Jack

May 19, 2014 kate brand

Rufus and I have been getting a lot of questions about Jack since we left Zambia. He built up an unexpected international following via my Instagram and fcbk accounts. To answer everyone's questions and to put your minds (and, in some cases, hearts) at ease this is what happened to Jack:

When Rufus and I made the decision to return to the boat we knew we would have to re home Jack, either in Zambia or back in South Africa with our parents. The SA option was our favorite as then we could see him again when we returned. After a lot of discussions and research we realized that was the selfish option - it's rather traumatic to fly a dog half way across Africa and then stick him in quarantine for 2 weeks before he can go to his grandparents. Next, neither of our parents have gardens, never mind dog friendly gardens with space to run and play, so it would be frustrating for Jack coming from a MASSIVE property to a tiny pebbled courtyard.

The second option was re homing him with an expat family in Zambia. The downside of this is that expat familie usually return to their home country and then he would have to be re homed a second time, with a family we didn't know.

Luckily we made friends with an awesome family, also from SA, who were quite keen on getting a dog for their two young children. After spending some time together they got quite attached to Jack and asked if they could adopt him when we left. Not only do they have the same beliefs as us on caring for a dog but they have permanently settled in Zambia. They have a large farm in the south, near Livingston, so Jack will be a farm dog! it seriously cannot get any better than that.

We are still in contact with them and every now and then we get photos of Jack, happy and healthy and spoiled with love.

It was incredibly hard to say goodbye to him but it was made a whole lot easier knowing he was going to a good family who already loved him. Only the best for our best Jack ;)

PS. I am working on the travel posts but I'm having issues with getting photos from the laptop onto my iPad. Not practical to drag the laptop (with no battery) to land, on the dinghy, so I am figuring out an easier, safer way via my iPad. Hopefully I will have it down by the next port. We're leaving for Mayreau tomorrow.

Lilongwe Drive Home

March 9, 2014 kate brand

these are a few shots from our drive back home to Kitwe, Zambia. we took the southern route via Chipata. the Malawi border post was great (by African standards), efficient and clean with courteous officials. the Zambian side was... what we have come to expect from Zambia - crowded, run down, dirty and not quite as efficient as Malawi.

we were genuinely sad to leave Malawi but there were a lot of exciting new decisions waiting for us in Zambia so it was good to start 2014 with a season of change!

Kitwe to Katumbi

January 28, 2014 kate brand

on one of the 'short cuts' - stopping for cattle herds is common on the bush roads

kids playing in the rubble of a roadworks site - we had to change our route at this point

birds aren't used to vehicles this far into the bush

our Land Cruiser has a sun roof which makes for a great picture taking position

we weren't going as fast as it looks here - we averaged between 40-60km p/h in the very remote areas as the locals aren't used to vehicle and a lot of them run out into the road to investigate you

but the animals run away from the vehicles

some are scared of the camera, others love it and strike a pose for us

over the Christmas/new year holiday we did a road trip from Kitwe, in Zambia, down through Malawi and back to Kitwe again.

we chose to use the little known border post of Katumbi, in the north of Malawi, and then work our way down along Lake Malawi, and back out via Chipata. the roads are pretty bad on the Zambian side but it was a great 4x4 challenge with our Land Cruiser - nerve wracking in the best way.

it took us about 16hrs on the road (we slept one night in a super dodgy 'lodge' a few hours before the border) and although we used a friend's GPS to help guide us, we had to do a lot of guess work as quite a few of the 'roads' (basically just dirt tracks in the bush) we traveled didn't exist, according to the GPS's maps...

if you have a 4x4, a GPS, and don't mind being almost permanently out of cell phone signal range, then this is a great route to take. the Katumbi border post is TINY. there isn't even a border post on the Zambian side, probably because it is hardly ever used. because there's no traffic, the passport and vehicle export process is quite speedy (as 'speedy' as things get in Africa...) and the Malawian's are probably the most genuinely friendly African's we have met so far.