Domboshawa Cave Painting with Nana

While Eliza was over at a friend's house for much needed girl time, Miles, Nana and I drove to the nearby Domboshawa Park to get in a walk, view and bit of local culture.

Miles leads Nana up the granite dome to the cave paintings

One giant granite dome to climb.

You can do it, Nana!

We made it to the top!

The balancing rock Miles was seriously intent on reaching.

Linda Comes to Africa

jointly written by Mom & me

After months of anxious preparations for this longest and farthest trip of her life, Linda entered the Harare International Airport, struggling only slightly with the trolley piled high with bags full of U.S. goods. The trip itself had been uneventful. She slept quite a bit of the 40-hours from door to door, so it didn’t seem that long.

Eliza wanted to know if a second birthday cake meant that Miles was already 8.

Her first night was like a birthday and Christmas combined. There was a cake with candles to celebrate Miles’s 7th she'd just missed, and later suitcases were unpacked in front the fire. A few of the items received: the Incredible Hulk figure (from Sara!), a Miles World Map (from Grammy!), Power Miner lego set (from Nana), and a Sun-n-Surf ensemble for Eliza including matching bag, sandals, bikinis and hat (from Nana). Adults received a mini portable Bluetooth speaker, a tennis racket, and real maple syrup, among other things.

Another great James Stevenson book.

For a couple of days Linda enjoyed normal life for the Brigham family. She read to the first graders. She joined her daughter for the weekly meeting with Niel, the Learning Support Specialist. She watched her granddaughter swim. She went grocery shopping. She waited in line to buy tickets for the Harare International Festival of the Arts.

On the way to Nyanga

On Friday, she settled between her two grandchildren in the back of a Land Cruiser and headed for the bush. It was a fairly long ride (4 hours) that seemed longer after the sun set and the family was driving on secondary dirt tracks through the mountains. The final road on the journey was in fact grass 3-feet tall versus non-road which was grass 6-feet tall. Wouldn’t have been such a big deal if they’d actually known where they were going or had a GPS. Anywho. They got there.

hot water heater

In the dark. Since this rustic little house didn’t have power, or electrical hook-ups for that matter. And we forgot the matches. Luckily, the little house came with a housekeeper. Nyasha had matches. He lit the candles and gas lanterns and made a fire in the fireplace. There was also a gas-powered stove, gas-powered refrigerator, and fire-fueled hot water heater.

The whole wall of windows folded back. No civilization in sight.

Linda finding the bit about the leopard in the guestbook.

The morning brought a wonderful view of the mountains. The mists rolled in before she could catch a view of the Honde Valley from the viewpoint nearby, but it luckily cleared away in time for her first hike in Africa - to the spectacular Mturazi Falls, 3rd highest falls in Africa. A falls is a falls is a falls, according to Linda. She was more impressed with the view of the highland hills carpeted in green, the dramatic cliff and the beautiful valley. It was new to her to hike in the tall bush grass.

Mtarazi Falls in Nyanga National Park

View of Mozambique from the Mtarazi Falls 

Highlights: a fun night by the fire dancing with the grandkids, Nyasha saying not to worry about the leopard we'd read about in the guestbook - it's a friendly leopard, Miles's entire hand swelling from a bee sting on the tip of his middle finger, and seeing vervet monkeys and baboons in the trees and in the road.

The next day was Zimbabwe's Independence Day. Linda and company met up with several other families, all Zimbabwean or combinations of Zimbabweans and spouses from Denmark, England and Germany. And lots of children! The road to Pungwe Falls was too deeply rutted to risk driving all the vehicles, so half the group walked the last bit. They set up camp along the river at the top of the falls, stripped down to their bathing suits (or in the case of a lot of children: birthday suits) and some played, floated and swam in the cold water. It was mildly nerve-racking for Linda to see the children playing so close to the falls. In fact, she never got a proper look at the falls until she was leaving because really a falls is a falls is a falls, and she was more interested in talking with the locals, including a couple of other grandparents.

Afterwards, the group headed to the Japanese-inspired bath-house at Dietre and Heidi's place. By that time, it was getting dark, and the mist was rolling in. Just about everyone except the babies, Linda and the old Grandpa piled into the hot tub. The bravest ran from the sauna to dive into the freezing cold pool.  After that, with exhausted and moody kids in tow, we headed to the cabin where Caroline's family was staying. Once the children were sedated by nourishing, warm lasagna and a model of the Titanic to work on for hours, the adults settled around the fire with glasses of wine for pleasant conversation.

Next day, we stopped at the Inn on the Ruparara for lunch for a bit of a pampered feel before the drive back to Harare. For Linda, this had not been what she expected of Africa. This was not the savannah. There were no large animals. If not for the monkeys and baboons, it could have been Scotland.

For more photos, click the slideshow:

Something about Miles, now 7

1. He wants to have a dance party at his house and invite 6 girls and 5 boys so that everyone will have a dance partner.
2. He thinks it's really cool for his Nana to read to his class (and his class thinks it's cool, too).
3. He loves putting together lego projects without asking for help from his parents. 
4. He has recently started getting dressed by himself in the morning.
5. He eats all of his dinner, including salads and all his veggies with no complaint, and he even will eat his father's new breakfast concoctions of lentils, sausage, eggs, veggies and a bit of hot sauce.
6. He needs his free time every day....like a tonic.
7. He has a crush on Eleanor, the funkiest girl in grade one.
8. He gets in trouble at school for telling the teachers "no" when they tell him to do something. 
9. He likes the Captain Underpants series, and often checks them out at library class on Thursdays.
10. He's a good runner ("fastest boy in grade one"), but he doesn't like sports.
11. After a good movie or book, he likes to freeze the DVD on favorite scenes or just turn to the page and sketch out the characters. Sometimes he then colors them, cuts them out and plays with them.
12. He's frustrated by reading because his vocabulary and understanding of concepts is much more developed than his basic skills in reading.
13. He only likes to drink milk or water.
14. Although he is easily the height of an average 7-year-old, he has the waist and bottom of a 4-year-old.
15. His best friend is Vaughn (American mother / Kenyan father...just like Obama!).
16. He's bossy.
17. He often changes the lyrics to songs to make them about Eliza in a way that annoys her.
18. He adores his sister even though he teases her.
19. He's taking voice lessons once a week where he has been working on a couple of songs he made up.
20. He enjoys and is not afraid of insects, spiders and snakes, but he knows to not pick them up because they can be poisonous.

Easiest Birthday Ever

A little side note to start: April is awesome in Zimbabwe. It's hardly raining anymore but still green. The sun is warm, and the air is cool. It's perfect.

Cindy on a stroll, and yes, those are normal size bricks - she's that big.

So there's that, and Easter and another national holiday, which may be why the local schools close in April and everyone travels. Miles's birthday fell on a vacation period again, so I decided instead of inviting whoever was around to a whole class party thing, to just go mellow this year. Since Nana is coming and we'll be taking some special trips, Miles seemed cool with that, too. (Whew!)

Miles's Birthday Day, Part 1

Miles, Eliza and I got up bright and early and made a chocolate cake together - first time I'd made an iced cake since Miles turned one. It will become an every-seven-years tradition, I think. OK, it fell apart, but it was not only edible - my friend Bettina actually took the left-overs home with her because she wanted to eat more which is a total coup, as far as my cooking goes. I was thrilled. (Now back to Miles.)

Miles can't get enough legos which is good because that's what everyone gave him.

After baking, we had our usual Sunday tennis lessons with Jana Lou (Miles's classmate) and her family, plus Vaughn and his mom came over. The kids went swimming, ate cake, opened a few gifts. It was great! No pomp, no clowns, no blow up castle, and real friends who didn't mind that we forgot to order the pizza.

Miles's Birthday Day, Part 2
Around 2, we packed some drinks and meat for the braai and headed out to a local airfield used for micro-light type aircraft. Eliza's friend Ella's father Peter has a small 4-seater plane. We met them and three other families including my friend Caroline's.

Men circling the braai pit, aka BBQ.

Eliza with Cecilia and Ella

Three of the families put their first born son on the little plane, poured themselves another G&T, and thought pleasant thoughts about our host/pilot who was not drinking and did a thorough check of his little plane as we all stood around and watched. It was a beautiful day, and everyone was tingling with excitement and trepidation.

Runway & the plane getting ready for take off.

David and Eliza watching Miles take off

Caroline and Jonathan cheering on the boys taking off

Peter and another little friend, Thomas.

They flew around the nearby suburbs/farms and came back with the softest landing I've ever seen. Then it was somebody else's turn. Without my even knowing it until the plane was about to take off, barefoot Eliza had joined the next group. She and all the kids were unfazed by it and happy to go for a ride. Slowly the rest of us adults were lulled into going. It was nice to fly low enough to really see the land and its contours. There are actually hills and rivers not far away. It's always nice to get a new perspective on the place where you live. All in all, a great day!

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The Bvumba

For the kids' week-long "Spring Break" we headed back to the Bvumba part of the Eastern Highlands for a few nights. We stayed in this Geneina Lodge in the tip top suite, and I'm pretty sure we had the whole place to ourselves. We played jenga and charades with the kids upstairs which was hilarious. Then with Eliza asleep and Miles on the iPad playing Angry Birds, David and I slipped downstairs for a nice dinner just the two of us.

The Geneina Lodge

Next morning we headed to "The Castle" which is an old fort built by the Italian POWs of WW2. It's a few minutes walk from Leopard Rock Hotel and golf course, and from the top of the castle, all of that can be viewed, as well as the mountains all around. Very pretty! Miles's friend Vaughn and his family met us there, and we had the whole place to ourselves. We stayed in the part on the left in the photo below. On each floor there would be one or two rooms, then a long set of stairs up to the next level (with 4 levels). The Tower Room at the top had amazing views on every side.

The Castle

Eliza liked the idea of being in a castle, and she was a charming little lady (most of the time). The boys enjoyed just being on a trip together. They even had their own room. The whole lot were never bored with plenty to explore - a good environment to play pretend.

Frisbee golf - not the best ideas with thick azalea shrubs and dense tropical bush beyond.

David and Sheryl's father Bruce played 18 holes both days, while the kids played in the mountain streams and swimming pool at the course, and the ladies enjoyed sipping G&Ts and just taking it easy in the beautiful surroundings. We took turns walking the course with the guys, played billiards, and just caught up with each other and kept half an eye on the kids. We really had the whole place to ourselves. Although Leopard Rock is certainly past its heyday, it's still in remarkably good condition.

David tees off at his favorite hole.

Eliza watching Daddy tee off across the pond.

We had a nice picnic at the fish pond at the Bvumba Botanical Garden. Miles led us through the jungle.

Feeding the fish

Then while the kiddies were safely watching cartoon network, the adults enjoyed conversation while watching the beautiful sunset over the mountains from a high balcony in the castle. The dinners were great with the whole gang at the table - kids learning how to put their napkins in their lap and use the right fork. In the mornings from the same balcony, we could watch the sunrise while listening to the tropical bird call and monkeys chattering.

Link to more photos: