GOVERNORS ISLAND, New York

Elliott visits encourage getting out of the house to explore new parts of our own backyard. Governors Island opened to visitors several years ago and we hadn't made it over. Alas, a destination for our outing-seeking-family.

The historic ferry terminal is dwarfed by the neighboring Staten Island Ferry Terminal and the garage fills up with bicyclers (ideal for Sunday-low-impact-bicyclists, not your serious cyclers) - who get priority boarding - while those on-foot are searched in preparation for the five minute ride. It's free and the fastest way to glimpse the Olafur Eliasson waterfalls currently spilling into the East River.

Before heading over we churched and brunched in SoHo where Elliott's stride showed off his inner cool. And yes, he had to learn that he could be hip while holding granny's hand.

The development of Governors Island as a tourist destination is just getting underway and completion isn't expected until 2012. While sporting magnificent views of lower Manhattan, the destination doesn't quite justify the journey ... yet. Though our gang had a great time adding our own flare to the resident sculptures and reposing on numerous patches of grass.

MOSI-OA-TUNYA, Zimbabwe

Took a two-hour walk today along the Zimbabwe side of Mosi-Oa-Tunya (The Smoke That Thunders/The Victoria Falls), the largest waterfall in the world.

Victoria Falls peerless jewel of Africa!

Soul-stirring power.
Breath-taking beauty.
Life-elevating majesty!
(from a plaque in the park)

This is the dry season so we were only misted, not drenched. Such power, Such beauty, Such majesty! We are humbled in her mighty presence. And grateful to have this capstone for our amazing Africa adventure. (We're on to Durban now for five days, then the long journey home.)

CHINOTIMBA Township, Zimbabwe

Flater took us for a tour of the local market/shopping center today, followed by a traditional African meal at her home in Chinotimba Township that she shares with 20 family members (sister, sons and nieces mostly). I never quite mastered the art of forming the porridge-like maize into bite size balls for dipping up kale or beef as evidenced by my gooey fingers. Flater served us at least six sides (ordinarily she would only have one at each meal) that were all greeted happily by my discerning tongue.

On our way into Flater's house there were some full-grown men milling about. "These boys are going somewhere," she said, "they all play on the soccer team." I still don't know if she meant that because they were good soccer players this would afford them some measure of success or simply that they were all waiting together for the bus to go the 700km for their match. They good-naturedly humored me while posing for my requested portrait that I will send to Flater to distribute to the team.

"Our wealth is our cattle and our goats, not our houses," said our driver Richard on the way to the market. That is why, he explained, though people come to the cities for work they value their villages more. "We are like baboons," he said, "we share everything in common." This communal family structure brings them a sense of strength and security and joy even in difficult times. And it is being tested severely as huge numbers are being wiped out by AIDS (what is referred to here as "the slimming disease") and in many families children are the only ones left to raise the children.

Though the tourism (which is down significantly) at Victoria Falls keeps people afloat in this area, most of Zimbabwe is sliding deeper and deeper into poverty with prices increasing everyday and the currency having less value than toilet paper. It's become essentially cash and carry for tourists as the credit card machines can't handle the number of zeros needed to tally up the price of a meal (though this received a boost three weeks ago when the government arbitrarily slashed off the last 10 zeros in a currency revaluation). Zimbabwean citizens are advised at the Vic Falls Hotel that Zim dollars will not be accepted and in rural areas bartering is becoming the only means for procuring essentials.

Everywhere we traveled in South Africa there was a collective lament for the tragedy of Zimbabwe: "How could Zim go from being the breadbasket of Africa to a country of starving people seeking refuge?" It is on everyone's minds because they fear a similar fate. And no one has an answer to reverse the decline. While this perilous future hangs in the air we enjoy a meal together and revel in the smiles that we have shared with each other knowing that today is all that matters.

VICTORIA FALLS, Zimbabwe

Our return to Zimbabwe brought a day of firsts:

• Riding an elephant through the bush
• Petting a lion
• Eating under the Southern Cross
• Following a man with a Rifle

As we sat around our Boma table slurping impala stew and listening to a cacophony of insects jabbering under the star speckled Zimbabwean sky I felt as if we were the sole peoples on a problem-free planet. On the drive back to the Victoria Falls Hotel I weaved the threads of this night tightly into my consciousness in anticipation of a conjurable memory to transport me to a primitive place far, far away from New York and immune to hurry and stress.

I'm writing this on the back lawn of the hotel gazing out at the "smoke that thunders" rising up in the cool morning air as cars pause crossing the old train bridge that links Zim to Zambia while drivers glimpse the magnitude of The Falls. Upon arrival this afternoon Joan and I set out on the path to The Falls. At the crossroads to the Gorges view we met up with a rifle-armed guard who offered to accompany us to the Gorges. A few steps down the path we encountered cape buffalo and realized the rifle was in case of animals, not people.

At the overlook of the Gorges there was a primitive outpost with several men lounging in what looked like an outback watering hole, though there were no half-empty bottles behind the bar. As we peered over the edge we saw elaborate cables facilitating zipping across the gorges. In a country where spare parts are virtually impossible to obtain, the thought of strapping on a harness and flying into the depths aroused little temptation. Besides, knowing we were scheduled to come into close contact with elephants and lions was enough of a thrill for one day. Maybe we'll take the plunge tomorrow!