Blog vacation...

Hello everyone!

I am back from my blog break...I needed a week to sort out boxes and boxes of stuff for a move, and felt I needed a mini vacation from blogging...but I'm back now :)

I am adding some more photos of our Zambian trip, just because I SO loved it !

On Saturday afternoon, the skies cleared and we were able to go canoeing on the Mighty Zambezi. This little phrase "The Mighty Zambezi", is used by all the local people, almost said reverently, with awe, so we all got used to calling it thus. We were very excited to see the river from a different perspective, and fortunately I didn't worry about taking my camera on the canoe as it was safely tucked into the underwater housing...



After a bus ride (during which we were stopped by a road block...quite an experience in Africa...), we arrived at the start point, only to find that the river was so full that the banks extended far past the usual areas and we had to wade through smaller rivers to get to the actual bank of the Zambezi. I was somewhat concerned about walking through water i couldn't see through, with gazillions of crocodiles about (one thing to note: we saw way more crocs during our trip, than any other animal, and we saw LOTS of animals...gets you thinking...), but it was ok.

As we were donning life vests, the friendly guide gave us some safety tips...firstly, if a hippo should surface under your canoe, and up-end it, we were to swim to the river bank and not try to get back in the canoe, as the hippo would most likely attack the canoe... :o

Secondly, we should try not to canoe near the river bank, as that's where the crocodiles liked to be... :O !!!!!!!! (so, what is a girl to do, I ask you....)

This indeed made me realise that Africa is not for the faint-hearted, and off we went...

The Mighty Zambezi was peaceful and majestic...it was a remarkable experience, and although I had some interesting moments in the canoe with my dare-devil daughter (who btw has decided to start her own blog, which you can find here (http://lifesonebigadventure.blogspot.com/) ), who thought a near-swim would be a lovely memory(!), I thoroughly enjoyed the ride :)

We saw hippo, LOADS of crocodiles, including a huge fellow, which I managed to get a pic of before he slipped under the water, see below. We also criss-rossed the river and passed a whole lot of islands in the middle of the Zambezi, where weavers had made countless little nests, hanging from the branches, swaying in the breeze...

The one thing I really love about living in Africa, are it's skies...these deep blue, vast expanses of sky and cloud...makes you feel the timelessness of Africa...the feeling that although time and life passes, nothing really changes...tomorrow the sun will rise again...

A large fellow, can you spot the bits of him?

Weaver nests...

Mr P, and the little adventurer...

This pic was taken towards the end of the canoe trip, and you can see that we are near the falls, as the vapour cloud is clearly visible.

En route back to the hotel, we were greeted by a beautiful herd of giraffe, wondering across the road, and not at all afraid...they ate some leaves, wondered off, looked back, and faded into the savannah...

A few kilometers further, and we turned into the hotel entrance. Who should we encounter? A male giraffe eating leaves...right next to the road. We opened the door of the transport bus, he looked at us curiously, ate some more, and eventually turned his back and elegantly walked off...amazing!

Behind him was mom and baby zebra...grazing...

We really had an awesome experience!

Dinner time, will you take a look at those skies! I LOVE them :)

This week I will be starting a tutorial on how to knit a pair of fingerless mittens...something simple, but quick and fun! They make great gifts and are really easy to knit...so stay tuned!

That's all folks...have a great evening!

Lots of Love,

Heidi :)

Zambezi Sun...and getting ready for the mighty Zambezi...

Hi :)

It's been quite a peaceful, creative kind of day...I decided that I would get some basic "have-to-do" things out of the way and spend a bit of quiet time just creating, before the busy-ness of the afternoon set in...so I made some charm bracelets (which I have put in my Etsy shop), and planned some bits of the first project I am working on for the book that Linda and myself are planning...this has been the big theme of the week: we have decided to pool our creativity and friendship into a collaborative project: our KNITTING BOOK!! This is something completely new for us, we have no real experience in authoring a book, but we are so excited and determined to make it happen :) The project I am busy designing is very bright, funky and I think will be a really fun "something" to make... I am especially pleased as I think I may have unvented something new, technique wise ;) wooohoooo!


My darling daughter left me a little message on my beading workspace, before she went to bed...I was very touched to see it... it is indeed a precious thing to be loved...

On our second day in Zambia, we had booked a canoe trip down the Zambezi. When we woke up, it was pouring with rain, and the guides said it was too dangerous to go canoeing as visibility was poor...so we were quite ok to sit at the veranda and chat to each other, read and crochet (me)...

and just enjoy the lovely greenery and atmosphere. I have a rule that I never go anywhere without my camera (because you never know when the picture opportunity will present itself), but for some inconceivable reason, I had left my G10 in the hotel room...stupid! While we were having breakfast a herd of zebra calmly grazed on the lawns, completely peaceful, and I didn't want to miss the pics, so I ran back to the room, got my camera and spent the next 10 minutes getting soaked, but also getting some lovely photos of these stripy little people...

One of the zebras had a foal, who was really very mischievious and kept harassing her, biting her tail, shoving and prancing about... I came within a few metres of them and they were alert and slightly nervous, but didn't bolt...a special moment.

The Zambezi Sun is a beautiful hotel, and an enormous amount of attention has been paid to every corner of it...The whole style is a comfortable fusion between Moroccan and African, with rich tones and interesting accessories.

This striking painting hung in one of the lobbies...

Amazing, goodness-knows-what-ahedron wrought iron lights...

Garden refuge from the rain...

A wrought iron warthog family...forever vigilant...

More lovely lighting...

The marimba band played during the rain, a truly talented bunch of musicians...

I can't get over these darn lights...I want to take them home....

A veranda...

An alcove in the wall, with a wonderful glass vessel...

I love the contrast of colours...

A ceiling with direction, just look at the detail...

These chairs were in the lobby, purely decorative and entirely made of beads...

My little one playing the xylophone, while we were waiting to go canoeing...(we eventually went down river in our little canoes...what an experience, will post soon!)

On another note: I have discovered the most AMAZING, one of a kind crochet hooks, beautifully wrought by Katherine Kowalski. They took my breath away...you have got to check it out!

And a happy 11th birthday to dear little Erin, who lives across the road from me, and is one very special girl! Have a wonderful day :)

I wanted to say a thank you to everyone who takes the time to leave a comment and visit here...I don't always manage to reply back, but please know that you are all appreciated!

Have a good evening folks,

Lots of Love,

Heidi :)

At last...Zambia Day 1!

Hello everyone...I am back in the building ;) ....jokes, jokes, I wish i could sing like Elvis!



It has been a seriously disruptive week and a half with our internet cable being damaged...it wasn't only our area, half of the city had the same problem...but it seems now that they have sorted it out, thank goodness!



I had a geat deal of sympathy for the stranded people in Europe this week...we were in Verbier at the beginning of January this year and as everything was frozen, and flights delayed and cancelled, we were stuck in airports for two days with 5 kids...so I can understand how frustrating it can be. Seems that the flights are slowly resuming, and things may look up (I hope...) for this week. I have posted this pic below, because it is just wondrous to look at...unbelievably scary, yet an awesome spectacle of nature...it was taken by the uber talented Marco Fulle, and was yesterday's Astronomy pic of the day...



Onto our Zambian trip!!!!! All I can say is that we had an incredible time...it was a truly special celebration of our daughter's birthday and she loved every minute of it!



We arrived at Livingstone Airport, to a lovely warm and sunny afternoon...and I had a little smile, as we saw the airforce troops practising their marching ON the same tarmac as the airplanes landed...can't imagine that at Tambo International ;)

We waited in line at the customs area and I had to sneak a quick pic of the prohibited items...I love the phraseology, quite naive and sweet in a way...I still haven't managed to find out what qilika is...

Just outside the airport, we saw the famous Dr Livingstone and his faithful companions Susi and Chuma, ...immortalised in bronze for the world to see, the story of the missionary Doctor and his experiences is a remarkable read...well worth the time.

We were picked up by a friendly and erudite guide, Lombe, who gave us a history of Livingstone as we drove through the narrow streets...he pointed out historic buildings and that they were protected by law. I loved the bright blue colour of the taxis, which were abundant...

The pic below is of the main street through Livingstone...Mosi-o-tunya street. Mosi-o-tunya is the local name for the Victoria Falls, meaning "the smoke that thunders".
I took all these pics through the front window of the bus we were travelling in, so you'll see the odd reflection in the windows... at the far end of the street, you can see a misty cloud floating above the trees...this is the mighty Zambezi River, crashing over the edge of the cliff, and the water vapour cloud that results from the turbulence...

As we drove closer to the Zambezi Sun Hotel, we saw more clearly the falls, and the kids were beside themselves with excitement, insisting that we go there...asap!

The Zamezi Sun Hotel is set in the National Park, and your chances of seeing game are very good. They are also very child friendly (why we decided to stay there), and literally a 3 minute walk from the falls...

The hotel is really beautifully designed, in a Moroccan/African fusion style, and I spent ages taking pics of all the lovely vignettes around the lawns and passages. I'll post more of this tomorrow. This lamp was too gorgeous, I have a secret love for these fat little creatures (it must be said, however, that the hippo is one of the most dangerous animals in Africa and should never, ever, under any circumstance be under-estimated, they are cute looking ONLY, lethal in reality).

This is the lobby of the hotel, note the lovely rich colours...

Afetr checking in, we had a couple of hours to spare, so we took the kids to the pool, which was absolutely fantastic...a live Marimba band plays the most beautiful music every afternoon, and everyone enjoys a sunny spot near the pool's edge...the whole place is so carefully beautified, mosaics adorn the pool edge, lovely big wrought iron animal sculptures are found all over the gardens, and the gardens too are well maintained.

In the afternoon, we went for a guided tour of the Falls. This time of the year is high water season, and the Zambezi was maximally full, as such the Falls were spectacular. During dry season, when the water level falls, one can apparently walk across the edge of the cliff, to Livingston Island, which is a small island slap bang in the middle of the river/cliff edge...

The turbulence at the base of the falls is so great that the vapour cloud reaches high into the sky, and as we all know ;), what goes up, must come down, so you quite literally get completely drenched when you walk next to the falls. We were all given raincoats, but I realised that this was more out of politeness on behalf of the guide , than a real attempt at keeping us dry...it is NOT possible :) . I had anticipated this and had fortunately bought an underwaterhousing along for my camera, so I soldiered on , once more into the breach...er...rain...

The base of the falls is called the boiling pot, because realistically, if you fall off of the edge, you don't stand a chance...the violence of crashing water is terrible...

Everything near the falls is wet...completely wet...

The above pic was taken totally blind...I was soaked to the bone , and just pointed in the general direction of the water, and pushed the shutter button...a changing wind blew some mist away and I had a bit of a view of the falls that one cannot generally see from the other side...

A perpetual rainbow... one even sees a "moonbow"at night when the moon is full...

All along the gardens, you'll find strange yet beautiful sculptures...

We came back from this wonderful experience, soaked but happy!

I will post lots more pics in the days to come...

Lots of Love,

Heidi :)