Why the Rain Wont Fall


One of Rustle Crow’s relatives – or it could be Rustle himself! – has set up a maternity unit in Rustle’s old home.

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From the various clicks, caws and chuckles that have started to drift down from the nest it would seem the happy event has taken place and we have some proud crow parents on the property once again.

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If you look very carefully at the top centre of the nest, you can just about make out a baby crow beak peaking out

On Friday, while I was peering up at the nest and trying to see if I could spot our new arrival, Raymond – our garden helper – sidled up to me, shaking his head and tut-tutting.

“What’s wrong Raymond?”, I asked, expecting him to tell me that worms were eating the oranges again, or that he needed more fertilizer to put on the cabbage seedlings.

Instead he pointed up at the crows nest and answered ” Those birds, Madame. They are bad. We must chase them”.

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What?!

“Oh? Why? What is bad about them?”

“They are keeping the rain away. Every time the rain starts to come they flap their wings like this” and he demonstrated, a pretty good impression I thought “and then the rain is afraid and it goes away”

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“Rain rain go away, come again another day”

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A crow with a view; making sure the rain has gone

Some Odd Balls


Every Sunday Cee’s Photography hosts an Odd Ball photo challenge.

Odd Ball Photos are those great photos that you take which really don’t seem to fit into a common category. We’ve all taken them and like them, because we just can’t hit delete and get rid of them. If you have any of those type of photos, this challenge is for you.

Because of time zone differences I am too early for today’s challenge, but here’s my contribution for last week.

The pictures speak for themselves in terms of odd-ball-ness.

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WTF Friday – Which Way Africa Style (Part seven)


It seems the whole of Southern Africa has retreated to the Dark Ages – literally.

In short, there is not enough electricity being generated – in the entire region – to meet demand.

There are many theories and rumours about why this has happened, ranging from ineptitude, to not enough rain to feed the rivers providing the hydro-electric power, to sub-standard equipment supplied during a dodgy tender deal. I suspect all are true to some extent but no-one is prepared to shed any light (sorry) on the matter and tell us what is really going on.

What this means is that we are now being subjected to load shedding. In my case, for six days a week we have no electricity for eight hours a day and on the seventh day – fingers crossed – the electricity does not go off at all. Last week it was only five hours off for five days of the week, so it is getting worse: the poor folk in Lusaka are enduring ten-hour cuts, with a fourteen hour cut one day a week, so I am thankful I don’t live there!

This makes keeping up to date with work – and more importantly, blogging! – very difficult and until we can make a plan with a generator and/or solar power both are going to be a bit sketchy and intermittent.

Any Zimbabweans reading this will be wondering what I am moaning about – they have dealt with severe load shedding for the last fifteen years (some are lucky if they receive two hours electricity supply a day) – and I apologise. But having thought I had left all that behind me I am taking a while to re-adjust.


In the mean time, here are my entries for this week’s Which Way Challenge.

Once a week Cee from Cee’s Photography Blog runs a Which Way Photo Challenge – everyone is welcome to take part. You can read the rules for the challenge here.

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Birchenough Bridge, Zimbabwe – taken in the late 1980’s

Rural fuel station in Zimbabwe

Rural fuel station in Zimbabwe

Eastern Highlands, Zimbabwe

Eastern Highlands, Zimbabwe

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WTF Friday – Which Way Africa Style (Part six)


Once a week Cee from Cee’s Photography Blog runs a Which Way Photo Challenge – everyone is welcome to take part. You can read the rules for the challenge here.


 

For this week’s challenge I share with you a few of the pictures I took on the way to Munyemeshe in the Lower Zambezi.

On the escarpment, heading down into the Zambezi Valley

On the escarpment, heading down into the Zambezi Valley

Three rows of (large!) vehicles on a two lane road ...

Three rows of (large!) vehicles on a two lane road …

This is more like my kind of road

This is more like my kind of road

No road trip is complete without running repairs.

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Africa-Style aircon!

Africa-Style aircon!

The new Kafue River Bridge

The new Kafue River Bridge

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“We clean carperts, blankets, suits etc”

 

 

WTF Friday – Which Way Africa Style (Part Four)


Once a week Cee from Cee’s Photography Blog runs a Which Way Photo Challenge – everyone is welcome to take part.

You can read the rules for the challenge here.


We came upon this bridge while travelling in Mocambique some years ago. It didn’t even look safe enough to walk across but we had to get to the other side …

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On my last trip to Zimbabwe I happened across this accident. It was late afternoon and I didn’t want to be on the road after dark, so after an hour of sitting around waiting while nothing happened I decided to ‘bundu bash’ through the bush to get around the truck and continue my journey. Thankfully no one was injured.

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One of my neighbours hung this hopeful sign on her vegetable garden fence.  I wonder if the hippos take any notice?

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To see last week’s wonderful Which Way entries click on the thumbnail below.

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WTF Friday – Which Way Africa Style (Part Three)


Once a week Cee from Cee’s Photography Blog runs a Which Way Photo Challenge – everyone is welcome to take part.

You can read the rules for the challenge here. (I tried to copy them to this post for easier reference but the formatting went haywire!)


A few years ago we were lucky to be invited by friends to join them at the impala hunting camp they had bought in the Lower Zambezi Valley in Zimbabwe.

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Of course, being a Land Rover (apologies to all Land Rover fans out there), things didn’t always run smoothly.  Most of the Lower Zambezi Valley is a wildlife area and there are many dangerous animals around – lions, elephants, buffalo, you name it, it lives there. So we had a few tense hours sitting on the side of the road while the men carried out running repairs.

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Reading Genis’s Fat Dog Diary’s post this week (Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge (Day 3): The Joke is on Me) reminded me of this picture I took at Livingstone Gwembe Safaris Crocodile Farm. I think Genis will be relieved to know this!

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