Introductions

Since we’re going to be together for a while, I should probably start with some introductions. Presumably you know me (otherwise you wouldn’t be looking at this). But here’s the rest of my family.

First up is Amanda. She’s the only female in the family. She’s also, perversely, the only one that ever gets called “Sir” (as in “Jake, tidy your room immediately!”, “Yes Sir!!”). It would be reasonable to conclude that she is, therefore, the Most Important Person in the family. I usually call her Mands, as do most of her closest friends. But when she gets that glint in her eye, I’m also inclined to call her Sir.

Next comes Jake. He’s the Family Teenager. To be fair, he only turned 13 in July so he’s still getting used to the role. So far he’s mastered the monosyllabic grunt in five different languages and he’s just starting work on his yawns. If eating ever becomes an Olympic sport, he’ll do Zimbabwe proud.

This picture is of Jake showing off a hole in his leg, acquired from our pet warthog, Lucy. As you can see, he's not unchuffed with it.

Ben is 8, and he’s the only male in the family who’s not only aware of how he looks, but actually cares about it. This is pretty amazing. In common with most Zimbabwean males, the rest of us are entirely oblivious to fashion. Ben, however, is super-trendy and really rather cool. He’s also incredibly lucky that his best friend Alexander is coming on the trip with us too. They’re inseparable, those two, and we don’t anticipate having to do much, if anything, to keep them entertained.

And finally there’s Max. Or, as he shall be known throughout this blog (and without even a trace of irony), Little Max. Little Max is anything but little. He’s six years old, built like a Ukranian tank but blessed with the kind of cheeky grin that gets you through roadblocks and border posts with the minimum of hassle. He is, in short, a huge asset. He’s called Little Max because the other Max we’ll be travelling with is 15 years old, and therefore entitled to the epithet Big Max.