Our last Blog: Days 13 and 14

Julia and Bob are writing their blog today from the airport en route home. 

We spent Monday morning walking lions for the last time of our trip, and likely the last time ever!  We have resigned ourselves to the reality that once we get home we will have to settle with walking Nitro, our exceptionally stupid, but very loveable, miniature schnauzer, instead. 

Bob conspired with the lion encounter program manager and convinced Julia that we would be “collecting litter” on Monday afternoon.  Julia found this quite perplexing as she could not recall seeing litter anywhere.  As Monday afternoon arrived it was revealed that we were going to spend the afternoon, night and morning at a nearby resort on the Zambezi River.  The resort was quite beautiful and quite an improvement from where we had been living.  As there was no internet availability at the resort, we could not write our blog.

We spent Monday afternoon sipping wine and watching baby monkeys frolicking in the trees on the resort.  Monday night was spent having dinner overlooking the river, watching/listening to the nearby hippos and admiring a beautiful reddish-orange sunset. 

Tuesday morning we said our goodbyes to everyone, including Baby the bushbuck who dropped by to see us off.  We have begun our 31 hour journey home!

Julia peers from the front porch of our own private hut, overlooking the Zambezi river

Inside our private hut.  It was quite luxurious!

Two adults and a baby monkey

Baby the bushbuck dropped by Tuesday morning to say goodbye!

Day 12: Lions and Culture

Today Julia and Bob walked lions in both the morning and afternoon.

In between the two lion walks, two of the lion handlers met with us to provide education on the Zambian culture and history.  The culture is certainly much different than North American culture.  For example, women dress much more conservatively.  Married women must always have their legs covered to below their knees.  If not, they are thought to have bad manners and the blame is placed on their parents.  When a couple plans to get married, the parents meet and negotiate the appropriate fee (i.e. 12 goats) that the groom’s family must pay the bride’s family.  When a wife brings her husband food or drink or any other item, she is expected to kneel when presenting the item to him, as a sign of respect.

The accommodations have been rustic but adequate.  No air conditioning but each room has a fan.  One bathroom is shared by up to 12 people.  Currently we are sharing it with a group of 8.  All meals have been provided and we have not gone hungry. 

Bob completed reading a book called “Into Africa; the Adventures of Stanley and Livingstone”.  A great read for anyone who likes true adventure stories.

Tomorrow is our last full day here as we leave for home on Tuesday.



The lions are awaiting their walk.




The Volunteer's House - Our room is on the far left.



Our bedroom!

The Dining Room and the entrance to our bedroom.

The communal bathroom!  There is a shower in the corner.

Day 11: Lions, Tooth Brushing Lessons and Rain

This morning we walked lions at the usual 6:45 am start that our days begin. 

After our walk and a breakfast, we visited with approximately 30 children in the town of Livingstone.  The purpose of our trip was to teach them about the importance of brushing their teeth.

We thoroughly enjoyed the visit with the kids, who were fascinated to learn that we were from a very cold place on the “other side of the world”.

After a 30 minute lesson on oral hygiene, the children entertained us by singing, dancing, presenting a play and having us play the “lion-zebra” game with them.

Even though this is the wet season in Zambia, we have enjoyed wonderful weather with temperatures as high as 38 C.  Today, we finally got some heavy rains and got caught outside in the rain during an afternoon lion walk.

We ended the day with a pleasant evening at the banks of the Zambesi River drinking a bottle of South African Shiraz and sharing experiences with a lovely couple from Mississauga.

Julia with children in Livingstone

Bob teaching children in Livingstone the finer points of tooth decay

 

Julia with young dental hygeine student

The children entertained us by teaching us a game, presenting a play, singing, dancing and playing the bongo drums

 

Day 10: Surf and Turf in Botswana

Today we decided to take a trip to the neighboring country of Botswana to tour a game reserve called Chobe National Park.

The morning was spent in an open air vehicle as we were driven through the park.  The park is 12,000 square kilometers and has 120,000 elephants!  There are many other animals that we saw including impala, buffalo, lions, jackals and more.

The afternoon was spent on a boat exploring the rivers in the park.  There were countless hippos and many very large crocodiles that we were able to witness close up.  Additionally we saw many bird species, monitor lizards and more elephants.



Angry looking Cape Buffalo (they allways look grumpy)



Male Impala



A menacing grin from a toothy croc



Hippo showing off his smile

Zambia Day 9: The Tooth Monster, Snares and Elephants

We were asked to take some time this morning to prepare a lesson plan in order to teach a group of about 20 young children the importance of brushing their teeth.  On Saturday we will provide our lesson to the children when we meet them.

Bob came up with a great lesson plan that revolved around the Tooth Monster, which lives under children's beds, comes out at night and pulls teeth out of the heads of children who don't brush their teeth.

Julia on the other hand concocted a ridiculous story about one needing to brush their teeth in order to prevent "tooth decay".

In the end, in order to preserve peace within our marriage, we went with Julia's "tooth decay" story.  Bob was enlisted to draw posters to support her crazy story.

We also spent 2 hours this morning conducting a "snare sweep".  Julia and Bob plus 10 others systematically walked through a large section of a nearby game reserve looking for snares set by poachers. 

An ecstatic Bob found the first of 7 snares found by the group.  The group was accompanied by an armed scout carrying an AK-47 rifle.  He took it as his personal mission to keep Julia safe.  While the other 3 volunteers were free to strike their own path, Julia was constantly reined in by the scout who gently called out, "With me, Madam," or "Behind me, Madam."

In the afternoon we opted to take a ride on the backs of elephants.  This was very exciting, especially when the elephants entered the Zambezi river.  The smaller elephants had to swim through the river using their trunks as snorkels.





Brush your teeth to prevent "tooth decay"!




This little boy didn't brush his teeth!

Julia the Tooth Fairy and scout during snare sweep



Julia and Bob enter the Zambezi River






Julia giving a treat to one of the smaller elephants

 

Julia rewards her mount with a snack after our ride



Zambia Day 8: A Return to Maunga Village & A Maiden Trip to Victoria Falls

This morning Bob and Julia returned to Maunga Village.  This time we were armed with a very thoughtful xmas gift Julia bought Bob:  binoculars.  We also brought our digital cameras, a laptop computer, and, of course, a bag full of candy.

The village kids loved looking through the binoculars and enjoyed the candy.  Most fascinating for the kids was looking at digital photos of themselves uploaded to the computer.  For a village without electricity, this feat must have looked like magic.

The kids gathered together (about 20 of them) and sang a song for us as well as showed us how to play a game.

Prior to all the fun, we spent 1 hour weeding a garden in the village, with many of the children helping out.

In the afternoon, we visited Victoria Falls.  These falls are 1700 m in length.  They were a spectacular sight and very different from Niagara Falls in many ways.  Most significantly, the falls are surrounded by a beautiful park/rain-forest that gets constant mist from the falls.  We thoroughly enjoyed the visit to Victoria Falls.

Bob gets mobbed when he breaks out the candy



Bob gets mobbed when he breaks out the lap top computer



Victoria Falls at the downstream edge

Victoria Falls at the upstream edge

Zambia Day 7: Lion Walks, Lion Feedings, Lion Naming and AIDS

Today Bob took lions for walks three times while Julia did so twice (Julia was not feeling well after the 2^nd walk).

We had a few good photo ops, and saw the lions get fed today.  Lion feeding is much more vicious than expected.  Despite there being a large piece of donkey for each lion available, they fought aggressively over the food.

Lion Names:

We have been working with 5 lions from 2 litters:  Bisa, Bemba, Rufiji, Rwanda and Ruma.  Each of these names are a language spoken in Zambia.  There are a total of 72 languages spoken in Zambia, thus this naming system will be used for many more lions to come.

AIDS in Zambia:

30% of the adult population in Zambia have AIDS.  Thus there are a lot of orphanages in Zambia.  The orphanage we visited in Livingstone has 39 children, 3 of the children also have AIDS.  Death due to AIDS is very common.  Just days before we arrived in Zambia, a young staff member where we are  staying could not continue her job due to illness caused by AIDS.  Sadly, she passed away yesterday as a result of her illness.  This is Africa.




Family photo:  the Bordignon-Biedermann Pride.  Back Row: Julia, Bob.  Front Row: Rafiji, Rwanda, Ruma

 


Bisa and Bemba quenching their thirst in the Zambezi River

 



Rufigi and Rwanda fighting over the hind end of a donkey



Just 5 of the 72 languages spoken in Zambia.  Also the name of the five lions that live in this enclosure.

  

Zambia Day 6: Lion vs Crocodile vs Stick

Today we walked lions in both the morning and afternoon.  We also visited the town of Livingstone and went on a night safari. 

During the night safari we rode in a vehicle after releasing 4 mature lions from their enclosure.  We chased a combined herd of zebra and wildabeast.  We also saw a herd of impala and a lone jackal.  Unfortunately the lions did not see or capture any of the animals we saw; which was the purpose of the safari.

The highlight of the day was our afternoon walk with Rafiji, Ruma and Rwanda.  We walked these lions to the edge of the Zambezi river.  All 3 lions went into the river and later rested at the edge of the shore with us.  Just as we were about to leave, a crocodile jumped out of the river and attacked one of the lions.  The crocodile was a juvenile, about 4 feet long and no match for the lion.  One of the lion handlers, concerned that the lion may get injured threw a stick at the crocodile and hit it in the head.  This caused the crocodile to retreat back into the river, thus its life was spared.

On our trip to Livingstone, Julia rode in comfort in the front seat of a small pick-up truck.  Bob rode in the open bed of the truck along with 6 others.  One of the others in the truck was carrying a very impressive looking rifle.  When Bob inquired, he discovered it was a fully automatic AK-47 rifle.  The owner of the rifle explained that he carries the rifle while patrolling the game reserve for poachers.  Bob asked if he could take the rifle man's picture, but he declined because he was not in uniform.  When we dropped him off in town, he looked odd walking around with an automatic rifle while wearing civilian clothes.

Julia at Livingstone Market

Ruma Relaxing

Rafiji taking a dip in the Zambezi river

 

Zambia Day 5: Dead Donkeys, Lion Poop, Birds and Orphans

Today started on a very stinky note.  Julia and Bob helped prepare meals for the lions.  Unfortunately for us this meant that we had to cut and weigh large pieces of dead (and very stinky) donkey. 

After completing this unsavory task, we next de-pooped a lion enclosure.  This was a dream compared to working with dead donkeys!

Fortunately lions are fed only once every 5 days, or more if they capture their own food.  With a bit of luck we will not have to do any more meat preparation!

The morning’s activities weren’t all drudgery.  Later in the morning we went bird watching with binoculars in hand.  The locals pointed out several exotic bird species, all within a 300 meter radius of our dwelling.  We did not have an armed guide with us, thus it was not safe to venture much farther. 

In the afternoon we visited an orphanage in Livingstone called “Lubasi Home”.   We brought a suitcase full of gifts for the children at the orphanage.  The gifts included clothing, soccer jerseys, toys and enough calculators for every child.  We also visited the market next to the orphanage.  Some of the food sold in the market (dried caterpillar for example) made dead donkey seem like a delicacy!  



Bob weighing the head of a donkey.  There are worse jobs; just ask the donkeys!



We were surprised to find a solar oven donated to Lubasi Orphanage from various Rotary clubs including 3 in Ontario

Yuck....dried caterpillars!

New Years Day: Rain, Village Visit, Lion Walk

Today we started the day by visiting Maunga village; a rural village about a 40 minute drive from where we are staying.  The village has no running water and no electricity.

At the village we helped weed a garden and met many locals.  There is a water supply at the village.  Water is retrieved via a hand operated pump.  Villagers travel (in their bare feet) from as far as 5 km to get water from this location.

We treated all the kids to candy and took a tour of the school in the village. 

On the drive home, we encountered the first significant downpour since our arrival.  By the time we were due to take the lions for a walk in the afternoon, the rain had stopped and the weather was quite nice.  The lions were especially active in the post-rain cooler weather.

In the evening, after dinner, we were visited by a bushbuck named Baby.  Baby was found abandoned in the wild not long after it was born.  The staff here bottle fed it until it was able to live independently.  Baby loves to drop by to visit us often.

Julia with Maunga Village Children

Muanga Village Girl with Candy

Maunga Village Boy with Candy

Water Station in Maunga Village

Baby, Julia, and Pan the cat relaxing