Russians, Chinese and Internet

The internet's been pretty terrible in Lusaka for the past couple days. Today I found out that several reliable sources have reported that it's because the Russians and Chinese have been hacking into the satellite and had interrupted the service that provides internet. I'm not even kidding. I couldn't make up such a fantastic excuse.

A tin can and a few wires

About an hour and a half into the bus ride back from Livingstone to Lusaka, I was awakened from being half-asleep by the sound of an explosion, not an explosion of fire or liquid, but an explosion of air. It was the sound of a tremendous amount of pressure being released. The bus immediately slowed, but, much to my surprise, kept moving. I thought for a moment that I had imagined the sound, but when we arrived at the next town, the crew immediately opened up the engine (which was right inside the bus, just in front of my seat) and began poking and prodding. I have no idea what was wrong, but it was clear that the problem was serious enough to require some sort of intervention. After about 30 minutes, I got off the bus to get some fresh air and buy a bottle of water from the women on the side of the road. I sat down on a piece of a broken car wheel and read for a while, until I got too uncomfortable and decided to return to my seat in the bus. Not long after I settled into my seat, a man appeared in the door of the bus holding (I do not exaggerate) a rusty tin can, a hacksaw and a handful of twisted wires. The conclusion of whatever conversation followed was apparently that those few things were enough to fix the bus. I chuckled to myself as the crew began to saw the can and twist the wires and somehow piece them together in such a way to try to make the bus run again. Another hour later when it seemed they were finished, the driver tried to start the bus, an effort I thought would be fruitless, but, miraculously, the engine started. It made the loudest sounds I'd ever heard from an engine, but it was running, so we started out again for Lusaka. The bus definitely moved slower than it had before, and the sound was pretty terrible, but so long as the bus moved, I was happy. After a couple more hours, we passed another bus from the same company that stopped to give us the appropriate part for the engine. At the next town we stopped again and the crew replaced the part. The engine was suddenly much quieter and the bus picked up speed. Finally, we made it back to Lusaka. All in all, the five to six hour ride turned into just over ten hours, making for a very long, but fairly amusing, day.

Elephant-back safari

On my last morning in Livingstone, I decided to take an elephant-back safari through the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park. I left my hostel early in the morning and met the guides who were waiting at the edge of the park with the elephants. My elephant (the middle one in the picture below) was named Leoa and was the mother of a one-year old calf (also in the picture).
I quickly learned that taking a picture of yourself on the back of an elephant (especially one that shows that you're on an elephant) is incredibly different.
The early morning ride was beautiful. We saw impala, waterbuck, bushbuck and several other antelope as we wandered through the park and along the Zambezi River.
At the edge of the river, we paued to take some posed pictures.
During and after the pictures, Leoa just wanted treats, so she kept sticking her trunk up above her head and searching around for one of us to give her a snack.
After the safari, I had a chance to get up close and personal with Leoa. I sat on her leg, fed her some snacks, pet her and just laughed at how close I really was to such a tremendous creature.
It was yet another of the many once-in-a-lifetime experiences I've had on this continent.

Microlight flight

My adventure of the weekend was spent in the air high above Victoria Falls and Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park. I took a flight in an open-air microlight that was absolutely amazing. We flew over and around the falls, up the Zambezi River and through the National Park, taking in gorgeous views of the water and spotting elephants, hippopotamuses and other animals in the grasslands. Although a little scary at first, the flight may be one of the most incredible things I've ever done.

Sneaking into Zimbabwe

The Zambezi River separates Zambia from Zimbabwe, so while I was at Victoria Falls, I decided to see if I could slip across into Zimbabwe. As it turns out, it was much easier than I expected.

Just below the falls is the bridge that connects the two countries. Since this bridge is also the site for the bungee jump over the gorge, I walked up to the man at the fence and asked him if I could go out on the bridge to watch the jumpers. I expected a lecture about how I either needed proof that I was jumping or a visa for Zimbabwe, but instead, he sent me inside to get a note from the immigration office. Once in the immigration office, I went to the counter, explained that I wanted to go out on the bridge to watch the bungee jumps, and was given a small slip of paper. I went back outside to the gate, handed my slip of paper to the man there and ventured out onto the bridge.

I did stop to look at the falls and the gorge (since there weren't any bungee jumpers at that time), but then continued on across the bridge. A few minutes later, I was off the bridge and heading up a street into Zimbabwe.

I didn't go too far into the country, for fear of being caught without a visa or stamp in my passport, but now I can say that I've visited Zimbabwe, even if it was only for a little bit of the afternoon.