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