God's Protection and Majesty

We have had some amazing adventures on this trip. The most recent was our journey here to Livingstone yesterday. We had 10 people crammed like sardines into a van made to seat 8 comfortably. We have actually gotten quite used to this arrangement and have even figured out the most optimal seats (and least optimal!). However, we were tested on the last 60 km of our journey.

The road was so full of pot holes that it looked like it had expereinced a recent meteor shower - leaving deep gouges in the road. It kind of felt like some kind of video game where we had to dodge potholes and oncoming traffic by driving on either side of the road or even on the dirt on the side of the road. Then as an added bonus we had to avoid aggressive bus drivers as well as their belching smoke. After an exhausting two hours of this terrain we arrived tired and sweaty in Livingstone. John Thomsen did an outstanding job of driving us under these conditions and was sorry that we had experienced any discomfort. We probably distracted him terribly with all our of conversations as well as our startled outbursts of "Oh!" every time we hit a big pothole. He has been such a gracious man to travel with 9 women across the country.

Today was a wonderful day of visting Victoria Falls, shopping and having an evening cruise along the Zambezi River.

We could hear the roar of the water crashing right from the entrance of Victoria Falls National Park. As we walked down the path the inspiring and powerful falls unfolded before us - stretching as far as they eye could see. Thanks to Paulette we all had rain ponchos that kept us dry and we walked along the path across the narrow bridge along the waterfalls. Any part that was not covered by the poncho was drenched as the mist from the falls surrounded us. It was a breathtaking and powerful expression of God's creation that we all appreciated.

However I did find it interesting that we spent about 45 minutes bathing in the glory of these majestic waterfalls and about 2 hours shopping at the craft market right outside the Falls. It was quite a time consuming process as each purchase not only had to be decided on but haggled for. We all learned to bargain quite well - although we think Taylor got the best deals by saying "But I only have $10" and looking very sweet. I (Amy) gave a pen to one of the sellers and he wanted to give me a gift in return - somehow this "gift" ended up being the purchase of an additional trinket that cost $7. Not sure how that happened.

We spent the twilight and sunset hours on a dinner cruise that motored along the Zambezi River. We saw crocodiles and many hippos and a glorious sunset. There was a simple barbecue dinner and we watched the sun go down and the lights begin to twinkle on shore. It was a wonderful ending to the day.

Tomorrow we head to South Africa by plane (which we are VERY grateful for). However John and Tove will be driving to South Africa so please keep them in your prayers as it is a hard 2 day journey.