More from Zambia!

Hi kids!




Here I am on the deck at my hotel.  The river you see behind me is the Zambezi River.  It reminds me of the Catawba River in Rock Hill, but it is much wider.  The animals that live near it are different too.  Here is a sign that warns you about some of the dangerous animals here!  Oh my!  I was careful.



On the Catawba River I see turtles and blue herons.  When I went on a boat ride on the Zambezi we saw something else!



Look behind me in the river.  Can you guess what I saw?  Here's a hint- they aren't rocks!!







Did anyone guess?  They are hippos!!!  The full name is hippopotamus - which means 'river horse.'  I saw one running beside the river.  They are big, heavy animals but they can run really fast!!

Look what else I saw from the boat- hippo tracks in the sand!  They like to come out of the water in the evening to eat grass.  During the day they usually stay in the water to stay cool.



There was fun music on my boat!  People were playing marimbas- they are wooden xylophones. They even let me and Dr. Kristie play with them!  It was fun!



After the boat ride I went to see a famous waterfall.  It is the biggest waterfall in the whole world!  Remember that it is dry season here, so it has less water than usual.  When wet season comes it will have a lot more water.  Here I am on my hike.  You can see the big waterfall in the distance.  During wet season, all of the cliffs near me are part of the waterfall too!



This very special waterfall has two names.  Its name in English is Victoria Falls.  Its name in the local language here is Mosi-oa-Tunya, which means "the smoke that thunders."  The noise is the thunder and the mist around it can look like smoke from far away.  The mist also makes rainbows when the sun is shining!



OK, well I'm coming home to Rock Hill in time for Christmas.  My trip is almost over and I'll see you soon! Before I go, I want to teach you to say good-bye as they say it here in Zambia:
"Pitani bwino" first graders!

Your friend,

Flat Stanley

Zambian Safari!!

Hi kids!

Greetings from Zambia!  Do you know what a safari is?  It is a trip you take to see animals and take their pictures.  You see a lot of the same animals that you might see at the zoo, but in their own habitat!

We went in a jeep so that it could drive over the ground without a road!  We had a guide who knew how to find the animals and keep us safe.  His name is Stanley too!  We took a picture together:

Before we could see animals, we drove for a while through the land.  Here in Zambia, there aren't four seasons like back home.  There are only two seasons: Dry season and wet season.  Can you guess which season it is now?  Look at what I saw:



That's right!  Dry season!  When the rains start, there will be more leaves on the trees and lots of grasses and flowers.

Soon, we started to see all the animals!  I was very excited to see the elephants.  They travel in family groups and protect their babies.  I even got to see a baby elephant.  Look!




I took a picture with the elephants, but I didn't get out of the Jeep!



I also saw a spotted animal with a verrrrrrry long neck!  Can you guess what animal I saw?

Here is a picture:



The giraffe was eating, stretching its long neck up to munch on the leaves that other animals can't reach.  I took a picture with two of my giraffe friends.  Can you find them?




While we were driving, I asked Stanley about some big, giant piles of dirt.  He said that they are made by termites, which are a kind of insect that eats wood.  They reminded me of all the fire ant hills that I see in my yard in Rock Hill, but way, way bigger!  Isn't it amazing that something this big was made by tiny insects?




Our safari was almost over, but we stopped to see one more animal.  It was a brown furry animal with a long tail.  It liked to run and play.  Can you guess which animal it was?




 





Yes!  It was a monkey!  Or really, a whole group of monkeys.  I had so much fun watching them play by the river.

Well, that's it for now!  I will write again soon to tell you more about Zambia.

Your friend,

Flat Stanley