We're on a Trip, not a Vacation!

This is our last night in the Bulawayo Club before we depart for Joberg, where we will stop over before our flight on Saturday am to Capetown. I thought I’d share a sign outlining the dress code here. Fortunately they don’t enforce it since the only shoes the boys have are plimsolls, sandals, and bush boots. (I have some flats for work.) We tried to minimize what we packed so we only have 3 pairs of pants, 5 pairs of underwear, 5 pairs of socks, etc. This has necessitated the washing of socks and underwear. The lack of heating has meant that our things take several days to dry. While I was at work today, Kyusik and the boys visited the art museum and a craft store. We have now tried all of the inns except Baker’s Inn. They also have a chain of restaurants called Chicken Slice and Pizza Slice, which the boys said was better than Pizza Inn. Here are some more photos of the club and the first of two trips we’ve now made to Creamy Inn. We are looking forward to having more food choices in ...

My Zimbabwean colleagues were surprised to learn we didn’t have heating at the Bulawayo Club. I guess there are merits to staying at the Holiday Inn. I have all day work meetings today and tomorrow. In the morning, Kyusik took the boys to the Railroad Museum, which they enjoyed a lot. Later that evening, they had the opportunity to meet my colleagues as I hosted a team dinner at the club. Precious, Joe, and Tatenda all live in Harare, while Rudo, the woman with the short hair sharing the blanket with me, lives here in Bulawayo. She is a facilitator for our change management work, (along with Precious and Joe) as well as the Provincial Medical Director for Matabeleland South. 

We arrived in Bulawayo, the 2nd largest city in Zim, where I normally fly for my previous work trips. We will be here for a week. Lest you think we are on a 6 week holiday, Kyusik and I returned to work today. We are staying at the Bulawayo Club, a former members only club established in 1895. With its white columns, large rooms, high ceilings, and old furniture, it is a throwback to the colonial period. It still serves as a club but is also used for large events and has a decent restaurant with reasonable prices by Zim standards and some great fish and chips. I typically stay at the Holiday Inn when I come here, so it’s a treat to be able to soak in the ambiance. The boys reluctantly started on their math, history, and activity workbooks. Acadian also has his summer Cantonese homework to do. Unfortunately there isn’t a pool here so they went somewhat stir crazy until I took them out in the evening to get a pepperoni, mushroom, and onion pie from Pizza Inn for dinner. We will at some p...

Have been incommunicado for a few days because we were out in the bush, staying at a lodge just outside Hwange National Park. The boys will post more details. It was a remarkable and memorable stay, where we got our own guide named Brightwell (aka Bones) and vehicle. Upon arrival, we got to get within about 5 feet of a large herd of elephants. It was truly magical!

 Thursday: Today we got up to have breakfast at the Bayete. I got an omelette like usual, plus a fruit platter. After we ate breakfast we went back to the room and packed our bags. Then, we walked to the car with all of our bags and we drove for about 2 hours and then we got to a little sandy road and daddy had a little trouble driving on it. Once we finished driving up the sandy path, we got to a new fancy hotel called Ivory Lodge and we were introduced to our guide (his name was Bones) and the manager, Joel. Then, he said we could go to see the giagantic herd of elephants. We got so close we were about a foot away from them. Daddy took lots of pictures and Bones said that they had very good hearing. After we were done looking at the elephants we went back and had lunch I also got some lemonade. After we ate lunch, we got dessert which was this nice fruit cup. Bones said that we were staying in a little treehouse because then the lions couldn’t get us. He also said we were going t...

That's how Acadian described our ziplining canopy tour yesterday since the boys had so much fun and got soda afterwards. That was the highlight of the day for all of us. Acadian was so light that he could just go full speed. Unsurprisingly Kyusik and Bryce were both really good at it, and I was the worst. I had to pull myself across two of the lines at the end because I had my braking hand too far forward. We also really enjoyed the Crocodile Park. Bryce had joked about being able to pet a croc, which we scoffed at, but it turns out that we were able to hold a 6 month old baby croc. After about 1 year, they get too big and dangerous. I was awed by how massive some of them can get. I also found it very interesting that they open their mouths wide and leave them agape for long periods to cool down their bodies. The smaller ones also crawl over each other and huddle together for warmth. We skipped the opportunity to go crocodile cage diving. Perhaps we should have taken advantage of t...

    Today we went canoeing in Zambezi River. We had three guides and they picked us up from the hotel and drove us to the canoeing place. Along the way we saw lots of animals. We saw birds, a bush buck buffalo, impala, baboons, wildebeest and even an elephant! We got to the canoeing place which turned out to be a bunch of big tents. We then got to the shore and the guides told us what to do in case of an emergency. There were hippos and crocodiles in the river, and we did not want to get hurt. The guides gave us life vests and  pumped up three inflatable canoes. Then one of the guides gave Mommy and Daddy their paddles. Since each canoe could fit two people, Mommy and Daddy went in one, I went with one of the guides and Acadian went with another. The last guide drove the truck alongside the shore in case anything went wrong. We started canoeing around eleven am. It was kind of uncomfortable to be wearing that big life vest while the inflated back-rest was pushing on my ba...

 Wednesday: Today we went canoeing in the big Zambezi River.First, we had a good breakfast & I got an omelette & some tropical juice.Then, we went in to the safari truck & drove to a campsite. We saw so many cool animals like wildebeest, elephants, guinea fowl, kudus, bushbuck, jackals, & impala. After we put on our life jackets the guides told us their names(Z & Norman) and told us how to react when a certain thing happens like for example what to do if a hippo flips the canoe over or if a crocodile punctures the canoe. Next, we went into the canoes.While we were canoeing, we saw a few hippos & daddy saw a crocodile go into the river.Apparently, there was a hippo near by so we had to stop.Once we got to the end, we got out of the canoe & we got a Pepsi, some chips, & a wrap. Then, we went back to the car to go back to the hotel.On the way back, we saw some more animals like mongooses, & a herd of elephants (14 total).Then, we went to have dinner...

 Tuesday:  Today was awesome!We got to go ziplining 9 times!We even got a coke!It was so fun. Then, we went to eat lunch. I got “chicken strips & chips (fries)”. It was good.After that, we went to “crocodile park”.First, we looked at some baby crocs and I even got to pet one.Then, we went to the “snake pit” and daddy held an albino snake and I got to pet a it.Scaly!Next, we looked at 2 female lions.Shadow, and Layla.Finally, we went to look at the crocs.There were more than 30,000

    Today was a lot of fun. We first had breakfast at our hotel, but it wasn’t that good. Then we rode in a truck to get to the ziplining area, where we put on the zipping gear and helmets. There were nine different ziplines, and each had a platform at the end which connected to the next zipline. The views were very good, and speeding by on the ziplines was super fun. At the end, our two ziplining guides gave us Cokes.     After ziplining, we went to a place called crocodile park. A guide taught us about each of the animals there (besides just crocodiles there were also snakes and lions) and we even got to hold a baby croc! Daddy held an albino snake, and we saw lots of crocodiles. The guide told us that there are 30000 crocodiles in the whole park. We also saw the crocodiles in different stages, because if all of the crocodiles are together, the bigger ones would eat the smaller, younger ones. In the snake area, one aggressive viper kept banging on the glass, trying...

 Monday: Today we went to a new hotel called “The Bayete”. It was pretty nice, but it could have had a bath & a couch.Then, we went to Victoria Falls, & there were some pretty good views, but we kept getting splashed   by the mist.The mist was basically just rain so we got totally SOAKED.We also saw a double upside down rainbow.After that, we went to high tea & I got a sandwich for dinner and a warm brownie & homemade vanilla ice cream.

     Today we went to a new hotel called “The Bayete”. The room is a lot nicer than the previous room, but the bathroom is a downgrade. In both hotels we went to before this, there was a shower and  a bathtub, but this new room only has a shower. To make matters worse, it’s all open, with not even a shower curtain for privacy.     After we checked out the room, we went to breakfast, but by then it was already lunchtime, so I don’t know if I should call it breakfast of lunch. I got some bacon, eggs, and tomatoes which also came with some bread. It was pretty good.     Next, we hiked to Victoria Falls. We saw a bunch of cool rainbows, and even a double rainbow. The rainbows formed because of all the mist, and the mist made us all wet and cold. It was such a relief to have a hot shower when we got back to the room.

Last night we slept at a fancy hotel called the Protea Hotel. We got there at about ten o' clock, and someone who worked at Protea showed us where our room was. It was a pretty nice room, with three beds, a mini refrigerator, and a couch.  We were really tired because we had been on two 10+ hour flights, so we brushed our teeth and went to bed. The room was nice, but the bed was not. It only had a few thin sheets, and the room was freezing. I didn't get that much sleep and woke up when Daddy started showering.  After everybody got up, Daddy ordered room service, and the food we got was actually pretty GOOD. I got avocado toast, Acadian and Mommy got omelets, and Daddy got something called a "Balalaika Special." We even got free orange juice! Everything was very yummy, especially the orange juice because it was freshly-squeezed.  We then ordered an Uber to drive us to the airport. The driver had a "banana custard smoothie" which looked very good. I kept looki...

The last few days before departure were incredibly hectic. Things at work have been crazy for Kyusik, and I submitted an annual report and concept note to Gates. Plus, I squeezed in some play dates and optometry and orthodontist appointments for the boys. Fortunately we were able to get our travel vaccines and medicines. My best friend from college, Cara, and her family were all in town so that she could work and Dave, Mira, and Calder could have fun in SF. We managed to meet up with them for visits to 2 different playgrounds and restaurants. The boys also had ice cream out 2 days in a row, which I believe is a first under our watch (ahem). I tried to clean out our fridge so that we wouldn’t return to rotten contents. I either gave food to our neighbors, the Wongs, threw stuff in the freezer, or took things with us, including carrots, apples, Asian pears, tomatoes, boiled eggs, a savory Korean egg custard dish, and a Thistle salad. It was the healthiest airport food we’d ever had! ...

In case you were not aware of the distinction between a trip and vacation . 

Welcome to our blog, where we will be sharing photos of our travels. Stay tuned for travel musings from the boys! We finally got an appointment with a travel nurse. She was very flustered by our complicated travel itinerary and put us on hold at one point to talk to her supervisor. We will all need the typhoid vaccine, antimalarials, and antibiotics just in case. At the moment, Kaiser doesn't have any openings for our vaccine, so hopefully they can squeeze us in before we depart on Friday. We are also hoping to meet Aunteater at the international departure terminal as she is in town for a whirlwind 3-day trip. I just learned today that in addition to the Rocca Fellowship from the UC Berkeley Center for African Studies, I also got a  Simpson ABD (All But Dissertation) Fellowship  from Global, International & Area Studies! We have been pretty frustrated because we have had to rebook three of our flights at the last minute when the airlines cancelled our flights with the onl...