Grammy and Grandpa's Visit, Part 2: Spurwing Island

Next on the agenda: Spurwing Island. It was luckily a great trip, though the start was a bit rough. Eliza got carsick and vomited several times in David's car. By the time I saw her in Kariba, she was wearing only one pair of boy's underwear but was still in good spirits. The car...well, you can imagine.

After a long and stressful 5-hour drive, we had another hour and a half of being separated, unable to communicate, and worried about missing our boat to the island. I had wanted to drive more slowly in my mini-van than David in his big Toyota double-cab Hilux, so I went on ahead while he had to keep stopping to clean up Eliza. There was basically one turn to get to the marina, and I passed it and drove all the way to the border - a mistake that cost about 30 minutes. It was very much a lesson in the differences between road travel in Zimbabwe and the US. The whole way from Harare to Kariba, we were on a 2-lane highway with no lines, shoulders, or on/off ramps, and only occasional long flat stretches - so lots of gut-stirring passing or waiting to pass...and hoping some crazed BMW won't top the next hill going 130 km/hr or some cow won't wander across the road at the wrong moment. Nor is there dependable signage or a reliable phone network. And that is why Gayle and Mike and I were standing at that one turn off to the marina - to wave down David since the network was down and we couldn't call him. However, incredibly, neither Tracy nor David saw us, and they whizzed by us, off to the border as we had done. We had to wait for them to find their way back to us... Luckily, the ferry to take us to Spurwing Island was still waiting. Sigh.

After that, it was a breeze. Spurwing is really nice. They have nice boats and vehicles for game drives in the Matusadonha National Park which is the biggest, wildest park we've been to here. It was just the right time to get up to that area - at the end of the dry season, all the animals flock to the lake to find the only fresh water around. A pride of lions, a rare sight, had been spotted that morning. There was only room for two more on the game drive that afternoon, so Gayle and Mike went and were able to see the lions that were following a herd of buffalo. The rest of us just chilled out - the kids played in the pool and enjoyed setting up their tent-huts and throwing things into the lake. Kariba is the largest man-made lake in the world (by volume and fourth in size by surface area), and we were along the southeastern shore.

These are the four tent-huts we stayed in - complete with en suite bathrooms, hot water showers and a view of the sunrise on the water.

At end of the dry season, the water was very low. Miles, Eliza and Vaughn looking for hippos.

Hippos would pop-up in these waters, near and far. Also, we spotted a huge monitor lizard crawling up the retainer wall just in front of our tents. It's like a colorful green-yellow-brown, yard-long snake with with 4 big legs.

Much deserved chill out time by the pool.

Silliness ensued.

The boys wanted their own tent for the night, but I ended up joining them at some point. The wind off the lake really picked up, and the sounds of nature were deafening...at least to my half-awake, half-anxious-to-be-on-the-edge-of-the-wild mom. Miles was a little anxious, too. The next night David joined the boys tent, and Eliza and I were on our own. Luckily, the guests staying in the tent-hut next to ours didn't show us the photo they'd taken of the snake on their roof until the morning we were leaving, or I'm certain I wouldn't have slept well on the second night...or felt very comfortable with the kids running around free and barefoot the whole time!

Ah, sunrise.

Drawing: what he must do at some point every day. I love it!

Gula (our nickname for E) watching for hippos in the morning sunlight.

Ah, retirement. This was Mike's first time to Africa and first time to visit us abroad. We were so pleased in had a good experience.

Zavion and Tracy at their tent-hut.

Day 2: David and I took the boys fishing while Grammy, Mike, Tracy and the 4-year-olds went on a boat safari. Although the little ones did get a little tired of being on the boat, they did get to see a lot of wildlife. The fishing was hot as hell, but it was a total success. Just drop in a line and within a minute, you had a bite. Miles caught the first fish of the day and the first in his life. Vaughn caught the first keeper. They were small bream, so most were thrown back, but we still ended up taking home around a dozen which we ate for dinner the following night back in Harare.

While fishing, we saw hippos, crocodiles, antelope, and elephants on the beach. Awesome.

Vaughn getting a bite. (I was happy to see that Miles never got upset when Vaughn was having a streak of good luck.)

Vaughn's picture.

David tiger fishing...we were just a little early for the season, so no catches this time. Best to go late Oct - late Nov.

We got back for lunch, a dip in the pool and nap before the game drive. Since Gayle and Mike had done the game drive the day before, they went on a cruise to a river gorge (not as great as the game drive but still nice). The rest of us took a boat to the national park where our guide picked up a vehicle and a park ranger. It was the best vehicle for safari that I've been in, but with the kids, more than once I was feeling a little too exposed. So I wasn't too disappointed that we didn't see the hungry lions.

Touching the big teeth and tusks of rhino remains.

We saw more wild elephants than I'd ever seen at once, at least 50. Often we'd come around a corner and be face to face with a bull or three. They were using their big feet to dig up this clover-like grass, that they'd scoop into a pile with their trunk to eat it. Young males came at us a few times - not charging but flapping their ears and blowing their trunks. An elephant can run very fast...and these are wild ones, not those we usually see that have been raised in private game parks and are used to humans. So it was pretty exciting to be just sitting on top of the truck so close by.

Bulls flapping their ears and showing their stuff.

Eliza placing her hand in a lion tracks.

Sundowners at a large termite mound. Eles all around.

Tired Gula ready to go home.

Thanks for coming Grammy and Grandpa!

Grammy & Grandpa Come to Zimbabwe, Part 1: Around Harare

David's surprise birthday gift for me (a trip to Muscat) had us arriving in Harare just a few hours before his mom and Mike, but all went well. Tracy and Zavion arrived two days later - just in time for Tarisai Day at the school. While HIS upper grades went on week-long trips for Explore Zimbabwe, Early Childhood up to Grade 4 spent the day at school on a circuit of presentations, learning about important issues, places and cultures of Zim.

Signing a pledge (on a smart board) to protect rhinos 

Sheryl and M's classmates Vaughn, Bukhosi and Deeksha at the Tarisai Day family picnic

We had planned on going to Lake Kariba immediately since the kids had a long weekend, but we ended rescheduling for the next weekend due to a conflict at the resort where we wanted to stay. That allowed us to enjoy a jam packed weekend: the Hoggerty Hill Fair, Eliza's friend Emma's birthday party and ultimate frisbee on Saturday, a picnic at the nearby Lake Chivero National Park on Sunday, and a morning hike to Domboshawa (ancient rock paintings & granite dome) on Monday.

the dads of the British Embassy vs. dads of kids at the Greek Orthodox school

I was really pleased with the Lake Chivero picnic. Some families in Harare buy a boat and go up to the lake just about every weekend. We had only been out there a few times - it's where the Lion & Cheetah Park and Snake World are located, just 45 minutes or so away from home. But there's another entrance that takes you into the game park that is fenced off and allows you to drive your own car through the forest and grasses along the lake. From our minivan, we saw wildebeest, antelope, giraffe, zebra, ostriches, guinea fowl, baboons and a mother rhino and her baby. We set up a picnic in near total isolation...a boat came by once and some people drove by once...but other than that, it was just us and the baboons, zebra and ostriches - just hanging out, having some wine and lunch.

great picnic spot

 It was great for bird watching, too, which Grammy and Grandpa were up to most days, whether in our garden or out on excursion.

Cecilia and Eliza

Bird-watcher Gayle Weiss

Caroline - she and Domonik, as always giving us the insider information on all the best places to go.
You don't have to spend a gazillion dollars on a safari resort to enjoy the natural beauty of Zim.

fish eagle - the national symbol

Miles was at the end of his first unit, so his second grade class did a presentation at the end of week school assembly: Fabulous Friday. Their unit was on  the School Community. They did interviews with various people at the school, made maps of the campus and surveys. They visited a local school and came up with a project to help the students there. They learned about HIS's history and made recommendations for improving the school. For the presentation, Miles and a few other students were news anchors, reporting on the class's accomplishments. Highlights: when the teacher explained that the reason for a pregnant pause in the performance was that we were waiting for the music to cue up since Miles insisted that he have a news jingle intro. Also, his handing over to "roving report Vaughn Stumbras" - his best friend. Miles did very well. He was well prepared by his teachers to expect for things not to go perfectly and to just roll with it...which he did. We were very proud of him, and he was proud of himself. And the special audience of all his visiting relatives made it all the more exciting.

Miles with classmates Doma (Bhutanese/Danish), Eleanor (British/American) and Bukhosi (Zimbabwean)

friends after the show: Bukhosi, Vaughn (Kenyan/American) and Miles + cousin Zavion

Yes, Miles's teacher asked that I get Miles's haircut for the show, as well as ensure he was dressed "smartly." I ended up going all boys-school-uniform on him, as it was the cheapest local option for tie, trousers and shoes.

Whoa.

Summer was great.

Miles, the oldest of the Brigham grandkids, is forever paving the way. He spent nearly a week with his grandparents in Boulder, Colorado - straight off a Harare-Jo'burg-Atlanta-Denver flight that took all of...well, we won't count the hours. David was with him all the way, but after a couple of nights - and getting to see Aunt Erin and her family, D flew on to meet me and Eliza in Oakland to see the Herrings on their turf for the first time since our honeymoon.

Then gorgeous, rustic Orcas Island for a reunion with the Bradley/Brighams. In the huge nature of the northwest, we did a bit of walking, exploring tidal pools, sea kayaking alongside seals and seeing the huge purple starfish and bald eagles plucking dinner from the water. We ate great seafood, celebrated Bassie's 5th birthday, saw deer all around our house on Doe Bay, and took boats out to watch the orcas. Stunning!

Bassie's Birthday!

Heather, Bradley & Tracy

seeing a doe at Doe Bay

Miles playing in the tidal pools.

Then we enjoyed Seattle:

Daddy Jack playing soccer with his grandkids

Miles, Zavion, Sebastian and Eliza in the North Cascades

3 generations

My college roommate Tricia and her family.

Sebastian and Zavian in Seattle

A train ride to Portland, Oregon to Mercy Corps and to see my old high school friend Tanja Kraatz.

David and Miles leaving Mercy Corps's office in Portland 

Pleeeeeese buy these, Mom.

Then back in Chattanooga after a year away: BBQs at Mom and Dad's with visiting Sara, Brandon & Elliott, Paige and Marc's, nice dinners out, Uncle Marscell's retirement party, a trip to Nashville to celebrate 40th birthdays, sleepovers with the Pattersons', swimming at the neighborhood pool with the Wamacks, summer camp at the Aquarium, a trip to the water park, another birthday party, walks with the dogs, SYTYCD...

Webster

Eliza, Elliott & Miles on Walnut St. bridge

She is 4. It is a statue.

Cousin Samantha & Eliza

Lisa & Mary

I love this. My friends' kids in order of age.

Pinata torture.

Miles & Trey

...and a gizillion more photos