My New Friend Basil

My roommate Debra and I spent this past weekend at Mukambi Lodge in Kafue National Park. Beautiful site right on the Kafue River. We didn't see a ton of animals on the game drives, but we did okay at the lodge. Behind me is Basil, a hippo that tends to hang out and nap on the lodge deck. There are also a couple of resident warthogs who come under the table while you're eating and bang their heads against it in order to knock food to the ground. It was an experience. Check out the pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/kellyrandels

The Overland Extravaganza

In March I experienced the craziness of overlanding in Africa. We departed from Cape Town and in three weeks worked our way through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. It was an amazing trip with many once in a lifetime moments. My personal highlight was skydiving in Namibia with the desert on one side and the ocean on the other. There is a video of that experience and yes, I will make all of you watch it when I get back. I created a small album to give you an idea of the trip. Take a look:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kellyrandels

Skiing in Africa

I went to Lesotho this past weekend, which is a small country located in the middle of South Africa. It is absolutely beautiful and freaking cold because it's the middle of winter there. Believe it or not, they have a ski lodge. You can't tell from the photo but there is a ski life going up this patch of snow and we met some people from Johannesburg who were going skiing the day I took this photo.

Weekend Escape

I'm definitely going to miss some things about Zambia. For example this past weekend I escaped Lusaka and spent three days camping near the Luangwa River. We went hiking and spent a few hours floating on canoes looking at the crocodiles. At one point we crossed the river and spent some time as illegal immigrants in Mozambique. You just can't do things like this in Seattle. For more pix check out: http://picasaweb.google.com/kellyrandels/BridgecampLuangwa

The Shima Shack

Here is a look at our fav lunch spot to eat nshima (the "n" is silent). It's located in Northmead market in between veg and craft stands. Nshima is maiz that looks a little like grits. You eat it with your hands with different gravy dishes. I like the boiled chicken and cabbage. It is really good and it's easy to eat a lot. The problem is that it hits your stomach like a ton of brinks and you want to fall asleep an hour later. Jennie and I (pictured above) work together as interns on the TB team. In our old office we used to take naps on the floor after stuffing our faces with nshima.

Goodbye Almea!

Our year in Zambia is coming to an end and we are beginning to lose people. Almea is the first one of us interns to return home. We will all miss our NHH and wish her the best. For more pix of Almea's goodbye party see: http://picasaweb.google.com/kellyrandels/AlmeaParty

Buffalo Retirement Home

Interesting story about these water buffalo. Our guide said that all the buffalo by the river are older males. Apparently, at a certain age, they leave the heard and hang out by the river together until they die. So the Zambezi River is kind of like a retirement home for geriatric male buffalos. If you want to see more pixs from this trip, check out this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/kellyrandels

Lower Zambezi

Back in September I took my first trip to the Lower Zambezi. We stayed at a campground where the Zambezi River meets the Kafue River. You can see the Zambezi coming in from the left and the Kafue coming in from the right. Spectacular. At night you could see the Southern Cross and the Milky Way and hear the hippos talking to each other.

The Farm House Office

So we moved offices about a month ago and this is the new place. It looks like a fancy farm house to me and it's a trip going to work every day in the middle of a wheat field.

Jumping the Curb

So these pictures of said traffic make me giggle. You can't really tell but the mini bus is trying to jump the median and cross into the other lane of traffic. For a country where it takes twice as long to do anything, people sure are in a hurry.

View of Lusaka

Here's a pix for those of you who want a glimpse of Lusaka. Not the best view but that's downtown or just "town" as it's called. I don't come down here much. My house and the office are both located in the suburbs plus the traffic is a nightmere.

Look Out Below!

This is when we almost dropped the container on the VCT center. I really wish I had a picture of my face at this momement. It must have been as white as a ghost. I'm not sure who thought it was a good idea to put me in charge of these kinds of projects, but it has been an experience.

La Jefa

You can see me "supervising" in the background (aka, staying the hell out of the way).

Container Delivery cont.

At this point things are going well. We are lifting the container over the voluntarty counseling and testing center and nothing bad has happened. Expect for when the truck ran over the clinics garden in order to get the container inside. The Sister In Charge (head of the clinic) was not pleased about that at all.

Container Delivery

One of the most interesting parts of my job is that I've become a construction worker. Okay, not a construction worker but a construction organizer. We are trying to implement diagnostic counseling and testing (DCT) for HIV at TB services. Most TB services are open spaces outside of the clinic with no counseling rooms. In order to implement DCT, we need to first increase infrastructure in clinics so overcrowded finding any extra space is a challenge. At three clinics we struck a deal with the world food program to buy containers (see above) in order to store food they give to the clinics for HIV patients. That freed up building space that we then converted into counseling rooms. These pictures show the delivery of one of the containers to Chipata clinic. It was so entertaining the whole neighborhood came out to watch.

Agriculture Fair

This was the booth of the organization where I work. VCT stands for voluntary counseling and testing and people could walk in for counseling and an HIV test.

Agriculture Fair

I thought I would also make fun of myself. One of the other interns took this and thought it was pretty hilarious.

You Gotta Love Zambia

Seriously.

Sustainability is Our Goal

Every single booth had a sign about sustainability.

Agriculture Fair

Back in August, Lusaka had its annual Agriculture Fair. It was a mix of buisness and social organizations coming together to promote a healthy Zambia. The theme was "Sustainability," which made for some interesting messages. See below pixs.

Las Safari Girls

Here are the chicas that went with me. Gina is another intern, me, Jennie is also an intern, Debra is my roommate and Angela another friend from work. Below us are the hippos our guide just pissed off. Luckily they can't get to us.

Hippo Party

These are a bunch of hippos. Our guide actually threw a rock in the water and made them all scurry together. Not the best thing for animal rights but it made an awesome picture. But the general rule is you don't want to piss these guys off. Ever.

The Beginning

Okay. I finally figured out how to upload pictures. This is an improvement. This is me back in October at South Luangwa Safari Park. You can't tell but I'm sick as hell in this picture. I was taking Malarone, my third attempt at malaria prophylaxis, and it wrecked havoc on my body. That combined with the fact that it was the hottest month of the year in Zambia made the game drives a bit trying. After this trip I decided malaria had to be easier than the meds preventing it and I stopped taking anything. So far so good. It’s month 10 and no malaria. Three months to go. I’m also including other pictures from that trip.