#bumihills

A large bolt-together inflatable boat named after Dr David Livingstones’ first motorized boat on the Zambezi steamed into Bumi harbour on a bright blustery morning, having taken 2 days to make its way up the lake from Binga, hampered by extreme and unseasonable high winds! Ross Holgate and Bruce Leslie were at the helm, and were more than a little peeved to discover that the rest of the expedition had been living it up at Bumi whilst they battled with the elements…In the bottom picture Kingsley gives Bruce a conciliatory hug for his troubles!

  This journey is one the expedition is making in stages , from the source of the Zambezi to her mouth in the Indian Ocean – from Kariba they will drive and sail down the river to Kanyemba, where the Ma Robert will be unbolted and left in piece until after the rains, when the journey will continue through Mozambique.

Whilst Kingsley and his team have been here, they have checked the eyesight and distributed over 50 pairs of readers to 25 of our staff (one pair for “now now” and the other pair for “just now”.) This project, called “Mashozis Right to Sight” was initiated by Kingsley’s late wife Gill, affectionately known as “Mashozi”, who, during an adventure deep in the Brazilian rain forest, realised how many older folk in remote areas battled with short sightedness, and how easily, with the appropriate sponsorship, this problem could be solved.

Charlie, one of our hardworking chefs was the first to receive a pair of specs – here he is beaming happily with expedition members Mike and Joe and the rest of the staff patiently waiting their turn!