May the 4th be with you

I was trying to make my blog a little more exciting so I wrote a to be continued from a sketchy situations I found myself in. But while I was writing it I got really tired and now my lack of a quality internet resource is preventing my thriller suspense post. Maybe next time! Anyways I had an amazing three week vacation. It was five days of traveling to get to my destination Victoria Falls in Livingstone, Zambia. I spaced it out over seven days. I stayed with other volunteers along the way and ended up on a diesel truck overnight into Lusaka, Zambia the nation capitol. Then after leaving Victoria falls I returned to Mozambique in under 24 hours and was on the beach the following day. I spent a week at the beach before returning to site. The Lusaka was great. Helen and I arrived at about 6am and had two days to wander the city before meeting up with Ian and David. It was like being in American. They have Subway and huge shopping malls. The malls were just like the ones at home. Our first night in Lusaka we went to the movies after walking around all day trying to find the US embassy and Peace Corps Office. Helen ate Subway and I found a burrito for dinner and then we went to see The Hunger Games. The movie theatre was better than the one in Medford, the movie wasn’t very good but just going to a movie was. The next day we tracked down authentic Belgium chocolate in Zambia, which we confirmed as being authentic. I ate like an American for the two days I was in Lusaka. From Lusaka we took a nice bus to Livingstone. We arrived fairly early but after going to big grocery store and checking into our backpackers hostel, which had a climbing wall and a decent pool, we decided to chill for the rest of the afternoon. The feasting continued in Livingstone. Our first day at Victoria Falls we hit up the National Park and spent most of the day there. April is about the peak water volume for the Zambezi river. The mist from the pressure of the water falling creates a wicked down pour of water near the falls. There were rainbows everywhere as we enjoyed the waterfall and the shower. We were all completely soaked from head to toe, besides being a little cold, it was astonishing. There are a few different trails and viewpoints exlore. On our way down to the bottom trail we almost were attacked by baboons. Luckily they went for the four white chicks behind us and the old ladies in front of us, seriously. The group in front of us and behind us had a purse stolen. We didn’t have our bags because we left them at the office after they were completely soaked from the falls. We also had Helen with us who is something like a professional baboon fighter (Helen was wacked in the face by a baboon stealing her purse last year). I ended up joining some of the locals in a baboon hunt. The baboons had stole two purses ripped everything out and ran off with the cameras for some reason. I watched one of them biting at the girl’s camera before disappearing into the bushes. It was pretty funny, probably not for the girl without the purse though. There were hundreds of baboons around the park. The rest of the day Ian and I carried sticks just in case. There are two resorts next to the park that have a lot zebras. We went to check it out and got a tour by the security guard. The one resort was ridiculously rich and we were walking around looking like poor volunteers. We also seen giraffes and a crocodile. Ian’s life flashed before his eyes as we were walking and out of nowhere this crocodile quickly sprints out from the bushes straight at us. Luckily the crocodile was a huge salamander. But we realized that if we can’t out run a salamander we are in a world of hurt if a crocodile comes for us. As our tour came to a close I wanted to take a picture and noticed I left my phone on a rock hours ago tying to let it dry from the waterfall showers. So I’m back to a normal phone now. Day two in Livingstone started with a safari walk at a local park. There were not any predators but we seen about everything else. We seen elephants, zebras, giraffes, impalas, baboons, rhinos, warthogs, wildebeests, and several birds. After the safari we went back to the hostel to relax a bit and head back to the falls. We had been debating bungee jumping the last couple days. I noticed that I had spent all my money and Ian didn’t want to jump off the bridge. Most of me didn’t either. So we went to the falls to check out the bridge area that connects Zambia with Zimbabwe over the Zambezi river. It was looking like a no go on bungee jumping. We were taking photos and I was broke. Then all the sudden Helen steps up and tells us we’re jumping off the bridge and takes off to the office. This is a 120 meter bridge and I’m not going to lie, jumping off it scared the poop out of me. We look at each other and were like I think she is serious, which she was. Ian and I went but were not expecting to do anything besides watch. Helen was not taking no for an answer so she ended up loaning me the money. I was thinking, “what did I just get myself into?” We did the Big Air Experience, a zip line across the gorge, a rope swing off the bridge and the bungee jump. The zip line was a joke. But the other two jumps were not. Both are from the top of the bridge with complete free fall until the cord runs out. The swing is feet first and the bungee is a dive. Diving off a bridge is extremely scary to me and jumping feet first is not any better. Both were really scary but I liked the rope swing better. Look it up on google or youtube. I traveled back to Mozambique through Zimbabwe, which we are not allowed to do in the Peace Corps. But whatever it’s shorter and a new country for me. It was a bit sketchy and I ended up traveling a night too. But all worked out well. Read my second to last blog post for more on that. Then I hit the beach! I watched the sunrise 7 straight mornings on the beach. I spent 3 nights in Tofo, where I met some cool travelers and chilled. Tofo was empty and I felt like I had he beach o myself. I read a lot and relaxed. I went surfing one day and it was the best surf day I ever had. I hope to do it again sooner than later. Then I went to meet up with some other volunteers at Drew’s house, Drew is the one who visited me a couple months ago. Drew’s house and site is something else. He has running water, shower, indoor toilet, three bedrooms, and furniture. We just cooked and hangout that night. That weekend there was a big party in Vilanculus. So we all left Drew’s to meet at the backpackers. There was about 60 volunteers gathering for a drinking competition. It ended up being surprisingly fun even for someone not drinking like myself. Forrest brought my guitar and there were two drums. So we jammed each night. Forrest and I call our little band we have Spicy Poop and we are kind of a big thing here with some of the volunteers, haha. The weekend was spent swimming and laying on the beach all day. I cooked shrimp for the first time and it turned out well. I camped out on the beach Saturday night with a friend. The weekend was so fun and a perfect way to end my vacation. Forrest and I stayed another night in Vil at Drew’s. I went to class with Drew Monday morning, he teaches English at a teaching institute. His school is just as spectacular as his house. I took my guitar and we jammed Bob Marley for his students. Then they asked me about my life. They were all very interested about the military and I ended up hazing four of his students. It was surprisingly fun. Check out the previous blog post of Drew’s weekly email for more details about it. Now it’s Friday night I just finished teaching and am back to my Mabalane life! I may have missed a few things but that should be about it. Check out Helen’s blog too for her perspective on our Zambia trip, http://moz15.blogspot.com Peace, love, and do good things Jimmy