This morning I got up pretty early and made sure that people were receiving my sms’s and that they could definitely get through to my room in preparation for sorting out what happened yesterday. I patiently waited (not my strong point) till 9am and called through to African Impact Office and was glad to get hold of Kirsty who had received my email and is on the case for sorting out getting me to where I’m supposed to be. A massive relief to know that they know where I am which is not where I’m supposed to be and I made the right choice staying in town rather than trying to get to the destination on my own.
She calls me back in 10 mins and says they’ve sent a driver to come and pick me up but she’s not sure how long it’ll take them to get to me. Knowing that Chimfunshi is a few hours drive away I relax a little and watch some TV waiting for her to call me back with a better indication of whether I need to get a late checkout from the hotel. At 9:45 there’s a knock at my door and one of the staff says that my phone isn’t working and that a driver will be here soon.
Time to pack up! No sooner has she left than my phone rings and the front desk inform me the driver is here and waiting for me. EEK! Quickly packing up my gear and trying to ensure that in the rush I don’t leave anything behind I rush out the door. The driver grabs by bag and wants to go but I need to check out and pay first. A few minutes later and I’m ready to go but first ask the driver a few questions to console myself that he is indeed here to take me to the right place and off we go at 9:55
After the rush to leave, he wants to stop at a supermarket to get breakfast, and then we fill up the car and then head off. We meet Innocent on the highway/road going the other direction to drop a volunteer at the airport, exchange a few instructions and head off. We drive to Chingola and I get dropped at an office and told to wait there for Mary to pick me up. Mary arrives a little later and we first head to the supermarket, hardware and scrap metal place to get supplies before heading off.
We arrive at Chimfunshi just before 4pm and I’m shown to my room so I can unpack. A little later the other volunteers arrive back from their day at the enclosures. Quick introductions to the 5 others before they all head for the showers and then dinner. I’m starving after not eating since breakfast. We have pasta with a spicy sauce for dinner. Most of the others have previously spent time at Antelope Park so we exchange stories etc. We sit around playing dice and card games while the others take turns on the internet. I figure I can wait till tomorrow.
So off to bed to get up at 6am to have breakfast and get ready before leaving at 7am. Still not clear exactly what happened but sounds like there was some mixup where they thought I’d cancelled or changed to next month due to illness. All I know is I confirmed that I was getting picked up on Sunday at 12:15 in Ndola before I left.