Dona Lou and Patricia had to carry all the way back on the plane, trinket may not be the word we are looking for.

The trip back to Harare was without incident ... Air Zimbabwe has really good cabin service.  The flight takes just an hour.  Once we got on the ground again, however, we ran into trouble.  No bus from AU to ferry us back to the Holiday Inn.  Turns out there was a schedule mix up.  So after a number of phone calls we hopped into three taxis and tore out of the airport.  And away we went.  The shocks in at least one of the taxis probably haven't worked since independence in 1980.

But we made it back, retrieved the luggage that we had left behind in the storeroom at the hotel and started the process of rearranging and repacking.  Many of us left our big suitcases behind at AU for students to use so now we have to share out the space.  And, of course, there seems to have been a lot of economic support of local industry that happened while we were here!! (i.e., shopping).

We have had a wonderful trip. The wheels are already starting to spin about what comes next ... presentations to various churches and groups, articles to write, contacts to maintain, people to nag and so on.  And the joking, teasing and laughter continues -- we've really gotten to know each other well in these weeks together.  But now it is time to go home.  We've accomplished what we set out to do and then some.  We will leave a bit of ourselves in this place (to say nothing of several suitcase of stuff!!).

Blessings to all and to all a good night!

Saturday, November 5

We were up and running by 5:30 this morning – already to get going and then things screeched to a halt.  Our flight was scheduled to leave at 7 so we dutifully got up and ready, grabbed the packed breakfasts that they had ready for us, and boarded the AU bus so that Douglas could get us to the airport on time.  Airport is some way out of Harare (so the smog isn’t quite as heavy!). So we get to the domestic terminal, unload people and belongings and scurry into an empty terminal.  Hmm.  Seven o’clock flight? Oh no, there is no seven o’clock flight!!

And the wait began.  Domestic terminal is pretty bleak so we wondered over to the international terminal where we found a café (oh good – tea, coffee and hot chocolate) and numerous shops with handicrafts and such like.  So we sort of spread out and morphed from one grouping to another.  Some in one terminal, some in the other.  Watched videos on computers, read, shopped, and THEN FINALLY we discovered that we were booked on the 11:30 flight. Yippee!!

We were ushered through a rather cursory security check and then given complimentary drinks.  Things were looking up.  Then they called our flight and out the door we go – past the nice shiny 767 that was parked RIGHT THERE and to the 737 out beyond.  But once we were on the plane and in the air we had really good service … sandwich lunch, plenty of tea and coffee and soft drinks. Needless to say we were slightly awash by the time we got to Victoria Falls.

Now the problem was that we were scheduled to check in to the hotel and be at the Falls themselves at 11 and then back to the hotel for a sundown cruise on the Zambezi River at 4. You will remember that we were on the 11:30 flight which arrived in Vic Falls at 12:30.  But our ever resourceful tour guide, Andrew, had a plan B.  Go straight to the Falls.  Do not pass go, do not collect your breath.

The Falls are amazing.  Think Niagara Falls only more so.  We are not yet in the rainy season so they weren’t as overwhelming as they can be but trust us they whelmed!!  Rather than starting at the top and working our way down, Andrew had us start at the bottom – the bridge that crosses into Zambia (which is where the bungee jumping takes place.  Dona Lou spun us this story about the jump being free if you do it naked.  None of us was willing to strip or shell out $100 so we continued on our way).  We slowly wound our way along the path on the rim that is across from the actual falls.  There are 16 overlook spots but we only stopped at 6.  Learned that the Rainbow Falls are the tallest.  And tried not to get the cameras wet in the spots where the spray was especially heavy.  At the top of the falls was a bigger than life statue of David Livingstone who “discovered” them (like no one knew they were there before that).

After all that oohing and aahing we headed for the resort – the A’Zambezi River Lodge http://azambeziriverlodge.com/ .  This place has been recently renovated and reopened and is winning all sorts of travel awards.  We were greeted at check-in with a cool glass of mango juice and then escorted to our luxurious rooms.  But no time to dally – we needed to be onboard the boat at 4:30.  These pontoon boats (slightly bigger than what we would normally see) headed north towards the Falls (but not close enough to make one nervous in anyway) around a long island and then back south to the other end of the island and then north again ending up back at the resort (which is a good thing since that was where we wanted to end up).  The cruise takes place an hour or more before sunset – and you see all sorts of animals and birds.  We saw crocodiles (one really big and two cute little young ones), ten or more elephants, hippos (a mother with a couple of babies), a bush buck or two, and a large quantity of birds … cormorants, bee-eaters, lilac breasted rollers, egrets and so on. And a beautiful sunset.

After all of that we cleaned up a little and loaded onto the bus again to go to dinner at the Boma Restaurant http://www.thebomarestaurant.com/ .  This is a restaurant that provides a cultural evening – African food, music, and décor.  Dinner started with a wonderful butternut squash soup served in a little cast iron pot.  And the rest was on either a hot or cold buffet.  The cold buffet included salads, breads, crocodile tail, impala terrine, and smoked guinea fowl.  At the hot buffet you could have things grilled to order – stir-fry, warthog, oxtail, eland, ostrich, chicken, and beef.  And you finished the dinner at the dessert buffet – chocolate cake and pudding, cream puffs, fruit salad, and cheesecake.  Wonderful!!

Throughout the meal there was entertainment -- singers, dancers, drummers, and a fortune teller.  And then they passed out drums – one to each diner – and we had a drumming lesson.  Lots of fun.

Today had its challenges but we had plenty of opportunity to share more details about our work at AU and our time in the Mutare area.  We are drawing this trip to close on a high note!

Friday, November 4

Travel day today.  We packed it up and moved it out down the highway to Harare.  Picked up the sleepover girls, Dona Lou and Margaret Tagwira, at the Tagwira Farm and then drove to the Halfway Inn, had a quick lunch, and then completed the trip to the Holiday Inn at Harare.  We did have a quick restroom break at a casino -- but since Dona Lou thought we were stopping at a girls school we're going to go with that story!!

Checked in to the hotel and then spent a couple of hours recuperating, repacking and getting ready for dinner.  Dr. Tagwira met us at the hotel and then we went out to dinner at The Fishmonger Restaurant in the Avondale section of Harare.  We were joined by the Tagwira's daughter and son-in-law (both doctors) and another former student and her son.  Had a lovely dinner and then back to the hotel for bed. (Photo is the view from one of the hotel rooms).

We are off to Victoria Falls in the morning -- 7 a.m. flight so we are to report to the lobby at 5:30 a.m.  Not sure what sort of internet access we will have ... so we may not have a blog entry for a couple of days.  Don't worry -- we sort of move as a large, loud herd so anything untoward will probably make international headlines!!  And if we don't tell you about the naked bungee jumping you won't have to worry, right??