One of the nicest features of African Impact is it gives you the weekends off to have some fun and encourages you to invest some tourist dollars into the local economy. To be sure, plenty of others are here just to do simply that; it’s nice that touring is secondary for us and the other volunteers.
On Saturday, we spent the day familiarizing ourselves with Livingstone. It was nice to walk from Mushili Way to downtown Livingstone and see the shops that line Mosi-oa-Tunya Road. We briefly explored the curio market full of so many African crafts. We had been warned it was an intimidating experience by other volunteers; truthfully, I thought the markets in Mexico were much worse. The sellers were friendly enough, and no one ever harassed us. Perhaps it was easy to walk around because we had no intention of buying anything. The sellers, though, were interested in trading goods and particularly wanted some of Leah’s hair bands…we’ll have to remember this if we ever go shopping.
Later, we stopped in some general stores. The clothing is interesting here because one can tell much of it must have come from donations in the US. I’ve seen shirts from Boston College, just to cite one example. Sadly, all the stores in Livingstone are quite pricey ($7USD for a towel?!?!) Shopping won’t be a regular occurrence for us, I’m afraid.
Next, we took an extended lunch at Zig Zag to take advantage of their free wi-fi, which happened to be working incredibly fast for Zambian standards. Both Leah and I got to dive into some overdue emails and internet surfing. It was a welcomed relief from being on the clock at the internet cafes in town where service is 150 kwacha per minute (although that’s only about $0.20/minute).
Our whole day was scheduled around the sunset cruise we’d be taking at night with other African Impact folks. At 3:15, we all met at the post office and waited for our transport to come at 3:30. “Waited” is the key word in that sentence. Regrettably, the waiting never resulted in hopping on a bus. Apparently, the cruise company had mixed up our booking. Luckily, we hadn’t paid for anything yet!
Very frustrated, we headed back to Mushili Way since it was nearly dark. We returned home only to find out power and water were both out. What a great day! We tried to drown our sorrows in Diet Coke and pizza, but in Livingstone, a pepperoni pizza comes with onions and mushrooms…Leah and I don’t like those things on our pizza. Our first Saturday in Zambia was not a good one.
Thankfully, Sunday was as good as Saturday was bad. We had planned to attend church, but plans changed when we were able to head to Vic Falls with our whole house. I was sad to miss out on church, but grateful to have some friends show me around the Falls. Most of these new friends are leaving within a week, so this was our last opportunity to go with them.
When we got to the Zambia/Zimbabwe border, we watched 3 of our fellow volunteers jump off a perfectly useful bridge. This bridge was located in “no-man’s land”, a bridge spanning the Zambezi River and Batoka gorge where the borders of Zim and Zam meet. Here, Jack, Kirsteen, and Phil all did the bungee jump and gorge swing (like the bungee jump, but you jump out and down instead of just down…Google it if you’re curious). I was terrified just to stand at the bridge railing, and I can’t imagine how they must’ve felt jumping. Thankfully, all made it back to land in one piece and with great memories.
Next, we walked to a very posh resort/hotel called the Zambezi Sun. Along the way, Leah and I marveled at the baboons. These creatures have no fear of humans and regular like to rob the tourists of food, cameras, and wallets. Nonetheless, Leah got a picture of the biggest one we saw! She is a wee bit braver than I am (thanks to my Scottish pals, I seamlessly say things like “wee bit” now). At the hotel, we impatiently watched the rest of our crew relax in the sun. Being in Africa, we weren’t about to waste time around the pool. Kirsteen had told us the hotel had giraffes on its property. Excited to see these animals, we set off on a journey. Leah and I were expecting to wander by a large fenced-in area and hoped to see some giraffes there. The actual story is much better.
We walked along the path Kirsteen pointed us down. This path led us into the bush area and, we assumed, towards the giraffe pen. Just about 5 minutes into our walk, I stopped. I told Leah to look up. For a few seconds, she saw nothing and worried I had seen a snake or other scary creature. Suddenly, she screamed because no more than 10 feet in front of us was a free-roaming giraffe! Just then, another giraffe walked up along side its colleague and began munching on the trees. We followed these giraffes around for a bit and got some fabulous photos and stood within 5-7 feet from them. They are gentle and beautiful creatures.
I guess I always knew that Africa had wild animals and safaris to see them are quite popular. For some reason though, I never truly grasped how remarkable this was until we ran into the giraffes. I’m more excited than ever to see more wildlife now!
After the high of the giraffe encounter, we decided to walk into Victoria Falls. If you ever travel to Livingstone, enter the Falls from the Zambezi Sun hotel because you’ll be spared the $10/person park fee. Anyway…the walking path started off quite basically with a few nice trees and other plants to look at. All of a sudden, though, we were greeted with the thundering fog of Victoria Falls. We snapped some photos thinking we had seen the Falls. With nothing else to do, we continued on the trail to explore a wee bit more (I am honestly developing a Scottish accent, too. It’s quite sad).
Just up the path, we walked by a stand selling umbrellas and raincoats. Now you should know the weather in Zambia this time of you is completely predictable. It is always about 80 degrees in the mid-afternoon with no clouds and no rain. It NEVER changes. We knew the raincoats had nothing to do with the weather. We also knew we didn’t want one!
Our decision paid off as we continued on the path and encountered the full breadth of Victoria Falls. One cannot even begin to describe the enormity of the falls. It literally stretched as far as I could see through the mist (actually mist isn’t a strong enough word for the precipitation at Vic Falls). The sound is very thunderous, just as the name Mosi-oa-Tunya implies. Walked for one a few hundred yards, Leah and I got SOAKED with the mist from Victoria Falls…and it was GREAT! The few photos and videos we took really don’t do it justice. You truly have to see it to believe it. For anyone that questions God the Creator, let me take them to Victoria Falls for a little chat.
If the giraffes and Victoria Falls weren’t enough, we decided to join our African Impact mates on the river cruise that was supposed to happen the night before. This proved to be a wonderful decision.
The cruise came with great food and an open bar, which for Leah and I meant all the Diet Coke we could throw down! I also fell in love with a drink called Mazoe, which is basically an orange juice concentrate mixed with water. The cruise down the Zambezi was quite lovely and the views were stunning. But things quickly got better.
About 1/3 of the way through the trip, we came across a large herd of hippos playing in the water. There were at least a dozen hippos just a few yards from our boat. Hippos and giraffes…what a day! But the hippos were about to be outdone because just upstream was an elephant grazing right on the shore. Hippos, and giraffes, and elephants, oh my! While the hippos and giraffes were fantastic, the elephant was simply majestic. Never before had a seen an elephant with its ivory tusks intact. This one had not only beautiful tusks, but was large and imposing. It effortlessly snapped the tree branches it was eating. If there was any lingering doubt before the cruise, we fully realize we are in Africa!
After the elephants and hippos (we spotted another herd upstream again), the sunset became the main attraction. The hues of the setting sun on the Zambezi River are breathtakingly beautiful. I won’t even attempt to describe them beyond that. I do hope you all get the chance to experience that some day.
With a busy week of teaching and medical care ahead, this weekend help us to relax and bit and refuel our souls to be ready for the week ahead.
Cheers,
Zac
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