Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe - 4 days

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Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe - 4 days


Just one story from Lusaka before the events of Victoria Falls. Zambia has copper resource and earns foreign exchange from export so Lusaka (the capital) is very different from Nairobi or Dar es Salaam. Lusaka has malls with parking lots and concrete sidewalks and 4 lane divided roads with no pot holes. Boulevards lined with jacaranda trees, all in full bloom, covered with pale purple blooms. Outside Lusaka were large wheat and corn fields that must be managed by machine. There was even a John Deere dealer. Up to now, we have seen only human power cultivating the fields. What a contrast! 

Now to Vic Falls, Zimbabwe. Lots to do: bungee jumping, zip wire, class 5 rafting, canoe the upper Zambezi along side the hippos - none of which we tried, although others from our group did. Instead we started with an elephant back safari, riding, feeding and touching the animals. Richard rode a mother whose two small children tagged along staying close under her legs. The guide walked the trails with an assistant carrying a rifle in case a cape buffalo or hyena appeared. 

At the end of the bumpy ride, we saw the elephant trunk and elephant mouth up close when we fed pellets of prepared food from a bucket. The elephants understood English and we called out "trunk up or trunk down" to feed them in their mouth or in their trunk. An elephant trunk is covered with bristly hairs and the skin is hard and wrinkled. Kayla's hand was gripped by the end of the trunk as she offered pellets. The trunk has an upper and lower tip that behaves like fingers.

The next day highlight was a encounter with young lions. We visited a lion rehabilitation park where young orphans are kept and gradually reintroduced to their natural environment and way of life. In 1975 Africa had 200,000 lions and today there are only 20,000 mainly due to habitat loss to growing human population. We walked with and handled these young ones under the guidance of a large group of staff. The lions treat the staff as alpha males until they are large enough to mate and are then returned to a large fenced park where a lion pride forms and are eventually transferred to a national park as a family. Kayla petted and Richard took video.

The remainder of the second day was spent using the wireless Internet and Kayla's iPad to publish our travel blogs - a very slow insecure Internet that would not let Richard access his bank or investments. We also switched tents and met the new group traveling to Cape Town and our new African guide, driver and cook.

Vic Falls day 3: This morning we decide to walk to the falls. The usual gauntlet of touts was there, but we are becoming hardened tourists and it's easier to ignore the aggressive sales pitch. Another person from our group joined us, to avoid being hassled by men wanting to be her 'African boyfriend'.

The Zim side of Victoria Falls is spectacular. We enjoyed the immense power of the world's largest falls (over 100 meters high), which even at low water are huge. Parts of our walk took us through heavy mist and a wet rainforest. Even though this was early morning, it was getting quite hot, and we loved the cooling effect of the spray.

Richard's thermometer said 33 c in the shade, so once again we spent the afternoon lounging about, taking showers and reading. Our new group met for a briefing at 6:00 and then dispersed for dinner, so we had a quiet evening alone at the In-Da-Belly restaurant by the rest camp pool, refreshed and ready for new adventures in Botswana tomorrow. 

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