Today was the rare day on this trip when you could choose your own adventure. Chris and Edwin went to a rhino preserve so they could check off the last of the “Big Five” (African buffalo, lion, leopard, elephant, and rhino) and came back not only having seen six rhinos but also with a crazy lion story. Others chose the elephant sanctuary, where they got to get up close and personal with elephants who had been orphaned and raised in captivity. Maxine wanted the bridge tour and zip line over the gorge. I really wanted elephants, but I deferred to her.
A forty-something-year-old Zambian man played the part of Georges C Imbault, the French engineer who had been appointed Chief Construction Engineer of the Victoria Falls Bridge in 1903. He was very convincing but it was pretty funny because Maxine and I were the only people in the audience. As we carabined under the bridge with him after an introduction and a zip line ride, we learned a great deal about its construction and maintenance. Whenever we asked him a question, he would slip out of character to answer and then go right back to being 138-year-old Georges, who was holding up darn well.
For our final group dinner, we went on a sunset cruise along the Zambezi River for sundown and then ate dinner after coming ashore. As we finished eating and went around the table and shared our favorite moments and aspects of the trip, a lion roared in the distance and four elephants passed through the picnic area. I am definitely leaving a piece of my heart here in Africa.
My Corner of the Village 