The days are going fast...

I have now been here for 3 1/2 months and I can't believe how fast time has flown by. I am very lucky to have come when I did because in just 9 days we are releasing 6 our our female lions for good. It will be sad not to be able to go up to their enclosure and touch them but this is so good for them and the project too. The 6 girls being released are Temi, Kela, Kwandi, Loma, Leya, and Rusha. These girls have become skilled hunters and hopefully once we release one of our boys great mothers. It will be their cubs that will progress further in the program in stage 3 and 4 in the future.

With this impending release right around the corner, everyone at Lion Encounter has been working feverishly to get everything in place for the big event. There are government officials, agencies, staff, business associates that will be there for the opening of the gate. I have been working on the marketing side quite a bit for the event. Nicola and I have developed a new banner and flags for displays at the event and for afterwards. I put together the invitation and newsflash to all of our supports which ended up on the website and Facebook. We also have designed t-shirts, sweaters, and new staff shirts for everyone for the special day. It's very tense for everyone but things are working out great. This is so special as it's the first stage 2 to happen in Zambia...who am I kidding I will probably cry!!



I also can't believe it's already been 2 weeks since Dad and Jordan left. It's great to know that they had such a great time and are still telling stories at home. Jordan even told me tonight he is still in contact with some of the volunteers...that's what it's all about. My friend Suzanne that I met last year in Zimbabwe will be here in a few weeks which is going to be awesome. I'm sure we won't get into any trouble at all!! Anybody else wanting to come to Livingstone please do so!!

One of the staff members is leaving in a few weeks to move back to the UK....sad for him but I'm getting a room upgrade!! I will now have a sink in my room....oh the little glories! I get extra storage space as well. I'm not sure how I am going to adapt after by 7 x 7 room I have now.

Well I will share with you a few pics of our release pride....you can follow them on the ALERT page under Dambwa Pride or become a member on Facebook.

As I wrap up this entry know that I think of all of you very much at home and miss you. Please keep in touch either by blog, e-mail, Skype or an old fashion phone call!! Hearing from home simply makes me smile.

Cheers...Vick
xoxo

The Fire....

I have seen forest fires in my life having lived in Labrador but what happened last Saturday was nothing that I have ever experienced before in my life.

Nix (general manager) received a call around lunch hour the our release site was on fire and out of control. The release site is attached to our enclosures for our 12 older lions. Immediately we had to gather people to go help fight the fire but we didn't know exactly how serious it was. Jordan, my Dad and a few other guys were asked to go. We ended up having 2 trucks to I hopped in as well along with some of our staff. It was going to take us about 15 minutes to get there and as we looked on the horizon in the direction of Dambwa we saw the smoke and we knew it wasn't good. The heart rate started to rise and as we approached and then we saw the wall of flames right at the entrance just about 50 meters away from the lions. There were flames to the right and flames to the left and about 7 feet tall. We all jumped out of the truck and received our instructions to go to the left because the right side was under control and the lions were fine. We ran into the bushes with only branches from trees to fight the fire. By smacking the flames and the ground to push dirt onto the fire you can manage to put some of the flames out. Sometimes it takes quite a bit of effort to do so and sometimes it's a lost cause and you just have to wait for it to get to a point in the grass where it's low. I felt like I was in a movie and every once in a while I screamed out Jordan and my Dad's name to make sure they were o.k.

Once that was ok we moved on to another part of the site to try to do a controlled burn to save part of the release site. As we got down there and lit some of the grass the wind changed directions and we were in trouble...it jumped the road and went in the wrong direction. At this point we had to run away from the flames they were so hot. You could feel your skin tingling from the heat. We ended up splitting up unintentionally and now I was with two other guys Cephis and Bernard. I didn't like the feeling of not seeing Jordan and my Dad but I know they were with a bigger group and they would be o.k. but I still worried. The 3 of us tried to beat the fire and control it from jumping another road. It felt like such a losing battle and it was getting us down. At this point we hadn't had any water and we were starting to fade quickly. Cephis and Bernard had also been there a few hours before us so I really don't know how they kept going. I guess it came down to passion...they wanted to save the release site. There were many times where tears started to well up in my eyes just seeing the destruction happing and you felt like it was such a losing battle. There were also 2 of our lions out in the site that we couldn't find which was worrisome seeing that it was burning quickly. We weren't worried about them harming us because there was no way they were going to come close to the fire.

Water finally arrived both for us to drink and try to use some to fight the flames. It was basically a drum of water on the back of a pick-up truck with a hose attached. There are no fire trucks that could get to the site and there are no water bombers that would be helping us. Once we were a little hydrated we started to beat the fire and things seem to start getting under control. By this time I was also back with Jordan and Dad which gave me a sense of relief that everyone was o.k. All of sudden a call came in that a fire was right beside the lion enclosures and only about 10 meters away from them. I have never in my life seen such an amazing example of team work! At one point Richard (other GM) said if we wanted to leave we could but of course everyone stayed. 6 hours later as the sun started to set and things started to seem controlled.

It a weird way it looked beautiful as the sun set and the glowing embers twinkling through the grounds. We found out that about 40% of the site burned down. It was going to be o.k. though and by next year those areas will be back to life again filled with grass and food for the wildlife. We have about 65 wildebeests, 5 zebras, 70 impala and 7 puku and of course our 12 beautiful lions and they all seemed fine. The lions had been found as well and they were enjoying themselves at another end of the site.

There were definitely some scary moments and at times I felt like I was in a movie. You would see people just standing in the middle of black or us on our knees trying to catch our breath with flames just a few meters away from us. I would do it all over again though because we all know as a team we saved that site, those animals and also the neighbouring farms that it could have spread to very quickly. I am very proud of everyone that day!

If you are interested in finding out more about the release coming up you can visit ALERT - African Lion Environmental Trust. You can even made a donation to support the project.

Thanks....:)

Dad's Day & Cultural Day

Well I have a lot to write about but I don't want to put it all in one entry because I can't fit all the pics at one time that I want to show you. So I will start with Dad's big day. We had bought some excursions for my Dad's birthday in June that included breakfast by the Falls and a helicopter ride. Now when I say "breakfast by the Falls" I mean it!! We actually took a 5 minute boat ride heading directly at Victoria Falls....one of the 7 wonders of the world. Where were heading towards is a 110m drop over the edge. It seemed a bit risky but felt comfort in that they do this everyday so we should be fine. When we got to the island they brought us on a tour where we literally stood on the edge of the Falls. I would like to add here that there are no barriers between you and let's just say heaven. We actually walked in our bare feet as well because it's too slippery and wet to be in shoes. I have to say that it was one of the most amazing and yet scariest things that I think I have ever done! They gave us some history of the area and and we stood on the edge of 3 different places. After that they washed our feet for us (felt like I walked out of a spa) and then served us a beautiful eggs benedict breakfast.

Next we went for some market shopping where I intervened with my..."No no no...that's too expensive" for the boys and we slipped in a little cocktail before heading off to our helicopter ride. Now Jordan and I have never been on a helicopter so this was very exciting. We took the 30 minute tour which included a ride through the white water rafting gorge....that was simply amazing!! We were only about 10 meters off the ground going through it twisting and turning. That was definitely an adrenaline rush. We also had a beautiful ride over Victoria Falls and the Mosi oa Tunya National park where we say hippos, elephants and giraffes form they sky. We ended the day with one more cocktail by the water before heading home....exhausted from too much fun!!!

On Friday we had our cultural day where we go and spend most of day on one of the farms of a local. We actually go to Fred's house who works for Lion Encounter. We started off where the men and women are separated to do different work. Us women had to go a fetch the water that was needed for the day and the men had to go chop down tome trees to help build a new room on the farm. We actually had to carry the water on our head on the way back which was about a 15 minute walk. Next the women had to start to prepare lunch which consisted of chicken, shima and cabbage. Shima is looks like mashed potatoes but it is a corn based powder that mixed with water becomes and thick, dense mixture. They use this to actually eat with as well instead of a fork or spoon, It's not high in nutritional value but it's definitely filling. While we were cooking the men worked very hard on digging holes so that they could put the logs into the ground to start the foundation of the house.

Once the food was ready it was time to wash the mens hands for them...that's right we had to go around to pour water over their hands to prepare them to eat. Once they were ready I had to serve my Dad first then Jordan....oh yes I didn't mention yet that I need to do this on my knees and then clap at the end to show a sign of respect!! It was o.k. though because they knew I was a one time deal!! After we eat too and then go around again to wash their hands again. We also had the opportunity to taste their local beer that is made from scratch..let just say it's an acquired taste!

Next we went to visit a man a few farms away that is a blacksmith. He makes axes, spears for hunting and many other items out of old metal he finds at the scrapyard. The boys participated a it to stoke the first while he heating the metal. It was a very cool thing to see. To finish of the day we danced!! Jordan and Dad got right into it and kicked up their heels with some of the ladies. It was really cool to hear some of their traditional songs and participate in their dances. This was a very cool day that people would never get to experience when staying a one of the big hotels...awesome experience.

Well enjoy the pics. Next entry will be about the bush fire. I need a whole new page for that one!!

cheers!

Chobe

I have to start off this blog entry by stating that Rwanda, our 2 year old male lion, is roaring in the background. I never grow tired of that sound even if it's 4 a.m.

Well last weekend me and the boys and two other volunteers from Lions headed out to Chobe National Park in Botswana. Everyone had built it up so much that I was afraid that I was expecting too much of it. Well it was all that and a bag of potato chips!! I've never seen so many animals within 2 days in my life.

We started out the day by grabbing a shuttle to the Botswana border and then a safari truck picked us up on the other side to head to our first game viewing. The first game drive was by water. It was so amazing to see elephants crossing the rivers and hippos by the dozen all grouped up together. We saw many crocs and one even had a huge fish in it's mouth that it had just killed. I wouldn't even be able to describe the colours of the birds here, they are just amazing. At one point we even saw a 1 meter snake crossing the river. After about three hours we headed back to shore for lunch and had a little downtime to relax.

Next on the agenda was our first game drive on land. As we enter the park we see some warthogs...always a funny scene. What was the second animal, oh just a leopard. Apparently it's rare to see a leopard since there are so few left in the wild but we managed to see it twice over the weekend. At one point of the drive I swear there must have been about 250 elephants around heading towards the water. At one point on one of the drives an elephant was about 5 feet from Jordan. Then came the moment of the day for me when we turned a corner and there laying in the middle of the road was a male lion about 15 months old. I literally couldn't speak....I just pointed. We were so luckily to also see 5 cubs sitting all together waiting for their mothers to get back from hunting. 200 pictures later and we were on our way. There were so many giraffe, kudu, ginny fowl (very funny birds might I add), warthogs, puke, sable, impala, hippos, and I won't start to try to list the birds although one is called a Bastard!! I didn't giggle at all when they told me that!!

That night we arrived at camp around 6:30 to a nice bonfire to warm us up. Yes we tented it in the wilds of Africa!! They had an amazing supper for us and we struggled to stay up past 7:30. I'm not going to lie...Jordan and I were the first to bed :) We read for a while and then I pitched a fit when I found a spider crawling across my pillow. Poor Jordan had just fallen asleep when I yelled for him to take care of it...apparently I made it a little more dramatic then necessary!!

Then next day we were up at 6:00 and off on another game drive. We were to happy when we saw the leopard again and another family of lions. After a few hours it was back to camp where we had some food, some rest time and then back home. Everyone should do something like this at least once in their life...please add it to your list.

Enjoy the photos...good night. xoxo

The boys are back in town...

Hey everyone,

So the boys have arrived! They have been hear almost a week but things have been so busy that I hadn't had a chance to write anything. There is much to write about now though.

As we were driving back to Lion Encounter we came up on 7 wild elephants just on the side of the road. I'm not sure they realized for the first few seconds that these were indeed wild. So the day they arrived we all went on their first lion walk with the 2 Z's (Zaria & Zamfara). I was so great to see their expressions when they we able to touch a lion for the first time. By the end of their first day they say lions, elephants, giraffe, baboons, vervet monkeys, a croc and some hippos....not bad for a first day.

On their second day that had a the great opportunity to feed some of our big lions up in Dambwa. Jordan had to carry a leg in while my Dad took a head of a donkey to feed. Now that lions clearly are put into a holding area while they put in the meat so when they finally open the holding area door it's something to see adult lions just tearing at the meat until nothing is left but some white bone.

They have also done the tour of town and many other activities so things are going great and they are both loving it. Jordan has gone out with the young ones as well but Mom is here to ensure he stays in-line!!

We went to Chobe National Park this weekend but that will be for the next entry!! so many photos...so little space on these pages.

Take care everyone...

Vick xoxo

The excitement is growing...

Well it's just 6 days before Jordan and my Dad get here so planning has begun. I was able to bid on a trip into the Chobe National Park in Botswana in a silent auction and won the bid so off we are going to Chobe. There will be a birthday for Dad as well but I will keep that quiet to no secrets are revealed!!

On elephant research these days we are seeing two females very pregnant and about to give birth. Now the odds of us seeing the birth is very slim but we are hoping that once she has the babies we will see some very young elephants. She is so big that she is staying around the area so it's a very exciting possibility. You can see her here in the picture. Elephants actually carry their babies for 2 years before giving birth and a baby elephant is about 200-250 kgs at birth....that would make me take birth control!!

As I sit here in the office I recognize some of the differences in my office environment. Right now I am sitting on the edge of the chair because Bug the cat is sitting on it as well and I wouldn't want to disturb him. Also at times we get a knock at the door or should I say a scrape at the door because Simba or Trevor would like to sit in the office with us. It's crazy but I love it!!

I had a crazy moment the other day when me and a velvet monkey started to play a game together. When I came out of the office he (remember how we know it's a male velvet monkey!!) was standing about 10m away from me. We just stood there staring at each other and then I decided to see how he would react to me. So I squatted down and then he followed...then I stood up and he followed. This went on for a few minutes until he changed the game to I going to hide behind this palm and play peek-a-boo with you. It was awesome and now Likando tells me...Vicky there are monkeys outside!!

I stayed over at the general manager's house this week with Cara because they are on vacation. The picture you see is one of my new friends Atlas. He was very curious to see what I was doing on the computer. Also, I ended up helping out on my day off with a puppy that was found outside of someone's house in town. It was shivering, dehydrated and had fleas. The girls managed to kill the fleas with some powder and the rest of us worked on giving it water, food and warm cuddles. The vet came by to attend to it as well and it seems that the puppy is doing very well now.

Well that's all for now folks...stay tuned and I'm happy to hear I have some new followers...Luc!!

Cheers

What a week...

Well there are few stories over the last week. On my day off this week I went out with Cara, Anant & his niece and nephew to the big tree, Zambiezi Sun and the Croc Farm. The big tree is well...a big tree but you can climb up on it and have a great view of the falls and you can see over into Zimbabwe. We sat up there and had a few drinks before moving on to the Zambiezi Sun for lunch. After lunch we were off to the Croc Farm where we saw some massive crocs but the highlight was actually holding one that was 1 1/2 years old. There are still small but can do some damage to fingers!!

Now on Monday we headed out on elephant research which is normally just a beautiful ride around the park where you see a lot of animals and hopefully you find elephants. Well that day was a little different. As we going along a very narrow road deep in the bush we heard some people on the other side of the water banging pots and then we heard a trumpet of an elephant so off we went. Along the way out of the area we were patrolling some people noticed 2 people duck down along the riverbed. Well as you may remember we always have a scout with us from the Zambia Wildlife Authorities so we halted the truck and the chase began. The whole time the rest of us just watched from the truck to what was going on. One of the guys started running so the scout shot in the air which did not stop him but it did stop his friend. He was yelling to stay down and had the riffle cocked. Needless to say at this point the heart was racing. Before I go on here you need to know that illegally fishing is seen as poaching and the punishment is sever here for that. Although we don't usually think of fish in that manner they have to treat it the same as if they were killing a buffalo or an impala illegally. The law is the law here. So back to the story....at this point the guy keeps trying to take off so the scout holds him down and grabs a branch from the tree and starts to whip him on the back. He then let him go and the guy took off in terror. I have to say that I was shocked by this but after thinking about it what the guy was doing was illegal and technically if someone runs after doing something illegal the scouts have a right to shoot so this guy was lucky he got away with only a branch whipping.

So was the day over....no way. We then made it over to the area where the elephants were which was a lodge that consisted of small cabins and tents. We found the elephants and the owner said he was ok with them being there but then the scout convinced him that he should fire off some rounds in the air to scare them away from the area because it was dangerous for the visitors. Well he shot in the air and all the elephants started to run into the tent area and then the scout ran down that way and shot again. The elephants proceeded to just run back to the original area. You can guess what happened next...that's right he ran back and shot again and the elephants went back to the tent area. This went on for a good 20 minutes which just started to get embarrassing. With all of the shooting it also intrigued the guests and they all started to come to the area and some followed the scout while drinking beer. At no point did these people think that these are 12 large wild elephants that can kill them in 2 seconds. Anyhow after 20 minutes the situation was finally under control and we proceeded home. That was definitely the craziest elephant research I have been on.

On a softer side, I had about 15 students and 4 teachers come for a visit this week so I put together a lesson with the help of the lion handlers and guides to talk about the importance of conservation and helping the lion population. It was really cool to see the students go from the typical I'm bored look to fascinated and full of questions by the end. After the quick lesson for about 20 minutes we took them over to see our 2 year old lions and then the cubs. I was able to get them to the fence so some of them could touch a lion and one even let me lift her paw so I could show them how big their claws are. They were so thrilled that one girl even sung a song for me at the end. It was a great day and I'm hoping to work with some more school children this month.

Anyhow that's all for now and sorry no pictures of my eyebrow waxing Amy!!

Cheers.

June News Letter

So I made it into the newsletter this month which you can read by either clicking on the link below or copy and pasting the link in your internet page. This is a great newsletter to subscribe to to see all the action going on with ALERT.

http://www.lionalert.org/documents/newsletters/Newsletter-June-11.pdf

As for me...well I'm the older one of the group except David Youldon and I are only 5 months apart and I think it's starting to hurt!! Keeping up with 20 year old is a tough job but I guess someone has to do it. We went out for cocktails and prawns on Friday night and didn't get home very early!! Up at 6:00 the next day to work though....I still have the work hard...play hard attitude!!

I decided to treat myself to a little spa time at one of the big hotels. I was able to get local pricing seeing that I am working here so 1 hour hot stone massage, 1/2 hour indian head massage and eyebrow plucking was only $80. The problem this morning when I woke up is I realized that the redness that I had around and between my eyes was not temporary....I have lost skin!!! Needless to say I am wearing a hat and glasses today to mask myself but that doesn't stop Cara from asking me to take off the hat to have a good chuckle and tell everyone to come look at it. Live and learn!!!

We also had a BBQ in India on Saturday night. Richard (general manager) actually caught 4 tiger fish right from the dock so that was added to the menu and it was delicious. In the background there were hippos keeping us entertained by making calls and popping out of the water every now and then. One actually tried to come up on shore just a few feet from us which is where we were eating but the dogs managed to scare it back into the water.

Ele research last week proved to show that we have a lot of elephants now migrating back into Zambia for the winter. At one point we nearly became trapped between a heard of 21 elephants which can be very dangerous. Luckily our driver was quick to maneuver us out of the way. One elephant gave us a clear warning to not get any closer or we would have to contend with him (see photo). One bachelor elephant that we saw decided to swim across the river. He was quite hilarious because he kept bobbing up and down and blowing water from his trunk. He seemed to be having a great time on his own.

I had a great lion walk the other day with Dendi and Damara. They are sisters about 8 months old and they are becoming quite adventurous and we are starting to see their hunting skills develop quickly. They were even so bold to stalk a adult giraffe the other day. I think we saw the giraffe laughing but we won't tell the girls. I did however have a great time with Damara because she is very inquisitive and likes to play. Some of the photos are of her by the river, playing in the water and with her sister Dendi. It's actually quite rare to see a lion with their full head in the water so it was fantastic to witness it in person.

Alright I'm off now....take are everyone...miss you all lots.

Vick

This may be offside....

By now you have already looked at the pictures in this post and probably have figured out what I am referring to in my title. I had a dramatic discovery whilst reading my Kindle the other day in the back of my room. There were all kinds of Vervet monkeys around playing and eating in the trees when one when running past me and bent over. I wish I had a camera to see the shock on my face!! Of course I ran to get a camera because I thought "my friends and family need to see this"!! I have finally discovered where the saying "blue balls" comes from....yes this may be a little offside for a topic of conversation but I said I would be honest...ha ha.

Saturday night this week we went out for supper and drinks to benefit a couple that lost their house and all their belongings in a fire. It was sad to hear that they lost everything but as Livingstone is a very tight community, within days one of the restaurants set up an evening and all the benefits went to the family to help them out. It was very touching and at the same time great to see a community come together. I'm not going to lie Karaoke was happening that night and I may have had a few performances....Jordan sorry for the phone call from us...everyone is just excited for you to arrive!!

I thought I would take the chance to introduce you to the two dogs that we live with Trevor and Simba. They are great dogs who live the life of Riley here. They just run around all day and get the affections of about 20 people everyday. Trevor is the orange haired dog and Simba is the white one. Simba's head can fit perfectly in your hands and Trevor tends to nip my bum often to let me know she's there!!(see photos)

Well after two evening out this week yesterday was a relaxing day of resting, watching SATC and a movie down at the landlords house. Where I'm living is rented grounds and the landlords live on the water near us. They are a family of 5 originally from India but have been living in Zambia for a long time. Every place has a name here so when we are at their house we say...'I'm going to India or I'm in India". They have a lovely deck on the river so yesterday we sat and watched 5 hippos come in and out of the water and even fished a little bit.

Thanks everyone for you comments...keep them coming. I get excited when I see that I have comments about the blog and also that you are enjoying the read.

Well I'm off to work again...Happy Father Day to all you dad's out there!!!!

Cheers.

I had a shower with a frog....

Yup yesterday was another new adventure. As I was in the shower which is outdoors and I had a little frog join me. Normally this probably would have sent me in a little bit of tailspin but here you just say hello and go on with your shower. The only thing that worried me was "Will there be a snake right behind him and is this his hiding place??" Luckily he just enjoyed the steam and sat quietly watching me...a bit of a perv I guess!!

Well on to some other stories....I experienced high tea on my day off on Sunday. This is held at one of the local hotels the Royal Livingstone everyday around 4:00. Basically you pay $17 for all you can eat sandwiches, quiche and desserts. And when I say desserts I mean 2 tables loaded with different types. Along with this you can choose any tea you want and sit and look at the Zambiezi river....(see photo). The hotel itself is a step back in time to the colonial era where all of the staff still dress like that. It's very cool. We then went down to the deck for my new favourite cocktail...a passion fruit martini. A few minutes in I thought I was going to need to wrestle a vervet monkey for my drink but she just wanted the fruit so I was safe. I did though at one go...."oh my God...Oh my God" and my friend Cara just laughed at me.

Yesterday we also bumped into a hippo along the riverside road while doing research. It's not common to see them out of the water during the day because of the risk of sunburn. They will usually only come out during the night to eat but we think this one had maybe been in a fight with another hippo and he was just recovering. He did send us some clear signals to get the heck away from him...(see photo).

As you can see from the photos it was also time to do the hair dying. Yes that's right...I have grey hair at such a young age...ha ha!! Maitel & Kelly thank you for the supplies....it went very well except I didn't have Kelly washing my hair afterwards.

I have added a few pics as well just to show you where I am living.

Enjoy...Cheers.

Always an adventure...

Well as per usual I always have something new to tell!! Last Sunday I was invited out to learn how to shoot riffles. Of course I said yes so off we went. We started with a 22 which now I realize is almost like a BB gun compared to some of the others!! Then the second one was a 375...I'm not going to lie that was pretty cool (see photos).

On Elephant research Friday is was a bit of a safari day as we bumped into a mother Rhino and her baby. Now these Rhinos in this park are watched 24 hours a day by armed guards because of illegal poaching. The scout knowing us allowed us to get off of our truck and take some pictures. The baby was so cute and very curious about us being there. It's a very rare thing to be able to see a while Rhino as the numbers are dramatically low.

Unfortunately it's not all beautiful as we also bumped into a young Giraffe that we had seen 2 weeks prior who had been caught in a snare. It had become so infected and because of the way it needed to walk it actually had broken it's foot and was hanging off while it used it's chin to walk on. It's so sad to see but we cannot do anything with the wild animals so we just report it to the wildlife society and nature will take it's course. One positive thing that the group that I work for does every week is snare sweeps in the park to try to find and remove as many as we can. Every snare remove is an animal saved and that's a great feeling.

Of course I cannot forget that every day I have the lions to be with. The young cubs are growing up so quickly and they are slowly becoming hunters and socializers. It's quite remarkable to witness.

I hope you enjoy the pics...see you soon.

Cheers xoxo

Sorry it's been so long....

Sorry everyone, I had problems getting in to edit my blog.

So what's been going on.....well I did hit the greens last Sunday and had a great time. It does get a little hot by lunch time but we were o.k. once we hit the 19th hole. Afterwards we went over to the Zambezi Sun which is a beautiful hotel which if you buy a cocktail you can use their pool...take one guess on what we did!! As we are sitting around the pool wild zebras just walk on buy (see photo). Apparently you can see giraffes, impala and other game as well if you are lucky. Anyhow...very nice hotels here if you can get here.

I have to say it's amazing that all I have to myself here is a little room that's maybe 7 x 9 feet and it doesn't bother me at all. I've been able to see quite a bit of Livingstone now and it still amazes me how friendly everyone is. Everyone and I mean everyone literally waves to each other here...it's just so friendly.

I have managed to make it to Victoria Falls as well yesterday. It was absolutely beautiful. You pretty much walk through the spray of the falls which is like a wicked rain fall. There was a double rainbow too...yes Jordan a double rainbow. I can't wait for you to see it in person!! Afterwards we went over to the Royal Livingston hotel where we had cocktails right on the water.....is anyone seeing a theme here or is it just me??? Next Sunday "high tea" where for 18$ you can eat as much as you want of cakes, tarts, sandwiches and quiche....there goes the weight loss.

Anyhow enjoy some of the pics and hopefully video will be up shortly when I have enough power to load one.

Cheers,
Vick xoxo

p.s. Marco let me know when we can chat :)