Zimbabwe Weekend Part II - Leah's update

After taking a quick nap we went to the main lodge where they had a restaurant balcony that over looked a watering hole. We watched the sun go down and then we had a really nice supper with our friends. During our supper we watched an elephant eat from a tree and water itself. We also saw a large cat but we are not sure which kind it was. The next morning we had to get up early again to fulfill Zac’s dream of riding an elephant. We went with a tour company that prepared a wonderful breakfast which we ate on a deck that was on a river in the wildlife protection area. After breakfast we mounted our elephants and road through the park. In the park we saw buffalo, kudu, and giraffes. After our tour we went to a huge market where things were generally pretty cheap. When we were done haggling at the market we departed for Zamiba.

People both here and in the US are very wary about traveling in Zimbabwe however I felt that it was a much better area. Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe is much more beautiful and well kept then Livingstone Zambia is. And in Zambia we often feel resented while we are here but in Zimbabwe people were incredibly nice. Zac and I had a lovely conversation with a woman who was causation and had been born and raised in Zimbabwe. She told us that if she was American she would have moved away but because she is Zimbabwean she has chose to stay because the people are so nice. When we talked to other citizens they all seemed to hold the view that Mugabe was a good president when he was first elected. You can see this in the roads, buildings, and developments that are found in Zimbabwe. It is only in recent years that Mugabe has become so corrupt. People are still proud of their country, and want their country to be better. They do not want to just leave and live somewhere else.

Today (Monday) I returned to work in one of my favorite clinics. Things were pretty uneventful except that I had to perform two malaria tests today. When a patient comes in with a high fever and complaining of headaches the clinics around here like to run a malaria test. The test is simple but it does require you to stick the person with a needle to get a blood sample. And of course these clinics do not have the nice automatic stickers so I had to do it manually. This was a bit unnerving but I now feel very competent at running the test which will really help out the small clinics that I work in.

Leah