Kimberley Height

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Kimberley Height




Africa » Malawi » Central » Lilongwe February 7th 2013

Once Mum had left Malawi, we spent a couple of days in Lilongwe working hard. We cleaned the whole house, sweeping, mopping, washing bedding, killing insects, wiping shelves, cleaning dishes. I also cooked some very yummy dinners, including polenta and beans, and vegetable curry and rice. Then we washed a whole heap of clothes, hoping they wouldn't get rained on. And after all this we were very tired and grumpy. So we went to Blantyre to stay with Gabbie's family, where we wouldn't have to do any cleaning, cooking or washing. I wanted to take one of the new double decker buses to Blantyre, but they weren't running on the day we wanted to go. But amazingly, the bus we took wasn't even full and got to Blantyre quickly! I was shocked! No chickens on the ... read more
A Praise sandwich
Sleeping baby
Zione and the many nappies

Africa » Malawi » Southern » Blantyre January 21st 2013

This was my second time on safari in South Luangwa but a completely new experience for Mum and Gabbie. At the camp we stayed at we saw crocodiles, hippos, mongoose, squirrels, monkeys, baboons and monitor lizards. In the actual park, we saw giraffes, elephants, hippos, baboons, monkeys, buffalo, genets, servals, lions, porcupine, zebras, many types of antelope and many types of birds. We had a wonderful and very funny guide called Billy, who was actually from Malawi. He asked us on our first drive if there was anything in particular we wanted to see. I said that last time I was here I saw everything except a zebra, so I'd like to see a zebra. And then, we saw hundreds of zebra. Around almost every corner was a zebra! After a while we just started to ... read more
South Luangwa
South Luangwa
South Luangwa

Africa » Malawi » Central » Lilongwe January 11th 2013

After a year, I'm back in Malawi! And I'm very happy to be here. It has been wonderful to catch up with everyone here in Malawi, after not seeing them for a year. And it feels nice to be back in this environment, where there is so much going on, so much to see, listen to, people to talk to... Mum and I arrived in Zambia two weeks ago now and stayed in Lusaka for our first couple of days. We spent an afternoon with my friend Liz and her family, who I stayed with when I visited Lusaka last year. It was great to see them all again! However, while we were there, it rained really heavily for about 4 hours, so when we finally left to go home, the ground outside had become a ... read more
With Liz and her family
Mud!
My baby

Africa » Malawi » Central » Lilongwe December 29th 2011

After an amazing 4 months, my time in Malawi has come to an end. It was incredibly sad to have to say goodbye to Malawi and all the animals at the centre and the wonderful friends I've made, but I promised them that I'll be back as soon as I can. Living in Malawi was such an incredible experience and I've learnt so much about so many things. I can't even begin to tell you all the things I've learnt, but I'll give you a brief insight: -Babies (in my case, animal babies) may be cute but they're a lot of work, especially when they're hungry or tired and throw temper tantrums. I'm definitely not ready for a baby of my own for quite a while! -It's difficult to be a minority and have to deal ... read more
South Luangwa National Park
South Luangwa National Park
South Luangwa National Park

Africa » Malawi » Central » Lilongwe November 16th 2011

I know you've all been waiting for this, so here it is - update number 3 on my amazing life in Africa! Life here has been incredibly busy, especially in the past month. There have been a lot of ups and downs but in general, I love life here so much that the downs have been manageable. There's a lot to say about the past couple of months, it's difficult to know where to start because I just want to explain about everything. There's been a whole new group of volunteers who have arrived since I last wrote, at one stage there were 10 of us here, which is the most we've ever had since I arrived. It was nice to have so many other people around but it did get pretty hectic taking turns with ... read more
Lilongwe Wildlife Centre
Lilongwe Wildlife Centre
Lilongwe

Africa » Malawi » Central » Lilongwe September 29th 2011

This place is amazing! After 5 weeks of being here in Malawi, I'm still really loving it. I'm learning more and more about African life and everything is always so fascinating, even if it's really frustrating at the same time. Things generally happen pretty slowly here, which can be frustrating if you really need to get stuff done, but I find that I've adapted pretty well to “African time”. I walk and work a lot slower here than I do in Australia. And I'm hardly ever the person that everyone else is waiting for, which is a first in my life! I had to go to the immigration office a couple of weeks ago to renew my visa and it was the most frustrating, complicated process! It took me two hours just to get a stamp ... read more
Lilongwe Wildlife Centre
Lilongwe Wildlife Centre
Lilongwe Wildlife Centre

Africa » Malawi » Central » Lilongwe September 5th 2011

Hello from Malawi! Muli bwanji? (This is where you answer “Ndili bwino, kaya inu?). This phrase was my first in Chichewa (the national language of Malawi) and definitely the most important phrase to know. It means “How are you?”, “I'm fine, and you?”. That's the standard greeting here so it's been very useful. After 3 weeks of living in Malawi, I have to say, I'm really happy here. It feels so right and so comfortable to be here and I'm so glad for that. I love everything about the place. I was expecting to be quite overwhelmed with Malawi for the first couple of weeks and experience some culture shock, but I haven't really been overwhelmed by much and definitely haven't had any culture shock. I feel like I've slotted into life here quite easily. Anyway, ... read more
Lilongwe Wildlife Centre
Lilongwe Wildlife Centre
Lilongwe Wildlife Centre

Europe » Austria » Styria » Graz August 22nd 2011

My time in Europe is drawing to a close, but before it ends I have an amazing month to update you all on. I'm spending my last few days in Europe staying with my friend Friedolin in Graz and I couldn't think of a better way to say goodbye to Europe than to spend time with a friend I haven't seen for 3 years. A lot has happened since I left Sweden a month ago. So much that I don't know where to start or how to describe all the amazing, fascinating, fun things I've experienced. Let's start in Serbia. Belgrade was our destination when we flew out of Stockholm. A lot of people wondered why we were going to Serbia and some questioned whether or not it was a safe decision, but I think it ... read more
Belgrade - Serbia
Belgrade - Serbia
Belgrade - Serbia

Europe » Sweden » Stockholm County » Stockholm July 18th 2011

Hej allihopa! Greetings from my future country of residence. ;) Aka Sweden. I arrived in Sweden 3 & 1/2 weeks ago and I have to say, my love for this country remains as strong as ever! I know this blog entry is a little bit long but believe me, it's full of enthusiasm, happiness and wonderful occassions so it shouldn't be at all difficult to read. :) People often ask me what it is I like so much about Sweden. It's a hard question - there's a lot to like (besides the expensive prices). The country is physically very beautiful, both the countryside and the cities. I love Stockholm for its beauty, large range of things to do, cultural diversity, familiarity and most of all, for being my second home. The Swedish people are wonderful and ... read more
Älgö - Sweden
Älgö - Sweden
Älgö - Sweden

Europe » Netherlands » Friesland » Leeuwarden June 23rd 2011

The decision to leave Prague was a difficult one to make, so much so that I only decided where I was going about 2 hours before the bus left. After buying bus tickets and booking a hostel, I headed to the station to take the bus to Belgium. It was an 11 hour overnight bus trip to Brussels, but because I didn't like the idea of arriving at 5am and having to find my hostel, I continued on to Bruges. Going to Bruges was a bit of a gamble because I didn't really know anything about the place. It paid off though because luckily it turned out to be a really nice place. The buildings in the city centre are really old and charming. It's so well preserved because the city was quite poor and not ... read more
Bruges - Belgium
Bruges - Belgium
Bruges - Belgium




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