“If you think you are too small to make a difference, you haven’t spent a night with a mosquito”
African Proverb
Day 06
One final morning game drive presented us with hundreds of Cape Buffalo – reminded me of my daily commute on the Gardiner – everyone going somewhere, stopping and starting for no reason and even the odd stink-eye from someone you don’t know.
After a 2 hour drive, we arrived in Victoria Falls, one of the many jewels of Africa. The Falls were discovered by David Livingstone and named for Queen Victoria. They boarder both Zimbabwe and Zambia – we are on the Zimbabwe side. We are staying at the Ilala Lodge which is in a great location – walking distance to the Falls. You can actually see the spray from the hotel. We stayed in the new wing which was only just finished in October. Was a great room and we were very impressed to find that all the plugs were universal and they even had wall plugs for USB ports – no matter how many converters you bring, there never seem to be enough.
Zimbabwe has had no official local currency since 2009 – they primarily use the USD although other currencies are also used i.e. Rand, Pound Sterling, Euro and just lately Yuan! The devalued currency is just a small part of Zimbabwe’s story over the past few years which is far too complicated for me to explain but worth taking the time to read. We haven’t had much luck with our office lottery pool so I thought I would pick up some cash to bring home.
We had some crocodile bites for a snack and Jim enjoyed Kudu for dinner at The Palms Restaurant – I can’t do the game. Not sure if it’s because I was literally raised on venison (thanks Dad) or because they are so damn cute – in any case, it was African Chicken for me!
Day 07
We started the day with a tour of the falls. They are quite magnificent and Mother Nature also threw in some special effects in the form of a brightly coloured rainbow.
Lunch was at The Lookout Cafe which has a spectacular view of the gorge. You know how you always remember where you were when you heard someone iconic has died? We were enjoying a cold beer and marvelling at the view when we heard the sad news about David Bowie. The room was filled with tourists from around the world and the news spread quickly – in many languages. Once again, you could see that the power of music and creativity has no boundaries! Some of us are “heroes for just one day” and others, well, that’s a different story.
Later, we took a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River in a very intimate luxury boat called the Ra-Ikane. The teak finish and design is meant to be reminiscent of the boat David Livingstone arrived in (albeit somewhat more modern since he came in 1855). With a stunning sunset as our back-drop, we enjoyed a selection of premium cold drinks and appetizers while we got to see lots of birds, hippos, crocs and more!
We wrapped up the day with a little dinner – Jim had the Warthog which he claims was very juicy, tender and delicious while I stuck with the Zambezi bream – a perfect end to a perfect day!
