Spring Break at Vicky Falls!

Though I have truly loved all of my experiences here so far, I think I finally have an answer to the “favorite part” question… Spring Break! Our Spring Break trip to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe was one of the most amazingly fun experiences I have had in my life.  Seeing God’s creation in such a magnificent form, meeting so many interesting people, and getting the chance to encounter another part of the world made the trip so great and I wish I had time to go back before I left Africa.

When I got back from my rural homestay, we had the next ten days for spring break.  Ironically everyone in the program decided to spring break at Victoria Falls, but some stayed in Livingstone on the Zambia side, while four others and I stayed on the Zimbabwe side.  We endured a twenty hour bus ride from Windhoek, a ridiculously unorganized border post in Zambia, and our friend being attacked by a baboon before we finally made it to Shoestrings backpackers lodge in Vic Falls, Zimbabwe.  The lodge was great; it had a pool, a little outdoor restaurant called the Garden of Eat’n, a huge bar, lots of space to relax outside, and so many awesome people to talk to.

During the days we tried to fill our time up with your typical fun tourist activities.  The first day we woke up early to go elephant riding which was amazing!  The elephants were huge, way larger than I had anticipated in my head.  The trail was about an hour long and it was so cool to be riding though nature on an elephant.  We then spent the afternoon at the falls.  Remembering a family vacation to Niagara Falls several years ago, this did not even compare.  It was the most vast display of natural beauty I had ever seen in my life.  Neither words nor pictures, can adequately describe it. The clouds, the blue sky, the trees, the wildlife, the rainbows, and the mist – everything just pointed to God’s incredible power and magnificence.  Seeing the falls also made me realize how truly small I am in this universe, but that God still cared enough about me to send Christ to die and save me from my sins.  I’m not small; I’m not unimportant to him.

The next day we went white water rafting on the Zambezi River.  The rapids were so crazy and for only having 6 of us in the raft (including the guide). I was surprised we never flipped, although we came close multiple times!  Besides having to climb all the way down and all the way up the gorge, the trip was really fun and well worth the asthma attack.  Later in the week we also went fox flying, which is basically like zip-lining except on your stomach.  While it was a little nerve wracking, it really did feel like you were flying over the gorge, and the adrenaline rush was awesome!  After that, we took a sunset cruise down the river and the colors were stunning!  The sky is so clear and unpolluted that the sunset was more breathtaking than any sunset in the United States.  Little did we know that this was a fan favorite among the senior citizens.

Thursday, we took a day trip to Botswana to visit Chobe National Park.  In the morning we went on a river tour down the Chobe River and saw so many cool animals.  We saw lots of hippos in the water, a crocodile, so many beautiful birds, some springbok, and impala. Then, in the afternoon we went on a game drive through the park and I saw more elephants than I have ever seen in my life! There were at least 50 in the river. They were playing, bathing, eating and doing whatever else elephants do.   One came right up to our truck and almost sprayed us with mud.  It was so neat to just sit and watch them live their lives, how they interact with each other, how they clean themselves, how they take care of their babies.  And again, the scenery was beautiful – the sky especially.  It went on for miles and miles.  I could have sat and stared for hours.

While all those events were the main things that took place over spring break, our other days were spend relaxing by the pool, walking around town, and meeting so many cool people.  Every night at Shoestrings new people would come in and it was so great to talk to them and hear their stories.  We met people from Norway, India, Germany, Canada, Tanzania, South Africa, Finland, the US, and lots of locals from Zimbabwe.  Hearing new thoughts and perspectives about life and travel was so interesting and definitely one of my highlights from the trip.  Its one thing to go somewhere and see new things, but getting a chance to talk to the people is when I really was able to learn and grow and better understand myself as well as people different than me.

All in all, my spring break was amazing.  I wish it were longer. I wish I had more opportunities to meet new people and go more places. But I’m really thankful for the experiences I did have and the people I did meet.  Seeing God in such amazing ways was also really refreshing for me and just proved even more how incredibly powerful and loving he is.  Hopefully, I will have the chance to make it back one day, but until then, I have great memories to last me a lifetime.