It's about time . . .

Ok, so this post has been a long time coming. Also, much like boxing day, it may be a lot of build up only for a big disappointment. If that is the case, I apologize.

So, where have I been and what have I been up to. This is the brief version:

September 1
- Arrive in Lilongwe airport, Malawi
- Meet up with Paul Slomp and get a ride with his Aunt into the city (He randomly met his Aunt at the airport in Lilongwe, how strange is that?)
- Mini-bus to Malawi/Zambia Border
- Taxi through "no person's land"
- Taxi into Chipata, Zambia
- Bicycle ride to Pashane village
- Nshima and relish for dinner
- Sleep in the hut

September 2
- Bicycle to Chipata
- Day in Chipata
- Overnight in tent in the Ministry of Agriculture compound

September 3
- Motorcycle ride to Ptoeke
- 2 Hour walk to Kaloko Village
- Overnight in tent in middle of village

September 4
- Treadle pump demonstration
- 2 Hour walk to middle of road
- Motorcycle ride back to Chipata


Ok, so I am going to get a lot less detailed now, as I am running out of time.

- Time spent in Chipata and at Pshane Village
- 5 Day safari to South Luangwa National Park
- Chipata again
- Lusaka
- Livingstone
- Lusaka
- Lilongwe
- Nairobi
- London
- Here now, soon Italy.


Perhaps that was a big too brief.

Anyhow, I have a lot to say about life in Zambia and about the things that I saw and experienced. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to share all of this right now. I can just provide the overall feeling: excellent.

It was a great experience to visit Zambia, to see my good friend Paul, to have stimulating conversations about development, quality of life, and world problems, to get a brief experience of living in a village, to play with kids that are so happy to have your attention, to eat a lot of nshima, and to realize how fortunate I am to have all the above experiences and more. Zambia was a great learning experience. It was challenging, interesting, stimulating, and even gave me food poisoning - not once but twice. Good thing I didn't get the food poisoning/malaria that Paul had. That didn't look like much fun.

Anyhow, that's all for now.

I'm off to Tuscany - no more nshima for a while.