editor's Comment
•By andy FenWicK •
“Arriving home with half the Zambezi valley caked to my skin, with no means of removing said dust really gets my hackles up!”
I
have just returned from a few days break at Tiger Odyssey, Kanyemba. Strangely, though, the highlight of the trip was not the seemingly endless throng of suicidal tigerfish lining up to take my bait. No, for me the novelty was having endless hot running water, a cooked meal at the end of an enjoyable day on the water, and electricity at the flick of a switch - creature comforts in a part of Africa which, to all intents and purposes, is in the middle of nowhere. It was rather ironic, then, although not surprising, upon our return to Harare, to find our ‘first city’ enveloped in complete darkness!
gets my hackles up! I suppose I shouldn’t be such a wimp... a little cold water never hurt anyone. But don’t forget it’s late in the evening and it’s the middle of winter! As I’ve already said, I try not to let things get me down. So instead of complaining, w h i c h d o e s n ’t s o l v e anything, I simply built myself a boiler - right there and then. Whilst it is still in the ‘development’ stage it might not look very pretty, but it works just fine and I am very proud of it. It comprises an old geyser, which at present is precariously balanced on a few bricks. It’s very easy to operate - simply light a fire under the contraption, cold water goes in at the bottom, allow about half an hour for the water to get up to ‘bath’ temperature, once full, hot water comes out of a pipe at the top.
Generally speaking I’m not one to let the situation in this country get me down. We all face the same problems on a daily basis, and I suppose that’s what unites us. The “Africa will not win... not if I’ve I have now been using gentle glow and hiss of a got anything to do with it!” the ‘boiler’ on a daily gas lamp in the evening is basis. Bath time is a real rather soothing, even if it treat, fully satisfying - Africa will not win... not if I’ve got is in the comfort of my living room, and I’ve become quite anything to do with it. My wife thinks I should be in an partial to baked beans - standard blackout back-up food in our institution! I suppose she has a point, we haven’t had a power household! I can even watch television, if fuel is available for cut for weeks... the generator, of course. Sometimes we are happy simply sitting down to a game of Scrabble or cards. Having said this, though, if there is one aspect of this lessthan-idyllic lifestyle that does get to me, it’s not being able to have a hot bath or shower. Having endured endless hours on the corrugated and dusty Kanyemba road - possibly one of the worst in Africa - arriving home with half the Zambezi va