Victoria Falls Day 2: Lion Walks and Relaxing

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Thoughts on Lions and Africans

We did a Lion Walk this morning, a tour organized by Wilderness Safaris which has an office in the hotel. We were picked up in one of the ubiquitous Toyota Combi Busses and driven west of town and down a rough road to The African Lion & Environmental Research Trust's (ALERT) Walk with Lions enclave. This non-profit group is working to rehabilitate the lion population by having a breeding program which is largely funded by these lion walks which cost anywhere from $100 to $125 per person. Our lions' names were Kosy and Kala, 19 month old female and male lions. We were a bit surprised when we saw them as all of the brochures showed much younger animals. Though not fully grown Kosy and Kala were quite imposing, but everything went well and we are both still intact.

With a bit of research I think that ALERT is quite reputable, but it is a shame because there seems to be such desperation here in Zimbabwe that as the only two on the tour, we were assailed by requests for money, however polite, and indirect, a request is still a request and it becomes tiring to politely refuse. A small little "community hut" was setup where local artists were selling their wares. All of these things looked like absolutely everything else being hawked around Vic Falls. It is normal on tours to be force-fed a tour of the trinket factory but it is sad that ALERT would do it, however I understand the local community does need help. They also video tape you and try to get you to buy a DVD of your Lion Walk for $35, and you are basically forced to watch it, it was reasonably well done for the short time, but again, I understand that on tours they will try to sell you photographs and videos, but it was just a bit intense having all of these things sold just to the two of us. Finally, our guide, "JB" or Jabari was very nice and knowledgeable and pitched volunteering locally or giving money (he never asked directly but kept referring to the dire financial situation), and ultimately I did not tip he or the other handlers as may be customary. It is all of these little missteps that they do that diminish the authenticity of their cause and of the experience that ultimately lead to a little bit of a bad taste. The experience was wonderful and we do not regret it, but it is just too bad for them because it is difficult to explain such small things in a survey. Probably the lion's share of westerners come through here and give freely because ultimately the thought is that $50 from my pocket is ultimately nothing but can have so much of an impact on these people's lives. And it can. But on the other hand, I don't think Africa and Africans will improve if we continue to give aid, whether in an inter-government manner or as a cash handout on the street. They need to understand what it is we demand. The other tourists are free to give, and I am free to not, but it would surely be wonderful if Africa could open its doors more carefully to the rest of the world, it would be of much more significant benefit to them than charging exhorbitant visa fees and pulling silly bait and switches.

Rest of the Day

I forgot to mention that we had quite a good dinner at the Ilala Lodge last night. I will venture to more adventurous things. Also the South African MAN Chardonnay is quite good, with a great little story on how they got started. I will definitely be on an exclusively South African wine steak on return.

We don't have any particular plans for the rest of the day except relaxing at the hotel, maybe a brave stroll about town later as there is a little shopping district down the street. I will get pictures of it as it is a good example of what Vic Falls once was, and as Lonely Planet Guide says, the place is a ghost town thanks to the political unrest in Zimbabwe.

Ultimately we had a great time lounging around Ilala's very nice pool, drinking local dry ciders and Zambezi Beer. The South African beer just doesn't taste as good here. I think we are reasonably well squared away for the long bus trip tomorrow. Michelle, from Ilala, said she took the bus last year and that it is comfortable but there is no aircon or heat so it gets very cold at night and very hot in the day. We will need to stock up on water. To be safe, I also picked up some dollars today, fortunately the Barclays Bank is right next door to the hotel and there is a security guard soundly asleep next to the ATMs. It was a bit of surprise once I received the US Dollars which are now the unofficial currency of Zimbabwe as they are not the crisp new kind you get in the US but these $20 bills felt like they had been cherished and kept deep in someones sweaty pocket, throughly covered in grime. I can handle the dirt, but currency is dirty enough so I gave my old friend a little bath with the disinfectant cloth at the hotel.

We had our most poignant power outage at dinner, with power shutting off for 2 seconds, the whole restaurant, much fuller today, being thrown into the darkness. We have had several other outages, but not as impressive as this one. On that note, the first night we heard a loud noise that awoke us around 3AM, followed by the foulest smell of sewage, we have not figured out what it was

The internet has been running very slow, so I am not sure if I will post again for a while. Photos will likely have to wait until Swakopmund in 3 days time. We may go back to the falls tomorrow morning despite the $40 entrance charge because it's not as if we will be coming back here so we might as well take advantage.

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Photos

Our Two Lions
A little freaked out when you sign up to walk with "cubs" and this is what you get.

Walking our "Cubs"
A little path they have near the compound. Both were quite agitated as elephants had been through recently.

With the real cubs
This one is 8 months old. JB was nice enough to take us back to see him and another one same age.

Looking for Impalas
She was remarkably well-behaved considering we are still alive.

Pool at the Ilala Lodge
Many a Zambezi beer was consumed here after the Lion Walk. Zambezi beer is Zimbabwe's finest brew. When your country is falling apart around you, at least have some good beer to drink. Cheers Mugabe!