Off to Zambia and Kenya

We have arrived safely in Zambia and are staying just outside a national park called South Luangwa.  Yesterday we were in the capitol of Malawi in Lilongwe.  Jim and Jodi McGill, PCUSA missionaries, and family had just arrived back in Malawi after spending a year in the US.  It was wonderful to see them and thank them for all their help with our mission trip to Embangweni .  We missed the opening games of the Olympics – TIA!  There was a problem at our guest house with the cable TV and the internet – both were not working properly.  So after dinner at the guest house we all headed to bed.

Our main driver in Malawi, James, told us sad news before dropping us yesterday at the guest house.  He had learned two days prior that his mother died in the northern region of Malawi, in the town of Mzimba.  After talking to him we learned that this was not his birth mother because she too had died earlier in his life, but this mama had been the one to raise him.  We are keeping him and his family in our prayers.  Many, if not most of our friends we have made here have a similar story.  Parents dying, children dying, and extended family raising those left behind. 

This morning we said goodbye to the Dubose family as they were flying to Kenya.  We will miss them SO much and cannot express what a joy they have been to travel with this entire time.  Ellis will especially miss Ellie, Cara, Jack and Ben.  We look forward to sharing and comparing our final time here in Africa.

Our safari group, Land and Lake, picked us up in a 4 wheel drive vehicle.  We picked up a newly married couple from England named David and Catherine and the four of us enjoyed getting to know each other.  She is a teacher and he is fire fighter.  Between the drive, customs, exchanging money and lunch, it took us about 7 hours to get here.  The exchanging money made us feel extremely wealthy when the Zambia kwatcha is about 4,000 to one US dollar.  The land and people were very similar to the areas we have seen in Malawi.  Zambia is much larger and therefore did not appear as densely populated.   Again, every village or town we passed had produce for sale and always the cell phone minutes from Air Tel.  In the midst of just about nothing you will find a small concrete building selling the Air Tel minutes.  Our vehicle had a flat tire along the way and while our driver changed it, children came running to greet us.  We played simple games with them.  They were all mesmerized with Ellis and just continued to smile and stare at her.  We also learned how to spot a funeral or a broken down vehicle.  Leaves are used to mark the road from both sides.  We saw an example of both today as we drove.  Leaves are also used outside the home of the person who died to identify the family who has suffered the loss.

The Zambian government is constructing a paved road leading to this area with the national park.  Our driver told us this had long been debated because some thought that having a good road would increase the number of animal poacher.  In the end, they decided that development would win.  The park is over 9000 km in square diameter.  We will depart tomorrow morning at 6:00 a.m. to enter the park.  Today after arriving we had a view of the river that runs alongside the lodging area.  Just on the other side of the river we spotted giraffe, elephant, hippos, crocodile, monkeys and several other animals and types of birds.  It is beautiful and peaceful here.  We heard stories over dinner of the hungry lions coming across the river and going into the nearby villages and eating twelve goats.  The river is low because it is winter and the dry season.  Food is scarce therefore the animals come looking on this side for food.  Thankfully, there is a night watchman making sure we are safe here.  The people in the village may beat drums all night to keep the lions away but apparently sometimes that does not always scare the lions.  Right now it sounds like a party is going on in the village!  We saw hippo and elephant tracks from last night just outside our door, so we may hear visitors during the night.  The internet here is just about as tricky as Embangweni, so we cannot post too much as you buy internet time in 10 minute increments.  We look forward to posting pictures once we are back in the US.  We wanted you to know we’re safe and enjoying the beauty, people and animals of Africa that God has created.  Tucked inside our mosquito nets, we are saying good night.