Ladies and gentleman have I got a lot to tell you! It’s been a super busy weekend here in Zambia. Our adventure began early Thursday morning. Tricia, Nancy and I checked out of Chachacha for the weekend and headed over to the boys (I will now begin to refer to Antoine and Dominique, the Swiss nurses also volunteering at the hospice as the boys, in case you were confused) apartment to be picked up by Moses, Dr. Tim’s driver. We loaded up our stuff and headed to times farm to pick up the rest of the gang and pack up the roof of the car. Once everything seemed securely fastened to the roof (it needed to hold all our stuff for a 7 hour drive over pothole filled sometimes dirt roads), we all piled into the car, Dr. Tim and Dominique in the front, Tricia, Nancy, and Antoine in the back seat and Tiny Tim, Moses Jr., Oman, Eric and me in the way back of Tim’s Toyota Land Rover. I was very excited to be in back with the kids so that I would have a little entertainment on the ride (are you surprised?). The trip to Lake Kariba was a long one but totally worth it. The first 5 hours were not bad, we were a little cramped in the car, but managed to not be too uncomfortable. The last hour and a half consisted of a trip down and dusty, bumpy (and I mean really bumpy, think major potholes every few yards) dirt road up to the Guesthouse where we were staying. At about 4 we all poured out of the car excited to look around and enjoy the couple hours of sunlight we had left before dinner. We all changed and headed to the pool for a bit, but it was quite chilly and we wanted to catch the sunset so before six we headed back to change and prepare for dinner. Really the boys prepared for dinner and Tricia, Nancy and I headed back over to the pool area to watch the gorgeous sunset. 
We enjoyed a fabulous dinner of grilled chicken, pasta salad and ketchup prepared by Dr. Tim and then chatted for a bit before our first big adventure…Crocodile HuntingJ According to Dr. Tim lots of crocodiles would be along the shore of the lake and if we walked down with flash lights we could see their eyes shining back at us. We continued to get closer and closer to the water in hopes of seeing them and finally we were right down near the edge and…Tim and Tony (Antoine) swore they saw something reflecting back at us, I think it was a combination of the Malaria prophylaxis and wine talking because I certainly didn’t see anything. We headed back to the house to chat a bit more and then off to bed.
The next day (Friday) we relaxed basically all day. There was some time spent by the pool and some time spent in a hammock. It was our job (the girls) to prepare lunch for everyone. We cooked something Nancy’s mom makes and it turned out pretty good, everyone seemed to enjoy it. Dinner was prepared by the boys and followed by a game of euchre and hearts. I can’t say I’m a big fan of hearts, but it was my night, on the last hand after I took the queen (sadness) I decided I had to attempt to shoot the moon, and what do you know, I did. Suckers. We tried to get to bed a little early because we had an early adventure planned.
Saturday was a super busy day. We woke up a bit before 6 to get ready for a walking safari on one of the islands in the lake. As an added bonus we got to see the sunrise over the lake as we were riding a boat over to the island where we would be walking. We arrived on the island and were guided around by Chris. He was able to show us Impala (basically deer in Africa), Zebras, Wildebeests, and a whole lot of poop. I’ve come to learn that a safari is more of chance to see a lot of animal poop than to see a lot of animals. If you’re lucky you can see a few animals, but they sure do like to hide from us. We headed back from our adventure and packed up for the trip to Choma and then Livingston!
We piled into the car again and were on our way. We made it to Choma after about an hour and a half and scoped out the museum and gift shop there. Then Tricia, Nancy, Tony and I said goodbye to everyone else and went to catch a bus to Livingston. Let me tell you, riding buses in Africa is quite an experience. It deserves its own paragraph.
I’m including a pic I took from my seat. It’s the view of the front of the bus. The buses are smaller than city buses but bigger than those large vans. We sat four across in the front right behind the driver. We were packed in and above us the TV was playing a DVD of African Christian music videos, the DVD player for this TV was located conveniently above the drivers head so he could change the movies while driving and talking on his cell phone, very safe operation. The bus started to roll eventually and along the way we made several pick ups and drop offs. On board with us at one time or another was one live turkey, one live chicken, and we were watching a Thai warrior film at one point later to be replaced by WWRAW wrestling or whatever its called. It reminded me of my days in the living room putting on matches with Sam and Zach. After 3 cramped hours we finally made it to Livingston!
Our first night was spent at Jollyboys hostel, super nice and super cheap. We ventured out to have some dinner at a place called the Rite Grill. It was very nice and tasty. I enjoyed a toasted cheese sandwich (basically a grilled cheese, and luckily for me a very popular item her in Africa!) We wandered back to our hostel exhausted to find Claire had come to visit.
We chatted for a bit in the big pit up pillows while I enjoyed a Fanta with Claire and Tricia and Nancy had a Mosi, one of the two available beers here in Zambia, ok not entirely true, there is a local drink called Chibuki made from maize and whatever else falls into the vat as it ferments, we’ve heard much about the legendary drink and its toxic taste and smell. I don’t think anyone will have a taste before returning home, but we shall see.
We headed off to bed so we could get up early. We woke up and took care of some business before heading off to Victoria Falls. Incredible. We were there early so there weren’t many tourists. They are absolutely incredible. We walked all around and got completely drenched by the spray. It’s absolutely amazing and totally indescribable. After a couple circles we headed out and mistakenly turned down the first taxi ride offer we received after exiting the gate. We went over to see what kinds of crafts were being sold. Mistake number one, especially if you’re a sucker like me. I was not planning on getting to close and looking, but the clever businessmen who work the area know how to draw you in. I was sporting my livestrong and one bracelets and one man approached me to ask me about
We enjoyed a fabulous dinner of grilled chicken, pasta salad and ketchup prepared by Dr. Tim and then chatted for a bit before our first big adventure…Crocodile HuntingJ According to Dr. Tim lots of crocodiles would be along the shore of the lake and if we walked down with flash lights we could see their eyes shining back at us. We continued to get closer and closer to the water in hopes of seeing them and finally we were right down near the edge and…Tim and Tony (Antoine) swore they saw something reflecting back at us, I think it was a combination of the Malaria prophylaxis and wine talking because I certainly didn’t see anything. We headed back to the house to chat a bit more and then off to bed.
The next day (Friday) we relaxed basically all day. There was some time spent by the pool and some time spent in a hammock. It was our job (the girls) to prepare lunch for everyone. We cooked something Nancy’s mom makes and it turned out pretty good, everyone seemed to enjoy it. Dinner was prepared by the boys and followed by a game of euchre and hearts. I can’t say I’m a big fan of hearts, but it was my night, on the last hand after I took the queen (sadness) I decided I had to attempt to shoot the moon, and what do you know, I did. Suckers. We tried to get to bed a little early because we had an early adventure planned.
Saturday was a super busy day. We woke up a bit before 6 to get ready for a walking safari on one of the islands in the lake. As an added bonus we got to see the sunrise over the lake as we were riding a boat over to the island where we would be walking. We arrived on the island and were guided around by Chris. He was able to show us Impala (basically deer in Africa), Zebras, Wildebeests, and a whole lot of poop. I’ve come to learn that a safari is more of chance to see a lot of animal poop than to see a lot of animals. If you’re lucky you can see a few animals, but they sure do like to hide from us. We headed back from our adventure and packed up for the trip to Choma and then Livingston!
We piled into the car again and were on our way. We made it to Choma after about an hour and a half and scoped out the museum and gift shop there. Then Tricia, Nancy, Tony and I said goodbye to everyone else and went to catch a bus to Livingston. Let me tell you, riding buses in Africa is quite an experience. It deserves its own paragraph.
I’m including a pic I took from my seat. It’s the view of the front of the bus. The buses are smaller than city buses but bigger than those large vans. We sat four across in the front right behind the driver. We were packed in and above us the TV was playing a DVD of African Christian music videos, the DVD player for this TV was located conveniently above the drivers head so he could change the movies while driving and talking on his cell phone, very safe operation. The bus started to roll eventually and along the way we made several pick ups and drop offs. On board with us at one time or another was one live turkey, one live chicken, and we were watching a Thai warrior film at one point later to be replaced by WWRAW wrestling or whatever its called. It reminded me of my days in the living room putting on matches with Sam and Zach. After 3 cramped hours we finally made it to Livingston!Our first night was spent at Jollyboys hostel, super nice and super cheap. We ventured out to have some dinner at a place called the Rite Grill. It was very nice and tasty. I enjoyed a toasted cheese sandwich (basically a grilled cheese, and luckily for me a very popular item her in Africa!) We wandered back to our hostel exhausted to find Claire had come to visit.
We chatted for a bit in the big pit up pillows while I enjoyed a Fanta with Claire and Tricia and Nancy had a Mosi, one of the two available beers here in Zambia, ok not entirely true, there is a local drink called Chibuki made from maize and whatever else falls into the vat as it ferments, we’ve heard much about the legendary drink and its toxic taste and smell. I don’t think anyone will have a taste before returning home, but we shall see.We headed off to bed so we could get up early. We woke up and took care of some business before heading off to Victoria Falls. Incredible. We were there early so there weren’t many tourists. They are absolutely incredible. We walked all around and got completely drenched by the spray. It’s absolutely amazing and totally indescribable. After a couple circles we headed out and mistakenly turned down the first taxi ride offer we received after exiting the gate. We went over to see what kinds of crafts were being sold. Mistake number one, especially if you’re a sucker like me. I was not planning on getting to close and looking, but the clever businessmen who work the area know how to draw you in. I was sporting my livestrong and one bracelets and one man approached me to ask me about
them. I thought at first he was just being friendly and was interested, but I now know he was just trying to get me over to his area, and it worked! He convinced me that he was going to lower the price of whatever I purchased if I traded him one of my bracelets for his sister in a village far away who really really wanted one, he probably doesn’t even have a sister. And I have found I am the worst bargainer ever. For everything in Zambia from a taxi ride to a wooden animal you have to bargain the price. Keep in mind this isn’t in dollars but kwacha and I’m a pretty big sucker. I ended up leaving with a wooden elephant, a wooden hippo and a necklace with the yama yama symbol which represents the falls. I think I was a bit overcharged for my merchandise but at least I got a good story and memory out of the deal.
After those purchases I was anxious to get out of the place and stop wasting my cash. We went back to ZigZag our accommodation for the second night. The place was super cute and had a nice little restaurant where we were able to grab some lunch before heading out for a walking safari. We were picked up by our guide at Jollyboys and he first tried to trick us and say that the walk was cancelled, this was the first of many lies he would tell us on our walk through the park. Again it was a tour of poop and first we saw some impala poop, which initially we were told was elephant poop, good try guide, we’ve seen elephant and impala poop before. We walked for three hours and caught a glimpse of both pumba (a warthog) and zhazoo (a forget the real name of the bird, but the same one as from the Lion King). We also saw some more impala as well as some buffalo. Sadly no giraffe or elephants yet. We returned to Zigzag and got changed to head back to Victoria Falls. We just so happened to be in Livingston for a full mom and because it is so bright it creates a rainbow at the falls. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was as cool as you would imagine it to be, a rainbow created by the moon. We attempted to take a photo, but were unsuccessful, though we did a nice little video commentation of it. We headed back to ZigZag for a bite to eat, dinner and a sundae for me, yum!!! We headed to bed in our fancy rooms to get some rest before one more busy day.
After those purchases I was anxious to get out of the place and stop wasting my cash. We went back to ZigZag our accommodation for the second night. The place was super cute and had a nice little restaurant where we were able to grab some lunch before heading out for a walking safari. We were picked up by our guide at Jollyboys and he first tried to trick us and say that the walk was cancelled, this was the first of many lies he would tell us on our walk through the park. Again it was a tour of poop and first we saw some impala poop, which initially we were told was elephant poop, good try guide, we’ve seen elephant and impala poop before. We walked for three hours and caught a glimpse of both pumba (a warthog) and zhazoo (a forget the real name of the bird, but the same one as from the Lion King). We also saw some more impala as well as some buffalo. Sadly no giraffe or elephants yet. We returned to Zigzag and got changed to head back to Victoria Falls. We just so happened to be in Livingston for a full mom and because it is so bright it creates a rainbow at the falls. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was as cool as you would imagine it to be, a rainbow created by the moon. We attempted to take a photo, but were unsuccessful, though we did a nice little video commentation of it. We headed back to ZigZag for a bite to eat, dinner and a sundae for me, yum!!! We headed to bed in our fancy rooms to get some rest before one more busy day.
We started our day early again so we could enjoy our complementary breakfast from ZigZag before our canoeing safari. Now don’t get me wrong, the safari was very cool, but not at all what I was expecting. I pictured myself occasionally padeling my little canoe down a calm river and catching a glimpse of some really cool animals, not the case. Initially Tricia and I hopped into one canoe, Nancy with the guide and then one canoe of two guys from Canada. We headed out in these inflatable canoes with kayak paddles and were hard at work from the start. I quickly realized my leisurely trip down the Zambezi River would not be leisurely at all, but a lot of work! After we had crossed to the other edge the guide decided to ha
ve us rearrange the canoes so Tricia and I would each be with one of the guys. I ended up with Mike, who was very nice, but I can’t say I was a fan of his steering. We were often facing the wrong direction and I distinctly remember doing at least two 360s as well as finding out we had passed through hippo territory at one point. But in the end we made it safely to the lunch spot and saw two hippos along the way. After a quick lunch we hopped the truck to head back to town and catch our bus back to Lusaka. This time we were on a much calmer bus, a very nice coach bus again with a TV showing some kind of crazy Nigerian movie. We finally arrived back in Lusaka around 8 for a few drinks with the boys and off to bed!
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