Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Catch Up #1- Elephants and Waterfalls (written May 30 ’11)

This weekend [a week or so before Megan and I left Africa] was absolutely amazing. We left our house on Sunday morning, and arrived in the town of Victoria Falls ten hours later, exhausted, but excited.

The next morning we went to see Victoria Falls, which is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Words can’t even describe how incredibly breathtaking those falls are. It is literally unending waterfalls, water pounding down unstoppably, with an insane amount of spray… we were all drenched by the end of it! Thankfully, the rest of our family has been there before, and we were prepared this time- we bought the “touristy” ponchos, and they saved most of our clothes from harm. I also wrapped my camera in cellophane, which saved it from any water damage.

I literally can’t describe how amazing it was, so I’ll let the pictures describe it for me.
















After the waterfalls, Megan, our mom, and I went… and rode elephants! The elephants were so steady and gentle, it was actually very comfortable. Elephants are the second most intelligent animals in the world (after dolphins, my favourite) and it was so obvious; those elephants understand spoken commands in English, Shona, and Ndebele (two other languages in Zimbabwe, other than English), and answer to their own names. It was so surreal, I kept on thinking to myself, You’re riding an elephant in Africa!

It was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had- right up there with riding camels around the pyramids!

Our elephant (my sister and I had to share a ride) was named Lundi, and she’s pregnant, and will give birth any day now. She was very sweet; after our hour long ride, we got to feed her, and sit on her ‘lap’. They’re very demanding about getting treats, sticking their long trunks right in your face if you’re not quick enough about it.

Again, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are a few thousand more words…














No comments: