Livingstones Adventures

This last week we have enjoy a voyage to the mighty Zambezi river. At this location the river free falls 111 meters to the bottom of a canyon and then a series of gorges. This is called "Mosi-O-Tunya" meaning "Smoke that Thunders." Commonly known as Victoria Falls.

We arrived late Monday night to the Tabonina guesthouse, on the north side of Livingstone. There the staff eagerly greeted us and showed us to our room. The guesthouse has only 4 rooms on the property. It's a small quiet place, with the rooms all looking at the pool. There are several mango, guava, and other fruit trees on the site.

On Tuesday we went to the falls. We were suprised at the ammount of Jehovah's Witnesses working with park related activities in Livingstone; from our Taxi driver, to the tourism broad, and even at the front gate to the park. This time of the year is the end of the dry season so the falls are nowhere near there full strength, but you can still see the mightiness of the natural wonder. The mist from the falls still reached us on the other side for a nice cooling effect on the hot hike. Later that evening we enjoyed a river cruise on the upper Zambezi river where we saw many Hippopotami, Water Buffalo, and Crocs.

The following day proved to be a very exciting day. We started by being picked up by a van to go to the Thorn Tree Lodge. At the Lodge they provide an Elephant Back Safari ride. Anyone who knows Micah, knows this had to be booked. There were about 13 of us total who were going on the safari. The keepers served us some tea and coffee and started giving us the safety talk and orientation.  Then they brought in all of the Elephants. The largest bull Elephant came right up to Micah and try to have a sip of his tea. All of the Elephants are refugees from Zimbabwe who were orphaned by their wild parents during a drought.

They also had two young ellies in training. One was a calf from their female that had escaped and been kidnapped by a wild herd and then returned ten months later. The other was an orphan that had wandered into the camp a couple years ago.

As the guides were continuing the safety talk, one of the young ellies backed up into the Matriarch Elephant. The Matriarch did not like this and charged the young calf. Sending the calf with the trainer on his back straight into all of us and making the rest of the herd uneasy. All of us on the ground (including the main guide) had to flee for our lives in a panic. The calf only made it to the first chair and broke it, which no one was sitting in. But the trumpets and rumbles of the rest of the Elephant made it very scary. There was one woman who flipped over her chair in the panic, and hit her head but Micah helped her up. Thankfully, nobody was seriously hurt. The trainers quickly got the Elephants back under control. The owners all made sure that we all were ok, and treated the lady who fell. Afterwards the remainder of us hesitantly walked to the loading station, and got onto the Elephants.

The Elephant we got to ride was the mother that had escaped and came back pregnant. On the walk we saw Impala, Ducks, and more crocs. We also crossed the Zambezi river. It was a wonderful peaceful adventure despite the exciting start. The calf was following us for most of the walk. We were able to feel the mother and calf communicating with each other with the rumbles.

After the Elephant rides we made our way back to the guesthouse, our hearts still racing from what just happened. We had to decide what we would do with the afternoon. A swim at the "Devil's pool" was a thought that could maybe calm us down. So we went back to the falls. To get to this swimming pool one must walk across the falls a little over a mile. This time of the year most of the walk was on dry river bed. There were still places that we had to cross slow moving currents. The river bed was very rocky and almost looked like we were crossing the moon with water- made craters through the solid rock bed. When we made it to Livingstone Island we were the only ones on the island-other then the lady who fell down on the Elephant tour. She gave Micah a huge hug and thanked him for the help. After the Island we had to swim a short distance and then made it to our long awaited swimming pool.

This is not a normal pool, this swimming hole is on the edge of the waterfalls. Before the edge of the falls there is a 2 foot section of solid rock preventing you from going over the edge. The pool itself is about 15 feet deep though. The guide helped us to look other the edge and made sure we did nothing unsafe. The view was absolutly wonderful. While swimming in the pool, there were even little "mud-suckers" nibbling on our toes.  Quite the experience of a lifetime we will never forget.