Wacky Waterfalls and Elephant Extraordinaire
Today, we were up by 4:45 am, which is about what time we get up every morning. This day was extraordinary, though. After I put on my party poncho from the Gumbos, we took a sunrise flight to Livingstone, Zambia. There we were greeted by friends upon arrival. One young girl, named Trina, is a day younger than George.
We were taken into the bush, to a giant baobab tree. This is the national tree of Madagascar and looks like a tree that is standing on its head, with its roots up in the air. This is where we were introduced to a family of elephants. Dad and I rode Swindela, which we were told means come close. Grandpa rode an elephant named Mouse. According to our guide, these elephants had been rescued from the wild. Their parents had been poached. The ride was amazing. Elephants are hairier than you think. And, their hair isn't soft like ours. It is prickly. It was cool to be so close to them and touch their skin and look at their ears. After the ride, I got to feed Swindela. That was the best. I gave him a bunch of food:)
We said farewell to the elephants and drove a short distance to Victoria Falls. It is one of the largest water falls in the world. It is twice the height of Niagara Falls and almost 2,000 feet wider. It is huge! We hiked into the belly of the beast. This is the end of southern Africa's rainy season, so there was tons of water...everywhere! We got SOAKED! We walked the Knife Edge Bridge that connects some cliffs along the rim of the gorge. The mist and spray from the falls made it difficult to see.
Once done with our hike, we rushed back to the Livingstone airport where we nearly missed our return flight to Lusaka. Now we are back at our hotel. Safe and sound. We have church tonight, followed by our last service tomorrow morning. Then we leave for home tomorrow night! YAY!!!
