Zimbabwe

I planned on going for a nice long run this morning to really stretch my legs before all of my flights but it was raining so that didn’t work out. It was probably for the best since I had a very busy morning getting everything all packed and ready to go. I talked to Jacob … Continue reading »

Today was my last day at work, which was only half a day since the office closed at 1 pm. Salome and I were busy tying up all of the loose ends for the project this year and we worked right up to closing time. I bought Salome a new cell phone to use as … Continue reading »

This week is really flying by! I can’t believe it’s Thursday already. Salome and I made good progress in our to-do list this week and I’m happy with where I am leaving off tomorrow. In the afternoon we interviewed a candidate for our research assistant position. The guy we talked to, Vitallis, is a nurse … Continue reading »

We had a second session of GIS training this morning and I think this one went better since it was more practical information and less theoretical concepts. There were even some questions from the staff, which shows they are really thinking. It was raining so we weren’t able to go out and actually use the … Continue reading »

This morning I had my first Geographic Information Systems (GIS) training session. 13 staff members attended, which was more than I expected. I was a bit nervous teaching a class about a subject that I would only consider myself a novice/intermediate on, but things went well I think. I broke today up into 3 lectures, … Continue reading »

I got picked up go to (back to) the airport at 7:30 and after only a 30 minute delay, my flight to Harare departed. It was a quick one hour flight (with tea and a light snack served) and I was back by noon. After unpacking quickly, I took a combi to the office to … Continue reading »

I completed all of my planned activities on Saturday (and spent the last of my money) and didn’t have much planned for Sunday, but I was going back to Harare in the early afternoon so that was fine. I had plenty of time to hang out, pack up, walk around town and get back to … Continue reading »

I finally didn’t have to get up super early this morning, which was great. I had a helicopter flight over the falls scheduled for 8 am which would give me plenty of time to run, shower and have breakfast. Sadly, it was raining when I got up so I scratched the running plan. During my … Continue reading »

I had another early morning today since I was picked up at 6:15 for my elephant ride. There were five of us on the trip, including one young boy and his mother that were on my cruise the night before. We had perfect weather and an early start before it got too hot. The advantage … Continue reading »

I got up at 5 this morning and was at the airport by 5:45 for my 7 am flight. I was taking Air Zimbabwe to Victoria Falls and they do not have the best reputation of timeliness or flights departing at all. Checking in was fine, but then we sat at the gate, staring at … Continue reading »

I finally finished all of the lectures for the training next week (6 lectures over the course of two mornings) and was able to tackle a few other things at work today. We had a Skype call with John in the afternoon which lasted over an hour. It’s great to talk to him to make … Continue reading »

I spent Monday and Tuesday working on the GIS lectures which I will give on Dec 13 and 14, right before I head home. There’s nothing else to note about Monday since I worked on the talks in the evening as well, but on Tuesday after work I went to another play at “Theater in … Continue reading »

The Zimbabwe mountain club was having an all-day walk today and I was very excited to join since I haven’t had the chance to leave Harare in some time. They were going out somewhere to the east of Harare, about a 3 hour drive away, which meant leaving at 6 am!! I couldn’t find anyone … Continue reading »

I went for a long run this morning since it was nice and cool. I did a better job than my first run in Avondale and I only had to stop for directions once since I didn’t do my typical route. I ended up running past the area where I got lost the first time … Continue reading »

After the cool rains of last weekend, it is hot again! It’s been getting warmer since Wednesday, but today has been the worst. It hit 33 degrees this afternoon (that’s 92 degrees F) and it was miserable. Even with all of the office windows open and the fan going I felt like I was melting. … Continue reading »