The Trip to Livingstone, Zambia and Botswana
(Victoria Falls and a one day safari)
The sights we saw from the bus.
Our group stayed in two different places, in Livingstone at Faulty Towers and the the Maramba Lodge outside of Livingstone, where I stayed. I would have preferred to stay in town although our accomodations were very exotic with monkeys and baboons all over the place.
Baboon
Zambezi River
We ate in Livingstone, a really good meal. We were all tired from the bus ride and two weeks of work, but we weren't ready to recognize that yet.
Saturday morning we were up at 7:30 am to meet at Victoria Falls. It was awesome, we had to don raincoats to go because at times the mist was so thick it was like pouring rain. Othertimes there was no mist. You walk along the edge of the falls for quite some distance. Of course, you are on the Zambian side not the Zimbabwe side. It was an indescribable experience to be there and see a natural wonder that you had been seeing photos of all your life.
More markets were set up at the entrance to the falls, so of course, temptation was too great to ignore them. So a few more goodies to bargain for.
The final goodbyes.
Many of you wanted to know what we did in our last couple of African days after we left MWB. MWB helped us get on our way to Livingstone, Zambia to see Victoria Falls and go on a one day safari. We decided to go by bus and return by plane in order to see more of Africa. Chipus drove us to the very chaotic bus station in the MWB bus. He found us the right Livingstone bus and guided us through the chaos. Brian bought the tickets for all of us and had to write out a separate receipt for all twelve of us.
The bus station and Brian buying us the bus tickets.
The bus was very crowded, there was a loud Zambian movie or soap opera on for most of the time, they served cookies and coke. When we stopped for any reason our bus was bombarded by women selling fruit. We passed a nickel mine and several sugar plantations. Many farmers from Zimbabwe have moved do Zambia to farm.
The bus station and Brian buying us the bus tickets.
The bus was very crowded, there was a loud Zambian movie or soap opera on for most of the time, they served cookies and coke. When we stopped for any reason our bus was bombarded by women selling fruit. We passed a nickel mine and several sugar plantations. Many farmers from Zimbabwe have moved do Zambia to farm.
The sights we saw from the bus.Our group stayed in two different places, in Livingstone at Faulty Towers and the the Maramba Lodge outside of Livingstone, where I stayed. I would have preferred to stay in town although our accomodations were very exotic with monkeys and baboons all over the place.
Baboon
Zambezi River
We ate in Livingstone, a really good meal. We were all tired from the bus ride and two weeks of work, but we weren't ready to recognize that yet.
Saturday morning we were up at 7:30 am to meet at Victoria Falls. It was awesome, we had to don raincoats to go because at times the mist was so thick it was like pouring rain. Othertimes there was no mist. You walk along the edge of the falls for quite some distance. Of course, you are on the Zambian side not the Zimbabwe side. It was an indescribable experience to be there and see a natural wonder that you had been seeing photos of all your life.
More markets were set up at the entrance to the falls, so of course, temptation was too great to ignore them. So a few more goodies to bargain for.
After we saw the falls we were picked up by the Zambian Swing people to go and swing over canyons. We first went to the Zambian Swing where most everyone tried the swing. I didn't do this but it was fun to watch the others. It is a free fall until you reach the end of the rope, then it is swinging until you land on a platform in the canyon and walk back up. Then we all moved down the edge of canyon a bit to try the Flying Fox, a zipline. This I had decided to do, but I watched everyone else first and decided it was okay. You take a running start off a cliff and fly over the canyon, obviously harnessed in. It is a wonderful feeling to be flying free over the canyon. We got two turns at it. Fun! I felt quite the SUPER WOMAN, as it was called.
Super Woman Jo
We went back to our little houses at the Maramba Lodge which was quite luxurious. Basically the walls were screens. I woke up in the night to a cacaphony of sounds. There were baboons fighting over the top of our little cabana.
Super Woman Jo
We went back to our little houses at the Maramba Lodge which was quite luxurious. Basically the walls were screens. I woke up in the night to a cacaphony of sounds. There were baboons fighting over the top of our little cabana.
That night we went on a dinner cruise down the Zambezi River between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The dinner wasn't much to speak about but the cruise was beautiful. We saw elephants and hippos on the shore line. We were told of fancy resorts in Zimbabwe that were now neglected and empty. People in Zambia used to go to Zimbabwe for shopping but no one does now. It is a wrecked country.
A beautiful sunset ended our day!
A beautiful sunset ended our day!
Sunday we set out on a day long safari. The first part was on water and the second on land. We were close to hippos, elephant families, giraffes, crocodiles,impala, kudus, antelopes, Gray Herring, Water Monitor Lizards, Sable Antelopes, baboons, Great White Egret, African Duck, Bee Eaters, African Cape Buffalos, African Skimmers, Banded Mongoose, Sacred Ibis and many more African birds.
Leaving Zambia for Botswana and the boats they took us across in.
This safari was in Botswana and of course, we had to go through all the custom posts. To get to Botswana and the safari we had to cross a river in small boats. Only 3 or 4 at a time. It didn't take us long to get across but this is also the crossing for trucks hauling goods across to Zambia. Evidently they ferry the trucks across one truck at a time. When we got to the Botswana side and started down the highway to our safari destination there were trucks lined up for miles -yes, MILES- on either side. It seems that their wait is days and sometimes weeks as they wait for one truck at at time to cross the river. They just camp out here until their turn. It was an unbelieveable sight.
Leaving Zambia for Botswana and the boats they took us across in.
This safari was in Botswana and of course, we had to go through all the custom posts. To get to Botswana and the safari we had to cross a river in small boats. Only 3 or 4 at a time. It didn't take us long to get across but this is also the crossing for trucks hauling goods across to Zambia. Evidently they ferry the trucks across one truck at a time. When we got to the Botswana side and started down the highway to our safari destination there were trucks lined up for miles -yes, MILES- on either side. It seems that their wait is days and sometimes weeks as they wait for one truck at at time to cross the river. They just camp out here until their turn. It was an unbelieveable sight.
The next day it was back to Lusaka to get our luggage and prepare to leave Zambia. That morning while others went to watch a couple of our group bungee jump, I packed up and wandered around the lodge grounds to see the monkeys and look at the beautiful Zambezi River and just feel being in Africa. Then it was on to the airport and the two hour flight back to Lusaka. One of our group was leaving us here and I know she felt great trepidation at going off on her own to J'burg and all the customs and regulations she had to face. She did fine.
The final goodbyes.
We stayed overnight at a lodge up the street from the MWB bunkhouse because another MWB group was coming in immediately. In fact we had met some of them in Livingstone. We went back to Mavis' to collect our bags and compact them as much as we could. I wanted to leave one there so I was able to do that. It was good to have one last night with some of our friends. We met Kathy and Philip at a pizza place and brought back pizza for Mavis who loves pizza as much as I do. Kathy and Philip took us back to Mavis' in their truck. We walked back to our lodge and readied ourselves for the flight home. That was called sleep. In the morning we walked to Mavis' and said farewell to Mavis, Josephine, Innocent, Webster and Kathy all over again. This was getting harder and harder, our cabs came and we piled in and left our wonderful Zambian friends. Then it was a 2 hour flight to J'burg and a 19 hour flight to JFK and then a wait until I could board the flight to Burlington.
At home the culture shock was extreme, all of Kathy's warnings were very helpful, I think I just sat on the couch and stared into space for the first week. Slowly, slowly you accept the plenty we live with, but things are never the same again. You think about those people every day and your own material needs aand wants become much less. Africa is in my heart.
At home the culture shock was extreme, all of Kathy's warnings were very helpful, I think I just sat on the couch and stared into space for the first week. Slowly, slowly you accept the plenty we live with, but things are never the same again. You think about those people every day and your own material needs aand wants become much less. Africa is in my heart.
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