Zim vs. Zam

Last time I promised you to take it a bit easier and believe it or not, I have :) So what have I done this week? 

Well, it has been a good combination of some meetings, office work, field training, Nyanja lessons, some dancing, travelling and a little bit of studying for my exam. The highlight of last week has been my trip to Vic Falls Town in Zimbabwe, where I met Karl-Fredrik and his friends. But let me start with Wednesday :)

Wednesday afternoon I went to one of the sport clubs in Kwenuha for doing the net- and football training with the kids. It was really nice getting out in the field again, instead of being stuck at the office ;) I enjoyed it a lot!

After that I was invited to a birthday braai at rapid 7! My first thought when I arrived…WOW!!! Look at the view :)

This is rapid 7

And the sunset 

 And then try to imagine the sky with millions of stars after the sunset! It was just the most perfect spot for at braai :) And dancing afterwards just made the evening perfect!

Thursday it was time for another meeting with the Livingstone Sport and Development Network. The aim with this network is to bring together all NGO sporting organisations in Livingstone, where we share and benefit from each other’s knowledge and experience. It's a quite new network but I think it's a really good chance for developing sport in Livingstone and Kwenuha can gain a lot of being part of  it :) After my Nyanja lesson and a good workout at the gym later that day, I was ready to go to Zimbabwe Friday morning ;)

I was really looking forward to see Karl-Fredrik and his friends, and even to get a small break from Livingstone. So I started my trip with crossing the bridge and going to Zimbabwe :) Well, I should probably have known that my plans would change a bit, since I'm in Africa :D Just before I reached the emigration office in Zimbabwe, I surprisingly bumped into Karl-Fredrik and his friends, Trond and Christina. They had  just decided that they wanted to do the Devil’s pool, which is on the Zambian side ;) So yeah, I walked back with them and while they were bathing in the pool, I waited for them at the Zambezi Sun Hotel for relaxing and treating myself :)

Enjoying life

When they were done with the swimming, I showed them my home in the compound and Livingstone town. After enjoying a Mosi at Jollyboys, we finally headed to Zimbabwe :)

Enjoying a Mosi at Jollyboys

So, where we staying in Vic Falls Town and what were we doing? 

Well, basically we just treated ourselves and enjoyed life :) I thought we were staying at a backpackers but I quickly found out that had to rethink :D Well, since Trond is working for the Norwegian embassy in Harare and is going to stay in Zimbabwe for the next three years, he and his wife wanted to check out different hotels and Friday night is was time to check out the Victoria Falls Hotel! Which by the way has a quite good reputation :) 

Just have a look at the pictures:

The entrance

The view at the hotel from the bridge

The view at the hotel from the garden

How far is it to Cape Town?

Some pets in the garden

Trond and Karl-Fredrik in the pool

Karl-Fredrik

Me ready for the dinner

The menu card

The cheese :)

(This was one of the best courses :D I'm really on withdrawal right now, since I don't have a fridge or freezer at home, so I can't keep the cheese at home. And those who know me, I LOVE cheese :D)

At the casino after the dinner

The hotel was amazing and the 7-course dinner and champagne breakfast, made my stay to an even better experience. A nice diversion to the African life :D

After the lovely breakfast Saturday morning, Karl-Fredrik, Trond and Christina were driving back to Harare. For me it was time to finally see the Victoria Falls from the Zimbabwean side and to actually being able to make my own judgement of, which side you get the best view at the Victoria Falls from ;) 

Well, I have to admit that the view you get from the Zim side is MUCH better than the view from the Zam side :) And now there is even not that much water!

Just look:

The entrance

I really enjoyed my short trip to Zimbabwe :) Thus in the afternoon I crossed the bridge with new energy for the exam, work and the last two weeks in Livingstone, before I’m heading to Cape Town on the 1st of December ;)

Saturday night we were celebrating Tereses (one of my Norwegian volunteer group, who is living two hours away from Livingstone) birthday with a lovely Indian dinner at the Golden Leaf and some dancing afterwards ;)

Well, my stay here is not just about travelling and enjoying life ;) Hence, I got up early Sunday morning, for cleaning my room, washing my clothes and start working on my exam paper. Believe it or not, but I actually managed to work the whole day on my exam paper, with some breaks though :D

Me working :)

This week started calm with a meeting, writing reports and learning more Nyanja. On the 24^th of November we are holding a fundraising sports tournament, so my job Tuesday and Wednesday has  basically been about heading up and down in town, inviting people, asking for giveaways and donations, and having meetings with the Sports minister and coordinator in Livingstone. Thus, this Saturday either Doreen or me is going to advertise our tournament on TV and during next week on the radio ;) Besides organizing the tournament, I have been working on my exam paper, have had some good workouts at the gym and some nice evenings with my family :)

The charm of Africa

Now we are in the middle of November and the weather is slowly changing. Instead of the sunshine and almost 40 degrees every day, we are now having about 36 degrees, a bit sun, rain, thunderstorms and lightnings. Even though the compound is completely flooded after the showers and the heavy rain on the tin roof is keeping me awake during the nights, it somehow has its charm :) A really nice side effect of the rain, are the mangos :) They are delicious and just everywhere!!! However, the rain also brings along some more visitors at home. Just see, what I found last evening ;)

Yep, it's a snake :)

But it's dead ;)

The compound after the showers

One thing, which also is really charming here in Zambia, is how everybody is supporting the national football team, when they are playing. Yesterday Zambia was playing a friendly game against South Africa and you should have seen and heard, how the compound went crazy with vuvuzelas and celebrations :) I’m really looking forward to the Africa Cup of Nations 2013 in January/February!

What is going on in the next days?

Well, tomorrow I have another day at the office and some more meetings, which are related to the fundraising tournament. And for the weekend I haven’t decided yet;) Maybe going rafting, doing a trip on the river with inflatable kayaks, a cheetah/lion walk, an elephant back safari or just relax at a pool:) Well, I should probably also spend some time on my exam paper…We’ll see :)