Wrapping it Up in Zimbabwe...

Kevin's last post before heading home:

After seeing the Falls in all their glory, the last two days lacked any scheduled events, so it was up to us to decide what to do. My grandfather and I made our first decision; we reserved an 11:00 am tee time for the Elephant Hills golf course, designed by South African legend Gary Player. We were met by our two local caddies, who not only gave us tips (which were entirely necessary), but also insight on Zimbabwe culture. There were lots of animals along the way and the monkeys followed us everywhere. Fortunately, we only hit two water bucks and they didn't seem to mind. Overall, it was certainly a great experience.

While the two of us were out on the course, the rest of my family had been relaxing in the comfort of the Ilala Lodge. When they knew we were almost finished, they left to meet us at the Elephant Hills Hotel, where we all enjoyed a nice lunch together.

We came back to the hotel to relax for a little while before taking a taxi to the Zambezi River, where we were greeted by Zimbabwean musicians and dancers, for a three-hour sunset river cruise. We were told that we would see some animals in the water and land throughout the ride, and although that would sound appealing to most (including the easily excited Japanese tourists on the boat with us), we weren’t expecting anything that could top what we had already seen. Even still, though, we were pretty taken aback when an elephant came to the edge of the land just a few feet away from our boat (and was very excited to see us!). Capped off by a beautiful red sunset, the Zambezi cruise was certainly a nice way to end the day.

            

On our last morning in Zimbabwe, we all woke up relaxed and in no hurry. Well, most of us, anyway; my grandfather, being the adventurer that he is, had a 7:15 appointment for a microlight flight on the Zambia side of the river. If you don’t know what that is, that’s okay, because we didn’t either. But as you can see from the pictures below, it was a pretty exhilarating experience for him.

           

The rest of the day was pretty slow. We enjoyed a nice lunch together in the hotel, and we split up for dinner. My grandparents went out to one of the more famous hotels in the area, while my mom, my brother and I ordered from the bar menu and played cards outside. It was easy to forget where we were while being occupied with games and food, so we had to stop before returning to our rooms to say, “Oh my god, we’re in Zimbabwe right now.”

          

Tomorrow we will begin our long adventure back to the United States. This has been an incredible experience that I’m sure none of us will forget as time goes on.