Sunday from hell

Some days one should not wake up and/or leave the bed.

The day started EARLY in order to catch the bloody 7.20 flight to Johannesburg and then continue to Maputo. That means waking up around 4.30 - 5 in order to shower, pack the last stuff and get to airport in time.

Only to get to the car and find that it had been broken into and the speakers stolen. Plus a "nice" square hole in our garage "wall". Great start of the day.

Then I get to Johannesburg airport and try to cash my VAT refund cheque from last week's short visit to Southafrica. Only to be told that it will take 8-10 WEEKS to get the cheque ready. Yes you read it - weeks not days.

Then I had a brief moment of panic while boarding because suddenly my passport was missing. How it managed to get to the very very bottom of my bag I don't know. But when I find it is when I realise that my valid visa for Mozambique is in my old passport that was replaced due to running out of pages. At home is that where that passport is. And I do not carry cash enough to pay for an entry visa since I know I carry a valid visa. Hurrah.

So when I arrive in Maputo I met a guardian angel in the shape of a guy called Simon who lent me money to get a visa and then waited for me to get Moz money to pay him back. Simon, wherever you are and if you ever read this - you restored my faith in humankind and the world this day.

Then I take a taxi to the hotel where I was booked. Given the nature of this day of course there was no room in my name, in fact all rooms were booked and no room for me... I managed to get hold of Miguel, the manager of the office I am to visit tomorrow, and we chased around for a hotel room. Eventually we found one. Boy am I going to sleep tonight and hope that tomorrow turns out different.

Really not very happy

Life sometimes. For various reasons we were in Southafrica last weekend and then reclaimed VAT for whatever we shopped. To be reimbursed in O.R Tambo (Johannesburg) airport. Great. The only problem being that when I now went to the VAT refund place here (am at airport in question in other words) I am told it takes 8 - 10 weeks for the refund cheque to be ready... talk about trying to discourage people.

And more headaches: yesterday we had a really nice day at Rocklands, the kids swam in the pool and Mia and I just relaxed. Came home, watched TV and all that. Only to find out when we headed for the airport that thieves had neatly cut a hole in our garage wall, managed to open the Corolla and steal the speakers. So now we have a square hole in the metal fence "wall" and I hate leaving Mia alone with that kind of problems.

Well well, Maputo here we come.

Computers and Mana Pools

Just a comment on the sometimes somewhat weird world that happens to be my profession. As I work on my laptop that has Kubuntu Linux as OS I sometimes need to run various versions of Windows for support reasons. I do this by running something called VirtualBox - an environment where I can run other systems "inside" my Kubuntu main OS. That way I have Windows XP Pro, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista installed and can run them without rebooting.

Currently I am testing out next version of Kubuntu Linux, "Karmic Koala", to be released October 2009. And I find it so good that I write this, visit Facebook, chat and check one of my (many...) email lists from within the pre-release of Karmic. So I sort of swap between my main version and the new depending on what I am doing...

Otherwise I am really looking forward to go to Mana Pools next weekend for the annual Game Count. Feel in bad need of a break.

Thoughts on Africa

Interesting article from BBC on Africa and poverty: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8215083.stm
In the same vein Barack Obama has made some statements:
http://tinyurl.com/kr44uc
http://tinyurl.com/l4k75o
A Zimbabwean friend of mine commented "it takes a goffal to call a spade a spade".

Not much to write about

I was actually asked why I have not updated the blog for some time. Well at least that means that it is being read by one person!

I guess the reason is that sometimes life just sort of goes on. The winter in Zimbabwe has been continued awfully cold, good thing we have plenty of firewood after taking down 6 dead trees.

No new house woes except for a TV gone dead. Constant power blackouts and surges are not nice to your electronics, that is something we have learnt the hard way. After much searching we found a guy who said he could fix it. That is now 2 months ago I think and he is at the moment "waiting for spare parts" since 3 weeks or so. I strongly suspect the truth is that it is beyond repair (in Zimbabwe at least) but he doesn't want to admit it.

Good thing that at the time I asked if any Swede leaving the country were selling their TV! One lady called and said she had an old but large and good TV. But she was not selling it until she was leaving in August. I told her to please come back to me as she basically did not ask for any money to talk about.

Last week she called, on Sunday we picked it up. Mia and syster Cynthia had to do all carrying as I was suffering from lumbago. As she had said it is an old Philips TV but large screen, good picture and no faults we have found. Bingo! Moved the "kids TV" back to their bedroom and they have hardly been off Playstation since.

In Zimbabwe the somewhat limping unity government continues amid constant infighting. Maybe it should be called non-unity government? However, most of us still enjoy the slow progress and every small step towards "normalcy" that takes place.

Some things are plain weird though. Like City of Harare insisting on residents paying water bills in areas that have not had city water for the past 2-3 years.. excuse but paying for WHAT now? The idea being that if we do not pay they can not fix the system so we can get water. Hm, never heard that logic before, once water come back will I then get x months of free water?

Same goes for newly introduced system of road tolls on major highways. Most of them are in awful shape yet we are supposed to pay for using them... I have never before heard of paying tolls BEFORE a highway is fixed. From all my experience you either use tax money for maintenance or you let a commercial entity fix the road and that company then charge toll for that.

Another "funny" one - TelOne (only fixed phoneline supplier) announces proudly that they will introduce a new billing and reading system. Cause the existing one is in shambles and have not survived hyperinflation, new currency etc. Fine with me. But they still send skyhigh bills to everyone and insist on full payment without any proof of usage, metering etc. Que? We pay an amount every month that I consider reasonable, no more. They want to cut us off fine go ahead. Have not heard of anyone they have actually cut - they need every dollar and they know it.

My final rant for today: cellphone rates. All 3 providers in Zimbabwe have had their rates approved by referring to "regional rates". Nonsense, in short. Don't know who helped them to establish those rates but they are way higher than neighbouring countries.

Two very simple examples: In Mozambique I have a local "pay as you go" sim-card. When I am there I buy a 4-dollar top-up. I get 100 free sms (local) on that. I hardly ever use the full amount in a week even though I sms to Zimbabwe once or twice a day and make local phonecalls.
In Zambia I also have a local card. I normally buy 2 dollar top-up for a week! No free sms but I can sms to Zimbabwe once or twice daily and make some local calls.
In Zimbabwe it is no problem to spend 5-10 us dollar in less than a week. Only on local calls and sms.
Regional rates my foot.

Citizen Sinclair

As noted in an earlier posting I, by mistake, became citizen of Zimbabwe a while ago. This did not bother me. Until last Friday.

I had just gotten a new passport as the old one was running out of pages (they last around a year with all my zigzaggin around Africa). Then I took the time on Friday to go to Immigration and transfer my residence permit.

An extremely bored-looking woman asked for my ID and then stated that as I was a citizen I could not have a residence permit. My protests that I was not a citizen, it was just that Registrar General had made a mistake, had no impact whatsoever - "you have to sort that out first".

So we started this morning by going back to Registrar General. Lucky I had a copy of my old paper ID and even more lucky a friend of Hellen was on duty. We explained the situation and about 10 minutes later I was no longer a citizen but an "Alien" once more. Passed Immigration and the same, equally bored, woman stamped my new passport without even checking if the old one actually had a residence permit in it.

Now if that had happened in Sweden I can only imagine the headhunt for the person responsible for the original mistake, a certain amount of forms to be filled in etc. Sometimes the rather relaxed attitude towards rules in African countries can be an advantage.

Cold cold cold

Harare and Zimbabwe is experiencing a record cold winter. The Herald (of absolute truth) reports night temperatures down to -12 in parts of the country and that cattle has died!

That is NOT the best time for your geyser to die on you so of course that is what happened. On top of that it seems every good plumber has left Zimbabwe so what we keep finding are the guys who:

1. Learnt by looking at what someone else did and said "I am sure I can do that" - they are wrong...
2. Do not know the clock or understand the concept of time. "Morning" means anytime before lunch. If you are lucky because it might also mean "today or possibly tomorrow".
3. Have no transport and carry 2-3 tools, no ladder, no silk thread etc etc so you have to rush and buy whatever they need
   

I don't know why we always end up with the Marx Brothers for plumbers. When 2 finally showed up yesterday they fit the above description perfect. It took them around 2 hours to fit a new element and a thermostat.

Once they were gone and water warm enough boy did I soak in a bath. Only to wake up in the night by "strange sounds" from the geyser. Switched it off. This morning switched it back on. An hour or so later the water in it BOILS and the water starts pouring out via the pressure valve! Thank any god noone was outside in the area where the water comes out from the ceiling!!

Switch off geyser. Call oldest Marx Brother (the boss) who promise to come "first thing". He showed up at around 11 am... only to tell it was the wrong type of thermostat. Now why could not the younger Marx Brothers see that BEFORE they installed it??

Otherwise I have a flu and cough, Eric has a flu and cough and Mia is not too well either . And the kids have just "finished" chickenpox.

On the up side: another small step on the road back to normal life in Zimbabwe. We now have paid vehicle insurance in USD and that makes them meaningful! For years any insurance has been completely pointless as hyperinflation rendered any evalution meaningless. You had it just because the law required. We are now looking at once more insure the home, something that will feel really good once it is done.

And we have contracted a company for garden maintenance... we are SICK of employing "gardeners" who either are useless or have x number of family/personal problems. It cost a bit more but so far feels worth every dollar.

2 links to sites with thoughts and pictures re life in Africa, one of them in Swedish though:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ZimbabwePictures
http://www.utangranser-kajsasblogg.se/

Find for the handy car enthusiast

Found this on the streets of Harare some time ago:



Anyone interested I can find out if this classic Volvo P1800 sportscar is for sale? You DO have to be the handy, fixing mechanic (mad) type though...

Lichinga notes

Back in Lichinga, Niassa province, Mozambique. A place where very few things work as planned or expected. Internet one of them, terribly unreliable and poor quality. TDM "Bandalarga", more like Bandapico if you ask me, is running a series of TV adverts where people get "blown away" by the high speed internet. Sure. More like that old ad where someone falls asleep in front of the computer waiting for that mail with attachment.

Any way, Tuesday was inauguration of the long awaited fibre optic cable connection coming to Lichinga. Pomp and circumstance, disco music and orchestras, honorable (?) ministers and such the whole day. Internet suddenly working quite well... for 3 days.

Yesterday back to Bandapico, can hardly open gmail interface. Ministers etc back in Maputo I guess.

Zimbabwe status report

A personal such, of course. But despite the obvious problems the Government of National Unity (GNU) is facing and also despite the equally obvious internal "tug of war" inside said GNU (evident by orders and contraorders, sometimes on the same day, ongoing farm invasions,unilateral decisions etc) there is a cautious feeling of optimism in the air.

The shops are almost back to normal (meaning how they were before all headaches started around 2000) and last time we fueled the cars we actually paid with cash! For most of you that is nothing - for us something that has not been possible for more years than I can recall.

And prices are for the third month in a row reported as falling! Yes, many many items are still more costly than they used to be and out of reach for most people but it is moving in the right direction at least.

Also small but nice improvements can be seen, at least in Harare. Traffic lights are being fixed, cleaning and emptying of rubbish here and there, flower sales back in Unity Square and such. As I said - SMALL signs but at least there is a feeling that SOMETHING is happening.

What is absurd at the moment are fees for various services such as phone, city council, electricity, water etc. This is because all govt. agencies are trying to play "catch up" and recover some capital after years of being more or less free. However, that is also slowly being corrected. What is left are things like school fees... I shudder to think what we will be asked to pay next term.

Noone thinks this is going to be an easy ride and there is a very real possibility of failure, no matter what politicians might say in public. One good thing though (strange for outsiders perhaps) is that the rot is now public and out in the open. The absolutely appalling state of the econonomy, the terrible conditions for most govt. departments and other agencies, the enormous needs of support, money and credit lines are now for all to see and not swept under the carpet of silence and weird "our friends in East, Iran and China will help us"-statements/policies.

So I give a careful "thumbs-up" so far. For the one interested in Zimbabwe's economy I found this interesting blog:
http://odettejohnrobertson.blogspot.com/

On a personal note: after years of having a rather flimsy A4-paper as Zimbabwean identification I have now managed to get a "proper" id!!

Albania

Back from a short visit to Albania, some reflections on that country. For starters it was my first visit and I have not been in the Balkan region for over 20 years. Well before they decided (or whatever happened) to disintegrate Yugoslavia into x number of midget states during a terrible war in other words.

For those who know their history Albania was a communist state post second world war, ruled most of that time by Enver Hoxha. It broke away from the Soviet Union infuense though. The "post-Hoxha" time was chaotic and I remember seeing the movie Lamerica mid 90s sometimes, a not very positive movie presenting a country in chaos.

So I was most pleasantly surprised to find this small country (roughly 3 million inhabitants) being fairly "modern" and inhabited by very friendly, helpful and hospitable people. Everyone tries to help, tries to speak English and as a matter of fact I was barely left alone to eat.

Food is a story in itself, mixture of Italian, meditteranian and more robust "farm cooking". I am NOT used to eating 3-4 courses for lunch and felt rather stuffed a lot of the time.

An especially memorable meal was a late lunch by Lake Pogradec on our way back from Korca to Tirana. We stopped at a very empty restaurant (low season) and was treated the best grilled lamb I have ever eaten. Full stop.

That was one day when I simply skipped dinner. Another time I had to leave the better part of a pot of lovely pork suckling baked with potato. Too much food in short - but great food.

It was a bit chilly, I have not been in Europe during that season for many years. And strange - some offices and houses are actually colder inside than it is outside! The office in Korca in particular, brrr.

We (I was with a colleague, P G Skog) found that no meeting was held without coffee "espresso style" and rarely without being served Raki. Maybe to keep the warmth? And most of the time "farm" Raki from someone's relatives rather than from the shop. That includes the acting Director General of NES that the mission was focused on.

Here some Albania photos

Do I look gullible?

Written 8 March:
Am spending the day at Rome Airport, no fun at all. OK I have a day-room at Hilton Hotel so at least I have somewhere to rest. However: the room is nice and designed and so on but NOTHING comes with it, not even a bottle of water. Or internet access. Tea and coffe, end of story. And the prices for food in their restos are so mad I simply walked over to the airport to get a bite.

Coming fresh from the very friendly Tirana where my room included hi-speed internet it feels a bit weird that the supposedly "first-world" Italy and fancy Hilton can not offer that. Never mind.

Sadly I can never really sleep during daytime unless I am exhausted so I just rest, read and try to relax. My flight for Addis Abeba leaves at 1.15 in the night so I have time on my hands.

I guess I should have gone into Rome as I have never been there but all stories I have heard (and what I have seen so far) have led me to suspect I likely would not have been back on time or without any money left.

Most of the time when I get stopped by police on the road in my various criss-crossing travels of southern or eastern Africa I have no problems and get "let off the hook" quite easily. I have attributed it to a certain easygoing attitude combined with patience but maybe I just look "too daft or gullible" and they sort of feel sorry for me?

This thinking is because 2 times in a couple of hours I was hit on by conmen here at the airport. Guy nr 2 I can not prove (I can not PROVE nr 1 either but if I am wrong I will be more than surprised) however as I walked away from him.

Guy number 1 I meet in the long tunnel from airport to hotel. Conversation goes a something like this:
"Excuse me sir do you speak English" - this in a very to me UK-sounding accent
"yes I do why"?
"Well I have just missed my flight and need to call my brother in UK to ask for help. Would you have 3 Euro to help me make a call"?
"No but you can use my phone"
"Well he has to call me back with a booking number so I want to use one of the payphones that has a number on it"
OK I give the guy a coin I happen to have and even as I walk away from it I suspect it was a con.

That was underlined by the fact that I see the same guy 2 more times in the next hour in the same tunnel... and he is still there when I go for check-in another 5-6 hours later.

Next one gets on me when I am buying something to eat, with one of those almost incomprehensible English dialects. A long story unwinds of how he has driven down from UK and lost everything, now has to wait the whole day at the airport. Had to give taxi driver wedding ring, watch, overcoat. I leave him before I hear the end of the story.

So in other words - do I look like a con target, soft and naive? A question for me to ponder, you don't have to comment or answer.

The Italian Experience

There is a movie by that name. There is now also one of those "I will never forget" experiences of my life I will label the same.

It does not happen very often that I get completely mad angry and "blow the top" in public outside the closed circuit of family and friends. Normally I label myself as probably a bit too "timid" and patient. Today's encounter with italians in general and Alitilia specifically however made me completely lose it.

From now on I have no problems understanding why they have not managed to organise a working government since forever, why Napoli is drowning in uncollected garbage and why the Roman Empire collapsed. As well as why Alitalia was bankrupt and noone even wants the leftovers. The answer to all this is "that is not my problem". It is not strange that the Mafia is in control as at least the businesses they control do work - the only thing that really surprises is that there ever was a Roman Empire and that Italy has a strong national soccer team.

These statements are the results of today's experience. I arrive at Rome airport around 5.30 am local time. I have been travelling since around 2-3 pm Saturday using Ethopian Airways and am all but kicking even if everything has worked out and the trip has actually been fine - this far.

The first thing that greets me is what I call "the Maputo experience", meaning there is not a living soul in sight until AFTER you walk through security etc and get all the alarms ringing. Then a sleepy guy shows up and we re-do the exercise.I ask this person for the transfer desk and am told to find "C1".

That no shop or cafe is open on a Sunday morning at this hour I can understand. A completely empty transferdesk I do have a problem with though. OK, I have plenty of time as the connecting flight leaves at 10.15. Or so I think at least.Time passes and around 7 am most shops and cafés have opened. Not the transfer desk though, it is as abandoned as can be. An information desk or such does not exist, all I have is a screen that tells me my gate will be C36. I find another transfer desk that is just as abonded as C1.

OK, I might surf on internet to keep me busy. Right, for starters the "buy internet time"-site works only with Internet Explorer and does not help Macintosh users or users of Firefox, Opera or other alternatives. OK, I have set up a way to use IE just for this kind of situations. Then I am told to put a "future date" for my visa-card. It DOES expire this month but DOES work this month. Not according to the crappy programmer who coded this site. So forget internet.

Somewhere around 7.45 the "wrong" transfer desk is manned. I meet a quiet man who is on the same flight, he works for the Saudi embassy. He has been told to wait 10 minutes. I walk up to the desk with my papers and am told "he does not handle Alitalia, go to C1". My new friend and I walk to C1 that is just as unmanned as before.

So I figure I might do some shopping while waiting - "where is your boardingcard, you can not shop without boardingcard". Catch 22 if I ever saw one.

Around 8.30 we have walked to the gate as we can think of nothing else to try. Unmanned of course. When we get back to C1 it is actually manned - by Qatar Airways. We and other form a long queue, I am no 3 in line. Everyone in the queue is hoping these guys also do Alitalia. When it is my turn I am told "do I look like Alitalia". Let me not tell you what I wanted to say to guy my opionion of what he looked like. Tissue is used in that area - to give you a hint. This is when I lose it and scream to the queue that as we are all Alitalia we are lost and I have been trying for 3.5 hours to find ANYONE Alitalia, the supposed national airline carrier, to give me a boardingcard. Mr Qatar goes mad and bangs the phone in the desk and tries to outstare me and for a while a fist is clearly "just around the corner". I manage to control myself and start walking to the gate as I see no other option. It is now little more than an hour before take-off.

In desperation I grab an airport security guy and ask where the f.ck I can find an Alitalia person. Well, miracles do happen as the lady with him actually works for them. Hallelua. She tells me they have a new transfer desk at "C20".

Great that noone seems to know and nowhere is that information displayed so you can find your way there. C20 is in a new terminal to which you must go by tram. My timid friend, who I think was more than a little bit scared by my outburst, shows up and have been given same info by same lady. Right, we arrive there and for surel 2 ladies are actually dealing with Alitalia transfers. Behind us a queue forms of old C1 friends, some of them now quite desperate not to miss their flights.

Do I even have to say the queue barely moves? One of the ladies is dealing with an old black lady from Nigeria that get so tired she just sits down on the floor. She apparently only speaks Urubu - noone else does. She is on her way to New York and carry a handwritten note stating her daugher will meet her. No address, no name, no phone numbers. Sorting her out took the consorted efforts of all black people around and anyone even remotely suspected connected to Africa. The guy at the other counter need around 20 boardingcards, God only knows where he was heading. A third counter is opened but the man will only deal with one customer at a time and stops serving people when a queue forms. Now that is what I call service...

Finally I get a boardingcard and can proceed to the gate. I now have around 5 minutes instead of hours to shop - is that not excellent business attitude?

It was a relief to arrive in Tirana (a first for me) where people are so friendly and wanting to assist despite poor English that you feel charmed just by their efforts. Only problem up to now you are not left alone to eat as everyone wants to practice their English and make sure you are fine.

Bon giorno - really?

Governments

New year, new governments! Like "everyone else" I watched Obama swearing in and am following the new administration with keen interest.

And finally Zimbabwe seems set to get a government that is "almost elected", supposedly being sworn in today. Though news speak of RG already presented a list way too big for the number of ministries they were allocated. I am not sure that "interesting" is the correct word to use, we can not take another dodgy maneuver now.

I think all of us who live in Zim feel a mixture of relief, hope and suspicion at the same time. Will it really work? Only time can tell, cross all fingers you have!

Falling apart

The heading is not about me but Zimbabwe the country. Since I last wrote on the so-called "historic" powersharing agreement basically no progress in implementing it has been made. What on Earth made them sign the paper without first having allocated ministries and powers goes beyond me, I know I never would have.

So while the discussions drag on Zim is at an accelerating rate becoming a non-functioning country. Since a couple of months almost all shops are "licensed forex retailers" meaning they sell almost all goods in USD instead of zimdollar. The zimdollar has become so worthless we have stopped trying to keep count on the number of zeroes one is supposed to use while issuing a cheque. Once more cash is so hard to get by that prices for things sold in zimdollar have 2 prices: one for cash and one for any form of bank/account payment.

But this is still nothing compared to the more worrying developments. Most public schools have been closed for quite some time as the teachers find it pointless to go to work for salaries that are worthless. The health sector is now hit by the same phenomena, nurses and doctors no longer come to work. Public hospitals have no medicines or staff. Private hospitals only treat you or admit you if you pay cash upfront in hard currency. Unless you happen to have a medical insurance NOT issued in Zimbabwe, the local medical schemes are now worthless.

Thanks to this people with treatable diseases die. That is the long and the short of it.

Pharmacies charge prices easily twice what medicines cost in neighbouring countries. I can go on.

Access to clean water has collapsed in most cities after the national water authority Zinwa was formed some years ago. Harare has slowly got to a situation where some suburbs has not had city water for months. It should come as no surprise that we have a cholera outbreak with hundreds of dead and thousands sick. In the midst of this the whole capital went dry for a couple of days as Zinwa ran out of treatment chemicals.

The latest was when soldiers in Harare and Mutare lost patience with trying to get money from the bank (yes, we still have a daily withdrawal limit that is still worthless) and basically robbed and looted. Whether this is a sign of the troops finally losing faith in the rulers or a plot to declare a state of emergency is an ongoing discussion.

Welcome to the festive season 2008, Zim style

Zimbabwe, Mana Pools game count

It has been quite some time since I wrote anything here. During that time Zimbabwe has seen the introduction of a new currency and the signing of a powersharing agreement supposedly leading to a Government of National Unity (GNU).

Well, they only forgot to sort out who was going to be allocated what ministries. So while they are trying to sort that one out it is "business as usual" - meaning basically no business - and the new currency is in free-fall towards any major currency. And we are limited to withdraw 1000 Z$ a day from our accounts. That does not even cover busfare for those who use minibuses. Or buy you a newspaper. Welcome to "Gonomics" (from our Reserve bank governer Dr. Gono).

Today we needed a bankcheque of 30 000 - to see the doctor. The fee for issuing one is 20 000... hurra hurra. Completely absurd. But noone accepts normal cheques any longer as these take around 4-5 days to clear, at which time inflation has rendered the money worthless.

To something more uplifting: the annual gamecount at Mana Pools National Park took place 12 - 15 September. Here a link with photos from said gamecount. Sadly I came home with a killer flu that downed me for the rest of the week but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience!

What happens now?

Finally we see some positive developments on the political arena in Zim. If you have missed it: yesterday the leaders of all 3 involved political parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding that is seen as the start for negotiations in earnest to solve the political crisis.

The rather short and to the point text can be found here .

People here are veeery cautiously optimistic. It would not be the first time that the "ruling party" shows one face to the world and a very different domestically. So we all wait (sort of used to that) and try to find every scrap of news on the progress we all hope for.

I just hope they really are honest about this and that something solid comes out of this. We are sick of counting gazillions in empty shops...

Life

If you don't understand that life in Zimbabwe is incredibly tough at the moment then I don't know what planet you live on. I am not even referring to the ongoing violence that reportedly takes place mainly in rural areas but just the everyday life.

Contrary to what one might think it is not amusing to be a trillionaire.It is rather depressing actually. We are now in a situation where neither the banks, the shops or any accounting software can manage the number of zero's involved in ordinary shopping. I also hear that neither MS Excel or Openoffice Calc can deal with quadrillions (or whatever you call if after trillions) since they have a max of 15 digits.

Let me give you an example: I paid for my internet subscription last week. That came to 2.25 trillion dollars. Now we have a problem: the card payment system kan only deal with up to 1 billion. Yohoo.... OK so I wanted to pay by cheque. It is just that there is a limit on 900 billions for a cheque. That would have meant 3 cheques to pay for 1 thing only. I ended up doing a bank transfer but those can take days now since there are so many forced to use them for all sorts of payments.

Going to do a bit of grocery shopping easily comes to a few trillions and we can basically only use a few shops where we are known and can use cheques.

The daily withdrawal limit (of cash) is 100 billion dollars. Last Friday that amounted to less than 1 USD in "street rate". For that I or Mia go to the bank every day...

On Saturday we went to Donnybrook Racecourse to watch some motocross and stock car racing. Paid entrance fee using a cheque and assumed that the bar/resto would also accept cheques. Nope. So we have cash for 2 drinks and then what happens when the kids want ice-cream or drink or something? You guess it, crying kids and an irritated father. We noticed too late that just about everyone else had brought their own coolerboxes.

As for inflation it is now so fast that quite a few businesses no longer can cope - by the time they need to re-stock the prices are higher than what they charged for the goods.

This will not stop until the politic impassé in the country is resolved. No matter who you claim won the second round of elections Zimbabwe's economy will not become "normal" until you get support from international organisations such as the World Bank, IMF etc. And that will not happen until these organisations, donors and others are satisfied that a credible and reliable government exists, one that they are willing to enter into agreements with.

So for whatever it is worth I hope the ongoing negotiations quickly come to some sort of result that we and the world can accept. Some interesting links:
http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=19143
http://www.swedenabroad.com/Page____73845.aspx (download the july newsletter)
http://www.zimonline.co.za/Article.aspx?ArticleId=3421

Techno blog

Just have to be a bit "over the top" about how well the latest version of Kubuntu is working. Now I have also added Virtualbox and can run Windows XP and Vista within my Linux environment without reboots etc., good for support to those who are using those (yes, I know they are the majority by far....)

And that means I can use one of the few apps I have really been missing, Float's Mobile Agent, to sort out phonebook and such on my SonyEricsson phone. In XP (works better than Vista) within Kubuntu. Great! And test whatever antivirus etc anyone might need, any problems arise I can take a "snapshot" first and then roll back to that later.

Yep, I am excited still after some 25 years in this business over stuff like that...

Photos from the Kenya - Zimbabwe drive

Just a few photos taken while in Kenya and on the drive back to Harare, Zimbabwe
photos

5 days driving through East-Central Africa

Back in Harare after a drive with both ups and downs from Nairobi, Kenya to Harare via Tanzania and Zambia. Round 3700 - 4000 km in 5 days..

I think I can safely say that we experienced both the best and the worst sides of this type of long travels and the way people can act towards you.

The traffic situation in Nairobi is the worst I have ever experienced and I will be happy if I never have to experience anything worse. A kind of permanent traffic jam and it can easy take 45 minutes or more just to move from one place to another. Even though we started driving before 5 am to avoid morning traffic it was still tough to get out of town and onto the road towards the border.

Once we reached the border we got stuck for around 2.5 hours.. mainly cause the car we drove had to be "exported" out from Kenya due to it having been "temporarily imported" for such a long time. Waiting in the heat forever was irritating but one of those things you just have to endure.

After that we were making good progress towards Arusha over the Masaii-plains when after an hour or so we hear and feel that one tyre is rapidly losing air. Great, the first flat already. Get all tools out and start removing the flat etc. surrounded by a small crowd of incredibly dirty sheepherding kids.

And now is when the problems begin.. the car in question, an Isuzu KB280 D/Cab, has the sparewheel sitting under the car at the back. Using a hoisting mechanism one is supposed to lower it and then retrieve it. It is "only" that the whole thing refuse to budge more than a quarter round or so.The wheel is definitely not moving. Finally I heave with all might and - the tip of the lever breaks...

Now what to do? I manage to get the broken part out but now the lever does not fit proper and we are getting nowhere. I flag down a truck that is on its way up towards the border and explain our situation, hoping perhaps they have the same type of lever. As it happens they don't but they have plenty more tools than we do. One of manage to hammer the tip of the lever back to shape and then all 3 of us try. And we all agree that it is stuck and the only thing that will happen with more force is that we break the tip once more. Now what to do, we can't drive some 20 km to Arusha on the rim.

One of the guys come up with the idea that it might be possible to remove the whole mechanism with wheel and all from under the car. He crawls under and slowly but surely manage to undo all the bolts and Hurrah! Roughly 1 hour after we stopped the sparewheel is finally free for use. I profusly thank the 2 guys for all help and the amount of time and sweat they sacrifised for us. I hand them some money (tanzania shilling that we dont have too much of yet).

This can serve as one of many examples of the best sides of traveling through Africa and interact with Africans. People are often friendly, unhurried and willing to assist and help whenever they can.

Once we got the tyre fixed in Arusha (new tube, the old had more or less disintegrated) we continued to Moshi. The city lies at the foot of Kilimanjaro, unfortunately very cloudy weather with some rain meant we did not really see more than the lower slopes this time. We found a nice small hotel where we basically collapsed, worn down after a tough first day on the road. After a shower and a dinner (of course we got the waiter that could have been in Fawlty Towers) we crashed in bed to get well deserved sleep.

Next day was completely different. We just drive on along good roads down towards Chalinze where you then either turn down towards Dar es Salaam or up towards the mountains and the borders to Malawi or Zambia. I manage to get hold of old friend Darrin who runs a camping/lodge between Mikumi and Iringa and we made it our goal for the day even though he would not be there. A nice drive through Mikumi National Park where we saw giraffe, elephants and assorted smaller game along the way ended the day.

It is just about dusk when we turn off the road and in to Baoabab Valley. I had not been there since 2001 and I am well aware that it has had problems since but also that they started refurbishing last year. Was hoping for the best so that Mia would not be too disappointed.

Only problem is that the place seems totally empty! After some hooting 2 nice and friendly masaii guys show up, Steven and Jimmi. The situation is that the manager Eric apparently has left for Dar to seek medical treatment, the cook too but to get some leave and the "vice-manager" Oria is in the nearest village to get malaria-treatment.. OK. I explain to Steven that we know Darrin and he has promised us "the River Banda" for a friendly price (Baobab Valley Camp is right next to Ruaha River). Steven carries our suitcase down to the rather grand River Banda, it has got a huge bed and is semi-open to the river. Sadly no power as the generator stopped working and Steven doesn't know how to fix. We refresh with an icecold shower and chill a bit when suddenly the generator roars to life! Only nothing changes in our banda... I go up to the restaurant/bar area and find that Steven had got help from 3 gentlemen who stopped to camp for the night.

Too bad then that our banda is not connected - and that Mia finds a small scorpion in the handbasin. Hm. We kill it and you bet that the sheets were thoroughly shaken before going to bed.

While Mia with some assistance from Steven makes something with eggs to eat (once we fixed that the gas was finished in the kitchen) I go and check on the other visitors. It is hard to believe but on the parking stand 3 Morris Minor ranging in model from -49 to -65 (I think it was).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Minor
In these cars a company of 6 are travelling and planning to drive these oldtimers from Cape Town to London! Beat that! I gave them some information on Dar where they aimed to arrive next day and generally on driving in Tanzania (good roads, plenty of police, roadblocks and villages to slow your progress). Fantastic! Eventually I managed to find some info on the net about their MAD Odyssey.
http://www.morrisminoroc.co.uk/index.php?page=406

Next morning Oria is back and we chat about old memories from Dar, how to continue to improve the Valley and such while Mia makes some breakfast. Then it is off towards our next goal, the border between Tanzania and Zambia. After much thought we decided to drive that route since we count on it taking one day less and we are a bit tired of travelling (spent nearly a week in Nairobi before starting the drive home). We get to the border as the sun starts to set and this is not only one of but THE most chaotic border I have ever experienced.

Luckily I know what to do, what documents to sort and what needs to be paid so in the end it did not take all that long actually. We drive on and are now faced with the next problem: where to stop for the night. Nightdriving in Africa is generally best avoided and on these truck- and busroutes definitely not recommended. I called a friend in Lusaka and asked for advice, he recommended the small town Mpika som 300 km from the border.

And now we sadly run into problems again. We had just passed the turnoff to some small place and were starting to worry over how far we had left, if nothing else because it was quite some time since we filled up diesel. We saw a number of buses that had stopped on the side of the road (it is by now pitch dark) and decide to stop and ask someone. Mia turns off towards the "oncoming" side of the road as the drive side is full of parked buses. She then sees a man in reflecting clothes waving frantically from the "drive side" of the road. Thinking it is police or something waving to her (you have no idea of the amount of roadblocks we had been through) she crosses the highway. From behind comes a bus that did not manage to break in time but hits us in the back. It is of course the bus the man is waving for...

Now follows the less nice side of people in Africa. Out of nowhere a sort of mob quickly gathers that are trying to get in the car, get me and Mia out and for some reason seem set to either steal or beat us up or both. It feels rather nasty and Mia is also very upset and trying to argue about who's fault is the accident. I manage to get round the car to her side and a police in civilian clothes has also appeared and is trying to calm things down. A bunch of pissed off buspassengers contribute to the commotion as does the fact that quite a few people are obviously drunk.

The police finally manage to quiet things down and we drive the car some 30 meters to a roadblock (why did we not spot that and stop there...).. After this follows hours of discussions, interrogations of the drivers and witnesses, various police get involved (the most senior notably drunk), negotiations etc before we take our car together with the bus driver and police to the nearest station, 45 km in the wrong direction. After paying fines comes the next problem: there is nowhere to make a copy of license and documents in the middle of the night. Argh.

After some discussion we agree with the busdriver to "codrive" to Mpika and meet the buscompany agent there. He can then copy the documents early next morning, give us the originals and then we continue. Fine, we get there, meet the guy, are shown to a motel where we crash into bed, completely wasted, at 2.30 am.

Following a quick breakfast some hours later we meet up with Peter at the fuel station. Now we find out there is no power in Mpika and it is said to stay that way - for 2 days until Monday... aaargh once more. Eventually we agree that Peter comes with us some 400 km to a larger city where he can copy documents and then meet his boss. We manage to copy along the way and then part with Peter. Once we hit Lusaka at the end of this day it is all about shopping a bit, eat some food and just watch TV and catch up on lost sleep. The last leg home the next day goes via the small Kariba Dam border, a very conscious choice by me as I know buses and trucks are not allowed via that border. Thankfully the drive is very non-dramatic and we arrive home in good order.

Having arrived home I noticed that 5 days in a car was an excellent way to mature a Gouda cheese we bought in Nairobi, yum. The children are still in Nairobi and will be home in a couple of days.

Zimbabwe is in a sad state and the circus surrounding the election outcome continues. While we were gone the rate for 1 USD fell from round 65 million zimdollar to around 115 million.. and a bag of peanuts cost 73 millions last I checked. A lunch sandwich with cheese and sandwich meat costs 70 million. Welcome to Ha-ha-harare, fun capital of Southern Africa.

Will scan and post some photos from the trip later!

Election fever, waiting and zimflation

If you have not noticed that Zimbabwe held elections for Parliament, Senate, Local council and President last Saturday you must either be off this planet or on a "no media for months"-diet.

So we now stand in a historical scenario where the ruling Zanu has lost the majority in Parliament, yet there is no celebration going on, no jubilations on the streets etc. Why? Because everyone knows that the real power in Zimbabwe lies not in Parliament (or Senate) but with the executive Presidency. And on the outcome of that election no official figures have been given.

So we wait and we wait. In the lack of information the air is thick with rumours from various coup scenarios to rigging to outright win for one candidate or the other. Did I mention negotiations between the 2 major parties? Just check www.zimonline.co.za or www.zwnews.com to find a few of them. The Herald on www.herald.co.zw claims it will need a second run-off election and given their state as "official media" here that is what most people think.

If that will happen or is true remains to be seen... we wait and we wait.

In the meantime we are all billionaires. I kid thee not when I tell you that onions cost 20 million. Each. Imported but even so. A cheap lunch on the town is around 200 millions. We have had more cash-crisis than I care to remember - meaning it is difficult to actually find notes/cash enough for your daily transactions. A reasonably large shopping of groceries will easily hit 3 billions. I like the guy who waved a placard around in a photo "I am a starving billionaire".

The house is full of money that has become unusable, from 10 dollar notes up to 10 000. The kids play with them, what else can they be used for?

What does over 100 000 % inflation mean? One way to illustrate: end of December we were allowed to withdraw 50 million a day from the bank, roughly enough for a few groceries. Now we are allowed 500 million a day and that will take you just as far. Or 2 lunches or 25 tomatoes. Now THAT is inflation to you - in 3 months.

Some times the going is tough

Have been quiet for quite some time but have not felt any inspiration for one reason or the other. Survived a nice Xmas and New Year's though so am back now!

It has been a bit tough lately, is like a lot of things seem to be happening that are negative. Maybe I need to do something about my karma, if anyone remembers that old way of thinking.

My grandmother died early February, 93 years old. She was a lovely old lady that I was very fond of and I will miss her. Bless you Farmor!

Then I have been struggling with this system installation in Zambia and I can not remember a scenario where it has been so complicated or where so much has gone wrong in one and the same project.

I am now for the third time since early February in Lusaka and still struggling to get this even installed. That is unique for me...at least as far as I can remember.

Reminds me of Murphy's Law alright cause the chain of things that have gone wrong here feels like "someone is out to get you" sort of.

Have a look at this "thing", it is actually the sink/basin where I am staying.

Lost during transport

I am referring to me, not luggage though I was more than a bit nervous that would happen.

Let me tell you one thing about driving in Johannesburg: do not take a wrong turn, do not get lost (that was two). At least not without a cellphone, money on your phone account and someone to call who can help you out.

I was on my way from Centurion, small place between Pretoria (Tshwane) and the airport in Johannesburg. I had more than 2 hours before departure of my flight. BUT I took a wrong turn and by the time I realised it was I not only deep in Joburg city but stranded in a massive 4-lane traffic jam!

Lucky for me I got hold of Ishmael who lives down there and got some assistance. It took me 2 visits to a filling station and 2 more traffic jams and more than 1 hour before I found myself at the airport though. Now suddenly late!

So I am stressed, sweaty and thirsty when I get to a check-in that is one big confusion. Manage to get fast-tracked, fine. BUT that does not work on security scan and Passport control that both move at snail pace.

By the time I actually get to the departure lounge the plane is boarding (and it was, believe you me). I just about made it and was more than relieved when my suitcase full of all sorts of items (cheese among them) showed up in Harare.

Lesson to be learnt: check the route and make sure you have PLENTY of extra time if you are flying from Johannesburg.

The year of the virus

For me the year 2007 will be the year the virus became a real problem. I am not talking of any human or animal virus (HIV or bird-flu) but computer virus.

Despite putting more efforts and money in anti-virus software, firewalls, spam tools etc to protect the users I support and work with I have never seen such a flood of malicious and difficult to eradicate virus as this year. Quite a few times I have had to use a bootable Linux CD (google on Knoppix if you are geeky enough to be interested) to save a Windows PC infected by something that is so "deep" in the PC that one can barely do anything without it taking over.

And one very strange thing: the more remote the location, the worse virus. It is like they come from the wilderness somehow! A remote district in Niassa province in Mozambique and the PC is crammed full of trojans, virus and you name it all. Where do they come from when the PC is like the only computer for miles??

Half of the times (it feels like) when my USB memory has been used somewhere and I put it in my Linux PC I see files that should not be there and that are virus. It feels sooo good to just delete them and note they can not even try to get to my system. Though I fear the day will come with the growing popularity of Linux as desktop OS.

Otherwise I have a new laptop thanks to friends in Sweden who helped out with the logistics. I now use a Dell Vostro 1400 and am most happy with it. Have blown the preinstalled Vista all the way to where I think it should be - off my harddisk!

Here is a review by a user, not exactly same config though. No webcam for me (pointless here) and just Intel graphics card.

The year of Linux as Windows replacement?

For those who for various reasons do not want to think "out of the box" or who sees Windows as "inevitable" or "it comes with the PC so it is free" the following could be interesting reading:
Wal-Mart in USA sells out 10 000 Linux $200 PCs in 2 weeks
Dell is now selling PCs with Ubuntu Linux preinstalled and Lenovo (old IBM) has announced they are going to sell PCs with Suse Linux.
For those who might want to see how the gOS (Google OS more or less) in the Wal-Mart PC looks here is a link.

I think it is slowly gaining momentum. Several reasons, one being that Windows Vista is a nice-looking but beastly system, another is cost-related and I think also that many are getting sick of having to fight virus and spyware and younameit with extra software on a daily basis. Not to mention hardly being allowed to reinstall your computer should you need.

Finally if you think today's computers are boring have a look at this! One just have to love the person's dedication if nothing else...

Meltingpot in Maputo

Seems it now is more of a monthly thing to write somethng on the blog but the truth of the matter (as I see it at least) is that I work and/or travel to an extent where the remaining energy has to be spent on family life rather than more computer time.

As things go I am in Maputo, capital of Mozambique, as I blog this and for the first time in a very long time happen to have a weekend "in between", dedicated to nothing. So am sitting by the poolside at Terminus Hotel watching kids having a gas and just chilling myself. And with wi-fi hotspot and a draft Laurentina "clara" (clear, not stout) just being served life could be worse.

Well - it seems everytime I travel something happens at home. This time Eric had a bad cough and the night before I left had over 39C fever. So Mia takes him straight from airport to clinic where they are worried enough to keep him for observation due to the fever. Those are the times when you hate having to leave and drop everything in your loved one's lap. Thank Oden and Freya she is a strong woman and can cope.

So after a thoroughly stressful Friday with my recommended taxi driver Micas - who do speak about 3 words English and I speak about 3 words Portuguese but we manage. Somehow. I stop by this little "hole in the wall" restaurant opposite the hotel to have a well-deserved cool beer. It is HOT in Maputo this time of the year. So I ask if I can have a chair next to these guys who seem to have been enjoying their day since lunchtime or so.

Next thing my "neighbour" ask me where I am from. Stating Sweden he exclaims "Hej du" and tells me he is from Chile but lived in Turkku, Finland before coming to Moz some 10 years ago. His tennispartner Torsten is German and only the third guy is actually from Moz. When I tell them I am sort of "stopping over" on my way to Lichinga Torsten shouts (a bit high he was) "do you then know the King of Lichinga, Hans"? I tell him that I had dinner with Hans twice a couple of weeks ago - in Maputo.

Later that same evening I go to a Thai restarant close to the hotel. I am still a bit tired and not really up to go clubbing so I just have a nice meal and then decide to sleep my "jetlag" off. I could post a separate thing about the trip but let's just shorten it to say I spent 12 hours getting from Harare to Maputo and was dead meat by the time I arrived. As I finished my meal these two young guys are looking for a table and I hear they speak Swedish. So I tell them to take my table as I am about to leave. We chat a bit and when they hear I am going to Lichinga they ask if I heard of this boy from Sweden who study distance at the International School in Maputo. Yes... I know Anton who happens to be the son of the SCC manager Gunnel in Lichinga...

On Saturday I call my old friend from Zimbabwe, Emmerson, and we spend most of the day together at the seaside with his wife while frantically trying to call Zim (network headaches).

That is Maputo - sit down somewhere and you are likely to meet someone who knows someone and so on. Love this place and so much wish the family could have come with me!

Telephone & Bluetooth craze

Instead of writing about travels and logistical nightmares a few lines about our ongoing "cellphone madness" - or maybe I should say mine.

After Mia's very nice W300i arrived I inherited her "old" Z520i. Nothing wrong with it whatsoever but I guess the old "I also want" got me in it's grip. I got the chance when I heard that friend Anna T was going to Sweden for a short visit and bought a secondhand Z550i on www.blocket.se. Now all these have Bluetooth built-in but none of our 2 PCs have. So I asked friend Håkan Lutz to shop for me a usb-bluetooth "pin" and 2 bluetooth handsfree.

This he promptly did and Anna came back with a bag full of "goodies". It took me a day to get our Kubuntu Linux based laptops configured and the handsfree paired with the respective phones. And this is really neat - transfer of music for Mia is now really easy and for me files or software. All is neatly built-in to Linux and so far have not added any drivers or software. Though now I have to figure out how to synch my Kontact data with the phone calendar.

The story might continue....

A wedding and other news

It has again been a long time. Seems this is becoming more of a monthly habit than anything "daily". Well the excuse is travelling and more travelling.

Because of business travel I missed the wedding of Mia's brother Anjos and his (now) wife Dadirayi that took place in Bulawayo. Here some photos.

Otherwise the "drama" was that I managed to secretly buy Mia a new phone in Sweden, a SonyEricsson W300i, and with the aid of 2 persons get it first to Zambia and then Zimbabwe. Thanks Marie and Lloyd for the help! Someone damn near collapsed when I pulled it out. Problem is I like it way too much so regret I did not buy 2.. not that I want the walkman stuff but I really like how it is put together and works. AND it is already off the market, they pump out new models so fast that by the time I decide what I want you can no longer by it... the Z530i is a good example.

Zim is weirder than ever. The shops are very near empty and everything "normal" is either queued for or bought "informal". I came home with Mazoe drink (locally made and very popular) - from Lusaka. Nowhere to be found in Zim. Also from Malawi I brought mealie-meal - zim made... the whole shop was full of Zim pastors shopping frantically! The other day I witnessed a near fight in a shop. Over youghurt. Now if that aint depressing I don't know what is.

Gotta rush, it is Friday and I want to take early day since I fly early Sunday to Lilongwe.

Just an update

It has been over a month since anything was written on this blog. There are reasons for that, I have been travelling extensively and spent time both in Mozambique and Zambia. We are all OK though a bad bout of flu hit me, Eric and Mia. It hit a lot of people actually. August has been unusually cold (still cold nights and mornings) and maybe that has something to do with it.

Otherwise we now live in the country of empty shops. There is nearly nothing to be found in the shops apart from cheese, some polony/ham and such products. Forget bread, milk, flour, meat, sugar, cooking oil, drinks, washing powder, most tinned products and so on. The reason for this being price controls - once more. Unrealistic allowed prices coupled with now officially over 7000% inflation have caused a situation where near everything is traded outside the normal system. Let's just say it makes life interesting but rather tiring.

On top of that we had "plumbers" at home. They did one thing right - they cleaned out our hotwater-geyser that had stopped working. Otherwise they managed to create a large hole in the ceiling and reconnect the geyser basically backwards. We have since fixed a new ceiling (about time but even so...) and had a proper plumber reconnect the geyser. To add to that one of our cars is almost constantly parked at the workshop and this makes moving around a problem. Get a lot of cycling exercise lately.

Some photos from home, nothing sensational: Homephotos

Have had my first experiences of Microsoft Windows Vista in some different scenarios and am less than impressed. I am far from the only one, the editor of PC Magazine have given up and gone back to Windows XP and is considering switching to Linux: pcmag

I am increasingly happy with my switch to Kubuntu - no viruses, no intrusions, no spyware. And increasingly tired of "normal" users tendency to hit "OK" whether they have any idea of why or not.

Finally some photos from my youngest brother David's wedding and a link to Anna Tibblin's blogg about Zimbabwe (in Swedish)

Dar es Salaam July -07

After a couple of hectic months we had a week-long break in Dar es Salaam recently. As usual we had a good time and it was great to catch up with friends, hit the beach, eat plenty seafood and enjoy the nice temperature (Harare has been freezing cold since June).

Did not lack drama though. Second night, sleeping over at Darrin's house, Mia woke me up saying she couldn't breathe proper and we had to go to hospital. Which we did, woke up TMJ staff at 2 am. Doctor put her on oxygen and gave x injections to calm down what was some kind of allergic reaction. Home in rented flat around 4 when the mosque starts waking up the faithful.

Next day all was fine until around 4 when she felt it coming back. She took off to TMJ once more and this time they did not let her go until they had taken blood samples and given even more injections. Turns out she had malaria and an infection so no wonder she was not OK. The doctor prescribed a truckload of medicines basically.

That was the end of drama though, from there on just relaxing and running around, eating good food and enjoying ourselves. A week is on the short side but could not be away longer this time around.

You find some photos here

Terrible twins?

Life has been on the hectic side during the month of May. Have been to Lusaka, Nairobi and Maputo for different reasons and then of course the "normal" work and life in Zimbabwe.

I won't tire you with yet another "Air Zimbabwe" disaster description but yes, there was one. >24 hours this time.

Stayed with friends Tom and Susan in Kenya. One morning Susan discovered the men had put on more or less identical outfits, completely unintentionally. So here we are in all our "white men" glory.

Was nice to see Nairobi, a really hectic place though. Trafficjams like I have seen only a few times in my life. It seems to take at least 45 minutes to get from point A to B no matter where or when you are going.

Also had time for a short trip outside town to Ngong hills and a beautiful view of the famous Rift Valley.

Just an update

Have been quiet on the blog for some time. A combination of travels and more travels, visitors and now a rather bad bout of flu that I am still struggling with.

We have had numerous long powercuts, 2 of them even up to 2 days, so the generator has been very thoroughly tested. It is such a relief to just start the thing and be able to do most things we normally want to do such as having access to water. City water is becoming increasingly rare.

Am busy upgrading orionweb.info so at the moment there is - nothing! The idea is to create a more interactive environment using the free content management system Joomla. Will also update our PCs to the latest version of Kubuntu "any day now". I am running it on a test PC and this time it looks like they really got it right.

Using Linux to save a Windows PC

Have spent some days rescuing PCs that have not been maintained or protected against virus for months. One had over 1000 virus infected files and could barely start but I got it back to life.

Now today (Wednesday) I got a really tricky case. Whatever virus had hit this PC shut down every program you tried to start or run, including installing any antivirus software or running any software to change startup files etc. So what to do? Reinstall the whole thing and try to save documents etc?

I decided to try another tactic. I booted it using a Knoppix LiveCD, a special linux distrubition not meant to be installed but to diagnose or fix computers. After that I managed to install a linuxbased antivirus software and scan the computer and delete hundreds of infected files, still from the Knoppix LiveCD.

After that it started nicely with Windows, I could install an antivirus and get it up and running. A strange thing to use a free and open source software distro that Microsoft are doing their best to work against to save a PC using their proprietry and licensed operating system.

Overdesigning a good car

Have just driven the latest Toyota Hilux pickup up through Mozambique, Malawi and then Mozambique again and am more than a little bit disappointed.

Why? Well not because of the design or the engine, both really nice (even if the design is a bit over the top) but because it feels really unstable to drive on bad roads. And somehow I thought the type of car Hilux is was supposed to be at its best on bad roads.

But no, it is excellent on a good tarred road. But put in some potholes or drive on a dirt road with or without potholes and you feel like you could lose control at any given moment. The car wants to continue straight through curves instead of turning and a bad pothole makes you feel like the whole thing is about to jump off the road.

Bad thinking Toyota, go back to the drawing board.

A tired but happy couple in Polokwane

Just thought I would put some photos of us after a looong nightdrive and a day of shopping in Polokwane. This is after shower and a bit of rest though, the "before" pictures will never be shown! Notice the somewhat tired eyes of mr. Sinclair...

Mad trip to SA and back

We took a trip to South Africa and back last weekend. The "mad" part lies in achieving the trip in one weekend! Meaning we drove down during Friday night and arrived in Polokwane/Pietersburg around 9 am Saturday morning. Took turns driving down but nevertheless not so fresh.

Spent Saturday shopping around for a good generator (the main reason for going) and other items such as clothes (yes me too...), wine, cooking oil, hardware and so on. It was HOT in Polokwane and I looked exactly the picture; a guy who had not had proper sleep and spent the better part of 24 hours wearing the same t-shirt. Nevertheless, we got the car loaded, refreshed ourselves and had a good dinner and then hit the bed early for a good but short night's sleep.

Off around 6 am Sunday morning, stopped in Musina before the border for car fill-up/check-up and last-minute shopping. Then into the border post. Let me say this immediately: both ways we traveled the staff on the Southafrican side were SLOW, UNINTERESTED and downright RUDE. Example; putting only one stamp on a form instead of the required two despite advising us on where to next take said form. "Go back for stamp". Happened several times. Computer lock-up, supervisor needed. Took near 10 minutes before we managed to persuade the half-sleeping lady at the PC to get said supervisor who looked as if he was still asleep when he eventually showed up. Note it was now after 10 am so not the nightshift or something.

When we finally leave after all is done we are told by the gate guard that we have the wrong declaration form. Same form that had been checked and read and stamped in 3-4 offices! He eventually let us through.

The Zimbabwe side was a positive surprise. Last time I passed through in a car it was full of tsotsis wanting to "help" and bribes were more or less expected and it was chaotic. Now there was only staff and travellers, a reasonably clear path of actions were required, it took about 30 minutes and we had declared, paid and were clear to leave. This despite a problem with some friends faxmachine that we had picked up in Polokwane after it was repaired there. We had all forms we could think of but still were missing one... after some discussing we were let off the hook.

The only other "glitch" on the way back was that I missed the turn-off towards Masvingo/Harare in Beitbridge and drove a few km towards Bulawayo before realising the mistake. Arrived home tired and "carlagged" (see jetlagged) around 7 pm last night.

Now all we need to do is to get the generator installed :-)

A tradition gone wrong

In case someone didn't notice (living in the Gobi desert or such) yesterday was Valentine's Day. While I think it is a nice idea and tradition to express your apprecation for a loved one in some "extra" way this has clearly gone overboard of late.

Examples: a school here in Zimbabwe got the idea that the students should come dressed in red/white and carry flowers (I am not saying which school, enough to mention that is a highly respected school). This for KIDS not even in their teens or being in the lower teens. A friend's son was so stressed he stayed home instead. I fail to get the point, why should children behave like they are adults and have partners? In Sweden, a country that did not bother much about this event some 10 years ago, it has now reached the point where a school for older children closed on this day to avoid having the children stressed out by either getting or not getting flowers and gifts.

In Zim it used to be somewhat of a competition among ladies who got the biggest/best/finest flowers delivered to the office, and I guess it still is though it seems to have calmed down due to financial reasons.

What I am thinking is that everything can be overdone. Let's try and chill a bit on these things (birthdays and Xmas can be included) so they don't become a stress instead of a joy.

First day in school

Just a photo of a very proud (and rather "stiff") Bradley in his school uniform getting ready for his first day in school!

So far he is finding it very exciting (2 days...) and that is of course good.

Eric was more than jealous and insisted on wearing a hat too. Mayhem broke out when he realised he was not going! Luckily he started Montessori preschool today so now both have to get ready in the morning, take their bags etc.  

Xmas Eve

Just thought I would put up a photo of the party that this celebrated Christmas Eve "Swedish style" at friend Göran's house. As you can see we were quite a few awaing the arrival of Santa.

Straight below me and Mia sits Eric who today managed to lock himself inside the toilet at home. Took me the better part of an hour to get home, persuade him to yank the key so I could push it out and then hand it to me out the window so I could finally unlock and get him out of there.

Otherwise we just wish you all a really good 2007 from us here in Zimbabwe 

Christmas coming up

End of this year is rapidly approaching and I am signing off from work in a few hours. Then of course there is still x number of items to shop and things to do before we can actually sit back and relax and say "finally Xmas lets enjoy and take it easy".

FINALLY all business with the borehole is finalised. Water was found, pump has been installed. It was, as so often happens, a loooong story but all ended well and we now have our expensie water. Now all we need is a generator for those powercuts ;-)

Today Eric turns 3 and we are nil prepared, good thing we celebrated him together with his brother earlier this year.

Merry Xmas to all of you and enjoy!

Corner Bar & Water

A typical weekend scene from Corner Bar in Dar es Salaam (copyright Maria Wall). This famous waterhole (also called Royal Chole Road Country Club, Losers Corner etc) has reportedly been cleared out together with all other container shops and bars along the same stretch. It won't be the same next time we come to Dar.

Other news; we finally managed to sell the Ford Taurus in which Eric was born and have used the money to drill a borehole. After a diviner pointed out 2 sites we contracted a driller and then - waited. And waited. And waited.

Endless stories of problems, repairs and promises keeping us waiting home weekend after weekend. But at last they did start last Friday and hit water eventually. Not as deep down or as much as the diviner promised but we are not willing to risk losing what we have found by going any deeper (they were hitting hard rock). It is predicted to produce around 500 litres / hour - should be enough for anything basically.

Now "all" that is left is to install pump (already bought) and other equipment needed to use the water.

Also had the first real rain and thunder today so happy we managed to get drilling done before that. A relief for the garden and newly planted veggies and maize.  

Kids Birthday party

Some friends want more photos so here is one from our recent party for the boys. As can be seen Bradley can hardly wait until Hellen has cut Spidermans face into pieces! Well he is also helping as best he can. Of Eric you see a piece of t-shirt... also in the photo is Sheilla and little Albert and leftmost is Wedlyn, Hellen's younger sister.

Otherwise working late trying to fix X number of downloads, updates etc etc.  

Jakaranda trees in bloom

By popular demand a photo of jakaranda trees in full bloom. Interestingly they have all the flowers first and after that the leaves come and they "turn green".

Harare has hundreds of these and really look fantastic in September-October.

What else in life? Well busy arranging birthday bash for our boys tomorrow (I decided to do it same time since Eric is not really worried/aware and Xmas comes more fun for him that way. Next year that will NOT work) and waiting for borehole drillers to arrive on Sunday. Plus all the usual. 

In the very very copyright protected world

According to this article on CNET Microsoft is going to make sure that Windows Vista will run with "reduced functionality" if its license can not be validated online. As I have already had problems with this attitude of overzealous (in my opinion) license system that hampers reinstallation and moving of licenses I think MS is taking another step in the wrong direction. My move to Kubuntu Linux now feels even more correct.

Otherwise I slipped on a rug yesterday and banged my laptop computer. So the screen is now very literally unusable! Arrgh!

Finally Linux

Well, after lots of talking and thinking and testing and planning I have finally switched to Linux on my main laptop Dell Inspiron 500M. Actually I have set it up to dualboot with Windows XP but have not been in XP for over a week. Not since I got dial-up working, that was a bit of a trick.

So I am now running Kubuntu (www.kubuntu.org) and using Kontact (a pim), Firefox and OpenOffice. All of it perfectly free software.  

A photo of Bradley and Eric at Blue Banana restaurant during the week. Went there for good food but also because they have a play-room with minder. Only that it is not staffed Mondays and Tuesdays. Of course this was a Tuesday...

We have otherwise hired the services of a water diviner to see if we can sink a borehole. This man comes recommended from others who says he was spot on about the depth and amount of water to be found.

He claims we have 2 possible sites, the better one should give well over 1000 liter / hour. It will be very interesting to see if he is right! So as soon as the drillers are starting I will keep you updated.  

We are alive...

Well, it has certainly been a very long time since anyone wrote anything on this blog. No, it is not that nothing is happening or that something really bad has happened or likewise.

It is just that combinations of lots of work, travels and other commitments and incidents have led to a situation where I have not felt like spending 1 minute extra in front of the computer after everything else has been taken care of.

So this is more or less just a lifesign. Harare is beatiful, the jakaranda trees are in full bloom and it is getting warmer by the day. We are all fine and I hope to post some photos soon.

Lilongwe experience

Have spent almost a week in Lilongwe, Malawi. One thing I have noticed is that Malawi is very different from other places in the region in some aspects.

For starters; driving. It is probably the most "non-aggressive" driving experience you can think of. Which actually makes me a bit stressed rather than opposite. Am not used to commuter bus drivers who behave, a general tempo in town of around 40-50 km (have they been instructed that use of gear 4 and 5 will damage the car I wonder?) and everyone being sooo nice to stop and let others pass etc.

Another thing; trust. Nowhere else has the owner of a bar (Diplomat's, nice place) who has seen me once in his life offered me run a tab if I did not have cash enough (he asked me if the ATM was helpful which it wasn't, not at all). "You can pay tomorrow or Monday or whenever". I did not have a heart rotten enough to utilise this generous offer as I am leaving tonight and could not have paid him back. Also others tell me of the same attitude in shops "no worry you can come in later or tomorrow". Very strange. But heartwarming, I hope it can stay that way.

Malawi names itself "the warm heart of Africa". It is refreshing to walk the city centre after dark without a worry of being robbed or something (I am sure it can happen but is apparently very rare). Only annoying thing is streetkids and beggars but in a very poor country that is of course to be expected.

Exploding notebook batteries...

Well, for those of you who follow IT news this is not really news. For others it might be very important news. Especially if you have a Dell notebook computer!

For some time now there have been reports that some Dell notebooks have very literally burst into flames, almost exploded actually. The problem was traced to a certain type of battery, manifactured by Sony for Dell.

Dell is now recalling/replacing these batteries and have set up a special website where you can check your battery: Dell Battery Return Program

Well I checked and what do you know, I have been carrying around a small bomb for some time now... I was advised to immediately remove the battery and run the PC on A/C power until they can send my replacement battery! Well, the battery was already out as serialnumber is on the side turned to the inside of the PC so no problems there. And I am sure not putting it back!

Now when I get back home I have to check my extra battery and hope that it is not one of the possible bombs too.