Lianne's Journal

Check here for the latest adventures of Lianne in Africa.

This part of the website will be updated as often as possible with stories, successes, failures and prayer requests!

If you’d like, I’d love a response in the guestbook or to my e-mail at zimbingo@hotmail.com .

JULY 24th, 2000

JULY 4th, 2000

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JULY 24th, 2000

Wow, I can't believe I'm almost home. I am no longer thinking of time in months, but in weeks! Only three left in Africa!!

I am having a great time on my wilderness tour. We've spent the past week in the Namib Desert, climbing dunes and hiking in the sun... it is incredible! I never imagined that the desert would be so captivating, but it is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life. 

>From here we move north to Etosha National Park, where we'll hopefully see some game. Then off to Botswana for a few days and we finish on the 6th at Victoria Falls. I can't wait to be back home in Zimbabwe - even after a few short weeks away, I miss the place! It's amazing how much other countries in Southern Africa feel so foreign to me... the difference is so clear as soon as you cross the border. Zimbabwe is the place I know and understand, and these other countries don't feel the same at all. Anyway, I'll be in the place I know best soon enough!

I hope everyone is well at home! I haven't been able to email at all in the last few weeks, with the exception of a really expensive 15 minute stint when I'm lucky, so I know you understand when I don't return emails. 

Miss you and wee you soon - wee you soon?
Make that see you soon!
Love Lianne

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JULY 4th, 2000

Hello All!
Fear not -  met up okay with Ingeborg and her sister, Kristel! I was very relieved to see them on Sunday night, although I have since met many new people and I can tell that traveling on my own would be less of a problem then I'd thought.

We are staying at a beautiful little lodge with a panoramic view of the Northern Drakensburg mountains. After two days of hiking we decided to take a breather and rest by the fire today. (We actually climbed a mountain yesterday, I honestly thought I was going to collapse from climbing. I have never been so exhausted - the view was like nothing I've ever seen before in my life though, so it was worth it!!!)It is very cold!! The shower I had last night was less than pleasant. They are outside and the water wasn't exactly hot. My new sleeping bag is really keeping me warm at night though - thanks, Stef! There is no TV, thankfully, so we play guitar and sit by the fire and relax a lot. It is really peaceful.

Tomorrow we will take a little bus to Lesotho and spend Thursday hiking, and Friday and Saturday pony-trekking in the mountains. The shuttle thing from this lodge is kind of expensive, but there is no other way to do it. Public transport is pretty much non-existent in Lesotho, and we hear its beautiful, so we'll spend the cash! It's door to door service, so we know we'll be safe, too. On Sunday we head to Durban on the Baz Bus, and see the beaches and the town for a few days. Inge flies out on Wednesday. I'll either leave Tuesday with some Cape Town teachers I met here and travel down the coast with them, or on Wednesday on my own. Either way, I'll try to be in Cape Town by the 15th. (My tour leaves the 18th)

South Africa is very different than Zimbabwe. I was uncomfortable the first few days not knowing the culture at all, or any of the 11 languages. South Africa is a world on it's own. There seems to be a different tension between people than I've ever felt before. It is WAY more built up than Zim - the two aren't comparable. It's like the farm vs. Disney World or something. But at the same time, there are obviously rural peoples living here too... similar shanty villages, only they have electricity in SA, where as in Zim they didn't. Anyways, it's interesting seeing new places, and as I said, the mountains are incredibly beautiful. I'm still trying to figure out the "tourist role" I play here, as Ingeborg put it. I'm sure it will be even more different in Durban.

The backpacker's life is very cool ("lekker" in SA) though. Everyday I meet new people from all over the world, who have been traveling and working in all sorts of places. Mostly things are friendly and low-key, which is nice. I'm still very careful with all my stuff, though. I've heard enough stories to know not to get too comfortable in a lodge. People recommend places to go, lodges to stay at, and the best ways to get there. And we are getting really good at being creative with cooking out of a can! Pasta, pasta, pasta...

Love Lianne

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