A look at Livingstone and a bit of Botswana

Traveling by car to Livingstone is always an interesting trip. Especially this one since there was a shortage of gas. For nine hours we were continually looking for a gas station with petrol. The lines of cars at the ones that did have it were so long that it must have taken hours to get through them. We were so desperate that we bought it on the black market - literally. We made it safe and sound both ways, but with a few adventures


some of our friends....

Last Friday it was amazing to go and see Victoria Falls for the second time. I can only imagine what David Livingstone felt when he discovered them in 1855. From the name he heard that the people gave it – Mosioatunya – he must have been impressed. Mosioatunya means Smoking Thunder and indeed they are. He in turn named it Victoria Falls in honor of the Queen of England. The falls are counted among one of the seven natural wonders of the world. 150,000 gallons go over per second, and the falls stretch for 5,604 feet. They even stretch across two countries – Zambia and Zimbabwe.



they name everything after it


Victoria Falls in the dry season

Livingstone is not only known for Victoria Falls. It was once the capital of Zambia. The city is very clean, and there is always construction work going on to make it even nicer. Because it is so close to Victoria Falls, Livingstone is a very tourist-centered city. There are several traditional craft markets, many restaurants, and a few hotels. All the hotels are named after either Stanley or Livingstone. There is a wonderful museum about Africa with a special room dedicated to David Livingstone. It has copies of his original letters, some of the original books he used t carry like Pilgrims Progress and Robinson Crusoe, and the medical equipment he used. The broken bone he received from the lion attack is even on display.


the only one in the city


our favorite museum


this is one of the hotels named after David Livingstone


one of the ladies at the local craft market


just one of the road repairs

At the falls there are many wild animals that roam around like zebras, giraffes, and monkeys. Because they are so used to people they can be quite bold sometimes - especially the monkeys. All the hotels warn you not to leave your doors open because the monkeys like to barge right in in search of food. They will do anything for food. Once, Kamani Kamau (the son of one of the families working at the Village of Hope) was chased by a baboon. The baboon had no intention of hurting him. He just wanted his sandwich. He chased Kamani until he gave it up. Joe had an encounter with a zebra. We were all walking to the Falls and minding our own business when suddenly Joe started running. Fortunately Joe has long legs so he started to outrun the zebra that was chasing him. Beeline, as Joe later named him, was too lazy to continue chasing him and turned towards us. We quickly turned into a mass of running, squawking people. Nothing happened to us except that we go a bit of exercise.


the zebra that Joe loves

These are not the only animals we encountered. We made a special trip to Botswana to see more of God’s creatures. We went on a river cruise and a safari ride in Chobe National Park. In order to reach the park we crossed the Zambezi River in a tiny boat and as we crossed the river the driver pointed out that we were at the only point in the world where four countries meet. The four are Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia.


some of the elephants from the herd of families

There are approximately 120,000 elephants in Chobe National Park. We were able to observe a bachelor herd and a herd of families. It was interesting to see the instincts that elephants have. An example is when they get wet. Water makes their skin more attractive to bugs. Because of that, the minute they get out of the water they find mud or dust and spray it all over their body. God’s creation is amazing! We also saw herds of hippos in which only one male is in authority. Observing a staring contest between a female lion and a squirrel reminded us of how God’s creatures are both great and small. We noticed that just as mothers tenderly give their babies bathes, so mother baboons tenderly pick fleas off of their babies.


a monkey picking off ticks


one of the lizards that likes to eat crocodile eggs

The experiences and adventures we had at Livingstone and Chobe National Park have given us an even deeper respect and love of the mighty and awesome God we serve.