un sabbatique fantastique en Afrique

Despite Zambia not being a francophone country, unlike next door Democratic Republic of Congo, we’ve managed to seek out our own slice of France to help prepare for the coming year in Lyon. Frankie has been attending Le Lycée Francais de Lusaka (The French school of Lusaka). She’s in a the maternelle section (MS), which is essentially kinder. She has a wonderful teacher, originally from Mauritius, called Jenny - “the same as Miss Honey!”, as in Matilda. The class is essentially taught in French, although her teachers can speak English and there are a few dedicated lessons taught in English during the week. The school has a mixture of kids of French expats, Zambians and children from francophone Africa. However, like us, there is a smattering of enfants of parents who speak little French, mainly from UK and the US. School gates open at 0710, and each morning we are greeted by Monsieur Petit the school principal, “ Bonjour Francesca ”. As this is usually peak shy time, a reply ...

A close friend from Melbourne informed me of big purchase he recently made. I won’t mention the actual figures, but the words ‘extend’ and ‘mortgage’ were used and the price tag made me gasp. Keep in mind though, he made this purchase for his daughter, and it is almost Xmas, so we shouldn’t be too judgmental. He of course bought a mango. Inner city Melbourne has its boutique organic green grocers, home delivered vegie boxes and the mandatory big supermarket chains stocking fruit with plenty of food miles. Lusaka is actually not too dissimilar…except for the mango prices….but we’ll get to that later. It seems that having ‘a farm’ is pretty common here. Whether that be a small plot big enough for some vegetables (usually at least maize), a bigger enterprise employing farmhands (usually including maize) or a hobby farm on the outskirts of Lusaka for those with the kwatcha, again often with maize. I have the impression that many people rely quite heavily on a good maize crop....

Soon after arriving in Lusaka, and before school started, Frankie and I took to the nearby streets each day for a little explore. We quite randomly came across Lamu restaurant where we discovered what has been hailed ‘the best fish in Africa’. Lamu is fronted by the lovely Evonne who promptly invited Frankie for a playdate with her granddaughter Emmanuella, who was getting horribly bored on school holidays. So impressed with the fish, and the prospect of Zambian playdate, we returned the following week for a play and lunch. We’ve been back a further 4 times and Frankie is now well known to the establishment.   Just in case you’d like to find out how to find your own BFIA, here’s a handy how-to guide: 1.        Go to Lamu restaurant on Tito Road. 2.        Pre-order the fish (Bream from Lake Kariba) 3.        Return 30min later after fish has been adequately fried 4.   ...

Alright, so it feels like we can't start kick off this blog without the obligatory intro piece about where we are, how we got here, what we're doing and so on. However, right now that feels a little like a chore, and I'm sure it will all come out in some form or another throughout the course of this blog. So here is the abridged version. We're in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. We're here for 6 months for what we'll call 'le sabbatique de Ali', before we move onto Lyon, France, for my turn. 'We', consists of myself, Ali and our compact traveler of multiple faces, Frankie. Frankie and I are currently hanging loose before the next kinder term starts while Ali acquaints herself with yet another hospital system, albeit one slightly more rugged that those in outer Melbourne. After completing 3 weeks in Lusaka and a basic orientation to the city, we're today off to South Luangwa National Park for what promises to be a fantastique safari experie...