ORD to Anywhere

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Why the best of times? Because I was standing in the open air lobby of a hostel in the middle of Zambia as a gaggle of handsome British men lightly snored on the floor in nothing but their briefs while I awaited my ride to Botswana. On the other hand, it was only 6:00AM and I was still ridiculously groggy from having woken up much earlier to shower, grab a quick breakfast, and then take the hour long drive into Livingston

"Welcome to the David Livingstone Hotel, sir. May I offer you a drink?" I looked over to see a wide smile spread across the face of a man standing behind the lacquered wood top of a circular bar. Like many bartenders the world over, he seemed to be occupying his time by absentmindedly cleaning glasses and scanning the room for opportunities to strike up a conversation. I had wandered into his web out a sheer boredom - the river boat I was going to board made its home at th

As the home of the spectacular Victoria Falls, the residents of Livingstone obviously has a strong connection to the waters of the Zambezi River. It provides nourishment for their bodies and draws in thousands of visitors to pump tourist dollars into their economy. It's the geographic backbone of this part of Africa and I was really looking for another opportunity to experience some time it on top of my previous wander through the national park where Victoria Falls is locat

If you ever happen to find yourself in Zambia, chances are you're there to see the world famous Victoria Falls. Named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1989, it is considered the largest falls in the world despite being neither the widest nor tallest. Straddling the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, it is nearly twice as tall and well over twice as wide as the famous Niagara Falls along the Canadian/US border that many Americans are familiar with. The falls are a wonder to

Africa. After a grueling 32 hour slog that took me from my home in Chicago to London, down the entire continent into Johannesburg, and finally ended with me walking out of the Livingstone airport after the short hop from Joburg with a smile raised toward the blazing Zambian sun .... yes, I was finally fecking there! Our flight was the only one arriving at that time of day, so once I had finished with my entrance formalities, exiting the secured area and heading out into the p

As I explained in my previous report about my British Airways (BA) flight into Johannesburg, I was able to get to South Africa on a relatively inexpensive ticket through London. As excited as I was to be visiting Africa, I didn't think Johannesburg was really a destination that I wanted to spent a significant amount of time exploring on my first trip to the continent. There are certainly interesting things I'd like to see and explore there, but for a first time visit I thou