Victoria Falls, Zambia

Following a few days to settle and debrief with the SIM leadership in Lusaka, we had the privilege of having a little holiday in Livingstone (the tourist capital of Zambia). Initially we weren't planning on adding this leg to our return trip - due largely to the great "fun" that is traveling with toddlers. However after discussing things with other missos, it really did seem a waste to be so close and not see one of the natural wonders of the world.  Hence after a short and uneventful flight from Lusaka, we arrived in Livingstone - on the doorstep of the great Victoria Falls. 

Victoria Falls - dry season

Victoria Falls - wet season

The man himself - David Livingstone

We had a great time in Livingstone - catching up with one of our fellow missos, doing a safari into one of the local national parks and of course, taking in the Falls themselves. A great treat for me was a microlight flight down the Zambezi and over the Falls - which stand 1.7 km long and over 100m tall. 

To describe the immensity and grandeur of the falls is impossible, however David Livingstone himself had a good go at it, saying - "...no one can imagine the beauty of the view from any thing witnessed in England. It had never been seen before by European eyes; but scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight."

The flight over the falls

Antelope and giraffes on the safari tour

Pumbaa the warthog and his friends

Another highlight was seeing the only rhinos in Zambia on our safari. Sadly rhino numbers are rapidly on the decline due to poaching, so the Zambian government actually have armed guards who follow the wild rhinos in the park to protect them. Our tour guide was disappointed that we hadn't been able to see any elephants or rhinos (even though we'd seen giraffe, zebra, monkeys, hippo, antelope, buffalo, wart hog, etc), so contacted the park ranger to get the location of the rhinos and guards. After a short drive out of the park and over a highway, we made our way through the bush for a couple of hundred metres, before being met by three armed men in camouflage gear.  Their only instructions were to not make any noise and walk in single file (no mean feat with kids!) They kindly walked us through the bush, where we were able to see these giant beasts in the flesh (about 50m away - no fences out there!) It was a great experience, and really capped off our few days in this wonderful place full of God's incredible creation. - d

Heading out into the scrub with armed guards to find the rhinos

The amazing rhinos

As this pic was taken the guards commented, "don't go any closer or they may charge at you".

Our ride for the river cruise

Some of the local wildlife

Crocs by the bank

Sunset smiles (Toby missed the memo)

Sunset over the Zambezi

  

Leaving Mukinge...

Our sincere apologies for the delay in sending out blog updates in recent times!  We hope that the following posts will get you up to speed with our more recent happenings.  

The past weeks have been something of an emotional roller-coaster ride, as we have said our goodbyes to our dear Mukinge family.  We have been so welcomed and loved by all there, and feel very blessed to have been able to spend the last 6 months with these wonderful people.  They really do feel like our family.   

Nshima & chicken from the Kajo Kona  

The last weeks with the Mukinge folk were very special, and included dinner celebrations with the nursing students (including Bear Grylls style caterpillars), and a fantastic "takeaway" lunch with our wonderful workers. A particular highlight was the Thanksgiving dinner with the Mukinge missos the night before we left. Despite being fairly well in the middle of the African bush, a fantastic feast was laid out, and it was a tremendous way to say our farewells to our Mukinge family.

Thanksgiving  - Friday night's pot luck dinner gone wild! So delicious!!

On the morning of November 24 we woke with extremely mixed feelings. Excitement to be beginning our journey home to Australia, but the overwhelming feeling was of sadness to be leaving what quickly became home to us, and to farewell our dear friends.

Some of our Mukinge family - including Shiloh the dog

The docs - David, Dave & Daren

The Mukinge International - our local airstrip

Home from above

The flight from Mukinge to Lusaka was a safe but rather bumpy flight which left the passengers in the back feeling rather green.  We were glad to get to the Lusaka airport after the 90 minute flight, and after regaining our land legs (and disposing of the vomit bag), greatly enjoyed a KFC lunch!

Landing in Lusaka

Our Mukinge church...

Kyakabuka ECZ

During our time here in Zambia, it has been our privilege to be able to worship each week at the Kyakabuka ECZ (Evangelical Church in Zambia) Church. The building is about a 15min walk from our Mukinge home, and the congregation is a real mix of ages and backgrounds.

A typical church service starts at around 1030hrs, and usually begins with a couple of congregational songs - sung in Kikaonde, the local language. We then have a break, while the church choirs take their turn to sing. At present there are 4 choirs within our church of about 100 people, with the children's choir being the sentimental favourite. 

While these times belong to the choirs, the congregation is still quite involved, with many of the ladies letting out high-pitched trills in agreement with the praises being sung. Sometimes we even have an impromptu dance, as usually one of the older church members gets out of their seat and merges with the choir to join in the celebration.

Following the times of singing, the announcements are undertaken by the church secretary. This is our opportunity to catch up on all of the news, and also for any new people to stand and introduce themselves to the church. At the conclusion of the announcements, the children head off to Sunday school, and the preaching begins. The sermon is given in Kikaonde with an English translation, or vice versa, and is preached by one of the senior men in the church, as unfortunately we are currently without a pastor at Kyakabuka.

We have greatly enjoyed fellowshipping here and are really going to miss our Zambian church family.

The entry

The new church sign

The children's choir

The Sunday school room

The packed Sunday school room with children of all ages

 

Toby meeting and greeting at the end of the service

Following the service everyone will single file out of the front door and shake hands with everyone