Part 2: Vonderful Vic Falls

Note: If you’re not a diligent reader of my blog and/or lack common sense, scroll down and read Part 1:Beautiful Botswana before continuing with Part 2.

Another note: Thanks for reading these really long posts!

My last few minutes in Botswana were spent under a tree, waiting for a ferry to take us over the Zambezi to Zambia. Nothing especially worth blogging about, but there are a few interesting things I saw. I did see the only place in the world where four countries meet. The point where Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe meet is somewhere in the middle of the Zambezi…so there’s not a marked point, but I saw the general vicinity. Wahoo! Also, the road leading up to the ferry is completely lined with truck after truck after truck. These trucks wait for a few weeks up to a month to cross the Zambezi, as each ferry can only carry one truck over at a time. Companies and drivers choose to do this instead of driving through Zimbabwe because of the large taxes and road fees they would have to pay in Zim.

So after our wait, we put-putted ten minutes across the Zambezi to arrive in Zambia, and we even had the pleasure of hanging out at the border post for about an hour, which is apparently a short wait. Then we were off to our campsite in Livingstone, where Steph and I pitched Buffalo 2 for the last time. We even made a friend outside our tent a day later…miss ya, Baby Rat!

Tent pitching pros

 

Then the afternoon meant time to head to Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world. I give my approval of Vic Falls being on that list because it is unbelievable. I was by no means prepared for what I was going to see, because it was so awesome

Fun Fact: locals call Vic Falls Mosi Oa Tunya, which means “The Smoke that Thunders”

Firstly, I was soaked almost instantly. The amount of mist coming off the falls was wild. For most of the time, it was even really difficult to see, but when we could see the falls it was awesome. I mean, really, really awesome. It was pretty overwhelming to look at it, because it’s so powerful, especially when we had to walk across a bridge over a gorge next to the falls.

Just a little wet

Mist, falls, sunset

 

The next few days at Vic Falls was much less structured than the past week, and we even got to sleep in a little bit. So my Friday started out as any day should…with lions. I woke up early and headed out to a national park where we would do a walk with lions. Yes, this was about a million times more commercialized than my other animal encounters over the past week, but with the difficulty of seeing lions in the wild, I figured it was worth it.

First, we were briefed on the program these lions were a part of, whose goal is to increase the lion population, which has decreased 80-90% over the past thirty years. Their lions go through four different stages, and during stage one while they’re still cubs they can have human contact. We were also taught how to act around the lions. Stay calm, kneel on one knee when petting, carry a stick as a means of distractions, since lions are very easily distracted, and most importantly, say “NO!” in a firm voice if a lion starts to approach you. “They may not understand what you’re saying, but they understand your tone.” Well, after that, I felt well-equipped to go hang out with some lions.

The next hour was spent walking through the park with the lions, who, in fact, walk surprisingly quickly. We were with two sisters, Ruma and Rufiji, who were 17 month old "cubs." Over the course of the walk they would often do their own thing….stop and “play” with one another or just lie down. Lions can sleep 21-22 hours of the day, so I think we were interrupting what they considered vital nap time.

Me and my ladies

Concentrating much?

Just some lion cubs playin'

 

In the afternoon I decided not to do another activity, but instead go into Livingstone. Score! We could take our campsite’s shuttle there. Something interesting about the roads in Livingstone was that they were terrible. I mean, actually awful. Every time I was in a taxi, van, truck, or whatever, the drive would have to drive all over either side of the road, then off of it, just to avoid the severe potholes. It obviously speaks to some of the larger structural issues in Zambia/Southern Africa/Africa if the main road through a relatively high traffic area has been basically undrivable for the past four years.

Even though Livingstone gets a lot of tourist action, there’s not actually a whole lot going on in town. We walked down the main road to find a whole lot of nothin’, besides groups of men sitting along the street.

So we made our way down to the market, where there’s a row of stalls of all sorts of goods. It was definitely overwhelming at first. “My sister, I give you the best price, just for you.” Etc. Etc. Every person wanted us to look at their goods, even though they were all very similar. After awhile though, some of us bought a few things and they seemed to mellow out, and it was easier to chat with them (shoutout to Lawrence of Arabia). We even played a game with them that was similar to mancala. I can’t say I was very good, so good thing I had a local helping me.

Hanging out with the locals

  On Saturday we headed to Zimbabwe for the day. We started off the day at Vic Falls. The Zim side, which contains about 70% of the falls, was much less misty so the views were even better. It depends whether it is dry or wet season whether the Zambian or Zim side is clearer. I was able to see a lot more of the falls and it continued to be just as unbelievable as it was in Zambia, and it was awesome that I could see even more of it. The walk along the edge was about an hour long and the best part was at the end, Danger Point. Here, we could walk up this point that is on the very edge. It felt like I could reach out and actually touch the falls. I could also see about a million rainbows (estimate approximate). Also, you should all Google images of Vic Falls and Danger Point because I don't have any pictures, and it's really, really awesome.

Country Number 9

This isn't Vic Falls. This is, however, me and some warthogs chillin' outside the falls.

 

Once we dried off, the next stop was the market. The Zim market was ten times more overwhelming than the Zambian one. Not only was it much larger in size, but the vendors were much more forceful. “Just looking” was by no means an option, as men would constantly come over and make you look at their goods. It took a bit of getting used to, but I think I made some good bargains, including trading a pair of shorts and a shirt (my unattractive safari clothes that I refuse to wear outside of the bush). It was nice to know that I was supporting the local economy, since the men and women themselves make most of these crafts themselves. However, by the end, I just wanted to buy something from all the vendors. Obviously, this isn’t a feasible desire, but I felt pretty sad about how much there was for them to sell and how little money they’re actually making.

"Hi Bridget. My name is So-and-so. Come look at my shop and I'll give you the best price." x100

  After that, we had a few more stops. First we went to the Victoria Falls Hotel to check out the spectacular view.  I’m pretty sure this is the hotel where exuberantly wealthy European come to stay and was far classier than I was. We then went to check out the Big Tree. No seriously, it was a giant baobab tree called the Big Tree. Next up was another hotel to watch another awesomely awesome sunset, then it was time for dinner.

Check out that mist

Finally, I'm not the giant in a picture with these three.

  We went to this cool restaurant called The Boma. We walked in, got some face paint, and were dressed in some African cloth. Then the rest of the night was pretty much spent eating my weight in all sorts of crazy foods. I started out with black bean soup (normal), then had crocodile tail, impala, and guinea fowl, the latter being payback for breaking the truck’s windshield. For the main course I had kudu, ostrich, and warthog. Who knew Pumbaa could taste so good?! I also ate another worm, and this one was tastier. The restaurant also had some great entertainment, and we did a bit of drumming before heading out.

Check out how good we look

The usual dinner: warthog, kudu, and ostrich

  Here’s the deal: we had to make sure to leave the restaurant in time to get to the Zim border post to make it back to Zambia by 10, when both posts close. So we made it through the Zim post easily, but it was about 9:40 by then. Apparently, it is possible to get stuck in No Man’s Land between the two posts if we didn’t get to Zambia by 10. It is probably about 3K between the two posts, so to make it in time we had to run (in the rain, with backpacks and flip flops and really full bellies). There were also no lights in this stretch, so it was up to me to throw on my head torch and light the path for everyone. The first of the group got to the post around 9:55, and we all safely, but barely, made it through to Zambia. Yikes!

Trailblazing through No Man's Land. Also, I'm never going anywhere without my headtorch.

We made it back to Zambia! Close call.

 

I flew out of Livingstone on Sunday and was back to beautiful LBG Sunday night to get back to real life. Aaaand that’s the basics of my trip, everyone.

So yes, my passport looks cooler than me now, but more importantly, I just had the experience of a lifetime. So a big thank you to the elephants, giraffes, hippos, friends,  and Zambians that gave me a pretty wild 10 days. Today also marks the two-month mark until I hop on a plan out of Cape Town. It seems like both a very long and very short amount of time. My plan is to have many more Cape Town adventures, so stay tuned.

Cheers!