Hakuna Matata

As you can see my language skills greatly improved by seeing the the Lion King. This was about the only phrase I knew in Kiswahili when I arrived in Tanzania and the only other word I picked up was "Jambo" which is nothing to do with Hearts football team but means welcome. We has 3 nights in Dar Es Salam which is a great big dirty, busy port and city, much as I expected. We had 5 nights in Zanzibar which was amazing. We spent sometime in Stonetown and the rest of the time on Kandwa beach. It was a bit like Mozambique Island but on a much larger scale. It has a similar history with the slave trade. We went on the spice trail which was really interesting. We visited the slave caves where they hid the slaves once slaving became illegal. We went snorkeling on a coral reef and lazed about on the beach. We shopped till we dropped then we revived ourselved by drinking cocktails. Our plans to travel back overland did not work out so we spent an extra day there and flew back. I'd love to go back to Zanzibar sometime but I don't think I will be able to fit it in before I finish in Malawi.

Harry gave birth to 4 beautiful kittens. She is a great mum. They are nearly 3 weeks old, their eyes are open and they are just about standing. I will never forget, as a health visitor, being invited to sit down in a house but being warned about the sofa because "the dug gave birth on it", I was really disgusted by it. So where did Harry give birth? On the sofa, but not before I put plastic and old news papers on it. I didn't have the heart to move her once her contractions started. I watched her labour from begining to end. Watching her eat the placenta and after birth was a bit nauseating but it saved me cleaning it up. I've been so taken with the whole thing I think I'll let her have another litter.

I eventually got 2 laying hens, Thelma and Louise, as of this morning, they had 17 eggs between them. My remaining cockerel has been doing his stuff and, within the next month, I hope to have some lovely little chickens for the kittens to play with. The good life continues, the garden continues to produce lots of veg and herbs. The weather has been much cooler and we have had some wind and rain recently. I love it. The sun and heat is fine at the beach and lake but its very tiring working in it.

Mumbo Island was everything it promissed to be. A tropical island paradise 10 km off the lakeshore. We had sundowners on sunset boat trips, coffee brought to our tent in the morning before breakfast and excellent food. The only mammals there are otters and we saw plenty of them. The tents were luxury walk in affairs, fully furnished with balconies on stilts over the lake complete with hammocks. We spent our time kayaking, snorkeling and swimming. It would all have been very healthy if we had not enjoyed the food and booze so much.

I'm really excited about the next couple of weeks. The boys are arriving on Wednesday. I'm driving up to Lilongwe tomorrow to meet them off their flight. We are then going to the lake for 2 days then to Malosa for 2 days before we set off on our trip to Zambia. We are going to South Luangwa and Victoria Falls. I'm looking forward to going again and seeing the animals and the Falls 2 months on. The water level will have dropped and the Falls will look different and hopefully this time I will be able to raft on the Zambezi. Last time the water level was too high. The vegitation will be different in South Laungwa and it will be easier to see some of the wild life. Working in a college has its advantages with long holidays.

When I return to work I will be teaching the students in the mental hospital again. So I have plently to look forward to. Despite all the fun and new experiences I'm having I still miss everyone at home. I really appreciate all the contact from family and friends. I hope everyone is well. Keep in touch.