Zambia

06.02.2014

• Another early day but sleeping in compared to the 5am mini-bus I would have been catching if not for my new plane ticket - checked out and Stephen and I got our taxi to the airport - easy check-in and then boarding the plane to my window seat - nice views of the delta on the one hour flight - in-flight magazine had wonderful information about literary festival in Maun and new art gallery in Gaborone, both of which I had missed :) 
• Collected luggage and got another taxi to the Botswana / Zambia border across the Zambezi River - panoramic photo shows Botswana (shoreline I am standing on) with a small strip of Namibia to the far left, Zambia straight ahead, and Zimbabwe off to the far right all on the other side of the river - confluence of the Chobe River which joins Zambezi and heads 70km downstream to Victoria Falls - crossed river walking onto a commercial ferry - easy stamps and then another taxi for 45 minutes into Livingston, Zambia
• Arrived at Jollyboy Backpackers - lovely pool, bar, hang-out area, and loft - INTERNET - Stephen to his hotel but plans to meet back up in a couple of hours - rested and caught up on emails - 
• Stephen arrived - went to Livingston museum - started as a pretty rudimentary museum depicting the natural and social history of the country - quickly got socio-political juxtaposing traditional village life with the draw of the "fantasy" of modernization and the challenges of urbanization including diaspora, pollution, wildlife endangerment, and loss of cultural identity - history of Livingston - cultural practices regarding rights of passage and life stages - one of the best museums I have been to especially considering the resources it employed to make the sometimes subtle and sometimes overt commentary 
• Wandered town looking at shops and restaurants - school had let out - home for a while to use internet and make a few plans - out for dinner - went to Zambezi Cafe - wonderful meal including crocodile chili bites and a delicious peanut stew served with nshima, the local name for corn meal (pap in South Africa; papa in Botswana) - candlelight and talk about challenges in global health care and our "non-career-track" life plan ideas - met two folks who had be volunteering in a hospital - waitress who just had her birthday
• Walk home past the giant metal garbage elephant - smelling flowers - goodnight to Stephen and home to bed

07.02.2014

• Another early morning - up and ready for pick up for transfer back to Botswana - yes, back to Botswana for the day - van with Andrew from same hostel - saw giraffe on the way to border - crossed easily, this time in a speed boat - car transfer on the other side after being joined by two Italians who have been working in Zambia with a Catholic organisation
• Drive to main building for Kalahari Safari Tours - breakfast and check-in - time to go - led down a ramp to a covered boat - up the Chobe river in the National Park - joined by five other individuals most of whom have been volunteering in an animal orphanage - birds, crocodiles, water monitors - then Hippos!!! elephants - didn't see much on the latter part of the ride and turned back for lunch - overcast but nice to be on the water
• Buffet lunch back at base - off in jeep for game drive through Chobe - river route - 120,000 elephants in Botswana with half of those in Chobe which covers 11,000 square meters - elephants everywhere - antelope, sabo, kudu, hippo, warthogs, water buffalo, giraffes, zebra - all grazing or swimming near one another - more amazing than any zoo with animals mingled together - not how we are used to thinking about them from zoos and photos - so strange to see something less artificial than the environments in which they are accessible back home - great drive for more than two hours
• Dropped off those going back to Zimbabwe and continued to border - crossed on boat and through check-points and into our van back to Jollyboy - Andrew and I traded photos - got to chat with family after a lovely curry dinner - watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics on TV in the bar while typing - summer Olympics in 2012 I was in Cambodia - world event; world traveler

08.02.2014

• Breakfast - booked afternoon activity - shuttle down to the falls - started with drop off at Royal Livingston Hotel where I will need to be this afternoon - beautiful space on the Zambezi River - checked out the spa but no steam/sauna so no reason to pretend I am a guest. Ha. Walked to next hotel (part of same hotel group) where UN Commission on Africa is meeting - zebras eating in the grass - giraffes there too sometimes - live on property
• Walked down to falls and entered - saw people soaking from head to toe as if they had jumped in the falls - walked the photo path to the end where you can see the bridge connecting to Zimbabwe and the falls in the distance - met a couple from Montana who are retirees and avid travelers - gentleman of the couple had traveled for a year in Africa in the 70's after his military service - very different place now
• Walked down to the boiling point, a spot at the bottom of the falls where the river churns quite rapidly from the force o the flow - met Renata on the way down - from Philly but moving to Malawi for work at a microfinance organisation - has to wait outside the country until her papers are ready - talked about traveling and working abroad while having partners and the gendering of relationship roles - walked back to the top together and parted ways after exchanging info
• Walked to the Knife's Edge Bridge - monolith across from the falls - close enough to feel like a rain forest with the spray that comes across the gorge and up along the cliffside where you are walking - rented rain parka with two layers but still getting wet - water comes from every direction - walked around the whole area - spray so strong you can barely see the falls sometimes - can't see the end of it in either direction - stood in the spray and took it all in - boys sliding on the bridge in just their skivvies 
• Walked out of the park and stopped at the curio market - bought a small mommento under high pressure - walked out of the gates and down to the border crossing at the bridge to Zimbabwe - can get a slip of paper to walk onto the bridge without getting a visa - walked out while people tried to sell me old Zim currency - 50,000,000,000,000 bills - friend already gave me one - went up to Bungee Bridge Cafe for a snack and watched people jump off the bridge - history of the bridge - took a few more photos and walked back to the border
• Walked back to Royal Livingston - had a glass of water and started reading ____ while I waited for my afternoon tour to start - when it was time I made it down to the dock, signed it, and got into a boat with 6 other tourists - ride out to Livingston Island at the top of the falls - scary driving toward the spray where you know the river drops over 100 meters (300+ feet) - walked out to a tent set for high tea - but that is not the real focus of this tour - walked out to stand at edge of falls for some photo opps - then walked a few meters to the other side of the small island where we took a few more photos of the falls with an amazingly bright rainbow arching from the top of the flow to the pools below - then, the main event: swimming in Angle's Pool at the edge of the falls - aka: the world's most incredible infinity pool - walk across rocks and sit on one in the water then scoot down over a small ledge and slide into a pool about chest deep - push past the current to the other side and then along the wall at the edge of the falls - continue moving along the edge bracing my legs on the bottom and grabbing every rock hold to steady myself - then, under the small waterfall that has been pushing me toward the edge - eventually pop out and walk up the rocks back to more secure ground - all of 10 minutes - more amazing the tour guides who hop along the rocks, standing on the ledge, taking photos and looking as though there is nothing to worry about - incredible - woman behind me had a little bit of a scare but the whole group survived the event with photos to prove it
• Walked back to tent and had amazing meal - curry tarts, amazing brownie cake - talked with new pals - couple from London who just climbed Kilimanjaro - Zambian couple who come here often on vacation - another couple from London but the wife is originally from Thailand - two friends originally from Guyana who now live and England and Spain - great conversation about travel and our homes - strong gin and tonics - stop at the "Loo With A View" before heading out - boat ride back across and goodbye to new friends
• Walk home and checked in on the computer - chat with Kevin - Renata wrote and confirmed dinner plans - man sitting next to me at hostel asked to join and so we set off back to Zambezi Cafe - Stephan, German living in _____, the capital of Zambia, doing monitoring and evaluation work for a water sanitation project - another amazing dinner with two lovely people - burned through three candles on the table - saw another guy from our hostel at the adjacent table - he was sitting with the restaurant owner, a friend of his - we chatted for a while and then walked home
• Stephan and I said goodbye to Renata and went back to the hostel - explored up into the loft above the chill-out space - saw bats hanging in the rafters - talked for a while before bed - long travel day tomorrow - so glad I came to Zambia - what an amazing couple of days it has been 

09.02.2014

• Packed and said goodbye to a few friends around the hostel before heading out to catch my bus downtown. The rest of the day was a mostly uneventful bus ride that would last for 22 hours. The only story of note would be when the Zambian border official forgot to stamp my passport and the Namibian agent sent me back to get it before she would let me in her country - a 1km walk both ways which I may have hitched in one direction. Oh, I guess there is the fact, too, that the driver started nodding off and nearly swerved off the road at one point. Or, that they willfully left two Norwegian women at a gas station who did not re board the bus quickly enough after a pit-stop. Intercape is a fine enough bus service as long as you are willing to advocate for your safety.