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Here were in Kingspool just inside the Botswana border. (This is a scan from a postcard)

After 10 days of no electricity or running water the girls were happy to have bathrooms but were distraught to find this place had mirrors.

Kingspool is a permanent campsite overlooking a hippo pool with permanent tents and with real bathrooms. We had a porch that looked over the pool. The only problem here was the baboons in the trees. During the night they would jump out of the trees onto the tent roof. Between the hippos snorting and the baboons sliding down the tent top it was hard to sleep past 3am.

From Kingspool we flew to Zimbabwe for a couple of days, and stayed at the Victoria Falls Hotel and saw the Victoria Falls. These falls are said to be twice the height  of Niagara Falls and one and a half times a wide. It was impressive.   (This is also a scan of a postcard)

While we were here we also took a one and a half hour elephant ride. The guide here also carried a weapon since we were at ground level. I must say the the elephants were my favorite animal in the wild. They were the most impressive due to there size and aggressive nature but was so protective and gentle with their young.  Here we rode them and after the ride we fed them a treat that looked like rabbit food, but almost as large as my little finger. Mary didn't like the snotty trunk on her and only threw the food in the mouth. Laura on the other hand was willing to put her whole hand in the elephants mouth.

Only then did we have a opportunity to do a little shopping. Mary was often surrounded by the women natives when she showed any interest in any object. We had our pick of many hand made items but the bargaining for each purchase was intense.  We did come home with several hand carved wood items including a couple of wooden giraffes. Our giraffes are about 3 ft high but some of them were at least 6 ft high. Each one was hand carved from a single tree trunk.

This ended one of the most exciting and adventurous vacation I have ever experienced.

As I think back on the trip, we were fortunate to have been invited to go with John and Diane's group to Africa. I feel the seven of us were a great group, everyone got along with everyone and we all adjusted to the daily demands and routines of the time adjustment and primitive surroundings. John and Diane (probably more Diane) planned a full and complete agenda for the group and everything worked like clockwork.

We thank John and Diane for including us on their once in a lifetime adventure.