Blogs from Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Africa - page 3

Today was a free day until 3pm, so we took it easy. We had been going to get the shuttle into the village and explore, but after hearing from other travellers that you are harassed by beggers and hawkers, decided not to. That’s not our idea of a holiday. Instead, we had a leisurely breakfast by the pool, refreshed and then left our room to be serviced and went and sat in the comfort of the lounge adjoining the pool and dining area. Here we sat, Tom catching up on information on coming days, and me doing my blog while the bus load (of Chinese, it turns out) are out touring and the internet is not under stress! Just before 3 we made our way down to reception to wait for our tour. A lovely Canadian ... read more

Wow - what a day. We started with our buffet breakfast by the pool at our hotel, very early because we had an 8.10am pickup with our tour company. The usual bacon, egg, sausages etc. When the tour guide collected us we joined a group of Aussies, Scottish Aussies, French and Spanish people. after stopping at a couple more hotels to pick up people we drove to the entrance of the park that surrounds the Victoria Falls on the Zambezi side. Just a couple of miles upstream, the Zambezi merges with the Chobe River, and at this confluence there are the borders of four countries, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. At Victoria Falls we are in Zimbabwe, looking at water also in Zimbabwe to begin with, but then it becomes Zambian water. There is no public ... read more

Very swish afternoon tea in old Colonial hotel. Absolutely stunning hotel almost identical to Grand Hotel in Habana (bit of sneaky name dropping there....did you notice?). With grand terrace and stunning view of falls. Wild Warthogs, Baboons and Banded Mongooses ( or should that be Mongeese?) just wandering around the grounds. Doesn’t seem that much has changed over the years, with about 4 blacks attending each white! Superb opulent service and ambience. A must see experience. Then traditional Boma supper and drum/dance performance. Huge spread of traditional fare inc Warthog steak (delicious), Impala stew, Eland meatballs and roasted caterpillars (they call them worms...quite tasty but probably don’t try this at home!). Now sitting waiting for minibus to drive 3 hours over rough and badly potaholed roads (no change there then) to an African Wild Dog rehab ... read more

Not something you see everyday whilst sipping your morning coffee. The guesthouse owner’s brother has a farm and this giraffe was head butting visiting cars and getting aggressive so had to be shot. He was quite pushy and a cheeky negotiator. In fact you could say he had a hard neck. Reminded me a bit about the famous Falty Towers moose head sketch. Only weirder. Flew to Zimbabwe this morning. 29 degs up here and wall to wall sun. Our group (now reduced to 7) was hosted by a local lady and treated us to a traditional local meal of peanuts and blackeyed peas, roasted caterpillars, whitebait, chicken and local veg. We spent a fascinating couple of hours hearing about life in Mugabwe’s playground. It is hard to believe what this country has been reduced to. ... read more

Leaving Mom for Zimbabwe took a while, endless paperwork and 61 dollars later, visa fee, road tax, insurance and a carbon dioxide fee, The coastal plain was gone and the sun also, replaced by a slow chilly rain, Africa, Africa is hot they told me! Some places are hot but the you get up on the high plain, the high veld, it’s not hot anymore and with the rain it dropped to 15C which is of ok if you’re not on a bike with some wind chill factor to count in. Rant: May the devil and all his little devils and all the other helpers, lawyers, reals estate vendors, inland revenue and other riff raff take the vendors and makers of so called water proof motor cycle gear and put them on endless trips on bikes ... read more