My Pops’ Visit Part 1

My Dad came to visit me in April.  I loved having him here.  I can’t believe he actually got here.  His trip started off with a missed flight in Johannesburg and lost luggage for a few days but the rest of our holiday was fabulous.

Victoria Falls

We met in Livingstone and I was so excited to see him again.  The night before felt like Christmas Eve and I was waiting for Santa to show up.  Show up he did and it sure made me happy.

Day 1:  Fawlty Towers and the Falls –

Good ‘ol Fawlty Towers has really improved their accommodations since I was there last.  It looks great and somewhat clean.  I was a bit worried about Dad staying there but it ended up being great. 

After we dropped some of Dad’s stuff off (his luggage was lost so he didn’t have much with him) we headed over to the falls.  I’ve never been to the falls in April and I was amazed by the amount of water they produced.  The sound of the falls was powerful.  I loved feeling the power of it all.

Dad and I rented raincoats and were drenched within the first 5 minutes of our walk.  Raincoats were pointless.  There was so much water.  It was crazy!

 

We came back from the falls to find our friends taking a dip in the pool.  Bwalya, Diana, Bridget, Jackie and Liseli joined us in Livingstone.  They loved swimming in the pool.

Day 2: Rhino Walk, little Safari, and lots of rain -

Top priority on Dad’s list was to go on a Rhino Walk.  We left bright and early after a random breakfast (have I ever mentioned how hilarious my Dad is about everything…the whole breakfast thing was so weird and he was so funny about it).  The only problem with our whole Rhino Walk was the rain.  It started raining just as we entered the park.  We attempted getting out of the van a few times to start our Rhino walk in the rain but it was just too wet.  We went back and forth on whether we should just continue to wait it out or cancel and go the next day.  We decided to wait it out and we were not disappointed.  The sun broke through the clouds long enough for us to get a good look at the massive Rhino.  Dad was in heaven!

Just had to get a picture of our Safari vehicle.  Here they are removing the windows.  I thought they just clipped on and off.  Nope!  Had to pull out the tools for this one.  Pretty top notch if you ask me.

My Dad took some awesome photos of the animals we saw after our Rhino walk.  

As soon as we got in the car to head back to Fawlty Towers it started pouring  and pretty much rained the rest of the night.  We were all drenched just form walking from the “Safari Van” to the hotel.

Day 3: The Falls again, Helicopter Ride, the zebra and baboons, good food and dear friends -

Just some fun photos of the kids and the team.

The kids loved the Falls.  They were terrified to go anywhere near the edge.  That’s probably a good thing.

We snuck into the ritzy Hotel grounds near the falls so we could see the zebras.  Emily and Jackie were fearless and just kept getting closer and closer.

 

While Emily was trying to get the zebra to eat out of her hand the baboons were busy stealing her video camera.  I wish I could describe how hilarious this whole thing was.  The story has a happy ending…the camera was returned to the rightful owner.  Those pesky little baboons.  Dad kept chasing them all over the park and the rest of us just ran from them.

Dad forced me to get this close to the zebras.  I was afraid they would flip out and take me out.  

Dad “Keep going girls.  Just a little farther.  One more step back.  Just keep going.”

 

Sweet little Mackay.

 

The highlight of my whole Vic Falls experience was the helicopter ride.  First of all, I’ve never been on a helicopter and it just so happens to be on my bucket list.  Secondly, Jackie got to come with us (thanks to my generous Pops) and she was so excited.  Thirdly, the view from the helicopter was SPECTACULAR.  Never seen anything like it before in my life.  Definitely the only way to see the whole falls.  AMAZING!

 

  

Later that evening we had dinner at an African restaurant.  I loved being with the team.  Gordon and Betty (pictured below) were so so good to me.  They brought me all sorts of goodies from the states when they came.  I just love them to bits and pieces.

Day 4: Bus ride home.

6 hr drive listening to super loud music and watching super violent shoot ‘em kill ‘em kind of movies with a few pit stops to pee in the bush along the way.  Always glad to have that ride over with.  However, the terrain is beautiful.