Fun with Rich and Heidi - by John

We have just finished more than two weeks of fun with Rich and Heidi. It was great reconnecting with them and just having a chance to sit and talk. It was also fun showing them around Lusaka and parts of Zambia and seeing their reactions to unfamiliar things. Needless to say, they had great attitudes and found things endlessly fascinating and interesting.

While they were here both Richard and I celebrated our birthdays, and I got a haircut and shaved for the occasion, no more "Hippie John".

Happy Birthday to us

We took R&H down to Siansowa on Lake Kariba and then on to Livingstone to see Victoria Falls.

At Siansowa we relaxed, took a sunset cruise and a tour of the croc farm. We got to see how the croc food was made, it's not a job I would like so much.

The happy couple

The Croc Food Kitchen. Mmmm

The crocs are waiting for their delicious lunch

The falls were amazing, we've never seen them this full. It's due to the large amount of rain that Zambia has had during the rainy season (which is pretty much finished). This time both Rich and Heidi and Danica and Erin went on the ultralights, and everyone thought it was tremendous.

Danica in the ultralight over Vic Falls

We were sorry to see Richard and Heidi leave, and look forward to connecting with them again when we get back to Canada.

More Visitors in Lusaka

Our latest company arrived safe and sound last Tuesday together with all of their bags. It's been great spending time with Richard (John's brother) and Heidi from Ottawa. The last time we saw them we didn't even know that we'd be moving to Africa and they have since had another baby so we had lots to catch up on. Their children: Rebecca, Benjamin and Mia are vacationing in Winnipeg with both sets of their grandparents. Richard and Heidi really hit the ground running when they arrived here, no time for napping or jet lag; we've been on the go everyday. You can check out their blog here to read about our events on a daily basis. They flew to South Luangwa this afternoon to go on safari so we have a bit of time to post some updates. I'll just cover a few of the things that they haven't already written about.

We enjoyed our visit to Mumbwa where our colleague Amy is working. We visited two community schools and one of them has recently started a feeding program to provide lunches for the children there. The staple food everywhere in Southern Africa is a maize product and in Zambia it is called nshima. Heidi wanted to give nshima making a try and it is much harder than it looks but she gave it a good effort.

Heidi: a.k.a. "African Mama"

We enjoyed touring the sites with Amy and learning the difference between the main roads and the side roads. Apparently the difference is that the main road has two tracks for the two sets of tires on the car where as a side road is really like a path where grasses and branches brush along the sides of the car.

When we said good bye to Amy at the end of the day it was very sobering to see her co-worker out in front of their office and he was making a coffin out of small scraps of wood that he was piecing together. A woman who was HIV positive and who spoke out about her condition by doing AIDS awareness clinics had passed away that day and the coffin needed to be completed in the next hour so that it could be used immediately.

Heidi and Amy with Teddy working in the background.

In a stark contrast to this day, we also spent a day at one of Lusaka's finest attractions, Adventure City, a waterslide park with beautiful grounds and many small pools around the property. We spent the day under the shade of the banana trees and some other friends joined us also. The six kids had a great time on the water slides and the adults had some fun too.

Here comes Richard...

Splash!
Enjoying the 30 degree weather

After seeing the local craft market on Sunday afternoon Heidi decided to treat us all to a big batch of cinnamon buns, we're hoping the girls will remember what they've been taught and will soon be able to make these yummy treats on their own.

Here is Danica learning how to knead dough

Erin with the nearly-finished product

We will be out of town on Easter weekend weekend so we did our egg colouring ahead of time. We got creative and used candle wax to make patterns on the eggs.