The End

All good things must come to an end and that is also true for my Blog. While my return to Canada may not necessarily mean the end of my mid-life crisis, it certainly concludes an eventful chapter. So now seems like an appropriate time to sign-off and put my Blog into retirement.

At the risk of making this the blogging equivalent of the final episode of Seinfeld I will try to be brief. Although I didn’t have any great expectations when my Blog was first established, it has turned-out to be an excellent venue for sharing my experiences during the past two years while living in Kenya, Pakistan and Zambia. It has been a pleasant surprise to me how much I’ve enjoyed writing about my adventures and from what I understand from my readers it has been an even greater surprise to them that I could actually write.

One of my guiding principles in life is that when I’m an old man and they put me in a home for the elderly I want to have more stories to tell than the guy sitting next to me. Over the past two years I’ve have posted over one hundred stories and many more photos on my blog site. I should have a few good stories to tell the old-timers.

So ends this chapter of my mid-life crisis and with it this blog. Thanks for having read along.

One Last Temptation

With less than two days remaining in my stay in Zambia I’m busily trying to get things wrapped-up at work. It wouldn’t surprise me if smoke started coming from my laptop. Then the following email forwarded from MSF catches me by surprise:

“Could you please check and let me know if Ian - finishing up his mission in Zambia I believe, perhaps handing over already? - would be available to go to Ivory Coast for a few weeks to do a spot of FinCo Coaching? Even if he does not speak French we might still consider sending him there if it is feasible for him. Could you please check with the mission and let me know?”

The Ivory Coast may sort of be on the way to Canada from Zambia, but this side-trip just wasn’t possible. It was nice to be asked and yes, it did hurt a bit to say no.

Ready or Not

Time flies when you’re having fun and that certainly can be said for my stay in Zambia. Although it feels like I’ve just arrived, my departure is now just a few days away. My upcoming schedule is as follows:

• Wednesday, January 24th – last day of work in Zambia
• Thursday, January 25th – fly to Amsterdam via London.
• Friday, January 26th – debriefing at the MSF office in Amsterdam.
• Saturday, January 27th – visit my Dutch VSO comrade Frank, who has just returned from his two-year placement in Kenya. We started on our journey together, but ended-up taking different paths.
• Sunday, January 28th – fly to Vancouver.
• Monday, February 5th (tentative date) – back to work at BC Hydro.
  

It’s really hard to believe, as I sit here in my house in Lusaka, drinking coffee on this cloudy Saturday morning, that over the next week I will be in three different continents and will be leaving Zambia behind. At one moment I’m thinking about what tasks I need to complete while still in Zambia and whether I can fit-in one last floor hockey game at the Swedish Embassy. Then I shift to questions about my imminent new life back in Canada – where will I live, what will it be like to return to work at BC Hydro, and how long will it take me to get back into reasonable shape?

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here in Zambia. With trips to Nchelenge district, Livingstone and South Luangwa National Park I have been able to see an interesting cross-section of the country plus I’ve really enjoyed the friendly and relaxed Zambian people. The work has been less intense compared to what I experienced in Pakistan and it’s been easier fitting into a new situation now that I have MSF experience. All in all, this has been a great assignment.

As much as I’ve enjoyed being in Zambia I am quite content to be making my way back to Canada. The MSF project here is relatively quiet and I suspect that I would grow pretty restless if I stayed much longer. Also, although there are some interesting aspects to my job, the main components are either not too exciting (financial) or a pain in the butt (human resources). It has been the greatest of experiences, but not the greatest of jobs. Finally, after two years of being a gypsy I’m looking forward to being based in Canada again. Of course, it will be interesting to see how long that feeling lasts.

So after two years of wandering the globe I am finally returning to Canada to stay. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if I’m fully prepared to return, as ready or not here I come.

Lion around at South Luangwa National Park 

No shortage of grazing options available 

Elephants in South Luangwa 

South Luangwa National Park

With the clock ticking on my time remaining in Zambia I decided to go on one last adventure. I booked a weekend package trip, consisting of flying to South Luangwa National Park and staying at Mfuwe Lodge. It’s rainy season so the park is in off-season mode as flooded roads makes sections inaccessible. Also, the lush vegetation provides the animals with a wider distribution of grazing opportunities and more places to hide. So with few tourists visiting, discounted packages are made available to “residents” like myself. It was a nice treat to experience an African safari from the high-end. I especially enjoyed having my bathtub beside a large window from which I could watch hippos in the lagoon.

Although I have previously spent about two-weeks on various safaris in Kenya and Tanzania, I was still happy to have a couple more days of patrolling around for wild animals in their natural habitat. Apologies for getting off-topic, but this last sentence reminded me of a comment made by my friend Craig a few years ago about the town of Whistler: “It’s nice to see mass urban development in its natural habitat”…anyways, back to the story.

What I’ve learned about going on safaris is that each location and each day has the potential for a new experience. For me, it was the night safaris that made South Luangwa unique. We would drive with a spotlight sweeping around us, looking to see what creatures come-out at night. We saw a crocodile crossing the road, hippos munching on grass, and a couple of Lions starting their evening shift. The highlight was watching a leopard hide in the grass and patiently wait until making a quick strike on an Impala. I hadn’t seen a Leopard in the wild before so observing one in action was memorable. Obviously, Impalas aren’t all that intelligent, otherwise the victim may have wondered about the spotlight.

It was a pleasant weekend of watching animals, eating good food and lounging around the lodge. With less than two weeks remaining in my stay in Zambia I realized that this could very well be my last authentic African experience. Of course, that is what I thought when I left Kenya in 2005 and that proved not to be the case. However, it’s probably safe to say that it will be a long time until I will be watching hippos from my bathtub.

Victoria Falls

Souvenir shopping at Livingstone 

At Victoria Falls 

The kids looking at themselves in the reflection from my glasses. 

Some of my "followers" on Chisenga Island 

On the MSF boat to Chisenga Island with logistician Jan from Holland and visiting girlfriend Bridget. 

Waiting line at the health clinic on Chisenga Island

New Years at Victoria Falls

When I left Kenya in September 2005 I was pretty content with what I had seen during my time in Africa. I had hiked the mountains of Kilimanjaro and Kenya, explored the beaches of Zanzibar, and seen countless wildlife in places like the Serengeti plains. One destination that I had considered visiting, but didn’t because of its distance away was Victoria Falls. Little did I know that I would be spending my New Years there in 15-months time.

Victoria Falls proved to one of those places that you go to with medium-to-high expectations and then still manage to be impressed when you finally see it. The first thing that struck me was how wide it was (1.7 kilometres), although it wasn’t possible to see the full distance across because of the spray and mist coming from the Falls. Also, with Zambia being so flat I wasn’t expecting to see the impressive Batoka Gorge that followed. Certainly a place worthy of its inclusion as one of the world’s natural wonders.

Of course, one can’t spend all day at the Falls. Fortunately, there was no shortage of things to do around Livingstone, including such adrenaline activities as white-water rafting and bungee jumping. Acting my age for a change, I contented myself with a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River. I went by myself and quickly got acquainted with the bartender. My recent activities in Zambia had caused me to question whether I had developed immunity to alcohol. It seemed like the only sensation I would get from drinking beer is feeling bloated. In order to test this theory I did an experiment with rum (doubles) and coke. I was quickly able to conclude that without a doubt I was not immune to alcohol. Anyways, there would be no sunset to view on the cruise that evening, so the highlights were the hippos lazing in the water and the Russian couple sitting next to me at the bar.

This was the beginning of what would prove to be a very interesting night out in Livingstone. Sadly, I won’t divulge what events took place, due to a self-imposed blog story size limitation and also because I know my parents will be reading this. Let’s just say that when I awoke the next morning and looked around my hotel room one of my first coherent thoughts was “Livingstone, I presume” (sorry, I couldn’t resist using that line). The next evening was New Years Eve and I drank Coca Cola (without rum) with my dinner and by 11:00 p.m. I was fast asleep. So concluded my memorable New Years weekend in Livingstone and at Victoria Falls.