The Long Road to Livingstone

Made good progress today – Sydney and Nyachi both seem happy with the new accounting software and agree that it is very user friendly. Hope to get all the outstanding data entered tomorrow – and then should be on course to get everything completed by the end of the week. Still a lot to do but finally everything seems to be coming together!

 

Back in Lusaka (19 April 2010) 

 

After another 5am start and another 6 hour long bus journey, I am now back in Lusaka.  I got into the office about 2pm this afternoon and managed to get QuickBooks downloaded and installed before the end of the day. Progress! Hoping to get all the groundwork completed tomorrow so that I can spend the rest of the week training Sydney and Nyachi on how to use the software.

 

I spent most of yesterday hanging out with some of the Edusport team in Livingstone. This gave me a good opportunity to get to know them better and learn a bit more about how their organization was formed and about the activities that they run. I could happily listen to them talk all day – their stories are so inspiring. As much as I am supposed to be here to help them, I feel like they have a lot to teach me!

 

 

Victoria Falls (18 (April 2010) 

 

I finally made it to the Victoria Falls yesterday – and it was well worth the wait!

We first visited the Zambian side of the falls, and climbed down 700m of descent to see the “Boiling Pot” – the biggest whirlpool on the Zambezi. From here we had an uninterrupted view of the Victoria Falls Bridge – and witnessed numerous bungee jumpers in action. Bungee jumping is definitely not for me – it looked awful!

 

We had been advised that the views of the falls from the Zimbabwean side of the Zambezi were much more impressive than from the Zambian side, so we decided to cross the border into Zimbabwe. In two days I have managed to spend $135 on visas – all this border crossing does not come cheap! However, it was definitely worth it – the views were spectacular and there were only a small number of tourists in comparison to on the Zambian side.

 

Victoria Falls town is only about 1km away from the actual falls on the Zimbabwean side, and so later in the afternoon we wandered up to have a look. This is a town clearly geared up for tourists – but it was absolutely dead. We were approached by half a dozen children begging for money and were constantly harassed by touts trying to sell us souvenirs. Despite the views of the falls being better from Zimbabwe, it appears that the recent troubles in the country have scared off the tourists, and the town is really suffering as a result.

 

As we were walking back from Zimbabwe to Zambia, we suddenly noticed all the locals running towards us.  I then heard somebody scream “Elephant!”  Apparently there was an elephant only metres from the road! Needless to say, we upped our pace considerably until we were a substantial distance away!

 

 

The long road to Livingstone and a first glimpse of the Falls! (15 April 2010) 

 

As well as the office in Lusaka, EduSport has offices in the Copperbelt, in the north of Zambia, and in Livingstone, in the south. The Livingstone office has just one full time member of staff – Carol – who coordinates all the activities in the area. Earlier today, Sydney and myself travelled the 470km from Lusaka to Livingstone to meet Carol and help her set up a cashbook.

 

Tom, my newfound taxi driver, picked me up at 5.30am. People here tend to find a taxi driver they like and trust – and then stick with them. Tom is originally from the Western Province and has never been to school so cannot read or write. He told me that he is saving up to go to night school so that he can learn – so I add a couple of thousand kwacha to each journey’s fare.

I got on the bus at the Intercity Bus Station about 5.45am. I couldn’t see Sydney but given that I was a little bit early (by African standards at any rate!), I was not unduly concerned. As the bus drove off there was still no sign of him. I wondered if he was actually on the bus and I just hadn’t noticed! I looked around but couldn’t see him and I had no credit on my phone so couldn’t call.  I guessed that he had simply missed the bus – I have come to almost expect such things in this country now! About 6.30am he called to confirm that this is indeed what had happened and that he would see me in Livingstone.

 

The bus stopped a number of times during the six-hour journey – at which point everyone frantically scrambled off, used the facilities, purchased food or water, and rushed back on. It wasn’t clear to me whether or not the driver was checking whether everyone who got off, got back on. Not wanting to get stranded somewhere in the middle of Zambia, I didn’t hang about at any of the stops!

 

Carol met me from the bus and, after having some lunch, we got straight to work. Yesterday, frustration! Today, success! Carol was very receptive to everything I taught her and we now have an up to date, working cashbook for the Southern Province!

 

I am staying in Livingstone this weekend and am looking forward to seeing the Victoria Falls (which I caught my first glimpse of earlier this afternoon) tomorrow!