South Africa to Zimbabwe Day 13

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One of the world's natural wonders

Saturday, August 28. Just seeing the volumes of towering mist rising from a distance is exciting. But it doesn’t quite prepare me for the first glimpse of Victoria Falls. Stunning. The shear volume of water coursing over the rocks is staggering. And they go on and on and on so instead of one huge waterfall there are a series of hundreds of waterfalls. At one point there are waterfalls stretching as far as I can see in either direction. The falls are often lost in their own mist. White steam decorated with rainbows. To see the river below I have to walk out on rocks that are slippery when wet; they are always wet. It is an amazing experience.

But we don’t spend nearly enough time here. Instead we drive out to see a huge tree and then to a market. What a surprise. Another market. But there is a revolt in my van and we opt for lunch in town instead.

An elephant encounter

Back in our comfie bungalow, we have time to rest and then Ahren and I head out for our afternoon adventure, riding an elephant. After watching the elephants lumber out, we climb a set of stairs about even with the elephants’ backs and one at a time we slip on to the double saddle; Ahren rides in the front and I in the back. About 10 elephants carry passengers out into the bush. Janet, our 24-year-old elephant is accompanied by her 2 ½-year-old baby which doesn’t venture far from Mom. We track through brush, our driver catching and holding branches which often sport one-inch thorns. He’s pretty adept at not letting them hit us. We stop to take photos and for the elephants to grab an occasional snack, tearing limbs off trees or pulling plants out of the dry ground roots and all. At one point the elephant trail grinds to a standstill when Janet’s baby noses right under her for a milkshake. It is over way too quickly. Forty minutes has gone by in a rush. A guide helps me slide off the elephant and onto the platform. Climbing down the steps, my legs feel like Jello.

After the ride, we have a chance to feed Janet, tossing pellets directly into her mouth, and then it’s time to watch the DVD they’ve edited of our ride. It’s a hoot; we buy it. It’s dark when the driver comes to get us and rushes us back to the hotel and to the Boma dinner. The rest of the group is already at the restaurant.

We could have danced all night

As we enter, African-patterned scarves are wrapped around us and tied at our shoulders then bright-blue dots painted on our cheeks. Exotic meats include buffalo (tough), crocodile (OK), ostrich (pretty good), and warthog (yummy). A fried worm gets as far as my plate. I even press my fork into it to test for crispiness. However it gives when I press down. Gooey. No, thank you.

The evening culminates when every diner—and there must be 100—participates in a bongo-drum concert, copying the rhythms of our bongo band-leader. Funny and fun. About 30 people squeeze onto the dance floor where one at a time they’re pulled out into the center to shake their booties. Ahren and I both participate. There are no videos. Thank goodness.

We get back to the hotel about 10:30 pm. Wake-up call is at 5 am. Ouch.

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Photos

Everyone in the restaurant was given a bongo to play. What a hoot.
The 'youth' clan with a few older members