Ronny G's final blog

So this is probably the last post till I get back to the US

So we just got back from Safari and just wanted to state some highlights:

Well I wanted to take a photo of this buffalo. He stood up as if he were about to attack, but I stood my ground! The big buffalo is no match for strong Ron!

Other highlights included the continuous noise every day by the hyenas and hippos that just continued to sing while I was trying to get some shut eye

We were lucky enough to be greeted every time we went on a game drive by a swiss girl, who always said “Wow, you saw lions”, “Wow”, “hello” blah blah blah. She annoyed me so much!
So then after a couple of days and a repetitious adventure jingles were going left right and centre. We got to see Pumba and Simba (from the lion king). Chris Rock from Madacscar, and other animals.

After a couple of days we got to meet another person in the lodge, that was a German lady, who for some reason decided that selling her car would be worthwhile in order to travel to South Luangwa for her 2nd time (I don’t this she has all of her marbles).
She was so fashionable, she had white/grey hair but at the front she wanted to dye her hair blue and wanted to match her eye brows with the same colour. Wow, what style, she is well ahead of the rest of the world. You never know, maybe one day this fashion will move to the US and even Australia.

Another interesting thing to see was this elephant, but this elephant was bigger than the others and I don’t mean in weight. This elephant had 5 legs!!!! Well the 5th leg was between his 2 back legs and I am sure he would make the other elephants in the jungle jealous. I also think that for some reason, he would be a lady elephant man, catching all the female elephants. What a stud!
What else, I was so upset that I could not run in the jungle. The guides were saying that it is too dangerous, but seriously, not running almost killed me.

My teammates made fun of me. You see being in the bush, I thought one should use the “facilities” of the bush. So, I went every so often to the real toilet, a tree or a plant. My pioneering led the guide to do the same. I think the team discovered what a small bladder I have. (I guess what is small is made up by a big……….hmmmm.. talking about the 5th legged elephant)

My regret was not to bring a football to kick, there was so much open spaces that it would have been fun to play, and if monkeys or elephants or zebras or even lions wanted to join us, I would not object (after all, they are bigger than me)

So, we were treated like kings here. Because we are Mazungos (white people), many assumed us to be rich. And looking at the villages in Mfuwe (near South Luangwa) and Lusaka, it breaks my heart to see how they live, knowing that I have it better. I hope that eventually Zambia will become a more sustainable country with people living more Western lives. Overall, the people here are very friendly and want a snack to eat. Many are very laid back, which means things don’t always run on time, and things occur later.

Overall, the clinics, the falls, the safari/jungle, the villages have been an eye opening experience. Africa has been a great experience. While Lusaka is not the most happening place in the world, Zambia is fascinating and I am glad my team and I decided to undertake this journey. Anyway, the team was great, the project was a success and now it is time to Diedre (to go in Nyanja).
Now I am leaving the heat after being away from the cold for 6 weeks, and while I am looking forward to fast internet, drinkable tap water etc, I am dreading the Boston cold.
I will always remember this African experience!