African Tour Part 2 - Zambia

Part 2 – Zambia

We spent our first night in Zambia in a nice backpacker hostel in Lusaka, the capital city.. to be honest we didn’t see much of the city as we were tired from our rude awakening on the train, and we had an early start the next morning to get the bus to Livingstone. 

After spending 18 months using the crowded, dirty and often downright dangerous public transport in Tanzania, the bus to Livingstone was quite overwhelming.. A luxury coach, with air conditioning, comfy seats, leg room, no people standing, no chickens, clean, and it even smelt nice!  I’ve only taken a long distance bus once in the UK, but this one beat it hands down!  It made the seven hour journey to Livingstone very pleasant, and before we knew it we had arrived.

Livingstone is a great place and reminded me of the towns in New Zealand.  It is clear that a lot of money is made from tourism in Livingstone as it is a clean and green place, full of good restaurants and accommodation. We stayed in the superbly named Faulty Towers, although somewhat disappointingly, there was no Manuel or Basil!

Victoria falls is only about 10km from Livingstone, and for our first visit we had booked to swim the “Devils pool”.  As we arrived at our pick up point, the rather swanky Royal Livingstone Hotel, our taxi had to take a detour around a giraffe that was stood munching on some trees on the driveway!  The Royal Livingstone hotel is located on the Upper Zambezi river, right at the top of the Falls, and you can see the spray rising from the falls.  A short boat ride took us to Livingstone Island, an island perched right on the edge of the falls and where old Dr Livingstone first saw the falls (after paddling in a dugout canoe to get there).  

Livingstone Island is the dark gren patch of trees in the centre of this picture

Livingstone, I presume?

 We were given quick tour of the island, and peered over the edge to see the view Livingstone would have had.  

Long way down!

Then we changed into our swimming costumes, at which point I realised exactly what I was about to do….. Our guide threw a stone into the water about ten feet upstream “aim for that”, he said as he started swimming and being swept downstream towards the edge of the falls.  I was relieved that the water was actually quite warm, but not so happy about the current and the proximity to certain doom!  Louise lost her shoe which bobbed happily to its own impending doom “Sod the shoe, Save yourself”, I cried!  Thankfully it was masterfully saved by the guide who seemed unconcerned about said impending doom as he swam full strength to the edge of the falls!  We reached the outcrop of rock that we had aimed for and clambered along the rocks to the Devils Pool. 

 The pool is a natural infinity pool, with a submerged rock ledge that you can sit on and peer over the edge – just don’t lean too much! 

 

Yeah, just lounging around on top of Vic Falls :)

 After posing for photos we braved more certain doom to swim back to the island and were treated to an awesome “you’re still alive” breakfast!  

NOM NOM!

That evening we took a sunset cruise along the Zambezi, and sipped on Gin & Tonics whilst watching Hippos and crocodiles in the river.  Very colonial.. wot wot wot!

After having seen the top of the falls, the next day (Christmas eve) we went to see the falls from the bottom.  Even though the falls were not quite at full strength, they were still spectacular - huge, noisy and very wet! We spent a full day walking around the national park looking at the falls, and walking along the bridge which is the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.  After yesterday's excitment I didn't fancy the Bungee jump from the bridge!

Our Christmas day was somewhat un-traditional, and started with a leisurely canoeing trip along the river a few miles upstream from the falls and getting close up (but not too close, thankyou very much) to Hippos and crocodiles!  My Christmas lunch consisted of a nice juicy burger and chips!  For the evening we returned to the Royal Livingstone Hotel and sat on the decking drinking more G&Ts and watching the sunset over the Falls (jolly good!)

After four fantastic days in Livingstone it was time to return to Lusaka, and this time it was a “business class” coach, complete with reclining seats!  We spent one more night in Lusaka then caught the plane into Lilongwe, Malawi, ready for the next leg of our epic adventure!  ……….

African Tour - Part One

I’m finally getting around to writing a blog about my holiday to Zambia and Malawi.  There is so much to write about that I won’t bore you with all the details, but I’ll let the pictures do the talking!

The first stage of our journey was the train from Dar-es-salaam in TZ to Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia.    It is a 1860 Km journey which should take 48 hours, winding southwest through Tanzania, crossing the border near Mbeya and continuing south through Zambia.  

Dar Es Salaam Train Station (Source: Wikipaedia)

We had booked a first class cabin to ourselves and bought tickets in advance , however that didn’t stop the almost inevitable confusion when we arrived as to which cabin we were actually supposed to be in.  However, after thirty minutes of toing and fro-ing, lots of conversations in kswahili, and me actually pointing out our names on the passenger manifest, we got our cabin!  Surprisingly, the train left exactly on time, and so our hope was restored!

Long Train!

The train journey was lovely, passing through some amazing scenery including the Selous Safari Park (although it was night time, so I didn’t see any wildlife), open plains, mountains and forests.  Although the train was a bit noisy and rickety it was good fun and relaxing.. there was even a bar on board!

 It was all going smoothly until we reached Mbeya, where we had a seven hour stop for “the engine to be serviced”… and then seemed to go very slowly after that all the way through the border and into Zambia.

Mbeya station.. we had some time to kill!

We finally arrived in kapiri mposhi around 12 hours later than scheduled, which meant arriving at the ungodly hour of 3am and turfed off the train into Zambia!  In times gone by, the train used to go all the way to Livingstone near Victoria falls, but now it sonly goes as far as Kapiri-Mposhi a town with few redeeming features apart from being at the end of the line.  We stayed long enough to find a taxi to Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia and on to our next leg of the adventure……….   

Louise, somewhere in Zambia

Mangos

November.. and it’s getting hotter…. The kind of hot where you wake up sweaty and proceed through the day with a layer of moisture on your skin.  It doesn’t help that my office is more like a sauna than an office, and although I have a fan it does little more than circulate hot air rather like a fan oven.  The paediatrician says he might bring in some of the sick babies from the NICU as it’s hotter in my office than the incubator!  The small rains have started now so after three or four days of increasing heat and tension it finally breaks with a heavy shower which cools the temperature a bit, but as soon as the clouds clear and the sun re appears all that moisture evaporates back into the air making it really humid!

On the plus side November means mango season.   There are many mango trees in and around the village, the one next to my house overhangs the neighbour’s house so every time the wind blows mangos fall onto the metal roof with a sound similar to gunshots.  If you are quick enough you can pick them from the ground, however you will have to race the children, neighbours, security guard and everyone else who is waiting for them to fall.  People seem to appear out of nowhere as soon as a mango touches down, and it is one of the rare occasions you may see a Tanzanian run!

 

Mango tree

If I’m not quick enough to get the free ones, I can buy a big bag of Embe Ndogo (small mangos, about the size of an apple) for 500TSH (20p) or a good size mango for 300TSH (12p)!  and they are the best mangos I’ve ever eaten!

More exciting news this month.. My blog is featured on the VSO UK website (http://www.vso.org.uk/volunteer/impact/volunteer-blogs),  I have bought a blender!  (mainly to make mango based juices and smoothies)… and I spotted these two big beetles getting jiggy in the garden!

 The fun never ends!!!!

Eclipse

Pin hole projection

On Sunday I was lucky enough to witness a partial solar eclipse.  I’ve only ever seen one before in the UK, and in typical UK style it was cloudy that day so did not see anything!   But this time was clear skies and blazing sunshine – perfect viewing weather.  I made my super high tech eclipse viewing device (a box with a pinhole in one end) and stood in my garden with my head in a box! 

My Neighbor had made a piece of glass covered in soot which worked very well to reduce the glare from the sun, and although is probably not as safe as those special viewing glasses you can get we all still have our retinas intact!

Not looking silly at all!

looking through sooty glass

 Pretty cool (in a geeky sort of way)!

Comings and Goings

Earlier this month I said goodbye to two of the Mtwara volunteers who have finished their placements and are returning home and also my housemate who has moved to a different VSO placement in the North of Tanzania. I have known these people since I first arrived here, over 15 months ago, but as is the way of VSO volunteering, people come and go like the tides of the sea!  I now have a new housemate and two new volunteers have arrived in Nyangao as well as many more new volunteers in the Mtwara region.  Last week I went up to Dar es salaam again to do the induction for a whole new group of 13 volunteers who will be based in many locations across Tanzania.  It is always nice to meet new people and share my experiences about living and working in Tanzania with them – I remember when I first stepped off the plane over a year ago and all the questions I had in my head at the time, the fascination with the sights, sounds and smells that now I consider part of everyday life, the heat (well I’m still not used to that) and the excitement and trepidation of starting something completely new and foreign.

 

The new intake of Volunteers October 2013

 It is easy to form friendships between volunteers as we are all experiencing the same things, we can joke about how late our Tanzanian colleagues  turn up for meetings, discuss the price of tomatoes in our local markets, compare the best chipsi-mayai we have eaten, and despair about whether the work we are doing is actually making a difference!  Whilst VSO attracts all types of people, most of them share a common attitude to life – although you do get the occasional oddball!  I’ve met volunteers from many different countries and we have shared and joked about the differences and similarities between us and I have enjoyed learning about life, customs, and the beliefs of others. 

All of the VSO Tanzania Volunteers on the steps of the Tanzanian Parliament at our annual conference in December 2012

 I’ve also formed friendships with many Tanzanians both in and out of my workplace, and again it is interesting and enjoyable to share our knowledge and customs which are sometimes so different between the two.  A few days ago one of the doctors came to ask me “Mr James,  I have a question… why is it that Europeans get married so late in life?  And some of them never have children?”… very true, given the average age of marriage in Tanzania is 18,  two thirds of women are married before their 20^th birthday and the average age of a woman to have her first child is 19.5.

It took me a while to think of a reply…. I did not want to get into a discussion about women’s and children’s rights in Tanzania, so I replied that Europeans tend to focus on their jobs in their early adult life, and to get enough money to buy a house and car and a flat screen TV and pay for the wedding and children.  Weddings and children are expensive, I told him - which he found most amusing!  

 Experiences like these make you wonder what is really important in life.. is it the materialistic things or is it the people you surround yourself with, family and friends? 

Whilst these friendships I have made are by nature transient, I hope I will stay in touch with some of the people I have met along the way (well I know at least one person I certainly will!).  And although new bonds are made, they still do not replace the bonds with family and friends back home, formed through many years not just a fleeting visit to another country.  I do miss my friends and family back home, especially when I hear bad news from home, and know I am not there to support them.  Thankfully there is the wondrous inventions of the telephone and internet, which even reach into deepest darkest Tanzania to help stay in touch!  It’s always nice to get an email or letter from friends back home, and it is the support of those people I know well, as well as those that I have just met that keep you going even if you have a crappy day!

 

Well it's not nicknamed "Valentines Service Overseas" for nothing ;)

Well, that’s my thoughts for the day… hope it didn’t get too depressing.. it wasn’t supposed to be!  I’m having a great time!!

 

It's a hard life being a volunteer, but somebody has to do it!

Work Update

A Quick update on what I’ve been upto at work!

A big part of my role here is help improve the standard of the blood transfusion service at the hospital.  This is a big and ongoing task, but I feel I am making some progress.

In the laboratory, I have already taught Laboratory staff in a better and more reliable technique for performing blood groups, tried to ensure that every unit of blood is cross matched against the patient’s blood before it is given (although this does not always happen), improved labelling of blood units, improved the safety of blood donation collections and viral testing, improved recording of testing performed and the fate of blood units and provided education for the lab staff about the theoretical aspects of blood groups and transfusions.  

I have now started the next phase of my mission, which is to train the clinical and nursing staff in better transfusion practice.  I have given a series of presentations to the doctors and clinical officers about blood transfusion, blood groups, transfusion reactions and transfusion safety and produced protocols to follow in the case of transfusion reactions.  

For the nursing staff, I have produced a protocol (in Kiswahili) to follow when giving a transfusion, and held a series of workshops (again all in Kiswahili) teaching the nurses about theoretical aspects of blood transfusion and safe transfusion practice.  I’m following this up by visiting the wards when they perform a transfusion to ensure that the safe transfusion protocol is being followed.  

Teaching the Doctors

 

For those of you reading my blog that work in Blood Transfusion, some of the things I have seen here will make you cringe and make you reach for the nearest SHOT report! A few examples…

• Ward staff would warm a blood unit before transfusion by placing into a sink of hot water
• A blood unit was taken from the lab fridge to the ward, but the patient was still in theatre so the unit would have been sat on the ward for hours before transfusion
• 2 units collected at the same time from the lab for 2 different patients (you can guess where this is leading)… the nurse was literally about to insert the line into the cannula when I asked her to confirm the name of the patient… surprise surprise.. wrong patient!
• The concept of patient observations before, during and after transfusion was completely new to the nursing staff
• Blood units 1 month past expiry date found in fridge
• Patient ID often consists of surname only - a lot of patients don’t know their date of birth, and the some names are very common here.  You would be amazed how many Saidi Mohammed ‘s there are!
• The fate of a unit of blood that was found to be unsuitable for transfusion after viral testing could not be determined
•  Our Blood bank refrigerator regularly warms up to 15°C during the day (it’s just a domestic fridge, and is about 15 years old!)… if anyone wants to donate a proper blood bank fridge then please get in touch!

I could go on, but it gives you an idea of the challenges I face on a daily basis here!  It has been a lot of work getting to this stage, and it is still on-going as with any changes in the workplace, some people are reluctant to adopt new practices.  Thankfully my Kiswahili is almost good enough to explain why we need to change and how it will benefit the patient.  After all, that’s why we are all here.. Isn’t it????