Holiday Away

Hey Guys,
So i now it seems silly that I needed a holiday away, mostly because some you think this is one giant holiday away..(you know who you are)  NOT TRUE!

Granted I don't have the normal workday pressures or stresses. Stresses now have come from relocating myself, learning and keeping up a 3 new cultures, new ways of thinking and new ways of doing these are not always easy an easy task.

My brain needed a few days to not think, and my feet to not walk so I went up to Nyanga for the weekend. It was a nice 4 hour car ride past balancing rocks and small towns. We also took a small car ride over to Mutare which is a stones throws from Mozambique...it took everything I had not to try to cross the border to add another country to my list.

 Where is It?? Its Zimababwes' eastern highlands boarding Mozambique,  it holds some beautiful waterfalls, wild animals, mountain peaks and the coldest weather. (no snow but super windy and
it was at 5 C ( 41 F) the other night...and its NOT winter yet.. Yikes!

I happen to bump into the family that helps deliver the literature to the Shona & English kingdom halls up there. So I grabbed the chance to explore a bit more of the area, knowing my days are numbered here.

There is a small area called Mutasa, it lies between Nyanga and Mutare, it has the most concentrated witnesses there, every 3 miles (5Ks) there is a kingdom Hall! I had the pleasure to visit one of the 2 English halls this last Sunday, I think we had about 20 or more there and only 2 cars in the "parking lot"--technically it was the yard-- and no microphones, you had to use your big boy voice there. (I had no problems in that department :D)

Zumbane Lodge

It was a nice few days away in the wilderness, hiking a trail or two and staying at the Zumbane lodge. Of which I highly suggest that if you come to Zim you MUST see this place and might as well stay in a fully furnished home for a fantastic price. We did lose power but whats a trip to Africa with the full amenities of the 1st world counties? Zasa these days..haha I also may or may have not gone to bed with my winter hat on, and a towel as extra bedding..I found out later my extra blanket was being held hostage in the the other room. or....maybe I just forgot to ask for it...oops.





Now I am back home, with only two weeks left to go. These four months...man I tell ya..flown by.  The emails may be coming a bit closer together now, I have so much I want to share before I leave. Bear with me folks.

See some of you sooner then later.
Katie

Lakr Karbia

This is the 3rd largest man-made reservoir in the world. It was created when the Zambezi river was dammed for the purpose of generating hydroelectric power. Some teak trees still stand even after 50 some years under water. Its swarming with crocodiles and hippopotami and on a good day you will be able to watch elephants cooling them selves off in the mud bed. Watching the world from here makes it hard to believe you're still in Africa.
Our group is 21 people, half from the states and the other are locals. We rented condos from a place call Caribbean Bay we have three, its in a beautiful place...right on the corner of a little land that jets out a bit into the lake and two personal pools. We may or may not have a pack of baboons running around our cabins too...fighting little dudes.
Part of the lake is in Zambia so we snuck a short swim so we could say we've been there. The only way to come to this place is with a boat.. Staying on land just wouldn't cut it. The three families we came with have boats so we spilt into groups of 7 and each day we take off into the rising sun, coming home only when the sun was setting. We have been be to see crocodiles...hippos..elephants..and zebras all from our boats, comfortably as we sip our cokes or gin and tonics.
One our new friends, Sport {real name is William} is our personal crocodile Dundee...I swear he's done everything up here in the bush. He worked here for a little while on the boats finishing for capenta fish which only work at night. He did a five day hike here when he was young and he said he's picked a few spots for the future new world he's gonna build on. Ha All the islands here were the high hills, one is called Rhino Island where a black rhino was stranded and they had to put into place operation Noah's ark to save him.

We've had a great time up her for the last four days. I will be happy to get back to service & walking routine. I will be coming home with nice color. :)