The Falls and Finally Finding HIPPOS

Sunsets, a wonder of the world, HIPPOS, elephants, safaris, bus rides... Zambia was wonderful. Again, it's probably best to do this day-by-day, and again, just as after the Delta, you may need a few days to read this... I'm sorry that I write way too much, I'm just so excited about all that we saw!!

Tuesday- Leslie, Marinda and I got up at 7am to go wait in line to buy tickets for our bus that was to leave at 8:30p that evening. After a HUGE fiasco involving line-cutters and people buying multiple tickets, we got literally three of the last five tickets on the entire bus. We were definitely EXTREMELY grateful for that and it is example ONE of this trip and how we were provided for so well. Spent the day preparing, packing...arrived back at the bus station around 4:30p to get our luggage on the bus. Apparently taking big huge comforters to Zambia to sell is QUITE the business, and there were about 50 of them to fit on this bus. Luckily our luggage got on, and we sat around until 9p when the bus finally left for Livingstone.

Wednesday- After a long night on the bus, we arrived at the border around 7a, where we spent three hours so all of the comforters could be approved by the border patrol... if I don't see another comforter for a while, I'll be okay. Arrived in Livingstone around 11a finally, and prayed again really hard that we would be able to get a place to stay for the evening, since we had to arrive a day early because of the bus scheduling. We got to Jollyboys and they had VERY few beds left, but were able to get us three beds for that evening. We were all so relieved... (We are SUCH good lil' backpackers!) God was so good again in providing for us there. Jollyboys was so cool and had such a world-traveler feel. They had a really awesome swimming pool, dorms, campsites, individual rooms, a restaurant/bar area and a super cool "chill area." We spent the afternoon and evening getting settled, journaling and stretching out after the long bus ride!

Thursday- Slept in pretty late, getting caught up on some missed rest! (Well, LES and I slept, Ms. Johnson actually enjoys those early mornings!!) We intended to spend a good amount of the day by the pool because the weather up in Livingstone was definitely warmer than we are used to here in Gabs, so we were definitely excited to relax and get some much-needed sun. Went to town though to get some breakfast and some kwacha (1 US Dollar = 3500 kwacha. So... we spent the weekend spending tens of thousands of kwacha, kiiinda felt like a high roller) from the ATM, and ended up spending about three hours at the open air market that sold so many awesome crafts and gifts, and wheeled and dealed with the locals. We also tried to figure out our bus ride home since we couldn't find any office or information about it where we had been dropped off (welcome to the transportation system...) and heard from a few people on the street that it left each day at FOUR IN THE MORNING... which seemed like our only option but not such an exciting one. Anyway, the girls and I got back to Jollyboys, showered and got ready for our much-anticipated Sunset Cruise down the mighty Zambezi river! We were so excited for the relaxing evening, a good dinner and a boat ride. Got dropped off at the river, and loaded the boat, where we met a husband and wife from San Francisco who are traveling before they start graduate school and a job- one in Africa and one in Switzerland. Also met a whole group of middle-aged South Africans, who are all traveling around Southern Africa together on motorcycles. Such a friendly group and we had some awesome conversations with both. The cruise was awesome, we saw our first HIPPOS, so I was definitely happy! Dinner was great, we got GRILLED chicken- kind of like summertime at home, so it was wonderful. The sunset was absolutely gorgeous... perfect.It was definitely one of those perfect evenings that topped off a perfect day... warm and fuzzy feelings all around. Ended up with some good journaling and reflecting and quiet time...WONDERFUL day.

Friday- Woke up, and Marinda and Leslie began the mental preparation for the event of the day...BUNGEEEEEEEING. Now... I think it's pretty fair to say that I was preparing myself mentally for this too, because although there was close to no way you could get me off of that ledge over the bridge, I was preparing to be the world's best cheerleader/spectator. We caught the shuttle to Vic Falls around 10a, and arrived for the girls' date with the bridge around 11a. They both had to go up to a check-in point, and I headed down the bridge that separates Zambia and Zimbabwe where the jumping-off takes place to get an idea of what my two extremely courageous friends were about to do to themselves. I stood there for quite a while until they arrived, and by the time they came down to prepare, I was the expert on how this jump worked, how they got back up afterwards... everything. So, like I said, I was still hoping to be some good support although I wasn't going to make it over the edge this time around. They both did WONDERFULLY, and it was awesome to watch and see their faces and reactions during and afterwards. For SURE check out their blogs for VIDEOS and more pictures, my photography skills were definitely tested during these jumps!! As excited and elated as they were, I never really regretted my decision NOT to jump, and was more than satisfied to watch. : )
After their jumps, we headed to the National Park that surrounds Victoria Falls. I don't think I had really done enough research or known enough about the falls... but it was absolutely perfectly incredible when we got in there. The first glimpse we got was from a ways away, but as soon as we got our rented ponchos and got right in front of those falls... I literally was speechless with how powerful and mighty and incredible this sight was. I really truly know now why it is one of the wonders of the world... so awesome, and pictures definitely cannot justify the sight. The sound was deafening, we were getting soaked the entire time because of the super intense spray from the falls, and none of us could wipe the smiles or wonderment off of our faces. Everything around the falls was extremely green which we hadn't seen for a while, and lush and wonderful... so beautiful. We hiked around the park for a while, found the spot where the falls begin, which was really cool to see kind of the calm before the huge huge drop. We also found the Boiling Pot, which was QUITE the hike from the top of the falls to the very bottom (involving some pretty intense rock climbing and creek crossing, so with all my wilderness skills, I was quite the expert... not), and the view from down there was incredible. You are sitting on these rocks, where the falls finally meet their river... so cool. All of the sights and sounds and smells and wonders of the day were definitely perfect, majestic, God moments... so incredible. Got back to Jollyboys and after the hike of the day we had a good meal in town, and then crashed pretty early. We met a lady this evening who was from Zimbabwe and was on her way back home to Harare, and it was a really cool experience to talk to her and get her point of view on the stuff going on there, especially since her family is back there and she is returning... definitely interesting.

Saturday- Awoke very early to catch our ride across the border back into Bots for the day to take a day safari at Chobe National Park, for which we were definitely pumped. After meeting the other people in our group (definitely one of the highlights of this trip was the HUGE awesome assortment of people that were staying at Jollyboys with us, so many people our age or just a few years older who are doing service work and traveling or just backpacking across Africa... so many awesome conversations and new things from these people!) we had a great breakfast at a lodge, and then loaded up and headed out to the park. We spent the morning in a safari vehicle driving around Chobe. We didn't see anything huge on this part, but some really cool impalas and kudu- which look like a cross between a zebra and a horse... pretty cool! It was funny, this guy in our group mentioned something which was so true, he was talking about how you grow up watching these super cool safaris on TV... and here we were, you know, just safari-ing through the bush in Africa, normal, right? ; )
In the afternoon, we boarded a boat for an afternoon river game cruise to see more animals... and this was where the elephants and hippo experiences got intense. Another guy on our trip from Malaysia faced his chair on the boat to look outward and not towards the table and said "Big screen TV, National Geographic SAFARI SPECIAL!" It was great! Anyway, because we were in a pontoon boat we were able to get super close to elephants and hippos and crocodiles and water buffalo, and it was incredible. The elephants especially were so huge and majestic and wonderful, definitely images and pictures I won't forget for quite some time! And of course there was an abundance of hippos which I couldn't have been happier about, ESPECIALLY since this time I felt in no danger sitting in this big boat, and we were able to get SO close to them... super cool. On the way home I was able to talk to a few girls from Ireland and it was so cool to compare our lives and see how we are all kind of living the same lives even though we are in two way different countries. AND I found out that out of the four girls in their group, two of them had turned 21 last week, and the other two were turning 21 this week, and SO AM I, so that was definitely a way cool similarity!! Headed to bed pretty early after meeting some more awesome 21-year olds from South Africa doing a "quick backpacking trip" around Southern Africa on their 3-week "Uni-break"... they were staying in our dorms with us and were so cool to talk to and listen to.

Sunday- Arrived at the bus stop around 3:45a (I wasn't the happiest camper in the world), waited until 4:30a when the bus showed up, I went up and asked if we could get on, and the driver told us it was full. So. We were told to go to this other bus, that could get us to the border, where we could hitchhike or catch a taxi to the nearest city in Botswana where we could get on one bus to take us to Francistown, and then another bus from there to Gabs... quite a more complicated journey than the one-way bus, but we were ready to trek it if it meant we could still get back to Gabs by evening. We headed to this other bus, which sat in the parking lot until around 5:30a when it left for the border. While we were sitting there waiting, I was seated next to a man from Zambia, who was probably in his mid-40s. We got to talking about his life, his family and his children, and the differences between Zambia and Botswana. It was a really cool conversation, and then we started talking more about my life and my family, and we started to talk about my faith and his, and it was a way cool conversation. He kept calling me his daughter, and was so kind and thoughtful in our conversations. At one point he asked why we were on this bus, why didn't we just get on the bus that goes straight to Gabs? I laughed and told him that we had tried but it was full, so we were just going to go with our Plan B. He told me that he would stay with us until we got to the bus station in Kasane so we wouldn't have to find a taxi or a ride alone, which in itself was a very nice offer. (He was headed to a town in Botswana that was past Gabs, where he was meeting his daughter who does mission work.) He also kind of off-handedly mentioned that he knew the driver of the Zambia-Gaborone bus, and I didn't think too much of it at the time... but God was working so much in our conversation and our meeting already. Once we arrived at the border, he stayed with us, helped us find a trustworthy guy to exchange our kwacha back to pula (1 pula = 515 kwacha), and we got in line for the immigration office. He left us at this point, and kind of indicated that he'd be back, but we didn't think much of it. Us girls were starting to get kind of stir-crazy waiting in this line forever and thinking about all the unknowns of the transportation ahead of us for the day, when a man walked up to us and asked if we were going to Gaborone. We replied that we were trying to, and he told us that he was one of the drivers for the one-way bus, and told us that our friend had talked to him and that they were going to squeeze us in the bus since we needed to get back, would that be okay? We all practically yelled in excitement, and he told me to get our luggage together and bring it over to the bus so he could pack it in. We no longer cared about the forever long line, and it was definitely another one of those perfect God moments of the week, one that to me is just undeniably Him providing completely for us. I saw my friend again later on the Botswana side of the border, and thanked him incredibly for his kindness and helpfulness in getting us on that bus. He said it was no problem, and I didn't see him again. Guardian angel for SURE. We got on the bus (YAY!!), where we weren't exactly expecting the best seats, since we were told it was full, but Les sat up at the front on the floor and Marinda and I ended up sitting on the floor for 8 hours by the bus toilet (kind of unpleasant, but we were so grateful to be on that bus it really wasn't that big of a deal) until we let people off at Francistown where we were lucky enough to get seats for the remaining 5 hours of the trip. Finally arrived back in Gabs, where I was SO excited to be 'home'- weird but it really truly does feel like home, I kind of can't imagine not coming back here again after we leave in a few short weeks. Took a hot shower and ate a good meal and crashed into bed.

And... there you have it! Another novel... and again, there are more pictures at my Picasa site. It was an incredible trip all around, the highlights being seeing and fully experiencing the glory and AWESOMENESS of Victoria Falls, the way the we were so wonderfully provided for, and the incredible people we met and conversations and lives shared. And of course being able to spend a week with Marinda and Les!!! The only downfall was the LITERALLY forty-two bites I somehow got on ONE leg... why was I the only one who got so many?! Anyway though, I definitely missed our other half, but they had a wonderful time on the Zim side, check out their blogs for all of that extra info!! Three short weeks from TODAY and I will be arriving in Kansas City... cannot believe it and having so many mixed feelings, but I'll save all of that for another blog. Miss everyone, and thank you so much for your support and prayers, I know that I definitely felt so many of those this last week, just as I have the whole time. LOVE YOU ALL!!!