Travel mania

Once again, we write... as an effort to feel less far from all the people we love. We are still feeling quite homesick, but really trying to maximize our time here...

We’re just back from a few weeks of traveling, first to Mfuwe/South Luangwa National Game Reserve, then onto Livingstone at the southwest tip of Zambia bordering Zimbabwe. It has been so great to have the time to explore this country, especially under the auspices of “work!”

Our first trip to Mfuwe started 06Aug07. South Luangwa is ~8 hours east of Lusaka. The drive was a bit of a pain, so we think we’ll fly the next time. And there WILL be a next time! I spent ~2.5 days working at the Komoto Mission Hospital. AIDS Relief plans to partner with them this year as another site that will receive antiretrovirals and technical/clinical assistance. They have a decent hospital, but they have some clear gaps, for example, they have one clinical officer that runs the ART clinic (that’s the HIV/AIDS clinic). He does a good job, but he’s one person. Their lab is seriously lacking with no equipment to run the most simple tests, ones that are essential if a patient is to be monitored on anti-HIV medications. The staff were very excited at the potential partnership and welcomed us with a feast for lunch of nshima, chicken, and various relishes. It was odd to sit in the head administrators home and eat lunch while our “dinner” was clucking right outside the window!

Dave busied himself with long walks and runs around the lodge and decided he may take up “birding” because Zambia is supposed to be a hot spot for cataloguing all the bird species – when else in our lives will we have the luxury of birding??! We were able to take an early morning game drive which left at 5:30AM on the last day. It was amazing!! To see the animals in their own environment puts zoos to such shame!! We saw herds of elephants (they’re massive!), zebras, giraffes, hyenas, impala, baboons, ginea fowl, water buck, buffalo, hippos, bushback antelope, and kudu & puku antelope. We weren’t able to catch a lion or leopard, but did see the remains of an impala (leopard kill) up in a tree. We expected the leopard would return – but didn’t on our watch. Although, the baboons were barking, so they must have seen it, even if our eyes missed him. I guess we’ll have to do another safari!! They said that you see the predators on the night drives more often.

We had one day back in Lusaka between trips – just enough time to do laundry (with our own washer!!) and repack! We left for Livingstone 12Aug07 to perform a 2-day centralized training on tuberculosis and HIV co-infection. I was mostly an observer this time around and helped some with the logistics of putting on a conference. It went well. Wednesday, Dave and I went white water rafting on the Zambezi River. It was incredible. We had rafted before in Northern California, but that was nothing like this! They rate the waves based on difficulty, and in the states the rapids were rated a 4 out of 6, hard enough to require a helmet, but not over-the-top. Well, we decided that based on the ratings here in Zambia, the rapids we rode in CA were closer to a 2. We rode 4s and 5s here and they were out of control! I was petrified. But, of course, in retrospect, I’m alive and LOVED every second. We’ll post some pictures on the website asap. We had another early morning again today because we decided to ride rented bicycles to Victoria Falls to see the sunrise. It was breathtaking. They’ll be pics on smugmug soon.

So now we’re home, already bored, just kidding. It’s nice to be “home.” We miss you and now that we have internet – woooohoooo – we hope to talk more often.

Keep in touch - we love to hear from everyone and get updates so we don't feel so far away.

Love you all,

Kim & Dave