And we are back!

The girl child and Elvis doing their last training session
before we set off for the Lusaka Derby.

Well, despite all the drama, we made it to the show and back! The horses were loaded and on the road by 7am and they arrived in fit and healthy state some six hours later. It was a LONG and tedious trip but fairly uneventful, with only a short hold up at one road block where a rather officious police officer insisted on making us pay a 'live animal levy' - apparently something to do with taking livestock to the slaughter house! Despite our protestations that we had no intention of slaughtering our horses (at least not until AFTER the show, depending on their performance! lol) we still ended up paying so that we could get moving again. Sometimes here in Zambia it is just easier to comply!

Although not a particularly good show for the girl child, we still had fun. Unfortunately not riding your horse for six months tends to reflect on your performance in the ring, Elvis was rather piggy and took full advantage of the girl child's unfit state to mess around, getting the pair of them eliminated several times! All good experience never-the-less, and they did manage one clear round on the last day. Hopefully the next show will be better!

The car made it all the way there and back and can now go back to the garage to see if they can figure out how to get the central locking working again - it was a pain having to remember to check each door every time I locked it! Hopefully they won't break anything else in the process but that remains to be seen!

So now I have just one day left to sort out my packing for our holiday to the UK - just in time for a security lock down on all UK airports after the shocking car bomb incident at the Glasgow airport. No doubt this will cause endless delays at the other end but I'm beyond worrying. Just hope they don't loose my suitcase again!

So my next update will after I arrive in England - hello shopping spree! What better way to spend your time in a country that seems to be having the worst bout of rains and floods in years? We were planning to hire a car, maybe a boat would be a better investment?