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Published: June 17th 2006
Chundukwa
Chundukwa - my last "home" in Africa.As you well know, all good things must come to an end and I have yet to figure out why vacations go so quickly and the typical work day seems to last forever. Perhaps it is because as adults we still have the child in us that wants to never quit playing.
We leave Botswana and enter Zambia by the way of the Kazangula border, a point where the four countries of Botswana, Zambia, Nambia, and Zimbabwe meet. We were to stay at the Natural Mystic Lodge, however our camp was changed to Chundukwa which is located in Livingstone and a half hour's drive from Victoria Falls.
It was the mighty Zambezi which led missionary Dr. David Livingstone on his greatest and final adventure. In search of a means to access the interior, Livingstone tagged the Zambezi "God's highway" to the Indian Ocean and set off down the river, discovering the waterfall that native Africans called Mosi-o-Tunya, "the smoke that thunders." Livingstone named the great waterfall Victoria Falls after his queen. Being there, it is more than thunder and during April/May time frame is when the water is at its highest. Imagine, 120 million gallons of water a minute!
I must be crazy
Take off - flight over Vic Falls! My knuckles were white and my heart was beating wildly! We took a walk half way down and were soaked, luckily we were wise in carrying rain gear.
I decided that the best way to see the falls was from air. I had a choice between a helicopter, hot air balloon flight, and a micro-light flight. I've flown a helicopter over Hoover Dam, flew over Napa Valley in a hot air balloon, yet the micro-light flight appealed the most. The flight leaves early in the morning or late afternoon.
I arrived at the field and was informed to put on a flight suit. I grabbed the first flight suit, lo and behold, there was a frog on the front of the suit. I looked at the guide, smiled, and handed him the suit. The women behind the counter giggled. I grabbed another suit, started to put my leg through, and a baby frog jumped out of the bottom! I didn't dare finish putting that suit on in case I'd have a frog in the pants as they say. I sensed the women were somewhat afraid of frogs, so I immediately dashed the suit over to them. They jumped back, we all had a great laugh. I put on
Wind beneath my wings
A natural high - the view is incredible! the 3rd suit without incident. I knew what micro-light planes (if you call it that) look like. I did have a brief moment of "what the hell am I getting myself into". I realized I couldn't give the pilot a hard time since my life was in his hands. He was a nice Aussie chap, a bit easy on my eyes too. They attached a camera onto the plane as I had wanted pictures taken of the flight. The pilot explained that we would be flying about 6,000 feet up.
We took off. I had a death grip on the side bar, this "thing" that I was flying with, wasn't much larger than 2 chairs, one placed in front of another. Once we were fully up in the air, I relaxed my grip. I asked the pilot what would happen if the engine failed, he said that we would glide back down to earth. I was relieved to know that my life insurance was up to date and I figured if I had to meet my maker, I was just a bit higher in the sky! Looking down at the falls was totally unreal! No matter how I describe
Highs
The falls were at their highest. this experience or my pictures that I share, you have to experience it for yourself!
This ends my trip to Africa. It has been my childhood dream to have come to Africa. Will I go there again? You bet as there are other areas of Africa I want to visit, including a trek to see the Mountain Gorillas, the vineyards of South Africa, and the coast of East Africa. It is my goal to get back there within the next 10 years. I not only dreamed of Africa but I got to live it!
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