Victoria Falls - One Natural Wonder down...
We got off the bus and sister immediately got in a fight with the man in the return-ticket booth. We wanted to have our tickets for the return the bus the next day (ew!) so we would not be stand-by passengers. On the wall of the ticket hut the bus times were written, and it was stated that the last bus left at 14:00. We asked the man to confirm the time of the bus and he said 14:30. Sis asked him if he was certain of this, as the time on the hut was different. The man became very angry and yelled at us that he had TOLD us when the bus was leaving and why were we questioning him and of course he knows his job etc. etc. (Actually the bus left at 1:45 the next day. The LAST bus).
We were very happy to hop in a cab and drive to our hotel. On the way we passed shabby-looking lodges and guesthouses. In Livingstone there are 2 resorts - the 5-star Royal Livingston Resort, and the 3-star Zambizi Sun hotel (ugh, I was just hit by That Odor - in walks some workmen). As the Intercon in Lusaka was considered to be 4- or 5- star, we weren't so sure about the 3-star hotel. Also, on Expedia, the price had been listed as $550.00/night USD (!). However, as residents of Zambia we were entitled to the local rate (well, we had resided there for almost an entire week) and it only cost us $150.00 USD.
The hotel was wonderful. It was decorated so nicely, and all the staff wore Tribal-style African uniforms. Even the security guards has zebra-striped material on the pockets of their Jackets. Everyone was clean, and everyone was attractive. (In case I have not mentioned this yet, although making a racial generalization is a dangerous thing, Zambians are gorgeous. I have not seen one ugly Zambian. Not one. If I ever come to Africa to adopt a child, I am coming to Zambia, absolutely). The hotel was set in a national park, and there were game (maybe Impalas) wandering the grounds, and a bird hide, and a lake which had "beware of crocodile" signs set all around it (which are good igns to heed, as an American was eaten by a Croc on the Limpopo river in South Africa just last week). The pool was blue and clean. There was a pool-side bar and a lunch buffet was being set up, and the staff was so nice, and our room was well-decorated and so clean and everything was so lovely, especially after the bus ride! And we would get to stay here for 24 whole hours!
We ate lunch (which involved our order taking 45 minutes, and then being wrong, and cold, and then the manager being very concerned and giving us free cokes and, for the cost of our food, letting us eat from the huge - and more expensive - lunch buffet). We had sat down for lunch not in the greatest of moods, and got up full of healthy and yummy veg, and ready for adventure! We changed into adventure clothes, and walked out the hotel gate and into the Vic Falls national park (it usually costs 10$ US to enter the park, but as hotel guests everything was free! How sweet was that! So it was actually a bargain to stay at this hotel)
There were stalls selling curios, but since we had not brought any money, we only glanced at the masks and the bowls. One of the vendors saw the dusty blue visor (with a butterfly on it!) hanging from my camera strap and asked if I would trade it. Or anything else I had in my bag. Wait a minute... clothes...for goods?! We had gone to Zim and Moz and Lusaka market willing to trade clothes for goods, and here, where we had travelled with just backpacks, they wanted to trade...?!
We marched off towards the falls, cursing our packing luck. There were booths hiring umbrellasand rain ponchos, but we scorned them as being 'for tourists' and marched down the path.
All of a sudden we heard a roaring and a woosh, and were hit by a wall of spray. The waterfalls were probably 400 metres away, and we were deep in the forest, but within seconds we were dripping wet. What fun! We wrapped the camera in a plastic bag (which *I* had cleverly brought along for that very purpose), stripped down to our bathing suit tops, and skipped along the dripping path.
It was not a long path. The forest soon opened to fantastic views of the waterfall (which we saw amid thick clouds of spray and the sunscreen dripping into our eyes). It was fantastic. We crossed over a bridge which was ringed with full circles of rainbows. On one side was a leafy, rainforest-y gully, and on the other the river and the fals. We were at the top of the gully, so we looked accross to the falls, not up or down at it. It was a fantastic view, and although the Zim side of Vic falls is more popular, I was quite happy that we were on that path.
Some Zambian children on the same path asked if we would pose in a photograph with them - they were so cute, dancing in the spray from the waterfall! I have never asked to pose because of - well, I suppose because of how Western we appeared. We posed in their photograph and then of course took one of our own. When we returned to the main path we noticed two other forks. One was the hike to Boiling Point, a river at the base of the falls (Remember, we were almost at the level of the top of the falls, and this is said to be the second highest waterfall in the world), and the other was the 'photographic route', with the best picture opportunities. Despite my sister's attitude that a hike down a mountain was more important than pretty pictures, I grabbed her arm and dragged her along the photo trail. It was not a long path, and offered views of the falls without the blinding (and drenching) mists. And we did get some lovely photographs!
Back at the fork in the trail, we saw two things:
1- A gorgeous Zambian track and field team (yes, the entire team! Well, I don't know if the entire team was present, but the entire team was gorgeous. They should have a tourism campaign with Zambia=Eye Candy as their logo) who was just heading down on the hike to Boiling Point
2- A bevy of Baboons. They ran accross the road outside the enclosed park, and vaulted over the fence. In Cape Town we had pased many signs warning that Baboons attack if they think they smell sugar, so we were a bit nervous. These were huge monkeys! They ignored us, though, and were mor interested in...making more monkeys! I actually know a bit about the baboon mating ritual from a book I read when I was 13... who knew it would come in handy! I explained to a group of horified Californians that the lady baboons get red and swelled when they go into heat, etc. etc. I was a baboon expert for about 5 seconds! Then a baboon ran near to them and they scattered.
Sis was very patient while I took photos of the apes, and soon we, too, started down the path to Boiling Point. The path was also a Baboon path, and there were plenty more picture opportunities. At one point a Baboon started to walk beside my sister, who didn't even notice at first... The babies were so cute, they looked almost like (ugly) humans....
The sun fell lower as we hiked, and soon the day was shadowy and we were surrounded by mosquitos. Victoria Falls is a Malarial Zone. We did not reach Boiling Point, but turned back. Sister was once again very patient while her companion (me!) puffed my way up the path. I did manage to speed up when the Zambian track team came jogging past, up the stone steps. Like a greyhound race with a rabbit, I guess....
Back at the hotel we went for a swim, and tried to order some poolside Ice Cream. We tried. At first we were told that they only had milkshakes and to bring us ice cream the waiter would have to get special permission. Then a few minutes later another waiter approached our deck chairs and asked if we wanted ice cream. We told him that we didn't think we were allowed to order ice cream, and he responded that of course we could, and that the other waiter probably just wanted to get off his shift early. Forty-five minutes passed (we could see the fridge where the ice cream was kept) and we didn't get any ice cream. Finally we flagged down another waiter (well, 'flagged down' is not entirely accurate. He came over to our chairs to flirt with us and we asked him about the ice cream) and he told our waiter and eventually our ice cream came.
Being two cute girls meant that he gave us double the ice cream we had ordered. Unfortunately, being cute did not make him come back with the bill, and we had to go to the bar, who told us that we could not pay for our ice cream because he had gotten it from the restaurant (this was not true, we could see it in the bar fridge) bla bla and it would have to be billed through the restaurant. Ice cream had already taken over an hour, so we told him to prepare a bill and that we would come back and sign it, and we did not care where it was printed. Everything is always such a pain! In the end they only charged us $2 (it was supposed to be $3). Maybe this story isn't so interesting, but it was sure frustrating, though the ice cream was yummy!
After Ice Cream we needed dinner, and we went to a steakhouse on the hotel property, and then to the hotel bar for a drink. They made us a Guava juice with crushed ice and a hippo stir-stick. Everything tastes better with a white hippo stirring it!
What a day that was, and we still had all of Sunday morning before we had to get on the horrible bus again!
We were very happy to hop in a cab and drive to our hotel. On the way we passed shabby-looking lodges and guesthouses. In Livingstone there are 2 resorts - the 5-star Royal Livingston Resort, and the 3-star Zambizi Sun hotel (ugh, I was just hit by That Odor - in walks some workmen). As the Intercon in Lusaka was considered to be 4- or 5- star, we weren't so sure about the 3-star hotel. Also, on Expedia, the price had been listed as $550.00/night USD (!). However, as residents of Zambia we were entitled to the local rate (well, we had resided there for almost an entire week) and it only cost us $150.00 USD.
The hotel was wonderful. It was decorated so nicely, and all the staff wore Tribal-style African uniforms. Even the security guards has zebra-striped material on the pockets of their Jackets. Everyone was clean, and everyone was attractive. (In case I have not mentioned this yet, although making a racial generalization is a dangerous thing, Zambians are gorgeous. I have not seen one ugly Zambian. Not one. If I ever come to Africa to adopt a child, I am coming to Zambia, absolutely). The hotel was set in a national park, and there were game (maybe Impalas) wandering the grounds, and a bird hide, and a lake which had "beware of crocodile" signs set all around it (which are good igns to heed, as an American was eaten by a Croc on the Limpopo river in South Africa just last week). The pool was blue and clean. There was a pool-side bar and a lunch buffet was being set up, and the staff was so nice, and our room was well-decorated and so clean and everything was so lovely, especially after the bus ride! And we would get to stay here for 24 whole hours!
We ate lunch (which involved our order taking 45 minutes, and then being wrong, and cold, and then the manager being very concerned and giving us free cokes and, for the cost of our food, letting us eat from the huge - and more expensive - lunch buffet). We had sat down for lunch not in the greatest of moods, and got up full of healthy and yummy veg, and ready for adventure! We changed into adventure clothes, and walked out the hotel gate and into the Vic Falls national park (it usually costs 10$ US to enter the park, but as hotel guests everything was free! How sweet was that! So it was actually a bargain to stay at this hotel)
There were stalls selling curios, but since we had not brought any money, we only glanced at the masks and the bowls. One of the vendors saw the dusty blue visor (with a butterfly on it!) hanging from my camera strap and asked if I would trade it. Or anything else I had in my bag. Wait a minute... clothes...for goods?! We had gone to Zim and Moz and Lusaka market willing to trade clothes for goods, and here, where we had travelled with just backpacks, they wanted to trade...?!
We marched off towards the falls, cursing our packing luck. There were booths hiring umbrellasand rain ponchos, but we scorned them as being 'for tourists' and marched down the path.
All of a sudden we heard a roaring and a woosh, and were hit by a wall of spray. The waterfalls were probably 400 metres away, and we were deep in the forest, but within seconds we were dripping wet. What fun! We wrapped the camera in a plastic bag (which *I* had cleverly brought along for that very purpose), stripped down to our bathing suit tops, and skipped along the dripping path.
It was not a long path. The forest soon opened to fantastic views of the waterfall (which we saw amid thick clouds of spray and the sunscreen dripping into our eyes). It was fantastic. We crossed over a bridge which was ringed with full circles of rainbows. On one side was a leafy, rainforest-y gully, and on the other the river and the fals. We were at the top of the gully, so we looked accross to the falls, not up or down at it. It was a fantastic view, and although the Zim side of Vic falls is more popular, I was quite happy that we were on that path.
Some Zambian children on the same path asked if we would pose in a photograph with them - they were so cute, dancing in the spray from the waterfall! I have never asked to pose because of - well, I suppose because of how Western we appeared. We posed in their photograph and then of course took one of our own. When we returned to the main path we noticed two other forks. One was the hike to Boiling Point, a river at the base of the falls (Remember, we were almost at the level of the top of the falls, and this is said to be the second highest waterfall in the world), and the other was the 'photographic route', with the best picture opportunities. Despite my sister's attitude that a hike down a mountain was more important than pretty pictures, I grabbed her arm and dragged her along the photo trail. It was not a long path, and offered views of the falls without the blinding (and drenching) mists. And we did get some lovely photographs!
Back at the fork in the trail, we saw two things:
1- A gorgeous Zambian track and field team (yes, the entire team! Well, I don't know if the entire team was present, but the entire team was gorgeous. They should have a tourism campaign with Zambia=Eye Candy as their logo) who was just heading down on the hike to Boiling Point
2- A bevy of Baboons. They ran accross the road outside the enclosed park, and vaulted over the fence. In Cape Town we had pased many signs warning that Baboons attack if they think they smell sugar, so we were a bit nervous. These were huge monkeys! They ignored us, though, and were mor interested in...making more monkeys! I actually know a bit about the baboon mating ritual from a book I read when I was 13... who knew it would come in handy! I explained to a group of horified Californians that the lady baboons get red and swelled when they go into heat, etc. etc. I was a baboon expert for about 5 seconds! Then a baboon ran near to them and they scattered.
Sis was very patient while I took photos of the apes, and soon we, too, started down the path to Boiling Point. The path was also a Baboon path, and there were plenty more picture opportunities. At one point a Baboon started to walk beside my sister, who didn't even notice at first... The babies were so cute, they looked almost like (ugly) humans....
The sun fell lower as we hiked, and soon the day was shadowy and we were surrounded by mosquitos. Victoria Falls is a Malarial Zone. We did not reach Boiling Point, but turned back. Sister was once again very patient while her companion (me!) puffed my way up the path. I did manage to speed up when the Zambian track team came jogging past, up the stone steps. Like a greyhound race with a rabbit, I guess....
Back at the hotel we went for a swim, and tried to order some poolside Ice Cream. We tried. At first we were told that they only had milkshakes and to bring us ice cream the waiter would have to get special permission. Then a few minutes later another waiter approached our deck chairs and asked if we wanted ice cream. We told him that we didn't think we were allowed to order ice cream, and he responded that of course we could, and that the other waiter probably just wanted to get off his shift early. Forty-five minutes passed (we could see the fridge where the ice cream was kept) and we didn't get any ice cream. Finally we flagged down another waiter (well, 'flagged down' is not entirely accurate. He came over to our chairs to flirt with us and we asked him about the ice cream) and he told our waiter and eventually our ice cream came.
Being two cute girls meant that he gave us double the ice cream we had ordered. Unfortunately, being cute did not make him come back with the bill, and we had to go to the bar, who told us that we could not pay for our ice cream because he had gotten it from the restaurant (this was not true, we could see it in the bar fridge) bla bla and it would have to be billed through the restaurant. Ice cream had already taken over an hour, so we told him to prepare a bill and that we would come back and sign it, and we did not care where it was printed. Everything is always such a pain! In the end they only charged us $2 (it was supposed to be $3). Maybe this story isn't so interesting, but it was sure frustrating, though the ice cream was yummy!
After Ice Cream we needed dinner, and we went to a steakhouse on the hotel property, and then to the hotel bar for a drink. They made us a Guava juice with crushed ice and a hippo stir-stick. Everything tastes better with a white hippo stirring it!
What a day that was, and we still had all of Sunday morning before we had to get on the horrible bus again!
posted by Melamondiale @ 11:14 PM
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