Kingston isn't Jamaica !

 As a country girl growing up, I often not only heard the term"Kingston is Jamaica" but also saw it in action and was always incensed.  

We had to become accustomed to being left behind, for that is how most of our governments operated. 

In short, we were 'back a bush' so had to be satisfied with 'what lef' or nothing!😡

So, we never even saw street lights or asphalt roads  much less sidewalks, until we went to the great city.

Seeing the immediate reaction by many to the devastation left by Beryl, just reminded me how we country folk used to feel being left out of the picture.

To be clear, I am no longer a Jamaican country person or even a Jamaican resident anymore. But it really hurt when for days I got news from home that hurricane Beryl had only been a little breeze blow which had only done minimum damage.

Ok, admittedly, many of those who referred to it as a little 'breeze blow' had survived Gilbert and it's aftermath which had caused them to be without electricity for weeks on end and had  known many roofless friends and neighbors.

 So they having expected a very bad experience  based on Beryl being  prophesied to be worse and it sure wasn't in their neighborhoods, can be excused. 

But not the media which downplayed the island wide damage or couldn't wait till they had the facts.

 So they carried stories of comfort, based on the situation in most of Kingston.

Yup. In their minds, Kingston is still Jamaica apparently!

It was only about two days after Beryl had totally wrecked sections of Clarendon, Manchester and St. Elizabeth, that the rest of the country and indeed world, started to recognize that there was more to Jamaica than Kingston!

I eventually learned that the devastation in my parish, St. Elizabeth, had really been severe, with a vast number of persons left totally homeless or severely exposed to the elements.

The destruction in these country areas are not only parochial problems though as it is these three parishes that mainly supply a significant amount of not only the fruits, foods and vegetables to the entire country of Jamaica, but poultry and fish as well.

Let's hope when it comes to rehabilitation and helping people to get their lives back on stream, the Kingston is Jamaica philosophy will not prevail. As everyone is a taxpayer (even if it's only GCT)  and should not be treated as lesser beings, simply by virtue of not having been born 'under di clack' 😡.

And this means in terms of having essentials like light and water restored!

We also all need to be vigilant to ensure that the billions to be spent to repair infrastructure is properly accounted for and quality work done, for remember this is just the first hurricane of what is predicted to be an active season.

It's raining!

I have been very happy for a week in Ghana as we had been told it was the rainy season, but we never had a drop.

Well all that changed as we undertook the 4 hour journey to Kakum National Park yesterday, as it rained all the way there, non-stop after we arrived and all the way back!

It was a pleasant outing though.

This park covers approximately 145 sq miles and was the initiative nitiative of the local people

It has a canopy walkway which is over a thousand feet long, rising atop some of the tallest trees I have ever seen.

As one who is unashamedly scared of heights I refused to do more than one of the 6 walkways.☺

The theory is that you can see some Ghanaian wildlife from above, but the animals are smarter than us though, for they stay home on the rainy days, so we saw none.

There is a tree house there for those who want to overnight and try their luck the next day.

 I did see a mad human though.

He had his passport and wallet with money , credit cards id etc in hand while trying to take a picture with his phone.

Then somehow everything fell overboard into the thick forest below. 

 A guide did say he would go down (he marked the spot) and try to find it, but I would be shocked if they found anything under that thick undergrowth.

My daughter, her friend and and my granddaughter loved the canopy walk and did the entire circuit.

Good for them.

They didn't have a sign which says I 'partially' survived the walk, so I was allowed to stand under it anyway.😷

I learned a few interesting things on this trip though. 

1) Most of the trees, foods and plants they have, we have them too. (In Jamaica)

I didn't see any breadfruit though and in describing it, I concluded that they have never seen or heard of ii.

2) They make wine from palm but although am an unapologetic wine drinker, didn't try it and was told I was wise as it was bitter and tasted weird. 

And it explodes if you don't drink it right away!😡

3) They tend to use plantains more like how we use bananas and only use the banana as a fruit. (ripened)

4) Although we Jamaicans imported Anancy from them, they haven't taken scamming to heart wholeheartedly as we have.  So for example, praedial larceny ( stealing farmers' crops) is non-existent.

5) Ghana has no natural disasters. No earthquakes, no hurricanes, no volcanic eruptions. 

All that happens is that sometimes they have a little landslide and some flooding during the rainy season.

We got a great experience in how disciplined they are as drivers. On our return trip there was a landslide that affected our side of the dual carriageway and all drivers simply  turned around and took the lane on the other side of the carriageway. 

No serious boring, no impatience, no honking of horns, no fights, no pulling of weapons, no cursing and swearing at others, no mishaps etc. 

It was an amazingly disciplined operation although there were no police there to maintain order or give directions.

I was  very impressed.

Day 1 -Lusaka

 It’s quite chilly here  in Lusaka, but sunny at the same time. Then it gradually warmed up to my kind of temperature (the 80’s).

Today we headed out to Lilayi, about 45 minutes drive outside Lusaka city, 

This is somewhere Wendy says she likes to hide out at when she needs some ‘quiet time,’ great food and an inspiring work environment 

Lilayi Lodge is a lovely game-reserve/hotel, on 650 acres of land where antelopes, giraffes, zebras etc roam and hundreds of birds prosper in a safe environment.

Beautiful little cottages hidden among the trees

The neat cottages have roofs made from a type of dried grass which is prolific all over Zambia. We have been seeing these really delightful roofs everywhere we go in both Zambia and Botswana, and they are on buildings that range from commercial to residential.

This roof did suffer fire damage but was neatly repaired 

They are extremely attractive and neat, but I thought they might not be too strong. I was however told they can withstand hurricanes but fire is the danger.

I never went inside any of the cottages, but they appear charming from the outside. 

For outdoor lovers, there are three trails of varying lengths, 3k, 5k and 10 k.

While Wendy worked, we decided to take on the 3k challenge to see what animals were around. But alas, none were in sight.

We saw and heard dozens of birds engaged in singing and play and saw lots of animal hoof marks and dung, but not one in sight.

In fact, by the time we realized that we had missed the turning point for the 3k trail and we’re on the 10k one, the only moving creature were encountered was this one below.  Don’t know exactly what it was but had to take a picture of it😂.

Don’t know exactly what it is but it was a bit aggressive.

The lunch sure compensated for the lack of animals though.

I was tempted to try the crocodile Thermidor which Wendy recommend (had sweet and sour croc one before and it was delicious) but when I heard they had pork, there was no competition 😊. And boy was that crispy pork delicious.

Another section of Lilayi

As I keep saying, Zambia reminds so much of home (just on a much more humongous scale) and on the drive to and from Lilayi, there were hundreds of vendors lining the street sides with every fruit and vegetables you could imagine,. 

I got one of the sweetest melons ever🍉 from them (although the raw peanuts I bought on the first day, were reaped before they were full.)

Yup, loving this place more and more each day.❤️