Trip to Zambia

 After 3 long weeks, too many hours in a bus, and one more night at our original hotel in Lusaka, Zambia, we headed home. This time, we returned after one 4.5 hour flight, 17 hour red-eye, and 2 hour bus ride back to campus. Thankfully, we were able to spend our last night eating at the same fast-food place that we adored so much from the first night, and shopping in the mall, stocking up on Zambian snacks and candy. On our first flight, the plane was relatively empty so some of us (including myself) got to sit with friends, and a buffer seat in between us for extra room. The final flight felt like it took forever, but thankfully some of us were able to sleep and pass the time through conversation. Overall, this was certainly a once in a lifetime trip that I will never forget. I learned so much about myself and my world in a very unique setting that will help me greatly as I move forward into my first career. Thank you everyone for following along :)

For the night before and after our safari trip, we had the pleasure of residing at Jollyboys, a hostel for backpackers and adventurers in Livingstone, Zambia. They were fully equipped with gorgeous views, a pool, ping-pong table, conversation pit, and lizard friends. We all enjoyed our short stay at Jollyboys, and the morning we left we even had the opportunity to walk down the street to a market where we bought souvenirs for all our loved ones. 

Randomly, on the way back to our hostel in Livingstone, we pulled off on the side of the road, climbed into safari trucks, drove into the bush for about 3 seconds, then were directed to walk silently, single-file behind rangers armed with loaded AK-47's. Why? So that we could walk with rhinos, obviously. This was probably one of the most thrilling moments of the trip, getting to stand so close to these beautiful white rhinos, fully understanding the potential danger associated with the circumstance. We were able to walk with these beauties for a few minutes, allowing us to stare, take pictures, and remember this special moment for a lifetime. 

 Day 2 of our safari included some more exotic animals, including zebras, kudu, and a one-eared giraffe! Our day started with the zebras, who mill about in large herds, and are rather skittish. Did you know when they cross the water they do so one at a time? This is because if one gets eaten by a crocodile, the others have time to get away. The one who goes first is the one who's idea it is to cross in the first place. Then we moved on to seeing more giraffe, plenty of fun birds, some vultures waiting to feast on a dead elephant, and finally the kudu. Did you even know they existed? I surely didn't. They were the very last animal we saw on our way out of the park, and we were all dumbfounded when we looked to our left and all of a sudden saw a herd of those brown and white guys. They are adorable though, aren't they?

 After day 1 of our safari experience was over, we drove to a side-of-the-road campsite that the company who ran our tour kindly set up for us. Tents were two or three people, with small mattresses inside for us to sleep on. We sat around the bonfire, chatted with one another, enjoyed dinner under the ambiance of headlamps, and ventured into the bathroom tent that consisted of a plastic seat over a hole in the ground (pretty 5-star if you ask us, though). The next morning we ate breakfast under the safety of a tent (protecting us from the rain), and headed on to the second part of our safari journey. 

  On the first day of our safari, we drove from Zambia across the border to Botswana! This is where we drove around in jeep-style safari vehicles on main roads, and throughout the national park. The very first animal we saw when arriving was a large male lion, sleeping under a tree (not pictured, that's a different lion). Then we saw a herd of beautiful antelope, called impala. As we ventured down the river, we saw our very first herd of elephants, but they were too far away to get good pictures of. At first we were so disappointed, until we saw all the elephants that awaited us later in the day. Toward the end of the day, we had the experience of a lifetime, and saw male and female lions stalk and chase a giraffe. Spoiler: the giraffe survived and the female lions were very upset with the male lions who messed it up. This was an absolutely incredible experience I would pay all the money in the world to see again. 

After a long, 9-ish hour bus ride on bumpy roads, and multiple thunderstorms, we arrived at Victoria Falls! They provided polka-dot rain ponchos for us, and slightly rushed us through the tour as it was thundering almost the entire time. We thought we were 30 seconds from being down poured on at all times. We started by going around the back side of the falls, and then walked around the front by following a downhill path. We walked across a wooden bridge, where we got completely soaked from the spray resulting from the falls' aggressive rush of water. We saw baboons swinging from trees down below also! Overall, we all simply stared as much as possible, trying to mentally burn the image and sound of the falls in our brains forever. 

Just before leaving Macha, we went on one final hike up a mountain. We departed at 8:30 AM, then after 9 miles, a bunch of feet in elevation, and a trek through the mud later we returned home just before lunch at 1:00. We saw beautiful greenery, mango and banana trees, and lots of cows. It was difficult, but worth every second. 

Spiders, roaches, cats, and cows oh my! We encountered many animals in Macha, most often being the large spiders that lived on our walls and ceilings. No matter where you go, in any room you can look up and around, and you will always find at least 4 spiders. Lizards often accompany spiders on the walls, but they were a breath of comforting fresh air to us. Kittens wandered around the hostel, and roaches made surprise appearances in the mornings. Cows followed around their shepherds all throughout the woods, and we could hear them coming from the sound of the cowbells around their necks :)

                                                                                                        The Zambian cooks always kept us fed. Meals were on a schedule, with breakfast at 7, lunch at 1, and dinner at 6. The breakfast to lunch time period always proved difficult, as most of our breakfasts were not enough to carry us through the day. Snacks from the local market came in handy! With lunch and dinner, we always had a protein, starch/carb, and a veggie or two! Occasionally we had a fruit salad, which was always a highlight in our day :) Although the food was yummy, by the end of our time in Macha we were eager for some more variety as we moved to the second part of our trip.              

         Clinical days consisted of walks on red dirt roads to the hospital in the morning, followed by rotations in every ward, one per day. Unlike American hospitals, each ward has its own building, and there are no single rooms. Patients generally stayed in one large room filled with multiple beds. We shadowed doctors during rounds, then assisted the nurses with vital signs collection, dressing changes, medication administration, and anything else they needed help with. Some of us even had the opportunity to help make sterile gauze packs. Often, we would see goats, cats, and chickens walking around the outside of the hospital freely :)                                                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                                       Some views of the hostel, our bathrooms, living room, and bedrooms. 4 people per room, complete with complimentary mosquito nets. Surprisingly, we very quickly became attached to our nets, as they kept us safe from the bugs, lizards, and spiders crawling on our walls and ceilings.