Dr. Livingstone, we presume?

We've spent the last few days in the town of Livingstone, the home of Victoria Falls with a small MWB group. They just arrived in Zambia the day before we left to come here, and it's been fun getting to know a new group of people. Being here has been the 'vacation' portion of our trip and really has given us some true National Geographic experiences! On our first full day here we jumped the border from Zambia to Botswana and visited Chobe National Park for a full day game drive. The morning was spent on a boat and the afternoon was on land in a safari jeep. There were times, like when three elephants walked right behind our safari jeep that we seemed to be having our own Planet Earth experience. Whether it was the giant crocs, pods of hippos, or giraffes and zebras, we seemed to find something exciting around every corner. Definitely not a zoo-like experience. This was the real thing!I'm not sure if we enjoyed our time in Botswana or the day at Victoria Falls better. The falls are simply beyond description. I like to call it a total sensory experience: the sound of so much water, the drenching spray falling on you and the visual beauty of the water and rainbow it creates with the light. We have some pretty fancy photographers in our group and they needed almost a whole day there to capture the beauty. On a side note, Nate has loved a few of the free camera tips he's been able to glean from them. You can check out a few of his pictures at www.boyce.zenfolio.com. There will be more coming, for sure. This was my fourth visit to the Falls, but I never get tired of it. I decided to finally hike to the bottom of the falls (something I'd never done before for some reason), 687 yards to be exact, to the Boiling Pot. I did pretty well until the 'trail' got rocky and wet. I'll take one or the other, but I felt like my more clumsy side was coming out with the combination of the two. That aside, it was amazing to see what's at the bottom of all that falling water and the current it creates.

Today we fly back to Lusaka and work diligently to soak in every moment of the remaining days we have here. Whether it has been in a village, at a funeral or on a sunset riverboat cruise on the Zambezi, we have found ourselves counting our blessings for the time we've been able to spend here. The gifts we've received in the form of nature's beauty and invaluable life lessons are certainly to be with us for many years to come.