Ups and Downs

It's Thursday night in Livingstone almost 10 pm as I write.  We are staying at a small hotel and head to Mwandi village tomorrow where we will me living.  When I left off yesterday we were in London. After that we headed to Johannesburg on an 11 hour flight on which all three of the kids got sick and we lost count of the barf bags we filled up.  They slept some but didn't eat anything for what ended up being about 24 hours.  They slept for a few hours in Johannesburg and then continued where they left off on the next flight to Livingstone.  "This is the worst day ever" to quote Rachel in South Africa.  Hard to argue at that point, no use talking about having a good attitude!  Actually all the kids were major troopers as they were feeling so badly and kept pushing on very bravely.  We were very proud. At the Livingstone airport I was afraid we would be detained if the kids got sick in customs but they held it together until we were about 3 feet from the exit and Ethan vomited everywhere right in front of security.  Many raised eyebrows as I said, "He's fine, just a long plane flight..."  Ethan laying on the floor at that point did not help.  They took Ethan and Alicia to the medical station and I had no idea how long we would have to wait.  Turned out an hour and they gave him some free meds for his stomach.  One hour in Zambia and we saw our first doctor!  Turns out the medical attendant had a relative who was a professor at Auburn.

Anyway, all the kids were fine after arriving at the hotel and getting some water, rest and mangos.  They really did a major 180 which was a huge relief as Alicia and I were beginning to wonder if it really was a virus rather than motion sickness.  After just an hour all these kids that were so sick were bouncing off the walls and headed to the pool at the hotel.  It was great!

We are staying at a small hotel/dorm type place with a lot of college age people here with Peace Core or on adventure vacations.  A unique crowd and we sorta stand out.  We ate out at the Cafe Zambezi and tried crocodile skewers and some other less exotic foods like burgers.  No one was quite up for the caterpillar on the menu yet.  Croc tastes like pork by the way.  Fun to be eating them instead of the other way around.  Rachel said she was having the "best day ever."  Hilarious that a kid can have the best and worst day of their life in the same day.  Love it!

Isaac got feeling better and admitted some serious reservations about our move he kept to himself driving around Livingstone but that evening said he had already gotten quite used to it and was enjoying himself a lot.  The Cafe was his favorite restaurant ever for the atmosphere he said.  Ethan and Rachel continue to talk in British or South African accents and call everyone "mate".  Rachel put on a dance show at the Cafe and had several people completely entertained for a good 10 minutes.  They also keep asking if when we go back in December we can take a boat.  I didn't say anything about sea sickness, just "we'll see".

Today we went to see Victoria Falls in the morning.  It was a lot more water than back in August and we all got soaked.  It was truly amazing though with the power of the water rushing over in a great roar.  After Ethan and Alicia bargained with some shop vendors for some things for the house and Rachel got a small drum she loves.

Then we did a short game drive in the afternoon- seeing giraffes, baboons, monkeys, wildebeest, water buffalo, impala, zebra, hippos, and...rhino!  Praise God for His ridiculous creation of the falls and these crazy animals!  No elephants this time- they have all moved away in the rainy season fro now.  For the rhino the park rangers met us and took us to where 5 of the 10 white rhinos in Zambia (?) were and we were able to walk up within 50 feet and take pictures.  Alicia said it was cool to be escorted (just us) by 4 guys with machine guns through the bush to take pictures of rhinos.  They keep track of them and camp by them to guard them from poachers.

After that we did some shopping in town for the house some more and ate at "Hungry Lion" which maybe is kinda like KFC (?), only not.

Tomorrow we will go to Mwandi and stay in a house with another couple for a couple nights as the house is almost done but they have found a small bat problem to take care of before we move in that may take a couple days.  Oh well, the ups are that we get to stay in a nicer house a couple days and Toby and I can work on the finishing touches before we move in and get rid of the bats.

So everyone is having a really good time now, just don't talk about the plane flights.  Zambia is beautiful the time of year with everything being green and the weather in the 80s during the heat of the day.  The people are so friendly and Livingstone seems to be a safe and easy place to get around.  I have gone way to long for now.  Will update again as I can from Mwandi and see what new curves come along.

-paul

Windsor Castle Tuesday

Airport in Johannesburg

Typical warning signs at a national park 

Victoria Falls