I haven't had internet for the past two weeks and before that Elizabeth was here so I apologize for the absence. I also just got back from my fourth trip to the Mayukwayukwa Refugee Camp. I feel like I haven't been home in awhile so let me fill you in on what's been going down.

Elizabeth arrived Feb. 20th and left March 3rd. We did Zambia properly, hitting up Livingston, going to a Chimpanzee Orphanage and chilling in Lusaka, grassrooting and whatnot.

This was my third time going to Victoria Falls, and honestly each time I've been I've seen something completely different. Depending on the season the magnitude of the falls differs, and right now it is at its most glorious. Here's me in December and then the exact same spot two weeks ago:



How crazy is that. Now it's breathtakingly powerful; there's no sense in wearing a raincoat because the mile high spray comes down like a torential rain in Florida only it never lets up. Actually the whole time we were there we couldn't stop laughing; the spray making us giddy. Apparently, Vic falls is suppose to be energizing, something to do with all the negative ions produced by the water tumbling. I buy it.


We hit up the requisite Sunset Cruise aka booze cruise on the Zambezi River. When you are boating down the river with complete strangers and an open bar, anything can happen, especially when an Aussie decides it's time to invent new types on shots. But the gem of the cruise was my man Yak of whom I somehow didn't get a picture. This guy was 40 Year Old Virgin meets Around the World in 80 Days. He was a Missourian covered in American flags who'd been around the world 7 times and been to all 7 continents, but I wondered if in fact he had ever stopped breast-feeding. Now that's cruel but Yak was truly classic, an oblivious albeit weathered world traveler.


After that it was elephant riding. Pretty cool to be on an elephant going through the savannah for an hour. Everyone goes with a guide and I learned that my elephant was a naughty girl who disappeared into the jungle for eight months and came back pregnant. I think my favorite part about the whole thing was just seeing Elizabeth riding an elephant, like she was the queen round these parts. Her elephant was the biggest one in the pack. However, better than riding was feeding them afterwards. I've basically got this elephant trunk in my face and I give it some nuts and she sucks the food out of my hand and puts it in her mouth. Bizarre.


Finally, we made a visit to the Royal Livingston Hotel for drinks on our last night. This place is uber 5 star and really brings it back to colonial times. It's like a recreation of Rudyard Kipling's day. We had this queezy feeling of being completely out of place in the British empire swank, but also like the kids allowed to sit at the grownups table at Thanksgiving. Anyway, we went there with my friend Bernerd and there just happens to be a grand piano at the bar and he happens to be a really good musician. It was hilarious, he tapped out the piano man, sat down and played and sang a two hour set. Mostly oldies, Beatles and U2(this is the same man doing a head-stand during a u2 song at my party), but me and Elizabeth were blown away. That and the husband making his wife take back glass after glass of whiskey before midnight because she was giving up alcohol for Lent(they were Irish) made for a most enjoyable evening.

Back in Lusaka, I showed Elizabeth off to all my friends, had her experience the Kidsafe Soccer league I run and we sampled the meager selection of good restaurants the city offers. We were only in Lusaka for the weekend (notice how I scheduled all our trips during the week making my February holiday all the more conspicuous).


Monday we were off to Chimfunshi, the Chimpanzee Orphanage, in the Copperbelt. It was an easy six-hour drive in the rented car. This place was a no-frills joint but perfect nonetheless. We stayed in a tin hut on the side of the Kafue River. Picturesque, there was a picnic bench that served as our dining room outside. They would bring us coals for the grill but it was self-catering, so we had to make all our meals, camping-style. Everything were delicious needless to say, from grilled pork medallions and saffron rice to soy marinated sirloin with green pepper, corn, and lentil salad with fresh basil. You know how I do!


The chimp experience was wild. They basically didn't prepare us at all and simply opened this cage door and out came five baby chimpanzees who immediately jumped on us. It was pretty surreal, one minute just hanging out and the next carrying a chimp through the woods. What?! We got to play with them for about an hour an half, wrestling, tickling. These animals are incredible, each with its own personality and temperment. It was fascinating being so close and observing how they interact with each other and with us. My favorite was one of them, Ed, would climb part way up a try and then jump down onto our guide and smack her on the ass, mischievious little fellow.


So the chimps at Chimfunshi are from all over the world. From Chile to Russia to Saudi Arabia, most of them have been rescued from defunct circuses or Arabian bars where they've been made to smoke cigarettes and drink. Now they're in the middle of Zambia. The people at the refuge don't ever set them back into the wild, which is good and bad I guess. They provide all the food and we got to watch a couple of feedings as you can see above. It was totally amazing. The refuge also has a hippo named Billy hanging about who was rescued as a baby and it still fed from a bottle though she's fifteen. I have never seen a hippo out of the water in broad daylight before so this was particularly cool. They are massive massive creatures and realy quite unbelievable.


Elizabeth almost missed her flight because my alarm didn't go off which actually would have been better. Her ghost is everywhere now and I'm still getting back into the rhythm of life without her. But the trip was incredible and I'm just thankful she got to come here. So that was a short summation of the our time together. It's a week later now and I'll fill you in soon on my trip to Mayukwayukwa but I wouldn't want to burden you with too much information at once. Take a break, grab a Snickers, and maybe when you come back I'll have updated something. Not that my internet is back up I'll be sure to post more often.