Victoria Falls!

After a slightly delayed start to our morning (flat tire for the bus before it came to pick us up, so we waited in comfort instead of on the side of the road!), we waved a last goodbye to our friends in Macha, leaving behind much of our clothing, and taking with us a LOT of freshly roasted peanuts. Over the time we spent at Macha I asked the students to choose and share a bible verse that they would plan to think about and try to memorize during our time there. As we were pulling out of Macha, the last few students shared their verses. It has been really fun for me to hear what different students have chosen to focus on. Some of the verses focused on offering a ‘cup of cold water in God’s name,’ the Beatitudes, God’s protection, trying new things, caring for the least of these, loving our neighbors, and being One in Christ. I hope that the students continue to think on these things, and that in the future when they hear their verse they will remember their time here in Zambia.

Dan and Sarah in front of the falls- Dan's clearly excited!

We made it to Livingstone for a late lunch (most of the students found cheese or cheeseburgers and/or fries and ice cream. Then we drove out to Victoria Falls, did you know that Victoria Falls is one of the Seven Wonders of the World? It is! There is something like 1 mile of serious waterfalls pounding down into the basin below. Stunning, AND like the genius that I am, today is the one day I forgot my camera in my other bag! It is also quite wet, as the water crashes against the rocks at the bottom of the gorge, water spray come shooting back up (and then down again) making for a very interesting photo op. I think you might be able to see it better from the air where the water droplets aren’t splashing in your face, but then you can’t hear the crashing of the falls.

The group in front of the falls.

Mitchell in the Boiling Pot

Paula, Randy, Linda (joined the trip on Friday) and I crossing the bridge.

The students enjoyed watching the bungee jumpers off the bridge and face first into the spray- terrifying, and also quite the rush – AND disallowed by Messiah, so parents, don’t worry, you kids are all still alive. After spending a good amount of time at the falls, we walked just a bit upstream to the curio shopping area where people from one of the local villages sell crafts etc. Unlike most of our shopping in Macha, bartering is encouraged at these shops (and is welcomed by the shop keepers – everyone says “here’s my price, but I can give a good discount to you, my dear friend. What do you want to pay for this beautiful, handcrafted (by my grandpa), one of a kind (but you can find 10 like it next door), authentic (this is true), African craft?” (ok, so maybe not EXACTLY those words, but close). As you know bartering is NOT a skill we develop in the US, so the students enjoyed the back and forth of the purchasing process at the market.

Linda (Larry's wife) bartering at the curio market

 We ended the night with Pizza, yes, Pizza with a capital P and CHEESE! (freshly baked in a stone oven – it was REALLY good!). I am sure we will all have crazy dreams tonight since we leave early in the morning for Safari, and just had cheese for the first time in two weeks (well, there was that one day with Mac and Cheese, but other than that…). So- early tomorrow we leave for Safari and don’t return until evening the following day- so don’t expect anything new here then.