In the southern part of Africa, one of the greatest natural wonders of the world sits virtually untouched by the world’s tourist hoards. It is called Mosi-oa-Tunya by locals, but most of us know it by its western name, Victoria Falls. The trip I took to Victoria Falls in February 2011 was an eye-opening experience to a place seldom visited by foreign tourists.
I traveled to Victoria Falls with my good friend Joel Oleson while we were both on the way to a speaking trip in Johannesburg, South Africa. We had both wanted to get to the Falls, and also had a desire to see some of the countries in the area, which neither one of us had traveled to recently. Not to mention the fact that it’s not often you get to travel to two countries that start with the letter ‘Z’ that often. We booked a flight from Johannesburg airport to Livingstone, Zambia in advance, but discovered that that flight first makes a quick stop in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Since we knew we would fly out of Zambia to get back, Joel and I made the quick decision to simply deplane in Zimbabwe and start our tour of the area there.
My first trip of 2012 involved a speaking engagement to my 121st recorded country, Nicaragua! Before this trip, when I thought of Nicaragua, I thought of Sandinistas, civil wars, communists, and Daniel Ortega. Ortega is still there…in fact, he’s the president again, and the Sandinistas are still around. But communism and the war are long gone and, let me tell you, Nicaragua is one unbelievably beautiful place.
Sharing the Globe 