Not Just Any Day

I'm writing this while I should really be focusing on the 12 page paper I have due tomorrow on "the politics of memory in a post-apartheid society." If anyone has any idea how to tackle a topic as grave as this, I will be forever in debt. In the mean time I'll focus on the memories from our most recent adventure. On to the most memorable day of my life...




When we heard that this "lion encounter" existed in Livingstone, Zambia, we knew it was an unheard of opportunity that would be worth every penny. The more we investigated, the more eager we were. ALERT, African Lion and Environmental Research Trust, is the organization that is associated with these walks that raises awareness and supports the healthy integration of lions across Africa. Before experiencing the lion encounter I was unaware of the "vulnerable" status of lions (not quite endangered) and the 85% decrease of the lion population over the past 35 years.















The experience basically consisted of Anna, Julie, Talya & I walking through the natural African bush with several trained guides (one carrying a rifle in case of emergency) side by side with two lions. Although the lions are not trained or zoo-like in any sense, they have daily interactions with people which allow them to feel more comfortable walking with us then a wild lion would. Regardless, we were all pretty terrified walking with only our sticks to use as distractions. We were especially scared when the lions quickly became too rowdy for comfort and started charging at us from behind. Oblivious as usual, the guides started screaming at us to move to the side, but we found ourselves paralyzed. One lion ran straight into Julie's tush, literally making all of our stomachs drop and hearts stop. The adrenaline rush took several hours to fade! To this day we still ask each other when else in our lives will we be so close to potentially the scariest animal on earth. I'm assuming the answer is never.




thandi from cape town,
emma

Just the Beginning

(Sunset on the Booze Cruise)

Where do I begin? That has been the question running in and out of my head for the past few days. How do I begin to explain the countless activities we did, people we met, animals we saw, living conditions in a form that I was unaware existed. The most troubling aspect of it all is that I still cannot really begin to understand it myself. I am going to try and keep the next few blog entries concise and to the point, but please bare with me if they get lengthy.

Anna, Julie, Talya and I flew into Zambia, Livingstone on a Friday the 19th with minimal problems and checked into the Jolly Boys Hostel located in the heart of Livingstone. We immediately signed ourselves up for a booze cruise on the Zambezi River for that night. The drinks were tasty, the people interesting, and most importantly the sunset was breathtaking. Woke up very early Saturday morning to embark on a 50 minute drive on the back of a jeep through a local village that brought us to a starting point on the Zambezi. There we were taken down in a cable car and spent 30 minutes on a “Jet Extreme” boat. Cool but not worth the money. That afternoon we walked with lions, which definitely deserves it’s own post, so look out for that.














(Out on the Jet Extreme Boat, Zambezi River)

Sunday morning we had another early wake up and were greeted by our new best friend for the day, Potatoe. Yes, that is his actual name. And yes, he claims his sister is Sweet Potatoe. Anyways, Potatoe jeeped us along with three inflatable “canoes” (they seemed more like kayaaks to me but who knows) to the Upper Zambezi River. We set out for a full day canoeing trip, and spent a lot of downtime floating with the current, bathing in the broiling sun, and screaming through the occasional rapid. Also spent most of our time in immense fear due to the fact that Potatoe continued to steer us through “hippo territory.” Being that hippos kill the most humans of any animals in Africa (mosquitoes being second, malaria), I was not so thrilled. Every several minutes Potatoe would take his oar and smack it on the water to “wake the hippos up” in case they were too close so we could scramble out of that area. At first I thought that, like the name Potatoe, the reality of hippos was a funny joke, but quickly learned otherwise. All in all, the day was a success and no one was eaten by hippos or crocs. We also ended our adventure virtually at the top of Victoria Falls- stunning view. When we returned back to Jolly Boys that afternoon we had Ariel waiting for us which was (obviously) magical and that is when our adventures really began...







The above is only brief details about the first weekend of our trip-a lot more to come-hopefully in the near future.

thandi from africa
emma

Theme Song/ Lion King Remix

a video everyone must watch that makes our lives

emma & anna

Oh Happy Day

We laughed, cried, bled, learned, laughed, saw, experienced, misunderstood, laughed more, and left- with the memories from a once in a life time trip. Starting out with four jam-packed adventure days in Livingstone, Zambia, we rested comfortably by night at the Jolly Boys hostel run by our new found friend Kim. Departing Zambia we went on safari with a group of our five friends in Chobe National Park in Botswana followed by several days in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Missing Jolly Boys and Zambia, we returned for our last three days. Because some of the most memorable aspects of the journey were those we could have never predicted, ie working with four forms of currency, cutting my toe in half resulting in gushing blood in the middle of the african bush, being forced out of a taxi while crossing from zim into zambia and essentially all getting lost and picked up by zambian police and a yellow pick up truck, and being caught in the middle of a very scary physical fight at our hostel in Zim. Did I mention that the jeep we were on safari in Botswana broke down surrounded by a herd of elephants and we all had to get out and push? Oh and casually ran into a family of five lions a short time later and watched a live show of lion hunts the impala. On a more negative note, our travel agent ruined our lives and booked us out of the wrong airport (equivalent to NY instead of DC) so we had no idea how we were getting back to Cape Town until Sunday morning right before we left (ended up having to drive from Zambia back to Zimbabwe to catch a plane). To sum it up, many details and fun stories to come but for now we need to shower, worship the rand, and enjoy not being referred to as "white person" in one of the 72 languages spoken in Zambia. As nice as it feels to be back in Cape Town, we miss our trip !!

love emma

LOTS MORE TO COME...

TRAVEL PLANS

Leaving tomorrow bright & early for our 10 day trip! Our home base will be the Jolly Boys Hostel in Zambia. Hopefully we will get some sort of internet access along the way...