I'm A Billionaire!

The past few days have been fairly relaxing. We were able to take it easy while most of the others were at the Okavango Delta - and it was nice to be able to sleep in beyond 5am for a couple of days. We left the Delta on Wednesday and drove for ages and ages before we reached the town of Kasane, which is on the border between Botswana and Zimbabwe. As soon as we got off the truck we split into two groups: those of us spending a night camping in Chobe National Park, and those not. We’d opted to do this particular excursion, so we were bundled up into a Land Cruiser and started our drive into the park.

The game viewing was absolutely amazing. We drove about two minutes into the park when we saw herds of elephants (with lots of babies!) We didn’t see any of the big cats, unfortunately, but we should be able to see quite a few in the Serengetei. We got to see lots and lots of buffalo, warthogs, crocodiles, and some hippos out in the distance. It was better being in the Land Cruiser than in the big truck, as well, since the visibility was better and the sides are open (which can be a bit unnerving, ha.)

We started driving to our camp in the park when it got dark, and somehow our driver managed to get lost. It got darker and darker, and the roads are of course not roads, but dirt trails, and a few people started to get a bit worried. I was just enjoying the ride, but it was admittedly bumpy and a few people were afraid the truck would tip over. (And I think the darkness and fear of lions was getting to them.) In the end we ended up at our camp unscathed.

The camp was described as a “luxury bush camp”, which meant that we had tents large enough to stand in, camp stretchers with warm duvets, and warm water in the mornings. This was the “luxury” bit. The “bush” bit meant no showers or toilets, but we have to do that every now and again so we’re old pros. We were given a nice dinner at a real table (didn’t have to eat off our laps on stools!) with actual glass and metal dishes and cutlery. Cool!

The next morning we got up very early for another game drive. This one wasn’t quite as fruitful as the night before, but we did see a lot of little elephants and some other cool stuff. We went back to meet the main group in Kasane, and set off to do a river cruise.

Kat, our tour leader, says we again were incredibly fortunate with the game viewing on the cruise. We got to see a few hippos up close - absolutely awesome! - as well as the usual assortment of crocs, birds, antelope, etc. Paul got a lot of photos of hippos yawning on the good camera so hopefully they’ll all turn out.

That evening we celebrated someone’s birthday at the camp bar, and it was also the last night our entire group was together, as two girls left early the next morning. We arrived in Zimbabwe yesterday afternoon, and will be here at Victoria Falls until Monday morning, when we lose all but six of us, and gain five more people up to Nairobi (though I think we gain two more in Zanzibar along the way.)

Zimbabwe is an interesting place, and is of course famous in the news these days for having, shall we say, a few problems. The border crossing was uneventful, and we’ve found people very friendly here. That said, people are quite desperate for food and supplies. We went to the supermarket today, and they do have some staples, but virtually no fresh fruit or vegetables. Inflation is also the word of the millennium, as the current exchange rate is 1USD to 3.1 billion Zim dollars. Yes, that’s 3.1 billion. It is utterly bizarre to see price tags listing goods for 75 billion dollars.

Yesterday a few of us went to see Victoria Falls, and it was absolutely amazing. I’ve been to Niagara Falls a few times, but this was something else. The water is very high at the moment, and it really lives up to its original name - The Smoke that Thunders, as the pounding of the water is LOUD. I couldn’t get over how massive they are - absolutely huge. We were also drenched in a couple of places from the spray, even though you can’t get too close to the falls themselves. They’re definitely one of the best natural things I’ve seen.

After we left the falls we went to a local market to scout for souvenirs. Before we arrived, people had been telling us that everyone wants to barter in Zimbabwe due to the lack of, well, everything, so we bought some bottles of cooking oil, sugar, laundry soap, regular soap, etc. It was phenomenal - we didn’t even bring anything with us (we decided to go and look first, before the onslaught began), and the instant we walked in, we were swarmed by people, asking to buy our clothes, shoes, sunglasses, etc. The most distressing bit was when a shopkeeper saw a miniature packet of tissue sticking out of one of our bags, and pulled it out asking if she would trade it for something. A small pack of tissue!! Crazy stuff, and as Victoria Falls is a very touristy place, people are better off here than they might be. We’ve got some old clothes we’re not going to be needing, so we’re packing them up and will be taking them along with the food supplies to trade tomorrow. It’s the first time we’ve been anywhere so poor that people have fully resorted to bargaining. Especially sad is the fact that Zimbabwe used to be a very prosperous nation, one of the most wealthy and stable in Africa, and here we are.

We’re off to a lion sanctuary in about an hour to go play with some baby lions who will eventually be returned to the wild. We leave Zimbabwe on Monday morning for Zambia, so I should be around again when we reach the capital of Lusaka. Hope we get a nice new group of people!

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