Zambezi Sunset

P1000904
Originally uploaded by kgoldsch.

Sunday was a bit of a crazy day. I was supposed to go to Zimbabwe to pick up some sports equipment for the sports program I was setting up this past week in Livingstone. Unfortunately they wanted to charge too much money for me to head across the border to pick up the stuff. Phil and I then headed into Livingstone on a frantic search for some footballs (soccer balls). Amazingly after searching every store we could and even heading to both local markets, we couldn't find one football. This is Africa at it's best. It is really hard to find anything that is even remotely a luxury item here. Not to worry, Phil had to head to Zim during the week anyway so he would pick everything up then.

Seeing as we had wasted an entire day running to the border and around town, we decided it would be a good idea to have another relaxing sunset. This time we would do it African style. We all packed into the back of my friend's truck and made a quick stop at the Zimbabwe market. This outdoor marked sells booze and other goods on the black market. Everything is smuggled in over the border from Zimbabwe and is much cheaper than any of the shops in town. We went to my favorite lady and bought a few cases of beer. We then headed off towards the Zambezi. We turned off onto a dirt road that took us along the banks of the Zambezi to where the Maramba River dumps into the Zambezi. There is a little peninsula here, right along the banks of the river, but a few meters above the waters edge, so safe from hippos and crocodiles. We sat up here on the banks and cracked open a few beers. Soon we were greeted by a herd of elephant making their way from Zimbabwe to Zambia, swimming across the river. It was amazing to watch the elephants swim, completely submerged with only their trunks as snorkels. The ended up on the banks of the Maramba river, just across from where we were sitting. It was an amazing sight, having them this close and truly nothing between them and us. After the elephants disapeared into the bush, the hippos got a little curious as to what was going on with us. They were checking us out from ten meters away in the water, poking thier eyes out of the water and every so often giving a grunt and yawn to entertain us. The hippos were great, but it was time for what we came for, the perfect African sunset. This was truly one of the best sunsets I have seen on the Zambezi, being this close to nature with the locals. This is heaven. As the sun was setting, another herd of elephant arrived on one of the islands on the river and had a drink with us at sunset. This is the Africa I remember... heaven.