I still have so much I want to share from the trip, but I have hit the ground running now that we are back...preparing to move from Nashville this week! I was able to obtain some of Dell's videos from the boat ride. Hopefully, they will speak for themselves!
It has been a long journey back home, but we have finished 3 of the 4 flights...one of them being 16 hours! Just 1 more short flight to Atlanta and then home to sweet home Alabama. Can't believe the trip is over! We came home with a smaller group than we started with. Al and Kem are on their way to London right now for 3 weeks of rest and sabbatical. Dell left us a few days early to get home for work and also to meet his precious new grandson, Owen! John West left us in Lusaka yesterday and headed for Nairobi to do some set up work for another mission trip. It has been a wonderful trip and I was blessed to work with such great people on our team and of course the Fullers! Hope to share more stories and pictures once I get home and can get them all organized. Between the 4 ladies, we have about 1,500 pictures. However, Marvin took the cake on this one as I'm sure he took over 3,000 himself! Thanks again for your support and prayers. We definitely felt you lifting us up and could not have accomplished as much with out it.
Thursday was a busy day. After the safari and Victoria falls, we went on a riverboat cruise down the Zambezi river. The boat was docked at a very, very nice hotel on the river - The David Livingstone- would definitely save up money to stay there next time!
They served us drinks and appetizers while we cruised up and down the river looking for wildlife.
We saw many crocs:
A few hippos
We had another great elephant encounter. A large group came down to the river to get water. Afterwards several males started fighting over who would continue to go in the group with the females and children.
They fight until someone gives up!
Then we experienced an awesome sunset!
The moon on the opposite side of the sky
It was a very relaxing excursion after a long week of work.
[written friday morning] Yesterday morning we went on a morning safari drive through mosio-tunya national park in Livingstone. Mosio-tunya means "the smoke that thunders". The park is named after Victoria Falls, because when the first explorers/residents were coming down the Zambezi river they saw some smoke (mist) in the distance, then heard the loud noise the falls make. The park runs along the Zambezi river.
We knew we could only see 3 of the big 5 (animals this time) of Africa - the elephant, rhino and buffalo (there are no cats in Zambia - lion & leopard). Well, we were very lucky and saw all 3 plus many more!
Our guide was named Tony and he was the real thing - just off the safari channel.
One of the first things we saw was a very large python! Brother Al managed to jump over Kem to the middle of the seat, away from the snake. I wasn't too happy about it either because it was just beside our truck. We kept telling the driver to move on but he didn't seem to be in a hurry. We later found out that he told John West (who was riding in the cab with him) to let him know if the snake moved and he would take off! Scary...
We saw many zebra, buffalos, impala, wildebeast, & warthogs while on our search for elephants and rhinos.
We came across a national park guard that let us know where the black rhinos were. There is a guard that watches them 24/7 because of poachers. When we got to the location, they were sitting about 150 meters from the road. Our guide allowed us to walk out slowly so that we could see them from about 50 meters away. It was a little nerve wracking, as he explained how dangerous they can be. Hope this video can give you some perspective:
Our next adventure was with the elephants. We had already crossed paths with 3 earlier, but we now stumbled upon a whole pack of them going down to the river for water. They were blocking our path at first, and when we finally passed throughout them, one of the mothers "yelled" at us (similar to what can be heard at Bryant Denny stadium)...Enjoy the video below
One of the last animals we saw were the giraffes. Such interesting creatures
We felt fortunate we were able to see so much. Tony did a great job finding everything we wanted to see! Next stop, Victoria falls.
I am a sinner saved by grace, daughter, sister, friend, "aunt," pharmacist, AU fan and southern gal. I started this blog at the beginning of my 4th year of pharmacy school (2008) when I had the opportunity to do a elective rotation in West Africa. I used the blog to journal my trip and share it with others. Then, I somewhat enjoyed the blogging world, so I have been attempting to keep it up over the past several years but focus mainly on my journeys to Africa. While my life may not seem too exciting, I hope that you see the Lord's guidance through each of my steps. He is faithful and may He be glorified through my life. "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails!" Prov 19:21
