STICK TO YOUR PLANS EVEN WHEN YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO IS GOING

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe/Zambia

Day 13

Little did I know that today would not go as planned once we reached Victoria Falls. My microlight flight was booked and a deposit was paid to save my spot.

I had made my call to Zambia to confirm that I would be arriving the next day and to be picked up on Monday as planned. My guide had arranged for a taxi driver to transport me to the Zimbabwe border crossing where the microlight flight company would pick me up. Unfortunately, there was a misunderstanding between the hotel and company.

A taxi driver was sent instead to pick me up at the Zimbabwe border and drive me to the Zambia border. So much time had passed during the mishap that once I arrived at the Zambian side, it was only to find out I had been left – AGAIN. After asking my taxi driver, Arnold, to please call the company to come back, I was left to my own devices with the locals who ended up scamming me out of $8. 

My ride arrived and the fiasco was soon forgotten. The excitement of the flight was setting in. During the flight, I remember thinking that I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to see the beauty of all that is Africa. There are no words that could ever describe the pure euphoria and freedom I felt being up in the air. My group had opted to take a river cruise down the Zambezi River, of which, I am sure I saw them from up above as well as the silhouettes of Hippopotami under water.

On the way back I had decided to walk back across the border with a Scottish couple who had done the flight before me. Thankfully, my taxi driver, Knowledge, found me halfway up the Zambian side and I was never so happy to see anyone in my life. The events of the day were setting in and I was exhausted. Tomorrow would be a new day and a new adventure.

WHAT KEPT ME GOING (FLIGHT DEVIATION) VICTORIA FALLS, ZW/JOHANNESBURG, SA/LUSAKA, ZA

Lusaka, Zambia

I sponsor two children from Lusaka, Zambia. The day I would meet them was soon approaching.  My tour was over, and this part of the trip would leave me without help. As luck would have it, another G adventures group was leaving and they helped me through the airport. 

However, my flight back to Johannesburg was an international flight which meant going through passport control and security (again). Trying to juggle my bags, with a broken wrist, was a new experience that left me beyond exhausted. My flight to Lusaka started boarding while I was still in line for passport control. My anxiety kicked in and there was no doubt I was going to miss my flight. Through the kindness of strangers, they allowed me go ahead, but I still had to run to my gate, with all my bags in tow, which was on the opposite end of the airport. Out of breathe, they allowed me to board despite the gate showing that the doors had already closed. 

If I had missed this flight, I never would have met the wonderful professor who sat in my row, who provided me with a wealth of knowledge about the community my children lived in, and who selflessly offered to spend an afternoon with me to help buy the food they so desperately needed. He bargained for me in the markets when I didn’t know the language and we formed a friendship that would stand the test of time. It was as if we had known each other our whole lives.

The day was a long one, my pain level had reached a new threshold, and I was almost in tears. Friends tried to console me, but there is only so much they could do from a distance. The pain killers were making me forget where I had placed important things - like my pain killers and debit card. The stress, pain and exhaustion were making me vulnerable. 

I was so close to seeing them. There was no amount of suffering or pain I could ever endure to even consider leaving now. 

The next morning, Children International picked me up, transferred all the food I had bought to the back of the vehicle, and we headed to the community center. You try to prepare as best as you can, but no matter how bad you know it will be, it still shocks you that people live in these conditions. It is heartbreaking. It makes you want to give them everything you have, but, it is all that they know. The children, whose clothing are torn, run laughing and playing in the streets. They have an innocence I wish I could have again.

Eight hours was all I had to spend with them and as each hour passed, the more they broke out of their shell and smiles began to appear. My goal was to assess what the family needed and how much I could accomplish in those 8 hours.  Gloria and Benson were the two that I sponsored, but when I saw two other little ones, I couldn’t leave them out. 

We headed to the store and made sure all four children picked out at least 2-3 sets of new clothes, underwear, new shoes, socks, a comforter, kitchen utensils and cookware, and any other grocery items I hadn’t brought or bought the night before. 

It never feels like enough. Even when they tell you are doing more than others. To see all those children who don’t understand why their sponsor can’t/won’t see them is devastating. Martha is a special little girl who touched me in ways I can’t explain. She is a cousin of Benson and Gloria, who I now sponsor. 

LEAVING AFRICA

As I was leaving that night, I hoped that one day I could go back. That despite all the mishaps – I would do it all again. Africa changes you. It restores your faith in people. Becoming disabled taught me to trust people, that help was always there if I needed it, and made me a stronger person because of it.

~  THE ONLY REAL FAILURE IS THE FAILURE TO TRY. ~