THE FIRST SIX MONTHS

It is now very nearly 6 months since we left good old “Blighty” and moved to Ndola, Zambia, in the southern Hemisphere. How are we feeling?

Well we love it a lot despite the many challenges we have faced. We never wanted to move out of London to a place which was just the same, although in a different country. Still I have to say we were not aware or fully prepared for some of the challenges. Saying that, we have survived and have learned to accept that challenges are part and parcel of African Life.

When we arrived it was the “cold” season and very dry. It had not rained since April and temperatures fell at night to single figures. Now it is the start of the rainy season so we have only seen the real rains start in the last week or two but the temperatures have climbed to levels that are a lot hotter than the UK, occasionally reaching into the 40s and not a lot cooler at night. The land was parched and just dusty brown but now everywhere is bright green or really colourful with flowers. Many of the migrating birds have come back including some from UK and Europe such as the European Bee Eater and thousands of different swallows swooping everywhere. Other birds have not come so far such as the beautiful Turacos and Paradise Flycatchers.

Schallows Turaco

Baby Wood Owl

Little Bee Eaters

We are at last on the way to getting the car properly imported. After a couple of days down in Lusaka earlier this week we eventually managed to get the “penalty” that we had imposed on us for not bringing the car through on the correct import document, removed. The authorities said it was our fault and after explaining that we gave all of our documents in at the border and they issued us with form A, how were we to know that it should have been form B. They said that people at the border have no idea on what is what but it is still our fault. Someone saw sense in the end and we got a letter removing that penalty. We have also now been told as well that as new residents we should not be paying import duty anyway so that is also saved us a quite considerable sum of money.

Work goes on (for Jan) as normal in the schools but I am “lucky” as I still do not have a work permit and therefore am not allowed to do any work at all, paid or unpaid. Jan therefore goes out and mentors the teachers, helps develop the education up then has to come back, cook my dinner, wash my clothes and all the other things I am not allowed to do according to the rules here that of course I obey to the letter. See another frustration that we are learning to live with.

What does seem very funny here is the Christmas decorations and music in the shops. A lot of places are getting very festive but it seems very odd when people are wearing shorts and the temperature is in the 30s all the time if not hotter.

We have got to know lots of people here now including the staff on the farm. Some of the ladies come and clean for us each day, take the washing etc. and some of the guys help in our garden and keep the grounds clean. When we came they were all very scared of snakes (and still are probably) and killed everything assuming it was a Black Mamba but we have now managed to stop that in the main and they tell us if they have seen something. This culminated a couple of days ago with a knocking on the door at 05.15 in the morning followed by “Bwana, we have a Puff Adder for you. This if correct would be the first of the nasty big boys we had seen on the farm,  We rushed out with cameras to check. Sure enough it was, just outside the gate and near some of the staff houses. After carefully getting it out onto a clearer area of land so I could get some photos it was time to get it into a plastic crate with a lid to relocate it further away across the farmland. It was a beautifully marked female Puff Adder that had probably just shed its skin. Jan didn’t want to hold the crate so she drove while I sat with it on the floor and my feet firmly placed on the crate to ensure it could not get out. Puff Adders are not the biggest snakes but they pack a lethal punch with long fangs and plenty of venom. It was released on a termite mound and soon disappeared down into a hole to live another day.

The Puff Adder

Beautiful young whip snake

Puff Adder

Female Puff Adder

A rather large Arachnid

That was not my only encounter recently with a dangerous animal. Two weeks ago, while protecting Jan, (in his dreams) I single handed fought off a lion and came away with a mauled hand that needed stitches. OK the story may have been embellished a tad but it was a large guard dog called Shumba (Shumba being the word for lion in a local language). We knew Shumba and had gone round to see his owner to discuss snakes. Shumba came up to the gate and as I put a hand through to stroke him, he went into guard dog mode and attacked my hand. I had cameras around my neck and a large pole I use for dealing with snakes in my hand which he didn’t like. He bit my hand quite badly so I had to go to the local clinic for it to be cleaned up with two stiches in the largest of the wounds. Totally my fault so lesson learnt. Dog was doing his job completely. Pleased to say my hand is almost healed up now. The doctor was very efficient and we didn’t have to wait to be seen which was great.

Tomorrow we are taking a week off work and driving down to Kasanka National Park. This is a small park about 6 hours from here. This time of year it has one of the world’s great wildlife spectacles. Some 10 million large Fruit Bats migrate to a small area in the park and each evening they fly. Seeing that amount of bats take to the air at once will be amazing. We had a small taster as approximately one million settle in a small area of trees on a quiet residential road here in Ndola in November each year and we went to see them a couple of days ago. That visit coincided with a huge storm so we did get a few photos before the rain came down.

Bats in Ndola

Stormy Sky and Bats

Large Fruit Bat

Flying Fox or Fruit Bat

Large Numbers of Fruit Bats

When we get back from Kasanka we will only have a week or so before the schools finish for the year here (school year is January to December not September to July as UK). We have lots of planning to do and exciting things planned for the next school year but it will be the holidays in December. We can’t wait for Christmas as we will be going down to Botswana and meeting Andrew, Karen and Louise in Kasane on Boxing Day followed by a couple of weeks in Chobe, Moremi and many other places in Botswana. More of that to follow next time.