So, a three week sojourn in Zambia and – once again – I am smitten. I was once told that Africa gets under your skin; that once you’ve been there all you want to do is go back… and that is certainly true for me. Despite the awful weather (it was cold (comparatively!) and grey for most of the holiday, and thunderous rain for several days) I’d have been quite happy if someone had said, “Oh! Sorry! There’s been a mix up with your ticket and you are going to have to stay…”
I posted daily photos on Facebook (at least until I lost internet access in my last week, and then it was a little more hit-and-miss) but I have some other pictures and stories to share.
I don’t have an image of a lost passport. If you read In the Shade of the Mulberry Tree you would recall the passport disaster that started our whole experience. Now, when we travel, it is what we check again and again. Foolishly I left my husband in charge of his own passport for the first brief hop from the UK over to Amsterdam (he was on his own; I was with the children). It was only as we were walking through Schiphol Airport between flights that it became apparent that he had left his passport on the plane! Cue a tense wait for me and the children while he persuaded various people of his credentials and that he wasn’t a complete moron… just hadn’t picked up the one document needed to travel across the globe…
Still, we arrived safely and had a wonderful time with family and friends in Lusaka. It is so much fun to go to cafes where you are offered things like this:
Red espresso? On further enquiry, the ‘red’ referred to Rooibos, the herbal tea that is offered across southern Africa. Still not sure how that becomes an espresso (or cappuccino or latte) though!
And they didn’t have any coffee…
I will no doubt post a few reflections on Zambia 2014 over the coming weeks, but I must take this opportunity to thank everyone who came along and spoke to me at my stall at the DRC Craft Market last Saturday. It was lovely to meet so many people and hear your stories. (Perhaps you’ll inspire Book 2…!)
The market always has a buzz about it: people enjoying the monthly meet-up and opportunity to share news from around Lusaka, if not around Zambia. It is one of many places that I loved being just to savour what it is like to live in a foreign land.
But enough reminiscing for now. May is upon me and there is writing to be done. Until next time.