Botswana 2011

Today we went to Chobe National Park. We had to get up early in attempt to beat the large crowds of people who go into the park each day. We saw lots and lots of animals. There were monkeys, and buffalo and elephants. We saw a hippo that was all beat up. He had been it lots of fights and had obviously lost many, if not all of them. On out boat cruise yesterday we saw something on the land burning, we drove by it on our truck. It was a elephant and they were burning the caucus because it had died from Anthrax. I guess it is slightly common because they contract it from cattle. They do blood tests to determine death and then burn the caucus if necessary. There were so many people in the park, and safari cars were everywhere. This is one thing that was nice with all the other parks is we didnt see to many other people. Chobe is super famous though and much more a tourist park than the other parks. At one point we went speeding off. As usual KG never tells us what we are looking for until we get there. We had just missed some leopards. We really wanted to see some leopards as they are the only one of the big five we havent seen. We waited and searched around but had no luck seeing them. We went back to our camp had some breakfast and then it was off to the airport to catch our flight. We decided to fly back as sometimes the buses can be super late and no one wants to miss their flight tomorrow. We flew from Kasane to Maun first. On our way we saw the president in his motorcaid driving. At the airport we saw his plane. We got to fly on a small prop plane as usual. It was an AirBotswana plane. The flight was 45 min and they gave us two snack and refreshments. They served jerky, peanuts, and murula sticks which is dried fruit. Better than anything you get in the us. We hung our in Maun for awhile and shopped around some. We went through security super early as we had nothing better to do while waiting for our connecting flight. We saw the presidents plane come in and we saw him get out and get on a different plane. We dont know why this was all happening but it was cool to see. I havent even seen the president of my own country. We made it back to Gabs safe and sound. We all went out to Moghals for one last meal together. We were all super sad to say goodbye but I am sure we will see each other at some point. I know that I will miss everyone from the group very much. I got a taxis back with Zoe to our houses. My family was happy to see me. I packed everything really quickly and went to bed because I have an early flight in the morning to RSA.

Today we did a game drive in the morning in Savuti but we are waiting for another Safari truck to come and replace the one we currently have because it wont make it all the way to Kasane, which is our next stop. We saw some buffalo on our drive and some very interesting birds. Not muich else was happening. We got back and had a nice hot breakfast and then got on our new safari truck. The other one was nicer but oh well. This is Africa. We drove to Kasane which took about 3 or 4 hours. We saw lots of elephants along the way. When we got to Kasane we went on a boat cruise on the Chobe river to see all the animals. The boat cruise was super fun. We saw tones of crocks, elephants hanging out in the water, oodles of hippos. One hippo we saw was lying down and all of a sudden got up and charged at our boat. Alyson and Katie screamed. I was in the front of the boat and didnt do anything lol. It was a beautiful sunset and we saw a Mokoro go by in front of the sun set. We are staying in the Tebes Lodge tonight so we dont get to sleep in the tents. I really liked camping but it is nice to have showers and running water.

We started early in the morning to go off to our next camp sight. We are going to Kwai and then staying in Savuti game reserve. We have to pull the trailer for awhile because the waters are so high because of all the flooding and our Safari truck is more powerful and higher than the truck that normally pulls the trailer. We were all gathered around the fire when all a suddent the truck that had already left comes speeding by. KG then signals all of us to jump in our truck. He speeds off violently in the the large feild not too far from camp. In the feild there was a pair of brother cheetahs. There were so pretty and we sitting there with the giraffes. A cheetah cant take down a giraffe so they had nothing to worry about. We watched them for awhile and then went back and got the trailer. After getting the trailer we went back to check on the cheetahs and we watched them awhile longer before continuing on. There is so much water on the roads in the park. We had to lift our bags of the floor to keep them from getting wet. The whole hood of the Safari truck would be under water at times. We were carivaing with the other two cars which have the camping stuff. At one point their tire flew off. The sand is very very very thick and deep and I guess it was to much strain on the truck. We stopeed and they fixed it and then we continued on. When we stopped we got out the famous snack bucket. KG keeps a large green Tupperware full of trail mix for us and it has become quite the joke among us. It normally had chips, raisins, peanuts, and some candy. We drove for a long distance and then we gave the trailer off to another truck so they could take it ahead and set up our camp site. For lunch we stopped at a swampy area. There were some elephants and hippos right next to us and we ate lunch with them. It was so nice, and how often does one get to say they ate lunch with the elephants. We continued driving all day. We didnt see hardly any cars and after awhile we saw none. We were driving out in the middle of no where when all of a sudden we violently swerved off road into the bushes. Our steering had gone out. It took KG some time to fix it but he eventually was able to. Also when we had swerved off we managed to puncture our tire so we had to replace that too. When he was fixing the car he started it at one point and something blew at us and we all screamed! Right when we all got in the car and had everything fixed a car drove by. We had been sitting there for a couple hours and had seen no one and then we saw about four cars come by. We saw one safari car that was going to have to camp because their gear box went out. It didnt look like they had costumers with them though. We got to camp really late and had a late dinner. Our camp was in a large open area. We could see the stars. They were super amazing and the milky was was clearly defined. In the background we could hear an elephant walking and trampling trees and bushes. KG normally tells us what time he will wake us up in the morning and he always tells us 330am. That never actually happens but he likes to joke about it with us.

We awoke to a quick breakfast and then we headed to have a Mokoro rides. Mokoros are small wooden canoes that people use to get around the wetlands. The are propelled by a large pole that reaches to bottom and then one pushes away with it. They are very tipsy. Katie and I shared a Mokoro. Tall grass and reeds were on either side of us. We saw lots of birds, a crock and quite a few hippos. The hippos are known for flipping the Mokoros over a killing people. Our guide said one time on his tour a Hippo bit a Mokoro in half but the people inside got to shore safely. We could hear the hippos around us but couldn't see them. This made us all a little nervous. We came to a large opening in the wetlands and there were lots of hippos. One came towards us. He would go under and then come up closer. He went under again and then came up closer. We were about 20m from him. We were a freaked out. He then went under again, we waited for a while and when he popped up again he was farther away. It was such a relief. lol. We also saw some cool frogs in the reeds. After the rides we went back to our camp site and had lunch and then the rest of the afternoon to relax. Zoe and I talked to two of the young guys for a while. They told us all about themselves and how they came to work for the company. One is the son to the ambassador of South Africa. His father was supporting him but when he started wasting money his dad cut him off until he found something to do with his life. He likes the Safari business and his new friend. He was like see that tent over there, that is our tent. We put it up together each time. They were so cute and Zoe and I couldn't help but laugh a little. The company we went with, Naga Safaris, meaning Bush Safari, is owned by the first black man in Botswana to have his own company. He is also the first professional black Safari guide in Botswana. He told us all about his Safari career and how he was a major player in the now famous Audi Safari company, but how a new partner in the company didnt like black people so he sold his shares and started his own company. KG is his son and will soon be taking over the company. Other members of his family work in the office and help with the business. The dad is also the president of the Botswana Safari organization. KG was a great guide. We had lots of fun joking with him and when we would ask questions and the answer was no he would always say not really and then laugh. Also when we would ask questions we already knew the answer to, for example can we drive, he would just laugh. He knew lots about all the animals and taught us tons of things. In the evening we went for a game drive and then watched the sunset from one of the safer bridges, one that was not under water. lol. Oh and the animal report from the previous night: hyenas in the camp area. That was one of our favorite announcements in the morning was the animals that had been in the camp.

We got up to a nice fire. It was still dark out. We got the night report about the animals in the camp. A honey badger tried to get into the food and they had to chase it away. There were also lions in the field next to us. I definitely heard both of those during the night. After a nice breakfast we packed all our bags. We will be camping in a new location tonight. We did a game drive all day on our way to the camp. We were in Moreme Game Reserve. We saw tons and tons of animals. Right when we got in the park we saw Lion tracks. We saw oodles of giraffe and impala. We saw a huge heard of elephants too. They crossed infront of us and one got mad and charged us, but KG turned the car on and revved the engine and it gave up and continued on. It was pretty scary though. We also saw a lioness hunting some impala. We got super close to her. About 10ft. We are not really supposed to get that close but we were far from the rangers so we were unlikely to get in trouble. Lots of birds everywhere. Some are very brightly colored. There is lots of flooding going on right now. At one point only one side of the car went into the water and it felt like we were going to flip the thing over. Later in the day we saw that couple from Khama. They had rented their own little truck and were camping in the parks. We found some people who had managed to get their truck stuck in a huge puddle of water. They were trying to pull it out but weren't getting very far. We dashed off and saw a female and male lion. They were so cool, and huge! We watched them for awhile and then went back to check on the people who were stuck in the mud. They were still stuck. KG helped them out though. He jacked up their truck and put logs under the tires and then drove it out. I dont think I would want to go through the park on my own, especially in the small trucks they rent out to people. They are not very high off the ground. We got to camp in the afternoon. It was all set up, and this time we even had small bathrooms attached to the tent. We had box toilets over holes the ground and hanging showers. We did a game drive there. There was a very sketchy bridge we had to cross. It was just a bunch of rolled logs underwater. We had it through but it was kinda scary.We watched the sun go down in the field and then went in for dinner. We sat by the fire and watched the stars through the trees, and chatted. In the background we could here hippos and other animals.

We all arrived at 5:15 to catch the early bus to Maun to start our Safari in the delta and surrounding areas. We were bombarded by drivers trying to get on their bus. they came running up to Alyson's moms car, banging on the windows and yelling in Setswana. We got on the but to Maun. We were so amazed the bus left exactly at 5:30 like it was supposed to. There wasnt many people on the bus so we got to each have our own row for a while and stretch out and sleep. Later on the bus got more crowded so we had to recondense but it was nice for the time being. We picked up a couple from the Khama Rhino Sanctuary. They were volunteering there. The girl was from Ireland and the guy from France. They were also going to Maun. We were shocked to get to Maun 1.5 hours ahead of schedule. We called out contact from the Safari company and he was there within a few minuets. Our guide name was KG. We had quite the drive to our first camping site. When we arrived we found a nice camp site all set up for us. We had four green tents and a dinning tent. Definitely luxury camping. There was even showers and toilets because it was a designated camping area. We dumped our stuff and grabbed a quick shower. Showers are so very precious to us! Later we had a home cooked meal by our lovley cook Rose. It was really good, and we even got dessert! We did a game drive at night but we didnt see much. Some impala, some bush babies, and a Janet. We went back to camp and got ready for our first night in the tents. It is safe where we are to get our of the tent in the middle of the night but it is best with two people and necessarily to have the large light. All the animals roam around and there is nothing keeping them from our camp. I heard lots of noises in the night!

My mom took Alyson and I to school at five in the morning so we could meet our group to go to the Jwanang diamond mine. It was quite a drive in the morning and we rushed to get there because our driver was late. Once we got there we all got dressed in special shoes, jackets, and hard hats. We got to see the pit where all the mining takes place. They dont do any underground mining at this point. The trucks they use are huge and all come from the US. They are all CAT trucks. We got to climb on one which was cool, we all wanted to drive but they said no. :-( . We had a 50% chance of finding a diamond and if you do find one they give you money for it. We didnt find any and I am not sure where we would have based on the areas we went. We got to see diamonds in a case, which showed how they find them. On our way back we stopped at the grocery stores for some lunch, and then made a stop at a traditional pottery place. Then it was back to school for awhile before our farewell dinner. I hung around school with some friends until 6. We were all going to go home before dinner but traffic was horrible so we decided there was no point. We went to Batsi's house for dinner. We had a huge braai with lots of pasta, veggies, and chicken. There was lots of music, and Botsi's son was our DJ lol. We gave Batsi some wine and a card. It was so sad to have to say goodbyes to everyone in the group. Only 8 of us are continuing on.

We had thought we were done with class but here we were again. We all got to hear the fun stories about what people did for the holiday weekend. Some people when to Durban, some to Cape town, another group in Zim at vic falls and some stayed in Gabs. unfortunately the only guy in our program got mugged in Gabs. He was walking to Game city and three men came up to him with knives and said gives us your stuff or you die. He handed over his stuff. They got his laptop and phone. Luckily he had a money belt on so they didnt get his passport of debit cards. He said he almost put his money belt in his bag because he hates wearing it. I was glad he didnt though. We met briefly to wrap up things in our practicum class. I don't know why we even had Letsolo other than to tell him he graded us wrong. He told us the grades for the last paper and we all through a fit. He was grading us on things we weren't supposed to include. No one was happy, but he said he would go back and look at them. Everyone was super stressed for our Setswana test. We had no time to prep and had no idea what to expect. We though it would be all oral, but that morning we found out it was all written. It ended up not being that bad but we convinced her to take some sections out lol. When the test was over everyone was relieved. We were finally actually done! We got some street food for lunch and then went to main mall. Some people did some last minuet gift shopping. Alyson and I walked to the station and then got taxis back. I started backing my things when I got home. We have a field trip tomorrow and then the program is over tomorrow night. Half the group flies home Saturday and the other to the delta. I cant believe how time flies. My mom made dinner. It was very good. We had pap and soup. The family member who is a doctor and his wife came over in the evening and hung out with us and the family. They are both super nice and speak very good English because they lived in the UK while he was in med school. I retired early as I have a very early morning tomorrow.

When I got up this morning Ziggy was sleeping on the couch and mom was talking with him. He apparently got very sick in Kanye. He has severe chest pain and went to the hospital twice already. Today we had our last clinic day. It was super crazy when we arrived because they are short staffed after the holiday weekend. All the nurses were running around trying to get things done. I helped check people in with Randi, and Jodi had to do all the mother wellfare stuff by herself. We had more patients than I have ever seen. By lunch time we had already seen about 70people just for the doctor, and normally we dont see that much in one day. We were anticipating having clinic one last time tomorrow, but we all got a text from Botsi saying we now had class. We were not happy, and we later found out that we have a test in Setswana tomorrow. No one knows what to do or what to study so we shall see how this all plans out. We said goodbye to all our nurse friends at the clinic and did our last lunch at the famous Squaremart. I also purchased spices to take home so I can make some traditional food for everyone. When I arrived home there was no one there and the doors were locked. I had to wait awhile for my family. They were at the hospital with Ziggy on their way home. My mom wanted to see all my pictures from Victoria Falls. She has never been but really really seems to like them. I brought her a postcard with a picture of the falls on it for her. I then had to start all my homework and finish all the papers we have due tomorrow. There is so little time and the main part of the program ends this friday! I had to make dinner tonight because Ziggy is still sick. I made chicken, pasta, and sweet potato chips. It was good, but a little on the spicy side. lol. I then went straight back to work and then feel asleep.

Ok just in case you were wondering if I have hoof and mouth disease, I dont. I have been checked three times today and it is all good. lol. We left Zambia today. We caught a taxi at 5:20 in the morning and headed to the border. The park check point was closed since it was so early in the morning so we didnt have to worry about shuffling cars this time. When we got to the ferry it was still dark. Our taxi guy walked us through customs and then got us our ferry tickets. People here are just so nice. We waited for the ferry, which was 20 min late, but this is Africa. We hopped as best we could over the water and onto the boat. we thought about handing onto the back of a truck to hop the gap, but whent he next one came through it didnt have a ledge to stand on. lol. Right where we cross the water is where Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia all meet up. We had the short crossing and then we dashed off with everyone else. We went through customs quick and easy without any wait. I have so many stamps in my passport now, but they are all on the same two pages. We waited for our bus to come, and it was surprisingly only 20 min late. When it showed up everyone ran to the door. Somehow we managed to get to the front of the line. We had pre booked tickets just like everyone else, but they didnt have enough seats. The bus is from Kasane to Fransistown,which takes about 6 hours. Many people had to stand. We were so thankful to be seated and all in the same row. There were a few people who had been picked up in the city and were already on the bus. One got off to go to the bathroom and when he got back his seat had been taken. He was not happy and tried to beat the guy up. He eventually got off and just left and got his money back. The bus had windows so it stayed relatively cool but sitting for that long you definitely get sweaty. We had some guy next to us and he kept yelling every time we stopped that we only had ten min. He smelled horrible and went throughout the bus asking for money. He was mentally challenged so you had to feel bad but it was hard for everyone to deal with. He also stood right next to Sierra and I on the bus which was even worse but oh well. I was just happy to have a seat. We saw some elephants on the bus ride. They were just out in the bus eating away. We had to do hoof and mouth check point right when we got of the ferry. Then we had to stop again somewhere along the drive to do it again. We talked with some other students who are working on the Harvard Project. We have had some interaction with this at my clinic and it is some studies and research the university is conducting with regards to HIV/AIDS. They had also gone to Vic falls for the weekend. We were super worried that our seats where going to be taken, so when the bus crossed to pool we made sure to be first to get on. Our seats were fine. I was super impressed that everyone went back to their seats and those standing went back to standing. I continued to zone out for the rest of the trip. I love my Bose headphone! They block out all the crying children, screaming people, and bus sounds so I can enjoy my music. I just kept my Pony Club hat over my eyes and zoned for most of the bus ride. We finally made it to Fransistown around 2:30. We had started at 9am. The bus to Gaborone leaves every 30min so we decided to get something to eat and catch the next one. When we got back from lunch we got the whole back row, with the exception of one other guy who was also there. We didnt have to wait for the bus to fill very long either. We were slightly worried we would have to wait awhile because there were less buses running because it was a holiday still. On the bus to Gaborone we had to yet again stop for the hoof and mouth. This time there was a huge line of cars at the check point and we had to wait forever for the bus to even get to the front of the line. We grabbed all our stuff, deboarded, got searched and checked, walked through the chemicals and got back on just like every other time. Things started turning bad though. The bus kept breaking down. We would stop and wait for awhile until they could get it running again. We though maybe we were overheating but the guy next to us said the bus was "fucked". We were like great!. People were not happy and there was lots of yelling in Setswana. lol. We would get it fixed and then it would break. The engine was inside the bus too, and when they would open the compartment up fumes and smoke filled the bus. At one point when we got stuck the longest we were in the middle of no where, there were no cars and it was pitch black, aka the bush! lol. We finally got moving and didnt have anymore problems for quite awhile. We were so happy when we started coming into Gaborone. I was the only one with any ipod battery left. I havent charged my iPod through our whole weekend and have listened to is for about 30 hours and had 30% left when we got back to Gabs. Right when we are making the first drop off in Gabs the bus dies again. It is 10pm and all everyone wants is to be back at home. We get it started and finally make it to the station. When we get off we are bombarded with taxi drivers who all want to take bus people home. It was super overwhelming and they are all screaming and yelling at them to come with us. I have been here long enough where i am just like whatever I dont care. I dont worry about getting places and I know how much everything costs. I dont even ask anymore I just make up my own prices and hand them the money. I got home and was super tired even though all I had done was zone out for the whole day. None of my family was home other than Kopana and some cousin or something. I was tired and went to bed. We had such a great weekend!

Today we just chilled. We had wanted to go to Zimbabwe but there is a border fee, a park fee, and then another border fee to get back in. It would have been about $100usd so we decided not to. We got up late instead. We had to move all our belonging out of our room because we were staying in the chalets for the last night because we added a night and our room was already booked. The chalets are little huts with mosquitoes nets they are super quite and have nice quilts made from bright fabric. We went into town and got Indian food for lunch. We walked around some in the town and then hung out by the pool in the sun all afternoon. It was very hot in Zambia and it was nice to feel the heat, since Gabs has been so cold. We went back to Cafe Zambezi again for dinner. We talked with the owners some more, and then got a cab back to the hostel. Mackenzie, Sierra, and I all shared a chalet. We squished the two twin beds together. The chalets only sleep two but we didnt want to get three and have one person alone. The mosquito nets were super weird and kinda unnecessary at the time. It is winter here so there are almost no mosquitoes. I kept getting tangled in it during the night lol. It was a relatively uneventful day but it was nice to chillax after our busy schedules back in Gabs. We have had a really great experience here. The people are super nice and very very helpful. It also seems to be safer here, but it might be just because we are not in the city. I was also surprised that there are lots of bikes in Zambia. I have seen almost none in Botswana and then when we got to Zambia there where everywhere! Also at the falls there were lots of people from Africa who came to see it, not just a bunch of white people. lol. I am sad we are leaving in the morning because I would really like to see more of the country. Being here and staying in the hostel really makes me want to backpack around Africa. I want to go to Tanzania, Kenya, and Malawi!

We got picked up early in the morning to do our elephant rides! We drove into the park. It is the five of us and then a couple who are on their honey moon. The elephants all started walking towards us with their trainers. They are huge! One knelt down and the guy jumped on, he definitely got a leg up though. I was a little scared to get on mine. I hopped on and it was just like being on a horse again. A really really big horse!.They told us what to do if the elephants get scared... which is to hang on. There are no reins or anything, just a saddle like thing. If the elephant runs away it will eventually stop and they just come find you in the bush wherever it went. I was like great! We walked around and saw lots of birds and small animals. We saw some hippo tracks too. Zoe had the free spirit elephant. It would leave the group and go eat whatever it could find. It was super funny and we were all laughing. I was on the matron elephant and she lead the heard. She had been taken into an wild elephant herd for awhile and when she came back she had a baby. Mackenzie was on her baby, who wasnt a baby anymore. The domestic heard also adopted a baby into their family. He is still quite small and he trekked along with us just eating on the side. The ride was amazing and they are suck great creatures. We stopped for a break and my elephant drank some water. It is so interesting to hear them suck up the water into their nose and then shoot it into their mouth. When we finished we fed them and patted them. My rider dropped his stick and the elephant handed it to me. They are just super cute. The elephant place is right on the water and we saw some hippos and crocks in the water there. We had some coffee and cookies when were were done. They had made a movie of our trip and we got to watch it on their big screen. I dont know how they made such an amazing movie so quickly. The shuttle then took us to the falls. The falls are so massive. Rainbows are everywhere. They are super loud, and the mist rises very high into the air. We all got ponchos to keep us and our backpacks dry. We hiked around the park some but it is not very large. We were soaked when we were done. We can see Zimbabwe from where we are. We saw people bungee jumping off the bridge in Zim. That was not on my list of things to do. We went and got lunch at a near by hotel. After we went back to the falls and laid out in the sun at the very top. We are right by where the falls drop off. We saw some people cross at the lip of the falls but the current was really strong so we didnt try. The got picked up at the falls to go on our boat cruise. When we were picking people up we met this older Australia women who was teaching school in the bush in Zambia and was on holiday with her friend. She told us all about her story and how she got the job. She said she wanted an adventure and so she answered an ad in the newspaper back in Australia. The boat cruise was very pretty. We ended up hanging out with some Australians, and a New Yorker. We played cards with them and had a great time. We saw hippos, giraffes, and elephants. We saw some elephants were fighting each other. We also saw another elephant that was having a stand off with one of the safari trucks. We didn't get to see how that fight ended though. We played some arrogant bastard (Zebra shield, or Rhino) It was full of many lols. At the end of the cruise the ginger Australia stripped down and jumped in the water of the top of the boat. There are lots of crocks in the water but he survived. We got a ride back to Jolly boys. Mackenzie and I hung out by the fire and met tons of people. There was a lot of people from Malawi. I talked with one guy, Borna, who was born in Croasia but lived in Holland. He had lots of intereting stories. He is doing a civil engineering internship in Malawi. We hung out with the guys at the fire until i couldnt stay awake anymore.

The overnight but was quite nice. I took some Ambien and just knocked myself out. We were on a huge tour style bus. I got a window seat which was nice. The bus was supposed to leave at 6pm but we didnt leave until 9. But this is Africa. In the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere we all had to deboard the bus with all our belonging to go through a foot/hoof and mouth disease. They check you and your bags and then make you walk through some chemicals and dip all the shoes you have with you in the chemicals too. The bus also has to drive through a small pond of these chemical. I am really curious to know what kind of chemicals they use. They have a very bitter smell. It was really hard to get off the bus because I was all drugged up lol but the Ambien was worth it. The bus stops every few hours to let people go to the bathroom, but there are no bathrooms lol. We just squat and pee in the bush. Thankfully I only had to go once but some of the other girls had to go a few more times. We got to the border port around 10 in the morning. We got our departure stamps and went to catch the ferry across the river to Zambia!. The ferry os just like a flat barge. It is super sketchy looking and it only holds about 4 cars. It is not very far across the river, and a bridge would be much more efficient. If there was a walkway it would take about three minuets to get across. It was only 4P to get across, but we were told it was 40P so we were really happy to have saved money. On the ferry we met a taxi driver who said he could take us to JollyBoys. We went through customs super quick and paid our $50 border fee! The five of us crammed into the small Carolla. One person lied on top of everyone. It is quite a drive into Livingston from the ferry. It is about 25min. Part way through the drive you enter into one of the park and there are check points there. Two of the girls had to get into another car so we didnt get in trouble for having too many people. It was just some random person the taxi driver flagged down. At first they just wanted one of us to move because that was all we needed but we were like hell no we are not splitting one person off. Two of us went with these other people and we got one of them in exchange. Once we crossed the other check point we switch back. We got to jollyboys safely and got the taxi number so we can have him pick us up to go back. There are two JollyBoys; backpackers and camp. We got dropped off at the wrong one but the Hostel shuttle took us to the other location. It is super nice. We stayed in a room with 3bunk beds. We had three other people stay with us, and they just put mattresses on the floor for them. It is super crowded because it is a holiday. We went into town to get lunch. We ate at a small restaurant called Cafe Zambezi. I had some traditional Zambezi goat. It was super good. We talked with the owners a bit too. They were super nice and brought us a free pizza with caramelized onions and mozzarella and blue cheese! We hitched a ride into down in the back of the owners pick up truck. There was a mall of shops and we searched through all of them. They really wanted our hair ties for whatever reason. They also really liked my French Creek Pony Club hat and wanted to trade with me for it. I got some bright fabric and I want to make a duvet cover with it! It is super hard to keep track of Kwatcha, which is their currency. The smallest denomination is 100, and the largest we had was 50,000, but they have higher bills I believe. $1usd is about 5,000 kwatcha. Now I have to worry about pula, kwatcha, and usd. Ah it is so confusing!. On the way back we stopped and grabbed some fresh baked bread, and then went back to the hostel. We chilled for awhile and then we made dinner PB and J style!. It was super fun. We hung out by the campfire some. We all got to take real showers. The water wasn't super warm, and the shower head had like one stream coming down and the other shooting all over the place but it was a SHOWER! I haven't had a real shower since the US. I slept quite well. Tomorrow we are getting up and going to see the falls as well as some other exciting activities!

Today begins the backpacking adventure to Zambia and Zimbabwe. We are going to see the massive Victoria Falls!We will be taking the overnight bus to Kasane and from there I guess we will just find our way to the border. Hopefully this bus will be less miserable than the bus to Serowe. lol. We can only hope. We are staying at Jollyboys, which is a hostel, in Zambia. We plan to hike around for the most part and then we have some activities planned. We come back on Tuesday. It is the big holiday weekend here, presidents weekend.

Got my checklist
new malaria pills-check
sunscreen-check
camera-check
one pair of pants-wearing them
one pair of short-check
hand towel-check
playing cards-check
Wheel of Time-check
and thats it!
The majority of my bag is my camera equipment. It has the largest mass.

My parents came back last night and loved the food! My mom made me write down how to make all of it. They were so excited to have something different. My dad said it is like being at a restaurant.
I am going to Alyson's later today to spray all of my clothes. The people in my group for vic falls is Zoe, Sierra, Alyson, and Mackenzie! It should be a great time with lots of lols and stories to share when we get back!

i have been failing miserably at keeping my blog updated. I have stuff written down for some days but it is just a matter of typing it all up and remembering all the amazing stories. Today we had clinic in the morning. I went with Randi, and the matron nurse to do community home based care. It is a service provided by the government to maternally ill patients. They are supposed to go and bandage, provide medicine, etc, depending on the patients needs. Mostly we just dropped off equipment and then left. We got to drive around though in a cool old landcruser that said ministry of health on the side. We looked pretty legit. After that we went to the beloved SquareMart to get lunch. We got take away. I got some Naan bread and some chili chicken. It was like chinese black bean chicken. We also had some small cookies with chocolate filling that were really good. And to top it all off a Appletizer. It was yummy! I hoped a taxi back to my house with Jodi. I did a little work on the computer, as we have a paper due tomorrow. I then went to the store to get some things to make for my family. I made a pasta casarole and some apple cobbler. i am always impressed by how good things are when I have no measuring devices of any kind. My brothers really liked it but my parents aren't back from the village yet to try it. One of the family members just died so everyone is preparing fore the funeral. Tomorrew starts the grand adventure to Victoria Falls. We will be going to Zambia and Zimbabwe. We have some activities planned, but I think we are mainly going to hike while we are there. We are backpacking it all the way there and are staying in hostels. Im sure there will be lots of hitch hiking as well lol. It will be a grand adventure!