"home" again

I am not sure if you may have heard the news out of Zimbabwe, but I made it out without incident, almost. Vic Falls was so unbelievably fantastic. I have no idea what to give top billing. I did a full day of whitewater rafting on the Zambezi (class 5). 6 in our raft: me. a kiwi, 2 from Zambia, one from London and one from Bombay. The river is as good if not better than the Gauley. 21 rapids. Even more interesting were the crocs that dotted the shore as we made our way. I am not sure I stopped laughing the whole time. At one point we had the opportunity to get out of the raft and do a set of rapids in just our life jacket. I, of course, ended up finding the only whirlpool in the rapids. After it spun me in a few circles, it pulled me under. Once I calmed down and went with it, I was spit out not far down river.

I did an ultralight over the falls too. I am not sure if I have ever been more scared. What I can actually remember seeing was beautiful. I had to go back and look at the pictures just to remember it. We were tossed around like a kite.

then there was the herd of elephants that I watched cross the Zambezi during the sunset cruise. We watched them push each other into the water then about all you could see was heads as they crossed.

The falls were beyond words. One of the Zim guys asked me before I left this morning how they compared to Niagara. LOLOLOL. There is no comparison. Wait til you see the pics!

Oh, I probably should mention that I was picked up by the police. They didn't think I should be where I was. It was enough to make me a little nervous with everything going on in the country, but in the end they basically just turned me over to the tourist police who escorted most of the way back to my hotel.

One afternoon I was walking and a very little girl and her brother said hello to me. I walked a few more steps and the next thing I know she has run up beside me and put her and put her hand in mine. We walked a few "blocks" until she and her brother had to make a turn to go to the curio market. They were adorable and were pretty proud of themselves for being so bold. We were not able to communicate really but it was pretty cool.

I had not planned on getting more "stuff" but I felt so bad - people were trying to trade their carvings for my clothes and shoes. I traded my old sneakers for 2 very nice carvings, my shirt I traded for 5 Nyamenyami necklaces (the river god - I figured I should have him). Another guy wanted to give me a stone carving for my jeans. I just gave them to him. If I had taken a few more thigns with me I would have given them away. Oh, I also bought a hippo stone carving for what comes to 3 dollars. Things are really really bad there. Many many people without homes. Villages have been burned. I heard that Kofee Annan is supposed to be coming in from the UN. I think things are gonna get worse before better. There is no economy to speak of. I traded some rand for Zim dollars. A pizza and a coke cost me $225,000.00 (zim dollars). Yes, those zeros are accurate.

I did hear the news about New Orleans. It is one of the top stories both in Zimbabwe and South Africa. It looks pretty bad.

Anyway, the trip, I am sure I am forgetting alot, was so so so so amazing... Oh! my room - from the balcony (yes, I splurged for a very nice place) you could see the vapors from the falls rising through the trees. I fell asleep at night to their rumble.

I need to catch a ride so I gotta bail. I still have a little time left here but I can feel the return home approaching with mixed feelings.

I hope you all are well and really wish you could see all this!