Getaway Zimbabwe 2006!

A couple weeks ago we were so blessed to have the privilege to visit Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and stay at the beautiful Elephant Hills Resort. Many of you that have talked to me recently know about the struggles we are having in the village currently. The week before we went to Zim we didn’t have water for 5 straight days…and in the summer heat with no AC this makes for some miserable days. We were excited about a vacation!

But the thing that made this vacation so special is that we were invited to Vic Falls by the Christian Hospitality Network. CHN is an association of Christian-owned inns that give rooms, rest and relaxation to pastor and foreign missionaries at little to no cost (ww.ChristianLodging.org). Each year they sponsor a Getaway for missionaries; and we lucked out that this year’s getaway was in our region.

In addition to paying for all our meals and lodging, CHN gave each person vouchers to use on other activities like bungee jumping and white water rafting. They also gave us so much free stuff like bags with goodies that we can’t get in Africa (chocolate chips!) and they had arranged for friends at home to write us encouraging letters that we received one night. (Thank you everyone who wrote me a letter! They were so special!) It was such a blessing to be a part of this Getaway and it was great to meet other missionaries in the area!

So here’s what I did on my vacation:

On Tuesday, Crystal and I spent our time walking around town. First, we hiked out to the bridge that spans the gorge connecting Zimbabwe and Zambia. You can walk across the bridge into Zambia to get a better view of the Zambezi River and the brave bungee jumpers. We saw one guy jump off the bridge and even though we had no idea who he was I found myself getting nervous and my stomach knotting as he prepared. We also spent some time in “No Man’s Land.” In the middle of the bridge there’s a strip of concrete that is considered neither Zimbabwe nor Zambia. Here I stand in “No Man’s Land.”

After hitting up Zambia, we hiked out to the “Big Tree,” the largest baobab in southern Africa…possibly the world?

Then we went to the market and spent the afternoon bargaining with the Zimbabweans. I am amassing quite a collection of African curios, but you always seem to come away from the market with more than you wanted because it was “such a great deal!”

In the afternoon, Crystal and I met up with Kelly and Shawna (who had been jumping across the gorge on various ziplines and cables all morning). We went into the Victoria Falls National Park to view the Falls. It is the end of the dry season, so there is considerably less water in the falls than there was in July when I went with my family. The Zambian end of the falls is so dry that picnickers hike across the top of it and picnic on the islands. This is a picture of the Main Falls.

Here we stand in front to the dried up falls.

This picture was taken in the same place in July. See the difference in the amount of water? Crazy, huh?

That night we were so tired from walking around all day, but the next morning Crystal, Shawna, Stacie, and I got up early to go white water rafting on the Zambezi River. (In this picture you can see the gorge that we had to hike down into and then one tiny rapid that is so small it didn’t even have a name!)

The hike down the steep gorge with all our gear was intense. There were slippery rocks, creaky ladders, and steep stairs without any railings. By the time I was in the gorge I were just so relieved to be there that I could care less about the giant Class 5 rapids to come. We got into our boats, met our guide Dougee, practiced paddling, pretended to get thrown from the raft, and swam in the Zambezi a little. Then it was time to hit the rapids.

But before we even get to the first rapid, we see a giant dead crocodile floating belly up in the water. Ominous sign of the day to come?

Now I won’t detail all 21 rapids that we did, but I will tell you about two of the most fearsome and dangerous Class 5s.

On a rapid called Midnight Diner featuring the giant Mancha wave we had watched raft after raft flip over. All we could see were floating heads in the water and kayakers frantically collecting swimmers. I wish I could tell you what happened next, but even after watching the DVD we purchased of our rafting trip in slow motion I’m still not quite sure. One moment I’m fiercely paddling and trying to get down, the next I’m underwater for what seemed like an eternity. When I hit the surface, disoriented and somehow still holding my paddle, I look around and see several of our raft-mates scrambling for empty rafts and kayaks. I swam to a kayak and grabbed on and was safely brought to a raft. No big deal. As we discovered later, ours was the only raft that didn’t flip over…we just lost most of the paddlers.

The last and most perilous Class 5 rapid was called Oblivion. On this rapid 85% of all rafts flip and it is considered in the entire world as the rapid you’re most likely to flip on! Imagine knowing that information going into it? One raft had flipped already. One boat had chickened out and taken an easy way around the rapid. And now it was our turn. We get up on the rapid and paddle through two giant drops. Water is pelting us from all sides as we approach a huge wave. Dougee yells for us to all get down. The next thing I know our raft is floating over smaller waves of water and everyone’s cheering. We had beat the odds and remained upright. The only problem was…we had lost our guide! Luckily we found just him hanging onto the side of our raft.

When we weren’t paddling through rapids, there were stretches of calm water and smaller rapids that we were even able to hop out and float through. As we swam along the river we even saw several small crocodiles sunning on the banks!

We had all been dreading the end of the day. Exhausted, sunburned, and sore we had to hike out of the gorge (with all our gear). The incline was nearly vertical and I was so tired that I could barely make it a few steps before needing to stop and rest. I thought I would never make it up the mountain as I watched the guides and kayakers carrying boats and gear pass me like the climb was nothing! Finally after about 45 minutes I stumbled to the top and dropped my life jacket, helmet, and paddle and received my reward: a nice cold Fanta orange in a glass bottle. Rafting was so much fun; quite possibly one of the most awesome things I’ve ever done. But I was thankful I didn’t have to get up the next day and do it all again!

(Stacie took an underwater camera so eventually I’ll have pictures from the trip, but it will be several months.)

Thursday, we packed up all the stuff we had accumulated and began the long journey home. There’s a stretch of road in Botswana from Kasane to Nata that you always need to keep your eyes open for animal. On the way back we saw a mama ostrich with about 5 babies and three different groups of elephant. This guy was just standing on the side of the road waiting for his picture to be taken.

Ok, so that was my vacation to Zimbabwe. Now we’re counting down the days until Christmas in Mozambique…

“I like to spend some time in Mozambique

The sunny sky is aqua blue

And all the couples dancing cheek to cheek.

It's very nice to stay a week or two.”