I know it’s been a while since I lasted updated my blog so here’s what’s happened in the last 2 months.
I was staying with a couple who have 2 dogs, a rooster and a hen. Nonnie is a small terrier who is a firecracker, she’s small but feisty like Tiger. Axe is a black lab and is like a little old man. He’s quiet and reminds me of Eyore. In Nonnie’s life she has killed 22 chickens and this week made 23. The rooster was standing n the doorway to the house, Nonnie believes this is not acceptable and attacked. Feathers went flying, however everyone survived (or so we thought). The rooster spent the next few days perched in the fence (never moving) and yesterday he fell off and died. Many would see this as sad, however on Tuesday we went to a National Park and took him with us. This park is a drive in the wild where you see Africa’s finest wildlife. We saw rhinos, impala, zebras, ostrich, warthog, giraffe, baboons and various other animals I have never heard of. We chucked the rooster out of the car and wished him well. I was also able to see cave paintings which were interesting. I learned that there are NO natural lakes/rivers in Zimbabwe. The Victoria Falls of course are natural. Zebras can kill a lion with a kick of its legs and the reason a zebra always looks a little on the chubby side is their body has a weight balance. If that balance is off, they die. This isn’t a starvation thing either. When I left Zimbabwe this morning, customs checked my passport with my travel visa, which she decided was invalid. My visa runs out Jan 22, 2010 and I left December 9th. I was told that my visa had to be stamped once a month for my entire stay and this was not done. I had the letter from the Zimbabwe Consulate in Canada with me and pulled it out, it said nothing of this rule. Anyways I was told to pay $150 or be arrested. I really just wanted to get on the plane and come home. Luckily for me I had $153 with me and so I handed over the money and traveled 45 hours home on $3. Now you may be asking yourself “Why just not use a credit card in Jo’burg or London?” The answer is that our house was robbed in Harare and I didn’t have a visa. So I called the bank of mum and told her my situation, God bless wire transfers! She was able to send money to Heathrow airport that I would pick up at a money exchange. Although this was sadly not to happen as when I got there, I didn’t have the merchant number, I was told that I only needed my passport, the woman behind the desk said “I have the money right here but I can’t give it to you.” Needless to say I survived and arrived home in one piece.
Christmas was spent at Meghann and Richards. I was able to see their new home AND my new niece and nephew (2 puppies). I spent a few extra days with them and was asked to babysit while mum and dad were at work. After 3 days of new puppies I have realized that dogs and children are not in my near future!
New Years day we drove to Vancouver and spent a few days with my mum’s family. My uncle celebrated his 60th birthday and we had a party for him at the Sheraton in Richmond. It was fantastic to see all my family together and while I was home.
So the new plan is to go back at the end of January. I still have work to finish over there and my time just isn’t up. Even though the first few months were hard, I know that I can survive anything and I’ll be ok. I’ll be spending my time in more rural areas when I go back, which I am looking forward to.
I’ll post another update as soon as I have all my ducks in a row.
