The day has dawned bright and sunny, and we are ready to take Mimi and Dede on an African adventure.  No rain!  We’re in Zambia!  Okay then, let’s go have lunch with some crocodiles!

Kalimba reptile park is a 40 minute drive outside of Lusaka, across dirt roads and mud puddles and fields full of corn.  The rainy season has made everything a vibrant green and Mimi noticed the Lantana growing along the roadside.  Who knew that all those beautiful flowering weeds actually had a name, and that they grow in the U.S. too?  This is why we still need our parents!

So don’t get too close to the crocodiles!

All these little crocodiles are fascinating.  Do they really sleep all over each other like that?

The grass was thick and green after all the rain.  The trees were blooming, the sun was hot, and crocodiles were everywhere.

After an hour walking through marshes filled with our reptile friends, we were ready for a rest in the shade, along with a few freshly grilled Croc Burgers and some cool refreshment.  Wow, Mike, you ordered a lot of fries!

Kalimba is also famous for its snakes, so after lunch we learned about black mambas, puff adders, green mambas, cobras… we were careful not to get too close to those either!

Well, until we DID get a little too close.  Mimi just wanted to see the boa constrictor!  That was all!  She didn’t know that Dede’s hearing aid transmitter would slip from the cord around her neck and fall into the snake pit!

Or that this guy would be willing and ready to hop in and get it for her…

He seemed completely unfazed by our predicament.  I guess we can add “Snake Wrestling” to the list of a Zambian’s daily life skills…

Five minutes later we had the hearing aid back!  How many hearing aids have been dropped into a boa constrictor pit?  Would the boa constrictor have eaten it?  Thanks to this brave Zambian, we will never know.  But now, thanks to Dede’s hearing aid, we have a pretty funny story to tell :).