last adventures, safe return

Our final days in Zambia were very different from the previous 4 weeks. After all the packing and goodbyes we left Namwianga and began our journey to Livingstone on Saturday morning. Upon arrival, we checked into our hotel, dropped our bags and headed to see the mighty Victoria Falls. We paid the entry fee, and made our way down a path to the first view point where we stood in awe. It is one thing to be told that Victoria Falls is the world’s largest and to see pictures, but it is quite another to stand there and behold it. From where we stood at one side, we could not see the full width of the mile-wide curtain of water pouring into the gorge because of the mist. After soaking it all in and snapping a few pictures, we walked along the gorge opposite the falls and into the mist. There were ponchos for rent, but I didn’t want to bother so I secured all my valuables in ziplock bags and decided to just go for it. Not long into the walk I discovered that the ponchos might not have been such a bad idea, since the mist from the world’s largest waterfalls is not just a light mist when you’re in it...it’s really more like a downpour. Needless to say, we were soaked by the Zambezi River. But in my opinion if you’re going to travel all the way to see Victoria Falls, you have to walk at least a little ways into the mist to get the full experience. Monday we were again amazed by the beauty and vastness of creation when we went on safari at Chobe National Park in Botswana. Our safari started by boat with great views of animals drinking, hippos sleeping, sunbathing crocs, and several varieties of birds. The coolest part of our morning in the boat was getting to watch 4 elephants cross the canal in front of us. Two of them stopped in the middle of the river to play for a little bit before moving on to the other shore. They were fascinating to watch! After a splendid lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon in a truck chasing kudus, impalas, warthogs, giraffes, huge herds of elephants, and all sorts of beautiful and unique creatures. We left the park in awe of all the creativity and design that we had witnessed.

Our last two days were spent mostly shopping and enjoying beautiful sunset views on the Zambezi. Because of Victoria Falls and the wonderful gorges around the area, Livingstone has several intense outdoor activities to offer including sky diving, bungee jumping, rappelling, and rafting. Becca and I, seized by some insane drive for adventure, decided we should take advantage of the opportunities around us and following a friend’s recommendation we signed up for the half-day abseil package. The morning started with rappelling down a cliff, which we had both done so it was an easy start. Our next activity was called the “flying fox” which is a zipline across a gorge that you hook onto from your back so that you can fly across in a superman pose. This required us to run off the side of the cliff, but it wasn’t too terrifying because there was no free fall and you could feel the tightness of the harness before taking off. The last activity, however, was the gorge swing. For the gorge swing, you have to jump off a cliff and free fall for about 3.5 seconds until there’s no more slack in the rope and it catches you and swings you across in a pendulum motion. Why we were attracted to this activity is beyond me. We did the gorge swing once individually and once together, as if tempting fate once wasn’t crazy enough we had to go twice. Although it was a thrill and a lot of fun, I’m really just thankful to have survived without any injury (there is a video posted on my facebook if you want to get a better idea of how it worked).

The grand finale of our trip was a sunset river cruise on the African Queen. It was a lovely and peaceful way to end the trip while admiring wildlife on the river banks and witnessing a magnificent sunset. The next morning, we piled all of our luggage into a truck and took our last trip in Khaki Jackie to the airport. While waiting for our flight we recognized several of the families that had been on our river cruise the night before. The trip home took us nearly 48 hours with two flights over 10 hours long and an 8 hour layover in Johannesburg. We had some dramatic luggage issues along the way, but everything was resolved in the end and overall our trip went smoothly.
I am so thankful and honored to have been able to go on this trip. The lessons I have learned are invaluable to me personally and professionally. Based on the feedback we received from our hosts and from everything we witnessed I believe that the goals of our trip were accomplished during our time at Namwianga. Valuable data was gathered, speech and language gains were observed, caretakers were educated and most importantly individuals were encouraged in the Lord. With moving and a job search ahead of me, I pray that the business of life here will not deter me from the focus that motivated our work in Zambia. I pray and hope that I will not be content with my life unless I am serving the Lord with my time. I pray that I will never view my clients as items on a to do list, or my job as simply my source of income, but rather as an opportunity from God to share His LOVE. I ask that you hold me to this.

Thank you for your encouragement and prayers throughout my trip. Please continue to pray for the work at Namwianga, for the children at the Haven and for the workers there. God is doing great things among his people around the globe, I am honored to be a witness.

Photos: (a) Victoria Falls with mist rising from the gorge, (b) elephants playing in the canal at Chobe, (c) jumping off a cliff for the gorge swing, (d) sunset over the Zambezi, (e) Becca and I on our last day at the Haven with Modia and Luyando chitenged on our backs.