Voices Out of Africa

Image stolen from HERE

The following is the latest communication from my parents on their trip to Zimbabwe, Africa. My mother wrote it very well, and its full of great adventures, so I hope they don't mind me posting it here!!!

Happy Easter to you all. We are now at Chidamoyo Hospital for the remainder of our stay. Our hostess, Kathy, sent us to Victoria Falls because she was uncertain if she would need to have foot surgery. As things turned out, she began to have severe pains in her abdomen and had 3 hernias repaired while we were vacationing. The pain started while she was out at the bush mission hospital in Chidmoyo. She had to be taken back to Harare on a mattress in back of a pick-up truck.

Yesterday we came out to the hospital with Kathy laying in the back of the pick-up. We caravaned with 2 students. Dad drove the 5-speed pick-up (right hand drive). Not too difficult until you see the condition of the road for the last 52 kilometers! Narrow, very rocky, some parts very dusty (we were following), and it was HOT.

So we're way out in the toolies. It's a 4 hour drive from Harare where she has her flat. But she considers Chidamoyo her true home. She is the only missionary and the only white person working here. The hospital has 80 beds, but isn't very full right now. Last night after we arrived, a mother brought a 4-month-old baby who hadn't been nursing. The doctor is gone right now, and none of the nurses know how to inject for an IV to feed the infant. The baby seemed barely conscious. Kathy inserted the IV, but knew there wasn't much hope. Last night the baby died.

We stopped on the way here for Easter services yesterday and last night the resident pastor led a service here outside in the hospital courtyard. The services are for the people who work at the hospital, the family members who are staying in shelters while their patient is being cared for, people from the area, and any ambulatory patients.

Today dad ran wiring for a satillite radio into Kathy's office at the hospital. He climbed a tree a couple of times. One of dad's "assistants" was amazed that he climbed with his shoes on. The grandkids would be proud. He probably fried his scalp while standing out on the roof as he and 2 "assistants" worked to get a stable signal. I, on the other hand made cotton balls from a big sheet roll of cotton.

About our vacation time. We spent three nights in Victoria Falls. I got in a lot of bargaining time, haggling with the vendors over souvenirs. Probably could have gotten even better deals, but it was hot and miserable in the stalls. It is just like it used to be in Mexico, but with much more intensity. There were so many people, mainly men, trying to get me to buy there wares. Dad was quite amused at it all.

While in VF, we rode an elephant for about an hour. We got to feed our elephant afterwards. Got pictures! Dad managed to get very saddle sore. Two big nasty abrasions above his buttocks from rubbing on the saddle.

We also "went on a lion experience". We took a long walk with the lions. There were 3 young ones. About 2 years old. It was so great. We were able to pet them, take photos, etc. We each carried a stick in case they got out of hand. One lady was nipped on the back of her leg, but no broken skin. We went on an evening cruise on the Zambeze River and saw hippos, too.

There is a restaurant in VF called "the Boma Place of Eating" where they served all of the traditional foods of Zimbabwe. We ate Impala meat, warthog, ostrich, and even had a worm. A party of people sitting next to us all did the worm-eating thing together, after which one of the girls promply barfed by our table.

We took a tour of the town with one of the vendors we met while haggling. We really liked him. He showed us his partially-completed home and took us to the old peoples' home. There are decent shelters for them to live in. We took pictures of many of them and they were thrilled to see themselves in dad's digital camera. We also took a couple of vendor's addresses to mail back finished photos. They love to have their pictures taken.

We left VF and drove 200 kilometers to Hwange National Park where we were meet by an employee of The Hide and driven back into the bush. The Hide is a really nice place where we stayed in our own tent hut and we had guides to take us on game drives. We could go on every drive if we wanted. They had drives from 6am-8am, 9am-12pm, 3pm-7pm, 9pm-10pm or later (one night we got back at 11:30). The guides were very knowledgeable about animals and plants. We saw a nice variety of animals: lots of zebra, lots of impala, baboons, velvet monkeys, warthogs, elephants, lots of small mammals, lizards, beautiful birds, and one night we found the lions! We were treated royally in camp had great breakfasts, lunches, teas, and dinners. They washed and ironed our laundry. That is, everything except our "smalls" (undies). You can only push it so far, I guess.

One of the guides was certified to take us out of the land rover and approach animals. He carries a rifle and a side arm for safety. Walt and I went after elephants twice. We followed one of them into to trees. He did a couple of mock charges toward us, then he finally trumpeted. That was a thrill. That night we couldn't go with Andy (the certified guide) so that some newcomers would get a chance to approach. Andy located the same elephant and they approached it again. This time he did about 6 charges. When he got back to camp, Andy was pretty shook up. We also tracked some sable way out on the savannah around sundown. It is so beautiful there!

Well, my loved ones, it's time for me to sign off. Lunch is ready. God bless you all.