Jenss Family Travels: Lessons from the Road

What I've come to recognize from watching this all play out is that what the boys are missing in terms of organized academic "training," they're making up for in real-life hands-on learning. Although it will probably be quite an adjustment at first, I trust the boys will be able to return to the structure and routine of school life and pick up on some of the things we didn't cover with them during their time away. The things they are learning, like where Zimbabwe is on a map and how many vertebrae a giraffe has in its neck, will likely stay with them a lot longer than the information they would have had to memorize for tests this year. I'm not passing judgment on our school systems, but this kind of experience-based education just can't be taught in any classroom.  

When it comes to classrooms, I guess we should be grateful that they function at all after our brief visit to Zimbabwe. In this country, most of the schools have been shut down because of an economic collapse that makes the U.S. recession look like a boom (their inflation rate is almost 300 million percent, unemployment is at 90%, and the currency is essentially useless). But despite a complete breakdown in its infrastructure (we couldn't even mail a postcard because stamps weren't being issued), an outbreak of cholera, and a government in flux, we didn't hesitate to see Victoria Falls from its border because we were assured that this tourist destination was completely safe. And it was. Other than the fact that the cost of entering the national park in which the falls reside was US$20 or 100 trillion Zimbabwe dollars (that's not a typo), you didn't really notice any of the major issues plaguing the rest of the nation. Overall, we had a very good experience, although the price of food and lodging was considerably higher than we had experienced elsewhere in Africa, which certainly won't help in attracting tourists away from the much more stable Zambian side of the falls. I personally didn't feel terrible about paying more, thinking I might actually be helping the people of this stricken country in some way, but we still got the feeling that tourists were being taken advantage of somehow, rather than fully welcomed.   

The Victoria Falls Safari Lodge were we stayed was quite nice, offering beautiful panoramic views of the Zambezi National Park and its game, which include impalas, elephants, plenty of vultures, and even some crocs. For more crocodile and hippo viewing, we took a rafting trip down the Zambezi, which proved to be just enough mild adventure for the kids. Some of the other families booked an elephant-back safari ride, which was quite popular as well. Our dinner at their Boma Restaurant might have felt a bit touristy, but was still good fun for the kids--especially the all-hands-on-deck African drumming circle that preceded dessert.

For me, other than seeing numerous rainbows hovering above the mist of the falls during a solo visit I took to the park late one afternoon, and the helicopter flight over them the next morning, the highlight might have been our stay at the Imbabala Lodge 70 kilometers up river in a lovely spot near the Botswana border. The twelve of us had the place to ourselves, largely because of the impact the global recession is having on tourism (this was evident throughout Africa) and the fact that it held shy of 20 guests when at full capacity. This made for a festive farewell party, highlighted by a sunset cruise that took us gently past African fish eagles, numerous crocodiles, hippos, and lily pads that our guides turned into an arts-and-crafts project for the kids.

So our few days in Zimbabwe not only exposed the children to more incredible wildlife experiences, it was a lesson in current events that they won't soon forget. And as far as their teachers go, the kids have had some of the best "substitutes" in the world, which I'll get into in the next installment of this blog.