We are finally here. It has been a long time coming. We've taken the long way round - but now, it's just James and I in this remote town in Western Zambia.
To be back on African soil is amazing. This is the place I am meant to be. The place I call home. She (Zambia) has welcomed me home with a canvas boasting ten shades of green, the bright red cracked dirt of the earth and a back drop of a bright blue sky, tainted only by the stage show of rain, thunder and amazing lightning shows. Thank you, Zambia - it's great to be back! This 'short wet' brings out the true colours of Africa that have been taught to us in the West - the bright red dirt and flashy greens with people with dark, smooth skin, donning bright clothing - a feast for the eyes! Colours are reflected in the food too- as i look around, I can see mangoes - in a firey-orangey-red colour, next to sparkling apples- bright beetroots and magnificent yellow bananas. This produce allows the taste buds to be treatted to a tantalising display of mouthwatering delights. The smells of fresh produce at the market looms in the foreground with the faint, distant smell of rain trying to escape its position in the clouds and grace the earth with its presence, for rain loves to not only be heard, but be smelled, felt, touched and tasted too.
In the early morning, sounds of silence protrude, with the pattering of rain on a tin roof leading the sounds in the evening. The hysterical laughter from children who have discovered the joys of jumping into the middle of a puddle and early morning trucks - are a delight to the ears - each unique sound reminds me each moment of where I am.
Inside our duplex also shows subtle signs of the land in which we reside. A bright, colourful, intrusively large Map of Africa lines the wall, along with paintings of brightly clothed Masai Warriors and a bright blue abstract painting depicting the tranquility of Zanzibar. A small wooden giraffe welcomes visitors, who are invited to sip on some African tea or coffee and eat a feast of meat and vegetables marinated in obviously African spices, while placing their coffee cup on a wooden coaster whose inside is silhouetted with some of the 'big five.' Once the food settles and the coffee is gone, candles will be lit, to allow the smells of Morocco, South Africa and Tanzania to permeate - until the electricity dies and the candles are used to bring light. With this brings the silence of the evening and the claps of thunder remind us of one obvious fact that we must remind ourselves of daily - This is Africa (T.I.A)..
