We are back from our great adventure to Mosi-oa-tunya (‘the smoke that thunders’)! And what an adventure!

DAY 1-3
We left Ongwediva and drove through to Rundu, stopping at Grootfontein (see map on previous posting) for lunch. We spent two (cold) nights in Rundu whilst David did TEE workshops. Instead of souvenirs, we bought blankets (it IS mid-winter)!!

DAY 3-4
We drove to Divundu and camped on the banks of the Kavango River, listening to and watching hippos whilst David did more workshops. Nights are very cold and we can see our breath, but days are hot.

DAY 4-5
The long haul through the Caprivi Strip (although we did see elephants along the way!) to Katima Mulilo, 4 kms from the Zambian border, where we camped on the banks of the Zambezi. A lot of bird life greeted us in the morning. When David had finished his workshop we discovered that Katima time is an hour behind Namibia, and the same time as South Africa and Zambia so we were ahead of
schedule and elected to cross the border that afternoon.

DAY 5
We arrived in Livingstone, 200 kms from the border, and looked for a campsite. It is high season now and many places were booked out. We found a marvellous campsite called Bush Front and lay in bed at night listening to the thundering Falls (5 kms away), lions roaring in Zim (6 kms away), hippos and other night life. A majority of the nightlife is 200000,000000,00000 mozzies! Hard to imagine how bad they would be in the summer :-(

DAY 6 and DAY 1 of our holiday!!
There is a lot to see and do around here … and you can do it all if you have lots of US$$$$$! The local currency is Kwacha and a coke costs K4,000! I was able to dredge up some Chichewa phrases (from my Malawi days) and even be understood, which was fun. I also met some Austrians, one of whom lives in Blantyre (Malawi), where I used to live, and she and I had many friends in common so we had a good yarn!
We had a reccie trip into Livingstone (named after David L, who was probably the first European to see the Falls – 1855) then headed out to Victoria Falls itself (themselves??). What can I say? See the pix I posted and you will know why it is hard to describe them. We got happily drenched in the spray as we walked along the Zambia length (Zimbabwe has about 2/3 of the Falls on their side), then went up above the Falls where the children paddled in a SAFE section of the Zambezi.

DAY 2
As there is not much for young children to do as many things have an element of danger, David and I took turns in looking after the children. I chose a ride on an African elephant (see pix!!). How marvellous to see the Bush from an elephant’s perspective. I had a rather temperamental bull who did not like walking up to the platform for folk to get on (or off) so I was delighted to have him kneel down and I was hoisted onto his high and massive back. At the end we got to reward our noble ‘steeds’ by giving them special pellets down their trunk or, by saying ‘trunk up!’, into their mouths. Way cool!

DAY 3
David and Beth went white-water rafting and had a wet and exhilarating time of it. I took the children to the local snake/croc park and you can see pix of them holding a baby croc and brown house snake – they LOVED every minute of that.
I will post a coupla pix but they are not good as I took them from a video that was playing in a dark room.

DAY 4
In the morning Beth and I took a microlight trip (15 mins) over the Falls. I have always wanted to go in a helicopter but I reckon this was even better … and what a venue! In the evening we all went on a sunset cruise of the Zambezi where we saw hippos, a croc and monitor lizard, among other critters. Even if we have to live on bread and water for a month after this trip, it is worth it. Our memories will last much longer than that!

DAY 5
Beth crossed into Zimbabwe for an ‘encounter with lions’ where she spent a marvellous time walking with and petting young lions. David went on a gorge swing (he said the stepping out into nowhere and plummeting 54 feet before the cable took hold was pretty hair-raising!) and I took the children on a mini pony trek (Caris is mad about horses and since the pony she rode in Ongwediva died in Jan she has had no lessons). They even got to trot a bit and some of the walk was along the Zambezi. As you can see on the pix, we got VERY close to some giraffe. Also to buck.

DAY 6
Packing-up day and relaxing by the little pool at the lodge.

We did go to see where David did his sheer-fear gorge swing and the children and I did a fly wire – a giant flying fox over a huge drop. The children really wanted to go and LOVED it. so did I, which is not surprising as I have always longed to throw myself off a precipice!

We did hear the cries of a cow elephant for a few days. She, with her herd, had somehow wandered out of the park with her little calf (I will post its footprint) of a few months. She did kill a local (probably felt he somehow threatened her calf) about 2km from where we stayed (about Day 4) – all very tragic and reminding us of how we have limited their territory. She became reunited with the herd and have gone back into the reserve, I think.

DAY 7
Looooooooong drive all the way back to Rundu (7,5 hours) for another workshop.

DAY 8
Looooong drive (6 hrs) back home.
Total kms clocked up on our trip: nigh on 3,000

Thank you for praying for us on this mammoth trek. We had a lovely break and we really needed it. May we start August refreshed and ready for work!