Fainting, Falls and Twin Fountains Farm

Last week John and I caught a ride with our PLARD (Finnish) friends to Lusaka so John could meet with some folks from an organization called CONTRAST who are doing work on mapping infectious diseases across the continent. After getting a few items in town we got bus tickets to go to Livingston and see Victoria Falls. We were going to be tourists for a couple of days!

The bus ride from Lusaka to Livingston takes about 7 hours. The road is mostly good until Zimba where they are doing repairs so they detour vehicles onto a dirt road. This makes for a bumpy last 2 hours. Arriving into Livingston is a bit disorienting and it was odd to be in a tourist town. We booked a room at Jolly Boys backpackers; the accommodations were excellent with a relaxed atmosphere. we talked with people around and decided to book a white-water rafting excursion down the Zambezi. WOW! what an experience... to get to the launching point you walk down a deep gorge on a wooden latter/stairs. The rapids are intense, but nothing compared to when the water is lower, in October. There were 6 people to a raft plus a guide. We were with 3 other Americans and 1 kiwi (New Zealander). We managed to keep from falling out though a couple of people (John) got tossed about and ended up out of their seats! We stopped at one point and jumped off of a rock ledge into the river (we were actually on the Zimbabwe side to do this)! We were pretty tired after all the paddling and sunshine, but getting to see the river and gorge while you are out in the middle of all of it was just so majestic.

Sunday morning John and I walked to the Maramba BIC congregation meeting house for worship services. We sent greetings from UMC and were received with open arms and great kindness. We sat in on bible study and stayed for services. The congregation is enthusiastic and we were clapping and singing and swaying. All of a sudden the church seemed so very crowded and hot and I closed my eyes... and passed out! John in true hero fashion picked me up and carried me outside. Once outside in the fresh air I came back, they took me to the pastor's office and I rested as John fanned me and got me some water to drink. I felt rather silly. I think I dehydrated myself (from the bus trip and then rafting) and got over-heated in the church building. Once I was feeling better we sat out by the door so that I could have some fresh-air but still hear what was going on. After services we met with the pastor and he gave us some maize to take with us and got us a ride back to the backpackers since I was still a bit weak. I rested and drank plenty of fluids the rest of the afternoon. In the evening we went to see the falls for a few hours- WOW! there is so much water- you get soaked by the spray and see rainbows!

Monday we went back to the falls to spend the day there. We hiked around the Zambian side and down into the boiling pot, where the Zambezi rages. We took a picnic lunch there and then decided to go check out the falls proper and get soaked again. beautiful. How can you describe it? Amazing, wondrous, awe-inspiring. After getting wet we hiked some trails to see the upper Zambezi, before it flows over the falls.

Tuesday we were back on the bus, but before we left we stopped for a brief look into the Livingston museum. They have interesting exhibits on the natural history and culture. I only wish we had more time, but our bus was leaving and we were head to Kalomo to visit Klaus Muller and his farm. Mr. and Mrs. Muller are a German couple who have lived in Zambia for 30 years. They have a farm, called Twin Fountains (because of the two springs on the property). They raise chickens, sheep, goats and cattle and run an AG technical school to train farmers in vegetable production and animal husbandry. Klaus' parents have also moved from Germany to live with them and helped start a Basic School for the children in the area (who had no where to go to school). It was such a blessing to visit with them, hear their experiences and fellowship with them. They fed us amazing home-cooked, farm-raised, delicious meals. We even had chocolate cake and mulberry cobbler! Klaus really knows Zambian agriculture and has a wealth of information on soil types, grazing land holding capacity, and appropriate management for the area. He doesn't beleive in hand-outs and makes his students pay for their schooling. They are required to grow vegetables for their classes but they can also sell them and use the money they make to pay for school. With initiative, motivation and work they can pay for all of their schooling and leave with money in their pockets. Its a good system.

Back in Lusaka we visited with our "family away from home" the Frenches and did a bunch of shopping to get research/herbicide supplies (a hand-pump back-pack sprayer costs about US$76). I also purchased a Zamwipe herbicide tool used by small farmers, it is basically a weed broom and cost a reasonable US$22. I am going to test out these tools up in Mansa. I also learned that 25 acres cost around US$30,000 if anyone is interested in starting a farm over here.

The bus ride from Lusaka to Mansa leaves at 4:00pm and arrives at 4:00am. It is pretty rough going and there is one bathroom stop about half way that leaves much to be desired and you even must pay about $US 0.20 cents to use it. So I don't even want to imagine what it would be like if you did not have to pay. Our home in Mansa was just the same as when we left it and we are happy to be back! Love you all very much, know you are in our hearts and prayers. Only 19 days until spring!