Sept 08

Pumba the rat catcher!

Things grow really big out here, the trees are tall the shrubs grow fast, it should be no surprise that the rats (who have an unlimited supply of food and rubbish to rummage through as there is no rubbish disposal system) are enormous - 40cm’s is just body and then same again of tail!! Quite horrific, thankfully our not so small puppy Pumba is a great rat catcher, we have got used the tell tale sounds of a chase, the scuffling, the squealing and Pumbas low growl, when this happens we know that we (well Alex) will have something grisly to clear up in the morning. We would put photos up but they really are grim! Anyway one night we hear the scuffling and squealing but Pumba seems to be having more trouble this time so Alex gallantly says he will go and ‘help’ what he thought he could do I am not quite sure. However on closer inspection the ‘rat’ turns out to be a tiny puppy that someone must have thrown over our gate. We rescue him from Pumba s over playful nature and do a quite check for fleas, he looks healthy so I bring him inside and feed him, he is very cute and soon has found a place in my heart and after managing to convince Alex this is a good thing, he is adopted and named Timmy short for Timone!!



Our new team mates; Jason, Roxanne and Annika got stuck in straight away after arriving, throwing a birthday party for Annika turning 2. Quite a turnout!!


Roxanne (hidden in the middle) organising crafts for the children.


Timmy


Ahh – not quite big enough to jump the veranda step!

pictures of guinea fowl

We get to see our families in the next month, my parents and brother arrive on Thursday yippee!!! Alex's parents and sister arrive a few days after my family leave! We can't wait, we hope to show them what life is like here and have some precious time together.

Alex introducing Pumba to our new additions (and distracting him with a big bone!)
We eventually saw our madness and have decided to keep them separated!


How they grow!!!Feb to July




Our first mountain and walk for 6 months. In Morogoro visiting friends




Relaxing after a long day!

June

We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary last week so took a couple of days off and headed to the Dar Es Salaam and surroundings, it was a much needed break and we had a great time.

June has been a challenging month, the ‘experts’ all say that 6 months is a notoriously bad time in the ‘transition curves’ and that has been true for us, we felt as though we hit the bottom, frustrations with language learning, culture, team, no power, no water and just living here where nothing really works as it should (well that’s what we think anyway) but we are maybe on the way up again, that or we are looking forward to a some precious time with our families in the coming months. I have been trying to organise some ladies get togethers with some of the other workers out here, we took advantage of a very experienced worker (left of photo) and really enjoyed 3 sessions together of training and encouragement. I have also had the chance to meet some more of the local ladies and practice my Swahili! Alex is battling with the motivation needed for language learning but enjoys the odd chance to go spear fishing and snorkelling – hard life isn’t it.

We have 2 new additions in the form of Guinea Foul, I have named them Spotty and Dotty but Alex is not convinced yet. They are so beautiful, the challenge has been making sure Pumba doesn’t eat them, after a few moments of trying to get him to be calm around them, we realise our foolishness and have had to resort to total separation of the animals!!!

Puppy

Our new addition – Pumba – 7 weeks

Alex will tell you he is not excited about having a puppy but this photo says otherwise!