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Published: September 11th 2007
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Victoria Falls
The bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe Our flight from Dar, Tanzania, took us to Johannesburg again. We overnighted this time at Shoestrings Hostel which was great. Cheap, clean and the owner was really helpful, and it was close to the airport which is great for a quick overnight.
The next day we flew to Livingstone, Zambia - the Zambian side of Victoria Falls. And there our real troubles began. We found out when we got off the airplane and were waiting in line at immigration that although the story is that Australian's don't need Visas, you actually need to have your accommodation prebooked so that you appear on a manifest. No name on manifest, no free visa.
So although we had prebooked our accommodation that morning from Johannesburg, we didn't appear on the manifest because it is prepared 24 hours in advance. So what's the problem you think? Just pay for the visa? Well, we could have if we had any American dollars! But we didn't have enough.
Typically, we weren't getting any slack from the immigration official. Rather than thinking quickly and trying a bit of anger, the tears started welling and my first thought was "who can give us money?". So I
Vic Falls
Evan deciding its safer not to jump! grabbed the man next to me and asked how he felt about helping out some cash strapped Aussies. Luckily it was a couple of nice english guys and they lent us the money. Or maybe it was the tears. Don't know - but we were saved. But there went US$50.
Next problem was getting into town. We only had US$7 and the taxi drivers wanted $10. And there were no ATMs at the airport. Great. So Evan got creative and asked another hostel shuttle driver if we could have a lift and he was happy enough to get a couple of dollars on the side so it all worked out well. Sved again! And this time we saved money too! So things seemed to be looking up, but it wasn't over yet.
We arrived at Grubby's Grotto - our choice of accommodation and it was great. Grubby was a great guy who loaned us some money because the ATMs in town weren't working and it was a public holiday! Lucky - saved again! We then met a couple of people who were visiting him who turned out to be 3 west australians from perth who were engineers working
Jo at Vic Falls
In the safe zone in zambia. We all went out for lunch and a drink and it was very nice. Until that night.
That night I had my first and only bout of sickness in Africa. And I think it was food poisoning. I thought I was going to be sick all the time we were in Africa so I was pleased when I only had one issue. I guess it does help to be super careful and apply lots of dettol to hands!
The next day we went into town to get some money before heading to the Falls. That was the next drama - the fourth or fifth depending on how you are counting. None of the ATMs in town accepted our cards. We walked up and down and tried them all. Luckily, at a nice cost to us I am sure, we were finally able to get some money from a bureau de change which gave you money using your credit card.
After all that it was a relief to get to the Falls. And it was amazing. Worth the drama. We went into the National Park and walked the walking paths around to the different views of
JoBurg Hotel
Look what happens when you miss a flight! Check out the size of the bed! the falls. We also walked out onto the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe - no man's land - to get a good view of the falls. Very beautiful. Feeling a bit tender and lacking in funds we didn't do any of the adventure pursuits that Victoria Falls is famous for. No bungee, white water rafting (not so fussed because did the Nile), gorge swing or abseil for us. We just enjoyed the view. Maybe next time!
That night we caught up with some of our friends from our old tour truck (from the first two weeks) who were still travelling on board the truck and were spending the next few nights at Grubby's. It was great to see them again and hear their news.
The next day we chilled out until we had to catch our flight back to Johannesburg where we were transitting to get a flight to Namibia. After all the dramsas we had had you would think they were all over right - bad things come in 3's or something? Unfortunately not for us. In fact, it seems our whole Vic Falls adventure was cursed - full of near disasters.
Our flight to Jo'Burg was delayed. This was a problem because we had a pretty tight connection for our flight to Namibia. And yes, we missed it. First time we have ever missed a flight. So after a mad dash following an airport person trying to get on the flight only to be told that it was closed and we had no chance, we then had to try to get another flight booked. The airline, British Airways, organised this for us, but the next available flight was the next day at about 11am so they had to put us up in a hotel. We then had to go and try to find our luggage - but after an hour or so they located it down in the basement. lucky.
And here's the good part. After all those disasters we were put up in a hotel called the Southern Sun at the airport and it was flash!! We had porters and drinks (juice or alcohol) and snacks on arrival and then part of the deal included a buffet dinner and breakfast - both of which were superb. And the room was divine and the bed was huge and comfortable! We weren't too disappointed about missing the flight after that. A nice way to finish off the dramas in Vic Falls. Been wondering how we can organise to miss another flight like that...
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