Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls

We bussed to Vic Falls (Victoria Falls) from Botswana and had to do the customs backwards. The Vic falls hotel was built in 1905 in the style of a grand hotel. Evidently the rooms go for $400 up a night. Beyond the entry is a beautiful courtyard with yummy smelling plants that I can't identify.

Pictures of English royalty hang on the walls along with art and even a skeleton of a tiger fish, an African game fish .Our room is large and airy. People used to arrive here by train. Of course we are on the train side but it’s a good distance away . Dan has already gone to the station to take pictures. The train system is still in operation. You can dine in 3 separate venues at the hotel. Our favorite is the terrace overlooking a large lawn where warthogs hang out. You can see a famous bridge in the distance where people bungie jump. There is also an outdoor buffet area, where we ate breakfast and also a fancy restaurant. 

  Monkeys and warthogs are abundant. As we sit by the beautiful pool area, the warthogs are making the rounds. They are adorable in an ugly way. The male monkey has vivid blue balls and a teeny, weeny bright red weenie, very colorful. I was trying to get an up close and personal of him with the camera but it took a while because he had both hands covering his privates.  

We walked from beginning to end of Vic Falls, maybe 2 miles. It's a series of cataracts, each viewpoint more beautiful than the next. Rainbows over each cataract made them spectacular. We’re at the end of the dry season, but there is still plenty of water to see. In fact, we were sprayed quite heavily by the mist. At one point it felt like rain and I was completely soaked, but it's hot so I dried off quickly. In the rainy season, it’s impossible to see the falls because the mist is so heavy.

The next day we took a helicopter ride over the falls, along the Zambezi River and the surrounding plains. Except for the falls, this area of Africa can't be described as beautiful. It is flat, extremely arid, with scrub trees. This will change when the rains come. But it's a good time to come as the mosquitos are low and the animals come close to find water. My favorite part of the helicopter ride was seeing the elephants, giraffes, and even sable antelope from the air.

After the flight, we went to a village market. It was made out of corrugated tin shacks. I love to bargain, which you're expected to do, but it was very disconcerting. The men, it was all men, verbally assault you to buy. They follow after the shoppers in an aggressive manner and even block your way so you can't leave their area. They will trade for anything including pens and hats. They wanted our shoes. All this can be forgiven because our guide says they are literally starving. The zipper on my old schlep bag broke in the middle of the market. I mentioned to Dan I was going to throw it out. A young man followed us up the street until I put my stuff in Dan’s bag and gave it to the man. He said he was going to give it to his grandmother who lived in a village. I believed him. The man with him asked for food. I gave him the trail mix I was carrying.  Dan says that if he had known, he would have brought more cash in small bills just to give to the people.

From 3 to 5:30 we went on an excursion in canoes along the Zambezi river. Dan was in the back I was in the middle our guide paddled in the front. He introduced himself as “Fanny Boy,” which I called him the entire trip until at the end, I found out his name was really  “Funny Boy.” Each canoe had a cooler with wine, beer, soft drinks. Some of the people really enjoyed the wine drinking 5 to 6 full glasses. At one point, we stopped along the bank to enjoy appetizers with our drinks.

Along the banks of the very wide river we saw elephants spraying themselves and one swimming. He swam in an undulating motion going in and out of the water like a sea serpent. There were also crocks and hippos in and out of the water. It was magical.