Our First Visitors

Well we have said good bye to Steve, Kristy & Maddy, & I am so homesick. I wish they could stay with us. We had a fantastic week with them, we started off by showing them around town & it was great to see their reactions to the crazy things of Zim that we have gotten use to. Things like rusty cars with no wheels abandoned in the middle of the road in the city, or a furniture removalist pulling along a cart load of lounge chairs.
Wednesday
The next day we were off to Chipengali, an animal orphanage which is used as a zoo. You could see that back in the day it would have been a top of the line place to visit, but now it is just so overgrown & fences were rusty & the research institution is derelict. We saw a couple of Rhino & one was at the fence, it was so close that if we were game enough we could have reached out & touched it. Same with the Lions, the cages are nothing like the safety at zoos in OZ, here they were just rusty chain wire; Steve was about a foot away from a huge Lion & loved it. I must admit we all were a bit worried as we walked around & were finding gates open.
After spending so much time looking at the monkies, & the monkies spending so much time checking Maddy out (they seemed to be fixed on her) we went to Willow Park to show Steve & Kristy the purpose of us being here. They seemed to share our vision for the place & agreed that with time, money & patience Willow Park will be a most beautiful camp ground used for all sorts of outreaches.
Thursday
We set off to Antelope Game Park. We had such a fantastic time there last year that we couldn’t let them miss it. The first of our activities for the day was an elephant ride for Kristy & Andrew, next Steve joined them & they all went for a play with the lion cubs, while Maddy & I stayed at main camp & played together. The cubs were only three months old & it was the first time they had been introduced to the public. They came back with huge grins on their faces & soooo so many photos, & poor Steve- cat allergies.
After a massive lunch we decided to lay out on the grass under the shady trees to admire the beautiful lake, well it didn’t take long before we were all dozing off. For a short while it reminded me of being back in Brissy going for picnics by the river at New Farm Park with Steve & Kristy (one of my most favorite past times). We woke up to our guide telling us it was time for our safari, so we all jumped onto the back of the van & headed off for 1 ½ hours. I was a bit worried at first that Steve & Kristy had come all this way & not seen any animals in the wild, but just after the guide had finished telling us that there were only 8 Giraffe in the area so we would have to be lucky to see them, there they were – 7 of them. Also Zebra in the same place, they however were not too friendly & ran off pretty quickly, but the Giraffe hung around & we were able to stay & watch for quite a while.
Friday
We went to spend the morning with the kids in the Baptist Babies home. They loved having new people to jump all over, & it was interesting to see the differences in Maddy & the two girls there. They are all the same age & defiantly not the same in development. In the afternoon we went to Mustard Seed Babies Home. They have so many more children there, but also a lot more carers. I was hoping to introduce Steve & Kristy to Daniel (the little boy we fell in love with last year), but he slept the whole time we were there. At hearing some of the stories of how these babies were found, we were all in wonder of how any mother could do these things to their new born children.
Saturday
We went to visit Father Charles at a rural hospital. It was such a hot day & we struggled to keep up with him, but he was so proud to be showing us around the hospital grounds. The one thing I wanted Steve & Kristy to see the most (but was scared of how they would react, knowing how we had felt last year when we saw it) came in the afternoon. Father Charles took us to the Malnutrition ward. There were only three babies there this time, their mothers lying with them. It is a big shock to the system to see them & I know it touched Steve & Kristy & it will be a vision they will never forget.
Saturday night dinner was a real treat; the four of us went to the Nesbitt Castle. It is a castle that a man built for his wife, & later down the tract they split up & he became a recluse & the place became very run down. Year’s later two business men bought it & did it up & it is now the finest place to visit in Bulawayo. We got ushered from the car to the bar & served drinks & snacks. We were then read the menu & they took our orders. When the meal was ready we were taken up stairs, only to find out that we were the only ones there. We were served the finest three course meals & then had a look around the grounds. This place is superb, even by Western standards.
Sunday
Was a visit to show them the church we are attending & they loved the songs that were sung in the native tongue. After church we took them to our favorite coffee shop, they got to experience the layered latte & doughnuts. Kristy was quick to pick up that they are not like the ones at home, but when you don’t have any other option it soon becomes a fantastic treat.
So the week was over so fast, but it was so great to have them out to see us, we wish they didn’t have to leave so soon.