Betsy Hauser of New Tripoli, Debbie and Dennis Barr of South Whitehall, Rose Marie Kandrac from Warminster, Sharon Fournier of Bath, and Barbara and Tom Campbell of Lower Macungie Township took an extended tour after the South Africa portion of their trip ended.

The group flew from Cape Town to Johannesburg to Victoria Falls, a town in Western Zimbabwe.

The visit began with a Sundowner river cruise on the Zambezi River.

There were hippos in the river with the tips of their ears coming up to the surface of the water and elephants playing in the river.

A surreal experience, the group watched the pink, purple and yellow of the sunset reflected on the river.

The next day began with a visit to a Mpisi (spotted hyena) Village.

The huts were round in shape and decorated on the outside with a brownish red color.

One hut had elevated beds and in another there was a fire going.

Chickens were running around and goats were behind a wooden stick fence.

There was a big community building where the group met with the leader.

Most of the working-age people work in the city. When they retire, they return to their villages.

The next stop was Elephant Wallow camp where the group fed the elephants.

The elephants followed commands to raise of lower their trunks. If the command was trunk up, they raised their trunk, opened their mouths and food could be put in its mouth.

If the command was trunk down, food was placed in the trunk and they sucked up the food like a vacuum cleaner hose.

Next on the agenda was lunch with a local family.

The mother of the family told the group about their customs.

The men are served first and the women bend down when serving the men.

The meal with eaten using our fingers.

There was poe (white maize) that had a thick consistency, and beef and chicken stew, and a spinach dish.

And, there were the charcoal insects from which the insides were removed.

The mother explained how girls bring wealth to their families because the groom has to pay in cattle for them in the arranged marriages.

The hostess was paid for with 12 head of cattle and she has been married 19 years. Her husband still owes her family two cattle.

She also explained the educational system.

Parents pay to send their children to school and they all wear uniforms.

The junior level is for children 5 to 12 years old and high school is for teens age 13 to 18.

The hostess had three children.

The house had a large room where the group ate and the family had their sofa.

Their kitchen, bedrooms, and bathroom were separate rooms.

Victoria Falls is considered one of the “Seven Wonders of the World.”

At the time the group was there, a good amount of water was rushing down.

The roar of the falls could be heard from the hotel and mist could be seen rising from the falls.

The walk along the falls began by stopping at the statue of David Livingstone, who discovered the falls in 1855.

The group walked the full length of the falls to the bridge which was built to make a way for the train to bring visitors to the site.

Single and double rainbows were formed by the mist from the falls.

There was one section where everyone got wet and raincoats were provided by the guide.

The adventure continued with another safari through Chobe National Park in Botswana.

Chobe provides a unique experience of providing two different game viewing experiences.

One is a land game drive. The other is a river cruise in low motor boats.

The morning was spent on the land game drive where the tour group was close to the animals - no more than 50 feet from an elephant.

The elephants are in three groups: breeding herd, bachelor group, and the solitary group.

Elephants use their trunk to strip the leaves from a branch and eat the branch.

The animals in Chobe National Park are allowed to roam freely.

The group saw a lot of water birds, Nile crocodile, hippos, and cape buffalo from a motor boat.

The most exciting part was seeing a group of elephants swim across the Zambezi River.

When a Cape buffalo gets old he wanders from the herd to become food for a predator or he just dies.

Altogether, members of the group took eight flights, two safari experiences, a cable car ride, and a funicular ride, and two river cruises.

The trip was through Collette Travel.

For more information, call 610-432-3313.