Vic Falls Part Deux

The above pic is my favourite picture of the 400 + photos I came home with. I can't even say with any certainty which one of us took it....

This is what I mean by saying a machete might have been useful. 650 metres straight down. And it was so hot! Did I mention that it was terribly hot on our trip. I can't understand why I don't get any sympathy from people I tell. I wasn't in Edmonton in January I guess.
We had to cross a creek and I swear it was the only day I wasn't wearing flip-flops. I just didn't give much thought to the creepy bugs that could've been hiding under those rocks. I was like a free pedicure.

Above us in this picture is that big bridge leading to Zimbabwe. To the left of the shot is where the falls are crashing down. It was beautiful down there.
The dude is a Brit we met at the hostel. The girl was from the Netherlands. Both kind of nice. We had a nice afternoon together. Never saw them after, and will likely never see them again.

Victoria Falls January 25-27, 2009

We stayed at the same place my folks stayed when they were first there. Fawlty Towers. It was a hostel, and wasn't too bad. We had a little private chalet type thing which was nice. I think my days of sleeping in a dorm room style hostel are over.

Here we are at the big falls. Mosi beer in Africa is named after these falls. Mosi-oa-tunia meaning The Smoke That Thunders.

I couldn't get over the beautiful lush forest. Everything was super green and there was lots and lots of water being rainy season and all.

The bridge leads over to Zimbabwe. And you can bungee jump off of there. Needless to say I didn't do that.
And this was certainly the highlight of the trip to Livingston. We saw a sign the said, Boiling Pot 650 metres. I didn't realize it was that steep. And right through the jungle. I could've honestly used a machete. But it was well worth it.

Sarah and Alvin January 24, 2009

I must say it was a little after two o'clock in the afternoon when Sarah finally arrived, but it was well worth the wait.Amazing flowers.

It was insane how hot it was....

Here I am signing the wedding certificate. Another of Alvin's brother is on the left.

And the whole gang outside the church.

Pre-wedding

Here's the whole fam-damily together at last! Having a delicious beer at a pub called Smuggler's during Sarah's last day of being a single lady.

Later that same day we had the pleasure of meeting Al's brother Kim. He was the Emcee at the wedding and a real treat to be around. He was so funny, interested in Canada, loud, outgoing, etc. I just loved him.

Dancing at the club the night before the wedding. In the near left is Gabby, Alvin's right-hand man. Another guy I loved to be around.Devyn and Kim enjoying some "street-meat" at an un-Godly hour.
And the morning after the wedding I hopped on a bus with Devyn to see the big falls in Livingston. But first I have to post some wedding pics!!!!

Last one. I promise.

It was Warthog mating season. As luck would have it, we caught a show, and Dev was ready on the camera.

The guides tried to tell us there were 4000 of these Puku's/Impalas/Antelope in the park. I think it's safe to say we saw everyone of them.

I'm told a zebra can sometimes kill their enemies with a kick. Incredibly strong animals.

The remarkable Baobab tree.
Oh my goodness, I loved these elephants. These were supposed to be quite aggressive as far as elephants go. The guides we very timid and reluctant to get too close.

More Mukambi

Hyena.

Baboons. All over the road.

Wow. I couldn't get over the actual size of these beauties.

Make sure you are reading the captions in the correct order. The one you are reading now is for the picture of Dev. The last caption was about the elephant. Just to make sure there was no confusion. Although she is a beauty, I know what size Devyn is.

Another beauty. Having Nescafe on the hood of the Land Cruiser. How African of us.

Some more Mukambi

If you don't adhere, you're likely to be chased by an elephant like our guide was on his way to work. Apparently an elephant can run 45 kms/hr!!!

Here's out Marula tree. The elephant eat the fruit and then drink a bunch of water an they're drunk! But they can make a delicious drink out of it.

Nice restaurant, candle-light dinner, and 4 people! I might add those four people were catching bugs and cremating them in the candles. Again, it was really nice, but the flies kind of scared the appetite out of you.

My delicious Fanta. Best drink ever!

Here's a shot Dev caught as the sun was setting. It was a little brighter to the eye. Really stunning.

Mukambi Safari Lodge

This was certainly one of the most memorable parts of the trip! We were the only 4 guests at the entire lodge. Thanks goodness my parents were there. I'll never know how awkward it would've been to have 15 staff falling all over themselves for me and Dev.

Here's the sausage tree we spotted. It's the wallpaper on my computer as we speak.

Here's the Lodge from the Kafue River just before we went out for our fishing trip.Turn around from that last shot and this is the view.Here's mom soaking up some sun on the deck of the Villa. Because we were only 4 people (I had booked a tent, and mom and dad a chalet) they moved us into a Villa. It was gorgeous, yet a little sketchy if you know what I mean. There were beautiful twenty foot ceilings and a nice deck on the river --- but spiders the size of a kiwi fruit on the wall. Yipes!

And the first elephant we saw. Not the closest we got, but it was terribly exciting. It was about an hour into the game drive when we spotted him. I could've turned around and gone back to Lusaka after that. It was worth it right there!

Lusaka

Here are a few shots of the area Sarah lives in. It was really nice although some of the buildings look a little run-down. That just seems to be the way things look there. I guess the weather has something to do with it. *Timid smile as I hope not to piss Sarah off*This is outside of the place we stayed. (Thanks to Sarah's friend and Bridesmaid Kolo) It's just across Great East Road, one of the major roads in town. About a three minute walk from Sarah's. I was amazed at the trees. Everything was so green and beautiful.

Sarah's flat is the one on the bottom right of the pic. You go around back for the main door, and the part you see is a nice little patio. I think there's 4 flats in that pink building.

Here's a little business district called Northmead I guess just a few blocks away from Sarah and Al's. There's a place there (don't think it's in the picture) called Cool Bundy's where we bought many cans of Castle. A market and a great little bakery too.
Here I am "helping" Alvin try to fix the wipers on the Two Coloured Venture. That truck had the bumper sticker from Uncle Ted on the back, saying, "Earth is Full - Go Home". Love it! Alvin loved the Venture because he could fit the whole basketball team in there.
Another of these brilliant trees. There's me and pops hiding out under there to catch a breather. It was incredible how much cooler it was under the shade of those big trees.

First days with Sarah

So after one night in Washington we were back on track and made it to our destination. Here's Sarah and dad...Our first day there was spent at a zoo/botanical garden called Manda Wanga. Sarah loves this place, and often finds reason to go there for the afternoon. It was really gorgeous, and I was amazed at how green and lush everything is. I hear it doesn't look that way in the hot/dry season, but during rainy season the trees were perfect.
After hours of walking around we found these tables in the shade and had a few bottles of Castle to quench our collective thirst.

There were all sorts of animals here that we got to see up close. The staff kept them in the back somewhere and let them out for feeding time when we were there. So we got a good look at crocs, lions, monkeys, warthogs, cheetahs and all sorts of animals.

We did see some lions on our safari later on, but they were a little far away for a clear picture. It was still kind of neat to see them here. Funny to see cats THAT big!

They're here

My bags finally arrived at 930 this morning. So it wasn't quite between 3pm and 7 pm, but we got them.
The guy was a total prick and seemed as though I put him out in some way. He wondered why I didn't pick up the phone when he buzzed me at 2 AM (which didn't really happen to begin with). So I open the luggage to find out it had been totally ripped apart at Customs and we lost a couple of little trinkets we had brought back. One of the elephants tusks went missing, and a little stone thing was broken. A hippo lost his legs. They had even opened up Dev's camera bag and we are missing the flash drive, but that will all work itself out in time. Now I am just happy that the laundry machine is purring in the background.

I think I had better start from the very beginning with my pics though. So I will start with Washington, DC just a few days before the inauguration of Obama. We missed the plane to Jo'berg because of a delay out of Denver and had to spend a night in this fancy resort.
The sign on the back of the door said it cost $419/night. Yipes!!!! But I was more interested in the fact that we weren't even in Washington, DC. We were really in Leesburg, Virginia.
I was lucky enough to get up close and personal with the new President.
Would you like the chicken or the beef, sir? NEITHER THANKS!