The Bridge to Zimbabwe

The bridge from Zambia to Zimbabwe is filled with interesting sights and people.  Foot traffic moves freely once one passes the security check and Pass Port - Visa station..  It is a little more involved for vehicles and can take several hours to process..

 

One way traffic makes rather slow going and lines are backed up for miles.  The fee for foreigners is quite high so we just walked the bridge.  Now we can say we have been in Zimbabwe.

 Travelers who walk back and forth between countries are usually loaded down with all sorts of things to sell, or trade or take home.

                      Bikes are used for transporting merchandise and are frequently seen on the overpass.

 The bridge has a couple interesting enterprises going as well.  One is a Bungee Jump above the deep gorge. Travelers and the curious gather to encourage one another to jump.  The other is a Zip Line that spans the gorge.  While I have participated in Zip Lines before, and loved them, I felt less than secure looking at the set up off of this bridge.

 Here Elder Webb congratulates a man who successfully made the jump.  He did a swan dive off of the platform shown above.  The next participant was all set to go when his legs began to buckled; no doubt from fear.  He backed away to find his courage.  Then had to sit down.  He kept saying he had his son with him and wanted to prove his bravery.  We don't know if he ever made the jump.

         Above a large trucks passes slowly as traffic going the opposite direction waits it's turn.

               The spray from Victoria Falls can be seen in the background of this picture. and the one below.

 Below in the middle right one can barely see a bridge which spans the a break in the topography.  It is the one we walked along when visiting the Falls on the Zambia .  You can see it in the blog on Victoria Falls.

 The side of the bridge is reinforced with steel beams which contrast the green of the gorge.  Still the spray reaches us and we see rainbows in the mist.

 This is the old security stop for the border on the Zimbabwe side.  A new Pass Port office has been built further down the road and just recently opened to service the traffic back and forth between borders.  There doesn't seem to be any effort to coordinate the process so people can move more freely.

We enjoyed our afternoon here and had a nice time visiting with people we met along the way.  We even met one woman  ( a teacher) who had traveled 6 hours to bring her student to see the Falls and then let them watch the Bungee Jumpers.  As we walked by her she looked at me and in a surprised voice said.  " I AM ONE OF YOU"!   She meant she is a member of our church.  She was so please to see us. After talking a bit and explaining what our mission is about she told us she has been trying to get information on PEF ( The Perpetual Education Fund) but it has not been available to her.  I was able to get her name and personal information and then hook her up with the Shields who are serving in Zambia.  We will be able to get her signed up for the program before she is 30, the cut off age for the program.  It was a little miracle we met at this spot and this time. God does provide.

Victoria Falls, Zambia, Africa

There are few places on earth were one can feel the shear power of God's greatness and view it in His creation more than at Victoria Falls, in Zambia.  I know these pictures do not do the Falls justice but one  may get a glimpse of the majesty of the moments we enjoyed. The size of the Falls cannot really be captured from the ground. So, if you are really interested, I suggest you Google it.  For now our small camera is on stage.

 The native tribes of the area gave this place the name of Thunder Falls and thunder they do.  The noise simply adds to the adventure and the sensations experienced by our bodily and spiritual senses.

 The Falls border two counties. Zambia and Zimbabwe. The distance the falls cover is 1700 meter which as you know is over a mile.

 Half way through the falls on the Zambia side one can cross the gorge on a bridge seen in the picture below. The Falls are so big and powerful that they create their own weather system. The water level is high at the moment, not flood stage but high enough that we had tremendous spray, rain and wind periodically throughout our walk.  The bridge is covered with a green slim from the constant moisture which made for a fun slip and slide for the young at heart.  We choose our steps more carefully.  Many umbrella has been turned inside out by the wind force coming up from under the bridge and meeting the turbulence from above. The river water rages hundreds of feet below.

 In the distance one can make out the bridge we traveled to Zimbabwe.  Unfortunately the border crossing was $70 U.S. per person just to walk the falls on the other side and then one was to pay $50 U.S. to enter back into Zambia; we only walked the bridge.  The border crossing was another 100 yards beyond the bridge.  We watched the Bungee Jumpers jump from the middle of that bridge.  We also watched a few would be jumpers think better of their decision once they were standing on the edge.  The drop seemed a mile. 

If you ever travel this direction be sure to pick up a muliple entry VISA.  We purchased a double entry which limited our ability to travel back and forth between the two countries.

 The hotel gave us rain coats and umbrella and we still got wet.  I never opened my umbrella preferring to enjoy the warm rain from the falls on my face.

 I've included some pictures of the people we met on our walk through the Falls

Most of the beautiful babies we saw rode out the trip along the path of the Falls in peaceful slumber.  The mist and rain didn't seem to disturb them in the least.

 Lot's of rainbows can be seen as the sun reflects off the mist in the air.

 This weekend we saw many family share the beauty of the area.  Lots of babies were tied to their mothers backs or sides; a common view here in Africa.  Seeing them in the rain fall in this particular setting seemed a little unusual.  Many were without protection as they slept through the weather changes. When it's nap time it's generally on the go.

 The next couple of picture are taken from the end of the Zambezi River just as the River flows over the edge becoming Victoria Falls.  The cloud you see is the spray shooting up from the floor of the gorge.

The above picture is sun rise at the falls.  The mist was so thick the morning of our departure that it made things look like creation was beginning anew.  We went to the falls at 6:30 in the morning just to get another look before we left.  Below the view that caused me to stand in quiet awe.

 Steam from the Falls rises above the trees and hotel rooms in the picture immediately below. 

Our last morning at the Zambezi Sun Hotel follows. Here we are with the Elder and Sister Lewis our traveling companions.  Elder Lewis serves as the Secretary to the Area Presidency.  Sister Lewis processes the papers for all the new young missionaries serving in Africa.

Every time we visited Victoria Falls we walk in quiet reverence, being reminded of God's power.  If He made Victoria Falls, which He has, He would have no trouble parting the Red Sea.

 This is a statue of the famous Dr. Livingstone.  It is here that Mr. Stanly found him after years of searching.  Dr. Livingstone I presume?

Mist from the falls can be seen above the trees.

We have found Africa, with it abundance of natural resources and wonders to be perfect evidence that there is enough and more on this earth to sustain life. Unfortunately, some countries which were the bread baskets of the region now grow little.  Resources have been and continue to be  plundered and mismanaged by their leaders, leaving the people once again with little to sustain them. Those in power right now are selling mineral rights to China. This does nothing to benefit the people of the area. They won't even benefit from employment because China brings it's own workers.  A sad state indeed. 

We feel so blessed to be able to serve the Lord as missionaries in Africa.  He has opened our eyes to see the most incredible evidence of His love and wittness His willingness to help all his children. 

 We believe He is the only way to find true peace and happiness in this life. We have seen evidence that when countries and leaders truly live by the precepts that Christ taught it's people and lands prosper. Where God's laws are not known or have been abandoned there is lawlessness, chaos, corruption, suffering, famine, good land that is left unproductive and tremendous waste.

He would gather us all under His loving wings, as a Hen gathereth her chickens, if we but would be gathered.