mosi nets, power cuts, loose grasp on the local language - anyone else live off the beaten track??

[liger]

...but with access to Mumsnet obviously, so maybe not that unbeaten a track but...
what do you enjoy, what do you find difficult?

I am a SAHM living in Indonesia, there are good things and bad things about being here with a 2 year old and it would be great to share them, anyone else?

I think this is a long-shot, but I think a while back I saw a Mumsnetter in Nigeria, and one who had lived in Cameroon would love to hear from you?

Hi ZamMummy, welcome to the mosi nets, powercuts etc! Congratulations on the imminent new arrival. Are you really allowed to fly as late as 36 weeks? I have a friend flying home next week and she'll be about 33/34 wks then. Mind you, she knows another expat who's decided to stay here in Nigeria to have her baby - brave soul!!

The power cuts are just a way of life, aren't they? Do you have generator back-up? Luckily our present abode is pretty well run so outages are minimal but in our last place they were forever running out of diesel and scratching around trying to borrow bucketsful to keep it going, while we got hotter and hotter under our tin roof. Load shedding is, I think, when there is too much demand for energy and not enough supply. They then shed the unnecessary demand (you and me) to ensure that important places (Prez's palace) still have a supply.

I'm at your car. We used to have a Pajero but dh has moved companies and we have a regulation issue Toyota Corolla. I've already had a tantrum on here about it!

How long have you been in Zambia? My best friend lived there many years ago, in the 70's.

Hi all - CM yes was in UK but have found that thread thank you. I've been waiting for ages for someone to ask a question about Ghana, and someone finally does, and I'm not there.

Will dig out my finger paint recipe and post later!

Welcome Zam! Lovely lovely to have more Africans with whom we can moan celebrate the idiosyncracies of living in banana republics And a Surf owner to boot, see Coco, they really do exist!

What are you doing in Zambia? How long have you been there? It's quite a quiet place really isn't it? Do you get a chance to travel around much?

Great news on the imminent arrival of number 2, how old is ds? I think I flew out at 34 weeks with both of mine. The time in the UK goes really quickly and i would have thought it will be the best thing to stay at your ILs, they can feed you, help take care of your ds and then all you have to do is enjoy the baby! Will your dh be able to join you as well? When ds1 arrived dd was 2 and we were in the UK for maybe 10 weeks, she just slipped into it all with no bother and then was equally happy when we arrived back in Africa. They adapt pretty quickly these little ones imo.

Good to have you back Coco - did you have a good trip? Buy lots of Cheddar?

How is your Harmattan Sue? Any rains yet?

We now have some new additions to the family - 5 lovely brown feathery chickens! DD is ecstatic, the baby is scared witless

Aw, bless at the baby being scared of chickens!

The Harmattan lifted a couple of weeks ago and it's been getting hotter since then. But we've had rain and storms already, they're not supposed to arrive until April. Climate change??

Our air freight arrived last Friday, which was fuuuun! We now have mattress toppers on our beds - such luxury! Also decent saucepans and knives and foodie bits and pieces (Irn Bru, anyone?) We're off home next Wednesday, for a couple of weeks, and then dd1 is coming back with us for 10 days.

its not fair, i want decent saucepans. Our container had a little holiday in Jeddah for 3 weeks and left there 4 days ago, stopping off in Dar before reaching Mombasa (if there is space) on 8 April.

You can't have everything CM. You have the 4x4, I have the saucepans.

I have a 4x4 and Le Creuset.

But in September it's back to London, where I'll have a bus pass and Woolies tefal-coated crap until Brasilia.

London trip was good, hectic, but fun to go to museums and the park and pack all the cheddar I could find in Sainsburys into the suitcases. (Came with 3 pieces of luggage, left with 7. Not ALL cheese. Also breakfast cereal and Lego.)

Hey, anyone had hols in Togo/Benin? Looking to do a long weekend there when the MIL arrives next month.

Zam, a belated welcome! I flew back to have DD at 35 weeks (or 37, depending which dating scan you wanted to believe). DS had a great time in the 12 weeks we were there. Remember to wear your flight socks!

pah, you diplomats, you get it all, bet you flew back Club as well

Never been to Togo/Benin but dh has, so will ask him.

We have just watched the Last King of Scotland on MNet, such a good film, only spoiled by dh and I trying to spot all our old Kampala pals who were recruited as extras!

hello ladies, sorry I've been quiet for so long, we've been roaming the country catching up with gandparents and cousin etc and getting re-settled in London town.

Now back to the real world, dh has gone off to the states for 3 weeks to be orientated into his new job. I'm tired as my bump is now big enough to make toddler handling tricky, and ds is fast enough to disappear to the other side of the park before I've started waddling!

I have to say it is still a novelty to be able to leave the house and have interesting things to do with kids on your doorstep. having pavements is just wonderful, lots of parks, nice child friendly restaurants. We're having great fun just being able to walk to the post office. I am slightly wistful for white sandy beaches and a warm breeze though - its freezing here!

Welcome ZamMummy, I have a soft spot for Zambia, glad to have you join us I'm intrigued to hear more.

glad the rest of you are doing well with chickens and cheese and containers on the way (eventually)

Liger x

Hello Liger. We've all gone quiet out in our dusty little corners of the world. Glad you're enjoying London - go eat a decent carrot for me.

I must report that Shoprite has been stocking broccoli, and it has made me incredibly happy, even though it's 3 quid a head.

Have found an expat-recommended beach resort in Benin, so shall report back once I've tried it out. As it turns out, DH and I will be spending our 11th wedding anniversary in Lome, with both kids and the MIL in tow. Romantic or what??

Liger, so good to hear from you and that you are waddling nicely Enjoy London and rub Peter Pans foot for me when in Kensington Park, dd used to love climbing on him!

Coco, sounds perfectly normal and romantic to me, enjoy There is a reserve here where you can't take kids, featuring seperate posh tents each with a plunge pool, its called Shampole but nick-named Shagpole by the expats as its the choice wedding anniversary destination

All is good here, still no container kids on a MONTH school holiday we have added a puppy to the menagerie and have had 2 near chicken deaths in the last two days as a consequence....

hello everyone! All well here, but the last three times I said that it came back so will not jump the gun too much!

ooohhh, look, new people on the thread! hello and nice to meet you!

I've started prepping the garden for the veg regardless of the possibility that the snow might come back and this year I'm also going to have 'real' garden with flowers and pretty plants that have no purpose other than to look nice - how frivolous!! DH is getting ready for the start of the safari season, and we've had a nice response from the advert we put on MN .

CM - we lost one chicken to our dog but as soon as we got a cockerel the dog left the chickens well alone. He even lets the cockerel eat his food and looks the other way, pretending the humiliation isn't happening to him! Ad he is BIG dog!

Happy waddling Liger, hope your last few weeks are comfortable.

Hello Liger! Glad all is going well and you sound v happy in London. How are Mr Cockerel's tail feathers, Wellies??

I'm still in the UK until Friday, when we shall be braving the rigours of Terminal Five - eek!! It's been a funny leave, what with snow and Easter being so early, it feels wrong, somehow. I've been trying to organise for things to be done in the house, like new windows, decorating and replacing our somewhat 'lacy' carpets, but I'm having to see people now then tell them it can't be done until summer.

Dd1 is coming back with us on Friday for 10 days, which will be fun. I haven't told her the rainy season has started early this year, she thinks she'll be by the pool almost 24/7!

Great idea about the cockerel Wellies, thanks! Does he screech a lot though in the early morning? Good luck with the business, it sounds idyllic...maybe one day we can visit.

Ooooo Sue, Terminal 5. That is daring, good luck From what I hear it resembles the type of chaos you find daily in an African airport

Hope dd has a nice new bikini brolly for her hols

he screeches all day, really! although there's extra screeching in the mornings to make sure all the local cockerels remember that this is still his patch and these and still his wives and they had better not try it on with him because he is big and hard despite an embarassing lack of tail feathers. It's a hard job but someone has to do it.

Hope you have a lovely time with DD1 at home, suedonim. How often does she come back to you?

It's all going to ratshit before we even get to Lagos!! The boiler here is playing up, we've no hot water but the radiators are scorching hot. So one of us may have to stay behind for an engineer to come at. Sigh.....

Dd1 came out to us last July, it rained for the entire 2wks and she didn't get to the pool once. Dh's new company pays for dc at uni to visit their parents once a year so this is dd's freebie. Sadly for her, she's travelling economy while we're going Business Class nowadays. I could get used to it, hehehe! But I'm sure dd1 will be ejecting dd2 from her comfy seat as soon as the safety belt sign goes off.

OMG, boiler has been mended already!!! Otoh, it now means I've no excuse not to go back to Ng.

You see you forget about that UK efficiency so quickly Get on that plane, you know you want to

Lol! Am supposed to be leaving home in 2hrs time and still haven't packed. I had more urgent business to see to - buying a new catflap even though we have no cat!

Hello everyone

Oooh Shampole!! I used to oogle their website and the 360 camera they have on their and dream of a break there one day, Must put it back onto the wish list now I am a married woman and have excuses like anniversaries!

Good luck with Terminal 5 Suedonim, at least you will be avoiding the snow this weekend, hopefully!

I've ended up booking an Independant midwife and am hoping for a homebirth. I thought you might be interested Wellies, although I didn't follow your other thread beyond a couple of glimpses. My main reason is the hope of getting continuity of care which seems almost impossible in London under the NHS.

Coming to the end of dh's absence, its been hard on ds as well as me. Lots more travel to come with his new job so am wondering how things will be with two little ones!

Lots of vegetables and yummy things here in London, and I am still in the mode of being immensely grateful!

Liger x

wish list there Liger consider it back on...

Independent midwife seems like a good idea - very reassuring I should think. What is dh's new job?

Sue have you all arived back safely? Did dd1 suffer terribly in economy

We got back ok and dd1 is over the trauma of Economy (not that she's used to anything else! ). T5 was a bit rubbish, sending us the wrong way and it's even further by bus to T4 than T1 is.

We've had a lovely week together and dd1 seems to have fallen in love with Lagos, though has been driven to steam-coming-out-of-ears rage because the phones/internet has been truly terrible lately. I think we're going to the Conservation Centre this afternoon, to see their scabby monkey, a peacock and no doubt a multitude of mosquitoes.

Goodness, it's almost a month since anyone posted - is there anybody out there??

I'm just wanting to pick a brain or two re illnesses. How long do you leave it before taking your dc to the Dr, if they're ill (Not babies and toddlers, I'm thinking over the age of 3-ish)? Dd is recovering from a cold/cough/flu bug which she's had for about a week. I took her to the Dr after four days, where they tested for malaria and other things and all was clear so it's just been a case of Calpol and Benylin.

Other people seem to take their dc to the Dr much faster than I did and I wonder if it's better to err on the side of caution or whether they're all hypochondriacs. What do you reckon?

.

Sue, hellooooo. I am here, but life has been very hectic because our container eventually turned up, the lorry got stuck in the mud in our drive and had to stay there for 24 hours, the dc thought it was all marvellous, I was about to have a sense of humour failure. Luckily all our lovely crap stuff is now in situ and i just have to sort it all out...

Sorry to hear dd has not been well, like you I am a dreadful mother and never take my dc to the docs unless it is absolutely necessary, so in Cameroon dd went once in 4 years, when her throat was so sore she couldn't speak, even the dr was surprised I hadn't been to him sooner . I think in W Africa every slight temp could be a malaria symptom so perhaps people overcompensate, though saying that there are still loads of people here who dash off to see the doc quite quickly. Hypochondriacs the lot of them

Liger, are you out there?? Any baby news for us yet?

My baby turns one tomorrow And he started walking.