Crocs

Our family didn’t own Crocs until we came to Africa.  I, Rita, didn’t really like how they looked.  My children wore socks and shoes to go outside.  I did invest in a pair of sandals for each child every spring.  Then comes Africa and the dirt and then the mud. 

When I was in South Africa last fall, I bought Steve and I our first pair of Crocs.  They are comfortable and now we live in them.  My mother-in-law mailed us some knock off brand for the kids.

When we come in the house we park our Crocs on a rug at the back door.  Take a close look and see all the dirt!

Here is a picture of my indoor ones freshly scrubbed.  I love the feeling of clean Crocs!  The thing is in one day they are dirty!! Yes, I have two pair – one for inside and one for outside.  My feet don’t tolerate going barefoot any more.

We have a new MacGyver

OK, this story starts way back in the States before we even went to orientation.  We went to Sears to buy a refrigerator to put into the crates that we were shipping to Africa.  Our sales lady told us to wait and come back on a certain Sunday night as they were having a special sale and it would save us money.  My concern was would we get it on time.  She checked and didn’t see any reason why we wouldn’t.  So that Sunday night came and we drove down to the Sears in Greenville, SC and ordered our fridge.  One problem, all the refrigerators sitting in the warehouse had ice makers in them.  We wouldn’t be needing  an ice maker in Africa.  Yes, one would be nice but how do you hook an ice maker up in Africa with filtered water.  A fridge without an ice maker could have  be shipped to us but it would have been after we had packed up the crates.  So we paid the extra money for a fridge with an ice maker and shipped it to Africa.

About two weeks ago my friends husband – now he IS a MacGyver- tells us you really should have that thing working.  Just put a bucket of filtered water on top of the fridge and run a hose down.  So at the beginning of last week while this friend and Steve were in Lusaka, Steve got a plastic siphon hose.  It was a great fit, but no water was getting into the ice maker.  So after Steve put this all together and it is not working, he decides to consult the owners manual.  It needs 30 psi.  So as Steve does when something doesn’t work he thinks on it for awhile.  That night while trying to go to sleep he came up with the idea of using a garden sprayer.  So he got a new one and hooked it up.  Now our ice maker makes ice.  Steve fills it up with filtered water and once or twice a day he pumps the pump to add the pressure.

Princess Zanzibar

Back in July I introduced you to our new cat Panther.  Well, another cat has been added to our family.  This one came to us at 6 weeks old.  So it missed its warm mother.  It would just meow pitifully at us.  And so we would pick it up and put it in our laps and that is where it spend most of its first days with us.
It spent the first few days without a name.  My friend had spent a short vacation on the Island of Zanzibar.  Lane suggested that name.  Since she is a girl Princess has been added and now just shortened to Princess.

She takes a lot of her naps on Heather.

When Heather has to get up and move around, this is how she rides around the house.

Tobias and Heather take turns keeping her and in this picture it was Tobias’ turn.  His DVD player is a warm place to nap.

Here she is getting into trouble.  She smelled lunch on the table and before she was caught actually ate part of Steve’s sandwich.

Our Lane turned 11!

On October 1st Lane turned 11.  The party started at home with presents from us at lunch time.

One of his presents was a pocket knife that he got last week when he went with his Dad and Uncle Grant to Lusaka.

He has already cut himself on the drive home!  Then the festivities moved to the Schaefer Farm.  His birthday fell on a Friday this year and we often go over to have tea time on Friday afternoons.

A treasure hunt was planned by Auntie Lynn.  And they are off.  They had 12 different clues to fine.

  Here they are digging up 1/2 of the map and clue  to find the other half.  Can you tell by the picture that we are in the dry season?

OK, they are off to pester a worker named Sam for the rest of the map.  He kept them busy for about 1/2 an hour.  He was told not to give it up too easily.  He took that job seriously!

We have the map and the digging is on.

A treasure chest if found with candy and popcorn for to nights movie!!

Of course we had birthday cake.  Then Daddy and Mommy went home all by themselves.  Thank you Lynn!!

Panther

Back in March our friends the Schaeffer's came back home from South Africa.  When they passed through Lusaka they picked up a kitten.  Seth has been wanting a cat and so he found out how much one cost and started saving his money.

For the past month he has had a dilemma.  He really wants a cat, but he also liked seeing his money add up.  In the end the cat didn’t cost as much as we thought it would.  We got it at a vet who saves them.  It had its shot and has been fixed.  So the cost of the cat is for that and food.

So this past Wednesday while in Lusaka we picked up a three month old kitten.  Seth thought on it for awhile and finally announced that his name was Panther.

A cat carrier cost way too much and so a collar and leash were bought.  It spent the first hour of our trip home all over the vehicle and meowing loudly.  Then it curled up to sleep with Seth and then later on with Lane.

When we got home on Saturday we found a mess in the pantry.  A week before we left Steve saw a mouse in the kitchen.  Well, for the last two weeks while we were gone, it has made a big mess.  Mouse dirt and popcorn seeds are everywhere on the shelves.  It has been chewing on a plastic container with cornmeal in it.  So there is bits of white plastic all over. On the back of the pantry door at the top is nailed a board with nails in it to hang things – broom, mop, dust mop.  Also us there is a plastic grocery sack full of more grocery sacks.  This mouse managed to jump off of a shelf on to this.  The broom and several sacks were on the floor!  So we are washing every thing before we use it.  What fun, washing dishes before and after you eat. 

So this cat has work to do.  It had better be a good mouser.  I guess you could say it is spoiled too.  What cat has permission to walk all over your pantry shelves.  Tonight I am even opening the cupboard doors.  This mouse lives under them.  We cannot see where they are hooked to the walls.  So if he doesn’t catch something soon, we are going to put some muscle to them and see if we can’t move them. 

Eureka Farm Campground

This campground is very close to Lusaka.  The nice thing about it is the wild animals it has – zebra, buffalo, giraffe, monkeys, impala, and other deer like animals.

We stayed here Sunday and Monday nights.  It is nice for the animals and a cheaper place to camp.  But it is busy and noisy.  It is a favorite place for the overland tours.  They travel on a truck that looks like a semi.  It is bus like at the top and they store everything underneath.  It is a camping tour.

On both nights the first truck to pull in had a smaller group and there for seemed to be a quieter group.  On both nights the second truck to pull in was a large group.  In about 10 minutes about 20 4 man tents were put up around the truck.  On the second night a third truck pulled in.  It put tents up right next to ours.  It was a low budget tour and drinking was what they did the most of.  The first two trucks pulled out by 6 AM.  That third bus stayed up until 1:30 AM and didn’t pull out until 8 AM.

On the second night Seth was sick again and he and I spent the night in the truck.  I got to see impala and something bigger eating grass pretty close to our tent.  This place keeps a guard and after a bit he came waving a feed sack to get them out.  Also got to see the second trucks whole tour group get out and push the truck to start it!  That took a little muscle power.

Buffalo, we got a little too close and had to convince the kids to keep walking kind of fast and away!

Giraffe, he was just outside the gate where we camped.

Zebra, Heather walked up to these to take the pic.

You will have to zoom in to see this guy.  I don’t know what he is.

The rest of the week was spent in Lusaka at the Baptist Mission Guest House.  We went to the Tuesday Market and got lots of veggies.  I spent Saturday afternoon here in Mbala getting them ready for the freezer.  A family on our team flew in Wednesday evening.  Steve did a lot of shopping that morning.  Thursday morning we visited the grocery store.  We made it out of there with only two carts, but still spent more than planned.  Friday we drove to Kasama and stayed with another member of our team who is done and leaving us this week.  Saturday – the rest of the way home.  Yea!

Lazy

Friday was spent as a very lazy day.  Steve and I just sat in camping chairs reading.  Camping chairs are not good for your back, especially that much time spent in one.  The kids played and went swimming.  It is winter here, but on the river it is warmer.  I wouldn’t say warm enough to swim, but then I’m not a kid.  Their lips were blue.  Saturday we did go on about a 4 km hike before we spent the rest of the day reading.

Sunday we packed it all up.  Since we were so close to Kariba Dam, we drove down to see it.  I saw it in 1985, but we couldn’t take any pictures.  Now you can take pictures!

Kariba Dam with its five gates.

Zambezi River after the dam.  Zambia is on the left and Zimbabwe is on the right.

A look at the Zambian side.  You can see the road we drove down to the dam on.

A picture of Kariba Lake.

After this we drove back to Lusaka to stay at a camp grounds there.

Almost forgot, Seth got sick on Saturday night.  Unzipping my tent to get out, then zip it back up, then unzipping his tent and so on is just too much work.  So Seth slept on the back seat of our vehicle and I tried to sleep in the front.  At one point I looked out the window and saw a hippo slowly walking across the campground.  I had to ask Seth if he was awake.  He was and so I told him to sit up an look.  Sometimes you get to see wonderful things when you are sick!