Lego boy wakes up one morning and I hear him ask Nannie “How many more sleeps?”…  “4 darling” so the countdown to Nannies departure begins…

I feel very nervous as we set off to the next estate along to visit the boy’s new school. Again a finger print gives us access to the estate containing the school. We can’t miss the brightly painted murals on the school walls as we drive up to it. Eli also spots a climbing frame and a sandpit as I find a parking spot opposite some grazing impalas. Overall the school looks inviting and happy place as children play within its grounds.

After a typical Zambian wait (during which the boys don’t help my nerves as they show me pictures of local snakes), we are shown around by the head teacher. Middle man gets stuck in straight away playing with a digger outside his room. That is until his teacher asked excitedly ‘Is this one for me?’ which makes Middle Man dive for cover behind me. Lego Boy’s teacher is sick but we take a quick look at his class room which is much bigger than he would have been in back in England. Class size is also lower at 20 so hopefully he will be able to catch up with his peers as they are in the last term of the school year. This means Lego boy will only actually be in reception for 9 weeks unless they feel he needs more time.

Next it was time to buy the uniforms… they look like they have fallen straight out an Australian soap, in fact they are very similar to the one I wore for my time in an Australian school. Lego Boy tries his on with no problems and looks super cute whilst Middle Man refuses point blank to even try on the hat. Later that evening however they both try everything on for Nannie and it really starts to sink in that my little men are going to school! How did that happen?

In the afternoon we decided to take Nannie to a local market, still not sure if this was a good idea. The market is busy, loud, and messy but it is real Zambia. There are amazing characters such as the disabled cloth makers and interesting characters such as a drunk who said he would protect us whilst rather erratically waving a stick around. The boys were not keen and didn’t really want the attention they got but still managed to point out every toy the place had to offer. Lego Boy decides he needs the toilet so Husband takes him to what looks like an ordinary bar, the lady behind the bars sees Lego Boy hopping around and agrees to take them to a toilet out the back. As they headed in, they pass a few couples holding hands and are shown into a room with only a toilet and a double bed… it dawns on Husband that Lego Boy is having his first visit to a brothel!!! Luckily Lego Boy is none the wiser!

The next evening Husband seems to quickly get the hang of driving the beast off road as we explore the game park again. We are on the hunt for a bird (I wish I could remember its name) which has really long tail feathers this time of year as it’s there mating season, after much driving we see one! It was pretty cool actually, its feathers clearly seen as it flew away from our car. Unfortunately we didn’t see much else except rangers reliving themselves. Baby blue starts crying for a feed so we decide to head back, after a couple of wrong turns (including accidentally ending up back at the waterfall) I decide to try and feed in the back of an off roading car… not my wisest decision for my boobs but seemed to calm Baby Blue. Soon after we reach a track we recognized as the way back when Husband suddenly brakes and Nannie says ‘There is another one on the road’. Husband creeps forward until Middle man squeaks with delight… ‘It’s a stick silly’. Both boys giggle all the way home.

With only 2 sleeps left we decide to take Nannie on a road trip to another (bigger) waterfall… to our surprise the road was really good and it was an easy drive, there was even a sign post to the waterfall.

It was a beautiful spot and we let the boys play for an hour or so. They climbed around the water’s edge throwing in stones, sticks and some very smelly fruit. At one point a concerned staff member tells Nannie ‘careful there are no deep sea divers’ whilst pointing at my two adventurous boys?!!??

Lego boy and Nannie have their first experience of a public African toilet. Lego Boy got stage fright and asked me to wait outside (much to my relief)… a few mins later he comes out and says he has been but I wasn’t so sure. It was hot so we headed up to the bar to get some drinks… well at least that was the plan. After 30mins of waiting and no sign of anyone wanting to serve us we decided to leave.

On the way back we see another lodge claiming to have views of the waterfall so we give it a go. First stop for Lego Boy was the toilet thankfully this time it was clean. We spend the rest of the afternoon chilling out under a lovely thatched bar and eat a lunch of cheese toasties that were served really quickly!?

Nannies last day felt very strange, Husband was very quiet and obviously not looking forward to saying good bye to his mum. He had managed to avoid the work up to any other good byes with his sudden departure 6 weeks earlier. I felt for him as I understood exactly how he was feeling. The last week before I departed had been really emotional, there were times when I couldn’t hold it together. On my last Saturday it was my sister’s wedding (an amazing day!) and on my last Sunday was a bake off party to celebrate my Mother-in-law and sister-in-law’s birthdays, this meant I got to say good bye to loads of my family and friends. Each good bye was hard but some especially hard, there are great number of people I miss and I hope as many as possible come and visit! (hint hint)

(Winning cake)

For Nannies last meal our friends (one whom is an amazing chef) cooked us a Sunday roast, so the last afternoon slipped happily away chatting and eating. When it was time to go to bed I said my goodbyes as Mother-in-law would be leaving early in the morning and I was going stay with the boys. I’m incredibly grateful for her help getting me and the boys here and settled in, and I sincerely hope she enjoyed her first African experience (hopefully of many).

When Husband returned from the airport the next morning without Nannie it suddenly became very real! We are miles and miles and hours and hours away from everyone and everything we have ever known! Very scary, but hopefully the start of a great family adventure.