Near final thoughts from Africa

Dear friend,

I am two hours away from starting my long journey home. All that separates me from breathing in New Zealand’s glorious air is a 31hour trip onwards. I miss home oh so much. After a much needed shower I know the first thing I will want to do is see the ocean once again.

My last day at Kalene (Wednesday) was interestin,g to say the least. It was the official opening of the new Theatre Block, a project two years in the making. Kalene has only ever had one operating theatre (= operating room) and it is not sterile enough for a lot of procedures, especially orthopaedic operations. Dr J saw the need and two years later, after a lot of work by many people and generous funding, that need was filled.

The program for the official opening was set to begin at 1pm on Wednesday and finish an hour later – but that was before the surprising turn of events. The opening was quite a big deal, with all the hospital staff and students in attendance, as well as three dignitaries: the region’s key government official as well as the head medical honchos for the province and the district. The local village chiefs were also invited along.

Due to the very late arrival of the village chiefs the ceremony began more than an hour behind schedule. There ceremony itself was not just a celebration but thanksgiving to God for His hand in the project as well as goodbye to Dr J who, after five years of service at Kalene, is heading back home for good in a couple of weeks.

Speeches from Dr J and the three dignitaries ten minutes on the program ended up being more than twenty minutes each. Two hours later, with the afternoon heat blazing down on us, the ceremony was brought to an official close. Or so we thought! One of the three village chiefs who has quite the notorious (mostly alcohol-induced) reputation stood up and shouted, “Why did you invite us [the chiefs] to this event if you didn’t even put us on the program!!” The event organizers had sought advice from the Zambian dignitaries who had insisted merely invitation of the chiefs to the event would suffice. Yet this chief would not stop. He took centre stage and for the following thirty minutes berated the missionaries for not giving him due respect and recognition (“God is all powerful God! Thanks be to God! God appointed the chiefs, so we are like God here, sent by God. And we should be thanked!” or something along those lines – some of it may have been lost in translation); he then berated the audience for not appreciating the missionaries as they should, evident in the fact that they would just “let” Dr J leave without trying to stop him (“We should be holding on to him, holding on to his legs, refusing to accept him leaving!”); and finally, he also berated the government officials for not offering Dr J citizenship and 20 acres of land to get him to stay. With his shouting chastisement and wild gesticulations, his usurpation of the ceremony was comical at best, an embarrassment at worst.

My time out in the African bush has been quite an experience. The division between rich and poor, in any country, is a sad sight but not a unique sight. I have seen this contrast in South America, Africa, the US, and even my own country! Yet what I have seen on this trip as been the divide between the enlightened, the educated, and those that are not; the latter with absolutely no concept of the anything outside of their village, their thinking based largely on tradition and superstition. With the educated Zambian dignitaries sitting on one side of the stage and the local village chiefs sitting on the other, this stark contrast could not have been any more evident.

Alas, my time at Kalene came to an end and the next day (Thursday) was spent travelling from one corner of Zambia to another. At dawn I bid my final farewells and jumped on the tiny 4-seater plane destined for Lusaka, the capital. After the three and a half hour flight I landed in Lusaka and went straight to the bus terminal. Almost two hours later I was Livingstone bound. Livingstone is the adventure capital of Zambia, at the borders Zimbabwe and Bostwana, and houses not only game parks but also Victoria Falls (one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World). I hadn’t originally intended on going down there, but the alternative would have been four nights in Lusaka where, trust me, there is absolutely nothing to do or see!

The bus ride down to Livingstone was grueling – all credit goes to Middlemore Hospital, which taught me the key skills of not having to eat, drink or pee for up to eleven hours! By the time I arrived in Livingstone it was 8pm – how grateful I was that the owner of the lodge I was staying at was there to pick me up, otherwise it might have been a repeat of my horrible experience transiting through Dakar, Senegal, two years ago.

Despite not having booked any activities or knowing much about Livingstone I had a fantastic time.

Again, nothing worked out as I had initially planned but God is good.

On Friday I decided to go to Victoria Falls. While standing in line at the ticket booth I met a lone German traveller who had been backpacking up from Cape Town. Having just arrived into Zambia from Zimbabwe, he had no local currency so I offered to exchange some of mine. After that we decided we would explore the Falls together. Because it is dry season the Falls, apparently, aren’t quite as spectacular as they are in the rainy season, but in saying that it was still an indescribable sight. We ended up doing all four of the trails, including the steep climb down to Boiling Point (at the foot of the Falls under the bridge demarcating the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe). Unfortunately my newfound friend, in his excitement, jumped into the water without realizing his phone was still in the back-pocket of his shorts! The disappointment and inconvenience only slightly mitigated by the fact that he was only two days from heading home.

After a short poolside break at my lodge I was picked up for my microlight over Victoria Falls. (A Microlight looks like a two-seater handglide with a small, motored propeller.) Afternoon flights are normally a bit bumpier compared to early morning – and the first few minutes were much scarier than I had anticipated! As soon as we were airborne it dawned on me that (a.) I actually had no idea how microlights worked and (b.) I would be putting all my faith in a few pieces of metal and a complete stranger who was “a pilot” (what did that even mean?!). Holding onto the sidebars of my seat I wondered if this was it: “Young New Zealand Doctor Glides to Her Death in Zambia!” But as the nerves wore off I began to take in the views and they were glorious. If you ever visit Victoria Falls you must see all 1.8 miles of it from the sky. Airborne, you truly get to appreciate its full grandeur.

With it being low season for tourism most companies were not accepting a party of one. A sad rejection, as I had initially been planning on doing an Elephant Back Safari, Lion Encounter and a Game Drive. The people at my lodge, however, recommended a Rhino Walk for which there was space for one – sold! And it turned out to be a fantastic, once-in-a-lifetime experience. Mosi-O-Tunya Park in Livingstone boasts the rare White Rhino, rare even in Africa. The tour I was on was tracking these rhino on foot in the wild, led by a professional safari guide. The rhino are tracked constantly by official government “scouts” carrying AK-47s in order to protect the rhino and themselves from poachers willing to kill to get their hands on these rhino. It all felt very Bear Grylls and I particularly enjoyed exploring the park on foot under the heat of the African sun. In the end our group were fortunate enough to have three rhino encounters, one of which was of a mum and baby rhino! (At one point we were within six metres of them.) We also saw giraffe, zebras, the various antelope species, and even a herd of elephants! Even our guide was surprised at how “lucky” we were!

On the rhino walk I met a group of optometrists from the UK who are here volunteering with a charity organization for two weeks. They were all very lovely and invited me out to a sunset dinner with them at a restaurant by the river. Again, I was blessed to have company for my second day in Livingstone. It turned out to be a gorgeous dinner with indescribable, classically “African” views – a special night all around.

Another long bus ride later, I arrived back to Lusaka yesterday for my last night in Zambia.

Final thoughts to come once I am back home but suffice it to say, it’s been a long two months – what a trip it has been!

Always,

-A