Short break in Wilderness

It's just a month since we arrived back in England - where has the time gone??

Before we left Cape Town, at the end of our (almost) two years in Africa, we drove to the eastern side of the Western Cape, which was the furthest we had been out of Cape Town by car.

We planned a route through the mountains, along the Wine Route and the Garden Route. It was spectacular with folded mountains...

...archways cut through the rock...

...and flowers lining the road:

Our destination was Wilderness, a small coastal town, with wide beaches, inland lakes and rivers, and ancient forests:

Walking along the beach, early one morning, I saw this huge jellyfish. My camera case and footprints help to show the size:

Further along the coastline it is even wilder and rugged...

...reminiscent of Argulas, which is the most southerly point in Africa, where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Indian Ocean. The weather was warm and sunny, but quite windy.

Andy loves boats, so we decided to take a canoe along the river, stopping partway, where the water level becomes too shallow to paddle.

Then, hiding our paddles and bouancy aids in the bushes, we walked up to some manmade waterfalls:

Some of the river's waterflow has been diverted into a pipe, for use lower down the hillside.

On our return journey Andy took this photo of me, over his head (I was behind him). He was reluctant to turn round and destabilise the canoe, but I think he did really well:

Another day, we followed a trail to the 'Big Tree', an eight hundred-year-old yellowood, which was over 30m tall. To get an idea of the size, you can just see Andy standing behind the information board at the base of the trunk:

We saw a curious sign, so had to go and find out what it was referring to:

This is the view:

If I had a wide-angled lens you would see that the river traces the shape of Africa, around the forest - very interesting and totally unexpected!

The viewing point for 'Map of Africa' is the top of a steep hill, which is a popular launching pad for paragliders. We had seen their colourful chutes above the hillside, from our Bed and Breakfast. In fact I was fascinated watching them and longed to have a go. Andy had NO desire to join me, but took these photos.

• Getting 'kitted up':
  
  
• Being strapped in front of my pilot:

• In the air:
  
  
• Coming into land, after 30 minutes in the air:

My pilot for the tandem ride, also took some photos in the air:

The view from the air was awesome: being able to see the lagoons, the coastline and way out to sea. I loved every moment, not feeling scared at all. My pilot has been paragliding for 17 years and is very experienced. It was a treat which made our short holiday even more special, and I will remember it for a long time.

We arrived back in Cape Town, the day before we were due to fly home, so we went to the ocean for one last sunset, with Lion's Head just in the picture:


It was very windy and cold, but the biggest hot chocolate I have ever seen soon warmed us up:


We have so many wonderful memories of our 'Adventures in Africa'. Thank you for being part of it with us.

Passing through Cape Town

We finally made it to Cape Town on Saturday 25th October. So it was lovely to see the building and grounds with all the finishing touches complete.

A large sign, illuminated at night, announces CVC and greets all visitors as they climb the hill:

The outside of the building now looks like this:

The cental atrium, with the upstairs studios surrounding it:

I loved these working radios covered with colourful beadwork:

The whole place looked fantastic - bright, colourful, contemporary with traditional touches.

Still in Zambia

Last Saturday we were due to fly to Cape Town for two weeks, before returning to the UK. Then last Thursday a freak lightning strike put Radio Christian Voice off the air and all the new studios in Lusaka out of action. Andy and his team of technicians worked through Thursday night to restore the English service with the Local Languages service returning yesterday.

At the present time there are still lots of repairs outstanding, but progress is slowly being made.

Meanwhile, we have moved into the recently finished guest house, on the residential site behind the studios:

The guest house is the end one of a row of bungalows. On the residential site there are also three blocks of flats like this one:

The wooden planks set out on the drive are ready for concreting, which should keep the dust down.

Returning to the guest house, this is the view from the back garden:

Outside the back door there is a large sink for doing laundry washing, which I have just painted with stoep enamel (a stoep is an Afrikaans word for a step or patio area):

The sink is made of concrete fibre and needed sealing before use. The choice of colours of paint were, red, green or terra-cotta, so we chose the latter, to fit in with the brickwork and other paintwork on the house.

Without a washing machine, the dirty laundry was building up, so today I used the sink and hung it on the washing lines, which are situated between the blocks of flats, as our washing line hasn't been erected yet:

As the rainy season begins, the sandy Zambian soil turns to mud very easily, so everyone will be happier when these areas are concreted.

Living in another house (my seventh, in four years) is getting easier all the time...

Early rain in Zambia

Zambia has a climate with three seasons: A cool dry season, from April to July, a hot dry season from August to October and a hot wet season from November to March. The last wet season was very heavy and extended into April with the final light rain falling at the beginning of May. So it was somewhat of a surprise last Friday (10th October) to experience a sudden downpour, late in the afternoon. We leave Zambia in less than a week, so I was not expecting to see any rain before we left.

It had been very windy in the afternoon and the clattering on our tin roof increased, as seed pods from an overhanging tree suddenly started to drop rapidly rather than sporadically, as in the past few weeks. The seed pods are hard, green, the size of cherries and when you step on them they squirt a sticky liquid sideways, often onto your other leg. Here they are littering the path at the side of the house:

Then I heard a peel of thunder, which seemed a long way away and noticed a few spots of rain on the dry concrete and rushed out to take a photo, just in case that was all we were going to get!

However, a short while later Andy arrived home so I popped out to collect something from a neighbour. By the time I drove back down our drive, the rain was pelting down...

...running from the roof...

...and forming pools in the storm gulleys, by the door (along with a few of the seed pods):

It only lasted for about 10 minutes, but it made the air smell fresh a clean again and settled the dust down for a while. We heard later that day that Lusaka had experienced very heavy rain and even hail earlier on Friday, and we were surprised to see huge pools of surface water at the side of the roads when we travelled to the airport early on Saturday morning.

Since then there hasn't been another hint of rain, but the downpour was sufficient to stir the mosquitos from their slumber - we have been swatting them ever since and doubling our use of insect repellent. The rain also brought a snake out of its hole, although I didn't see that one. Our guard told us he had killed a spitting cobra, very close to the house.

It seems we need to be extra vigilant in our final few days here.

Insects and trees in September

As the summer approaches more insects wake up from their winter hibernation, although there are always some insects around.



The difference now is their size...



The edge of the door frame below the spider, gives a good idea of its size:




The wasp is on a floor tile, about 30cm square:




Burrowing bees, buzz very loudly as they dig into any unprotected wood. I took this photo just as it flew off the guttering:


September is also the month when the jacaranda trees are in full bloom:



Their vivid lilac blossoms create a shock of colour against the brown earth. There are many of these trees on the farm site, and also in town. When the blossom falls the ground it looks like confetti scattered along the paths:

CVC in Zambia

After six weeks in the UK, I am now back in Zambia.

Monica, a friend from Cape Town, came to Lusaka recently to visit her family, so we showed them round the new CVC studios in town.

In the background, under the car port is some of the old studio equipment, which had been brought from the farm site, and set up in one of the studios, to help the presenters with the transition between the new automated playout system, which is all computerised, and their old system of inserting CD's and tapes.

The day I visited with Monica this old, but still useful equipment was being donated to another Christian ministry in Lusaka, as all the CVC presenters have been trained and are now becoming more familiar with their new studios.

Also under the car port is a waterfeature. The water runs from the top of the ball, into the bowls and is pumped back to the top again. The sound and movement of the running water is a refreshing backdrop to the busy, dusty main road in the heart of Lusaka:

Here are a few photos and a brief summary from the day of the launch - Thursday 17th July 2008...

A large marquee was erected on the carpark, for all the invited guests:

The programme included a choir from the Copperbelt, and several others musical items:

Bob Edmiston (Chairman of Christian Vision) was among the speakers:

The building was offically opened by the Honorable Mike Mulongoti, Minister of Information and Broadcasting:

Green and white balloons were released into the sky, by the staff:

Afterwards a buffet lunch was held outside, but I don't think the grasshopper was supposed to be on the menu:

There was a cake reading "Congratulations RCV" (RCV stands for Radio Christian Voice, the name of the station):

The students from Grace Academy, Solihull, were also present at the launch. Here they all are with Bob and Tracie Edmiston:

The Grace Academy students took part in a live radio programme with presenter Jimmy. This is Jimmy with Beccy and Mark, part of the staff who accompanied the students:

Behind the reception is a curved wall with a mural of one of CVC's illustrations representing the "Touch a Billion" arm of Christian Vision:

The caption reads " Radio Christian Voice, Touching lives one by one."

Outside again, CV had to pay for the relocation of a new bus stop, as the previous one had to be demolished to make way for the entrance to the site. Only in Zambia will you see a bus stop like this one...

... Since I took this photo, the white seat backs have been painted with a large green CVC - there's nothing like a bit of (free?) advertising!