new year....new life plan?

it's the last day of 2010, the sky is beautifully blue, the sun is warm and i'm in a pretty positive mood.

we have been working here at the lodge for just over a month, and i've been 'hosting' my little arse off, welcoming, entertaining and keeping guests company, helping with the kitchen, stock-taking and ordering things, keeping a watchful eye on housekeeping, fluffing the odd cushion in the lobby, and generally being a spare pair of hands when needed by the staff and a friendly face to turn to whenever the guests need anything. it takes its toll, but its not exactly hard work in the way i'm used to.

admitedly the hours are pretty long. we tend to get up about 6am, and head down to the lodge, and will then stay down and around the main guest area, or close at hand behind the scenes for most of the day. if we are sitting at dinner then we will nip back to our room to shower and change and apply lashings of bug repellent before returning to greet the guests as they get in from their game drives. we will then eat supper with them, making sure the conversation doesn't dry up if there are guests who don't know each other at the table (not often a problem when i'm sitting, unsurprisingly!), and being a figure that is able to speak relatively authoritatively about the area and the game, or re-direct questions to the guides as and when our safari knowledge fails us. on occasion the guests are safari veterans, and have more knowledge and stories than we do, which is always entertaining- we had an Indian man who had done a lot of hunting and had some amazing stories, and a lovely older English couple who were keen birders, and kept us entertained with their tales of twitching around the world. generally, hopefully we are just a charming addition to the dinner table. most often the guests don't keep us up too late- they have a wake up call even earlier than us, at 5.45am to ensure they get out to see the best of the game before the day gets too hot- so we are usually done at dinner by 9.30pm when heads start to droop and nightwatchmen are called to escort people to their rooms.

if we are 'on duty' (which happens once a week- my day is Wednesday) then we are the last ones to leave the lodge in the evening- once the last guests have gone to bed we lock up all the offices and check everything is shut down for the day. the duty manager also has the double whammy of being the first one up to open everything in the morning, at just gone 5am, and be around for the guest's breakfast at 6am. we also have the unenviable task of taking a walkie-talkie to bed with us; in case anything disastrous happens in the middle of the night we are the first port of call. the husband has been called out of bed for a bat in a bedroom, which was making the guest most irrate, but luckily i haven't had any major incidences that have disturbed my sleep yet. the worst side-effect i've had from sleeping with my face a few centimetres from the walkie-talkie is that i've spent one night continually waking and in a groggy state (possibly Larium induced- Wednesday is not only my duty day, but also the day of the week i take my anti-malarial tablet, renowned for causing hallucinations) being convinced that there was a firefly in the mosquito net with me. i kept trying to catch it, so i could release it into the night, but it disappeared whenever i stretched my hand out, and after a few frustrating minutes i rolled over and gave up, only to wake an hour later and go through the whole routine again. this process repeated itself several times in the night, at one point i even woke the husband to try to point out the amazing disappearing firefly to him, and it was only in the morning, as i gathered the accoutrements of the duty manager role, and looked at the quiet little flashing green bulb on the top of the walkie talkie that i realised my 'firefly' had been nothing other than the power light on the top.

nonetheless, despite the hours we work here being long, the 'work' itself comes pretty naturally to me, and is hardly a chore. i like to meet new people, i like to chat to them, i like to make them laugh and smile. i like to make people feel special, i like to fix their problems, i like to go that extra distance to make sure they have a good day. it was at the most basic level what i enjoyed in my previous job as a PA, and is at the essence of my personality as a whole. i am deep down an insecure little being, though most wouldn't know it when they first met me, and making people like me, making people think i am cool, or a nice person, is fundamental part of what keeps me going as a person; i thrive on it, and live on it and my fragile little self-doubting ego requires it. so acting the host here comes more than naturally to me- it is like the perfect job, it completes me. at times it is tiring, constantly being 'on' and cheerful and smiling, even if you have a headache or a feel under the weather (i am just recovering from a miserable cold that has plagued me the past few days, and keeping up the facade to guests whilst surrepticiously trying to cover up a running nose was anything but easy!), but even on those days it sure as hell beats sitting in an office in front of a computer screen working the 9 to 5.

and of course, i've not even taken into account the added bonus of the environment that we are working in. i've been rather madly in love with Africa as a continent since i was 21. and my passion for its animals and landscape, and the process of safari itself, even took me by surprise. on paper i shouldn't love it as much as i do- i'm generally quite impatient, and i fall asleep if i'm in a car for more than 45 minutes, so going out for drives for hours at a time looking for elusive game should not really be my bag. but, it seems, my love of animals outweighs my tendency towards boredom on car journeys, and i never fail to get excited at the prospect of going out on a drive here.

unfortunately, since the 20th december the lodge has been far too busy with all of the christmas guests for me to get out, but before then i managed to get out on a few evenings, have a few sundowners and also on a couple of day drives. this was thanks to lovely guests who let me come with them and share their drive, or an enthusiastic manager who wanted to head out and try to find some leopard, or most bizarrely, due to the needs of a cameraman filming some promotional material to have some likely looking 'bush-walkers' to fill in his background shots. even when we dont get out in the vehicles there is still a huge amount of wildlife around the lodge to see because the buildings themselves are within the national park and not fenced. in the past month i have been thrilled to see herds of elephants, including a week old baby, walk through the lodge reception (literally, an awe-inspiring phenomenon that happens only one time of the year and is such a special experience, allowing you to get truly close to these impressive gargantuans of Africa); there is a beautiful resident bushbuck that lives near the staff block; an indomitable hand-reared warthog is constantly finding his way back to the lodge to try and make friends; the larger more dangerous hippo and buffalo are sometimes seen munching sedately on the lawn between the chalets and last week i even saw a leopard stalking through the car park in the dusky evening light. the view from the deck of the lodge is a constantly changing panorama of zebra, impala, elephant, the occasional waterbuck and the ubiquitous baboons and vervet monkeys who are everywhere, all the time, and constantly entertaining with their human mannerisms and little personalities and dramas.

in short, every day here i get to see some breath-taking wildlife, even if that is only walking from my room in the staff block up to the lodge and back, and even if i wasn't 'hosting' but was instead stuck in an office in front of a computer the view from the window would more than make up for it.

i think the husband and i have been doing pretty okay at fitting in, and fulfilling all that is required of the host role- a number of guests have asked to take my personal email on their departure, and some (you know who you are my lovely Aussie ladies!) have even become firm facebook friends and are following this blog. however, despite this, we were still taken aback to be called in to the big boss's office a couple of days ago, and offered a job next season, managing one of their outlying bushcamps. it would not be for the whole year, only 5 months of it, but it would still obviously change our 'settle back in to Dorset life' plans quite drastically. the offer is for next year, and then assuming that we enjoy it and do well at it, with the possibility to carry on in future seasons.

it is in many ways a dream come true- we would have more independence than we currently have in the lodge, and the opportunity to really put our stamp on the camp, and we will properly be out in the bush for 5 stunning months of the year. we would get to be in a place we adore, doing something we are good at and that comes naturally, and on top of that, we would be working closely with an awesome team of managers at the other camps and at the lodge, who we know already and get on immensely well with. the husband will get the opportunity to increase his photography portfolio, whilst i would get plenty of time to improve on my sketching and write, both of which i find most cathartic and rewarding (i may even post some of the sketches i have done so far on here at some point, if i feel brave!).

we have not yet made a final decision, although our hearts are most definitely tugging at us to stay here and accept the job offer. if we only do it for one season we could still be back in the UK by the beginning of November 2011, and get back to the other life that we have been planning in Dorset for so many years.

but the danger is that perhaps one season will be enough to further inflame the love we already have burning for this majestic, special country and laidback lifestyle?

i really don't know now exactly what the future holds, but as the year and the decade draw to an end i do know that 2011 is certainly going to be a very interesting year, full of decisions and consequences that will impact on the rest of our lives.

one thing is for certain, though it is the year that i will celebrate my thirtieth birthday, i hope that 2011 is not the year that i ‘grow up’!

a christmas message, a bit like the Queen does, but with a brief mention of baboon sex (which she doesn't normally bring up)....

in my last blog, i may have got a bit flowery and emotional. i was under the impression that once we arrived at our destination my blogging days may well be over, i would be forced into an internet silence, my voice redundantly echoing into the wilderness with none of my friends from home able to hear all about our adventures and get painfully jealous. and this thought disappointed me!

however, on arrival at the lodge, our new home for the next three months, it swiftly became clear that we had been stupidly naïve about the set up here. as guests, 18 months earlier, the lodge had seemed luxurious but pretty remote. there were no tvs in the rooms, no telephones, and we didn’t even think to ask about internet, simply assuming that a place in the middle of an African national park, that is most often reached by a wobbly journey on a tiny plane, wouldn’t entertain the idea of having any such thing. however, one step behind the swinging doors of reception and we were greeted by a hub of activity, a computer in every office, a room full of laptops belonging to all the various hosts and workers, and the promise of wi-fi and skype. and much to the joy of the husband, when we ventured further down to the staff accommodation block, we immediately spotted a flat screen tv in the common room showing an English football match (why what else, in Africa? i swear, this continent shows every single English game!), and a quick scan through the channels confirmed our creeping suspicions when we had noticed a satellite dish in the courtyard- they have Sky, and all the sports channels!

so, we haven’t actually been cut off from the internet or the outside world at all. however, the blog has been put on the back burner a tad for the past month, due to the fact that we’ve been pretty busy working. it has been a bit of a shock to the system, after two months of doing exactly what we want, now having a schedule for the day, and things that need doing other than eating, drinking and sight-seeing. saying that, it is a million miles away from the kind of stresses and strains of managing an office and two MDs in London, so i’m certainly not complaining!!

it is difficult to cram everything we’ve been doing here at the lodge since the end of November in to a shortish description, and yet I only have a shortish window of non-activity in which to type and upload this, so i wanted to just send out a quick message, and i will write another epic diatribe in the new year when I have more time to do a description of the past month justice!

Christmas is only two days away, 2011 is creeping up and i am terrified to find myself over half way through ‘The Big Trip’.

i would be lying if i denied that i was missing friends and family at all, especially now the festive season is upon us, a time i have always spent with my lovely parents, relatives and old friends from Dorset. it feels surreal to be spending Christmas day away from home, and also in a hot climate for the first time ever. as part of my job i have decorated a thistle thorn bush with baubles, i have sprinkled glitter on giant snail shells (minus snails I hasten to add!) and mahogany pods, and I have wrapped tinsel around calabashes and gourds. i have made Christmas cards for all of our new friends here, i have wrapped a load of presents for the guests, I have presided over Christmas menus and tasted mince pie filling, and I have even worn a woolly santa hat for an hour or so (which is a little dangerous given the heat and humidity over here) at times! but it still feels like something is missing.… it just aint quite Chrimbo! i think that missing ingredient is the special people in my life (by which I mean loved ones, not ‘special’! don’t get offended!!), and i am finding myself thinking of them more and more now we have settled down at the lodge, and as the 25th approaches.

but that doesn’t mean i am sitting here pining for home. i am also equally incredibly sad to be so far through the trip, and to have the end in sight already. everyone said the trip would go really fast and it has totally whizzed by. at times i have been impressed at my ability to adapt, to deal with new situations and to get comfortable in alien places and i feel like i have learned a lot. but i also have the nagging feeling that there is a lot more for me to learn. being away from the UK and away from London, (where i must admit, to an extent i was stagnating in a job that i wasn’t passionate about any more, in an industry i was disillusioned with, in a city i had mainly fallen out of love with) has been both enlightening and really healthy for me. i have another two months left before we have to return to the ‘real world’ and i fully intend on trying to enjoy every moment of it. including celebrating Christmas in an entirely different way, with different people in a very different place!

so apologies if this is a bit rambling and incoherent, and i haven’t wowed you with tales of leopards in car parks, elephants in reception, buffalo blocking us in the room, baby mambas almost stepped on, and drunken tribal parties. i haven’t told you about the time i ate a termite (on purpose), about the week old baby elephant i watched for an hour, about the dogging baboons, about the friendly warthog that frequently visits, or about the two month old bushbaby i held. i still have to explain about the week i became ‘Catering and Restaurant manager’ at the lodge, and i have plenty of tales to recount about great, lovely guests, and also the odd hilarious guest- for example, the ‘vegetarians’ who are (and I quote) “vegetarian, but we eat chicken….and lamb….and fish….and is that bacon? ooh delicious!”. but for now, my time is up, dinner is calling and i have many things to do before the morrow (Christmas Eve! and i am in shorts and flip flops at 7pm at night! Ridiculous!). the REALLY epic blog update will happen in the new year i hope, and be full of exciting episodes from the bush.

but for the time being, i will just sign off with this- to all my ‘special’ people, i love you and miss you and am wishing you a very merry Christmas, and a wonderful new year where all your dreams come true.
big love from Zambia! xxx