Week 2 Zimbabwe

Here we are already half way through our trip. Time flies when you are having fun. After arriving in Bulawayo on Saturday at about noon, we have packed in quite a bit of activity.

On Sunday we went to the 10:00am service at the Bulawayo Baptist Church with Pastor Jeff preaching. On Sunday afternoon we took a walk down to the Nesbitt Castle which is only a few blocks from Jeff and Tammy's house, were we are staying.  I bet You didn't expect to here that there is a castle in the heart of Africa. It was built at the beginning of the 20th century.  You should google Nesbitt Castle and read all about its history. Here is a link https://www.expertafrica.com/zimbabwe/bulawayo/nesbitt-castle/in-detail

On Monday we started to train about 16 new Smart Choices recruits. They will work with our Scripture Union and the True Love Waits Partners the Bulawayo and greater Matabeleland schools teaching the Smart Choices Program.  On Monday we ran through the program one time to get them familiar with the program and how it should be taught.  In the afternoon we assigned the students all parts to prepare. On Tuesday they came back and presented the program as we observed and critiqued there performance.  They did really well.  I was impressed.  They are going to be a great asset.  For the reminder of the week we are going out to a rural school where the new recruits will team teach with some veteran instructors that we trained last year.  I am looking forward to see how they do.

We were finished with the training early today and went out to the Motopos Reserve and Game Park. This is the burial place of Cecil John Rodes after whom Rhodesia was named. It is only about a 40 minute drive from Bulawayo. It is not renowned for a great deal of  game but we were astounded by how much we saw is a short time:

Monkeys, Baboons, 3 Steen buck, 4 Hippos, 3 Rhinos, Fish Eagle, Warthog, Impala.  We also saw two other buck that Jeff thinks are Gemsbok.

We also took a hike  up a steep path to a cave with bushman paintings on the cave walls.  As we headed back down again again we must have disturbed a hive of bees. Jeff who was in the lead had about 6 stings on his arms and legs.  I got one sting on the eyelid of my right eye.

https://www.expertafrica.com/zimbabwe/matobo-hills-national-park