Back to Civilization...Briefly

Today is another travel day. We leave Zimbabwe and fly back to Johannesburg (or Jo'burg as the locals would say). After spending the night in Jo'burg, we then fly to Mozambique and stay four nights along the beach of the Indian Ocean. The island we will be staying at is very remote...so remote the only way to access it is via helicopter. So once we helicopter in, that will probably be the end of the blog until we get back. Also, we don't expect to have cell phone coverage (so, Zach, no good morning texts for a while). We should resurface again on Saturday when we take an international flight back, home sometime Sunday afternoon.

Elephant Crossing

Hippo Pod in Zimbabwe, Elephants in Zambia

This is the pod of hippos Tom spotted from the helicopter. We were able to circle them and watch for a while. Tom also spotted a large herd of elephant under a tree, but since the elephants were in another country, Zambia, we were not allowed to fly over them. The four countries (Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia) are very close together and join at the Zambezi River. Last night we watched the sunset from a boat ride down the Zambezi River near the falls. I'm sure we crossed in and out of several countries, but no one seemed to care.

Air Africa

Tom makes friends with one of the helicopter attendants and manages to get us on our own private helicopter tour. We put Tom in the front seat because after viewing Victoria Falls we will go on a mini game drive via air. I call Tom 'Spot' because he has such sharp eyes and can always spot the game before anyone else. Even most of our guides comment on his 'piercing, penetrating eyes'. We see a few giraffe, lots of elephant and plenty of hippos. Tom spots a pod of hippos on a small island and asks the pilot to take us there. It was incredible. From this perspective, you can really appreciate the majesty and vastness of it all.

Helicopter Tour of Victoria Falls

After a walking tour of the falls we take an unforgettable helicopter tour. The falls are amazing. Named by David Livingston (Dr. Livingston, I presume?) for Queen Victoria. Everyone here is so British. We drive on the left side of the road. High tea is at 3 pm every day, and high tea is serious business here.

Victoria Falls

Walking tour of Victoria Falls, known to the locals as 'Smoke and Thunder'. The mist looks like smoke or clouds rising up from below.

Put on Your Dancing Shoes

An evening of dancing with the local tribe at Chobe Chilwero. That's me in the second picture ducking underneath the gauntlet with my new-found Botswana friend. He was a little shorter than I.