Well today April 18th, we hit the road again! We left Antelope park around 7am this morning, and headed to Hwange national park. Our stay the last 2 days had been wonderful. So wonderful in fact, that we actually considering staying in Antelope Park the next 4 days, and forgoing the hundreds of kilometers of driving that is awaiting us on our eventual arrival at our final destination of Victoria Falls. Our desire to see one of the 7 wonders of the world won out and we decided to press on. The drive today was quite long...about 6-7 hours. We all did pretty well, although Gracie had quite a melt down at one point. The nice thing about no seat belt laws here, is you can just take your kid out of their seat at anytime for feedings. Although Shea naturally would prefer to leave her in the confines of her safety seat, her good judgment was finally worn down by the screams. Gracie got a nice meal, and sat in “Mommas” lap for a while, much to the appreciation of the rest of the vehicle. We arrived at Miombo lodge shortly after 1pm. It was nestled right in the middle of the largest game park in Zimbabwe.......Hwange National Park. The lodge here was much more “wild”. It was quite secluded, and no lush green river beds any where to be seen. Its rugged beauty, and feel of untamed wilderness with the possibility of seeing wild game at any time was quite appealing.(Paul and Abbi actually "stumbled" onto a large elephant during one of their walks). Our accommodations were a bit smaller, but also beautiful in there own way. They were small lodges (probably about half the size of an average US bedroom), with shower and toilet partially connected by a common thatched roof, and several smaller thatched walls(by all practical purposes outside). These lodges gave us a feeling of an actual Shona house, and I think we appreciated the difficulties of squeezing in 2 cribs next to our bed, and finding small “nooks and crannies” to place our bags and things. Overall we really enjoyed the location and accommodations of Miombo lodge.
Later in the afternoon we were taken on a game drive right in the middle of Hwange. It was a wonderful night as we all spread across 3 rows of ascending benches precariously strapped on top of a small truck. It was excellent for viewing game. We saw a great variety of animals including: Elephants, Giraffes, Zebra, Hippos, and Crocodiles just to name a few. The best find of the night was a large herd of Elephants, probably 40-50 in number that walked right next to the dirt road as we slowly drove by. It was amazing site to see, and according to the locals was quite unusual to see such a large herd in that particular area. The only animal we didn't see were the lion, but fortunately Shea and I had plenty of close encounters with the lions the night before. We drove back after dark going about 20-40 km/hr on the back of the truck. We were all bundled together enjoying the nice crisp cool evening. It felt much like flying across a lake in a boat after dark, and I think we all enjoyed the sensation of being cold, since it has been so long since our skin receptors had perceived such a sensation. 
Tonight ended with a fabulous meal prepared for us by our young guide. He prepared steamed broccoli, pasta, sausage meatballs, and a tremendous mushroom white sauce that filled our hungry stomachs. We continue to be amazed by the talents, and maturity of our young guide as he leads us on this trip across Zimbabwe. Praise the Lord for another safe and wonderful day!
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