Blogs from Zimbabwe, Africa - page 3

My initial Eid planned trip to Scotland fell through, so instead my friend suggested an African group tour with a local touring group he uses. The trip was to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and Zambia, with stops in multiple national parks and the waterfalls. I had been wanting to take a trip to Africa for a while now, but did not want to go solo for my first time, so this was perfect. Victoria Falls Rest Camp We left from Dubai airport at 4:30 in the morning on Ethiopian Airlines, stopping in Addis Ababa (crazy airport), and landing in Victoria Falls. I met everyone at the coffee shop after checking in and it seemed to be a good, but diverse group of people, a few of whom had quite a few to drink on the way. We ... read more

Today we headed to Zimbabwe. We left our motorhome in Botswana and went by 4x4 to the border. It took about a half hour. At the border we got our visas. The Brits paid $55 US and we had to pay $75 US ( Americans pay $30). Don’t know what Canada did that we have to pay more. Zimbabwe uses US currency. Once over the border it was about a hours drive in a motor coach. The town of Victoria Falls is touristy. We walked to the Falls and they are amazing. Niagara looks boring compared to them. There is about 15 viewpoint areas in the park and we spent a bit of time wandering to them all. In the evening we went on a boat ride down the Zambezi River about 5 kilometres from the ... read more

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