Well, today was an EPIC last day on our tour! We started out this morning by going directly to the Falls to walk the pathway along the top.
The trail is about two and half miles in total, but there are cutoffs that get you back to the entrance in a much shorter distance. One thing to know about visiting the Falls at anytime other than when they are full and overflowing (mostly late September to late October) is that you WILL get wet; really wet! There are lots of vendors outside the entrance renting heavy duty ponchos, but as it was a hot, sunny day, Jim and I opted not to use the ponchos. Meredith soon abandoned hers when she discovered that it was causing her to sweat more moisture than the poncho was keeping off her.
While the trail is not particularly challenging, it is sloped in a few areas, and becomes very slippery with the overspray from the falls. Also, having a raincoat for your camera is a MUST. To get properly in the spirit of exploration, the trail starts off at the large statue of David Livingstone looking out to the falls and Livingstone Island. Between Meredith and me, I’ll bet we took close to a thousand pictures today, but I promise not to torture you with all of them. Just sit back and enjoy the photos!
Most Oa Tunya – The Smoke That Thunders(photo credit to Meredith McDaniel)(photo credit to Meredith McDaniel)Meredith channeling her best “Eliza Thornberry” imitation(photo credit to Meredith McDaniel)(photo credit to Meredith McDaniel)
But wait, there’s more! After we loaded our still damp bodies back on the bus, we went to the Wild Horizons Wildlife Sanctuary (operated by the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust), which exists mainly as an elephant sanctuary. We were greeted at the entrance by Sylvester, the Cheetah Ambassador, who was rescued as a kitten. Sadly, he could not be reintroduced to the wild because he had imprinted on humans, but it was better than starving to death after his mother and sibling were killed in the bush. What a gorgeous beast!*
The Wild Horizons SanctuarySylvester, the Cheetah Ambassador*Sadly, shortly after we visited the Wild Horizons Sanctuary, Sylvester was attacked by a small female leopard. He died from his wounds shortly thereafter.
After our photos with Sylvester, we went on to meet the elephants!
(photo credit to Meredith McDaniel)Check out those eyelashes!
Then it was time to go down and feed the elephants!
(photo credit to Meredith McDaniel)
The warthogs in the area have figured out that with inexperienced tourists like us, lots of elephant food pellets drop to the ground. Thus, they are the official cleaning crew who moves in after the elephants are done.
Finally, we got to see the elephants go down to the watering hole and take a mud bath. Much fun was had by all the participants.
Elephant Nirvana
Following lunch and a short film on the work that the Wildlife Trust is doing, we returned to the lovely Victoria Falls Hotel to enjoy the rest of the afternoon on their beautiful grounds. We even took high tea on the portico overlooking the falls!
Sadly, it is now time to bid farewell to our tour companions. We enjoyed a great farewell dinner, and then said goodnight. Tomorrow, it is back to Johannesburg, where Jim, Meredith and I will overnight, before heading on to London for a few days on our way home. Stay tuned, there are sure to be more adventures to experience!
This morning, we flew into Zimbabwe. If you’ve been following the news, you know that Zimbabwe is in active protests against the government and the circumstances which resulted in gas prices of over $12.00/gallon; the highest in the world. We’ve been monitoring the situation all week with the help of our Tauck director, and Tauck’s home office team. Plus, Jim and I signed up for the US State Department’s traveler notification service, and they kept us updated almost daily. In the end, the common wisdom was that since we are not going anywhere but Victoria Falls, which is the economic powerhouse of the Zimbabwean economy, and it is a direct flight to and from Johannesburg, we will proceed.
The flight from Jo’burg is lovely as you fly over hundreds of miles of forested jungle. As you approach the Victoria Falls airport, all you can see from the Zambezi River are heavy clouds of mist. The local tribes refer to Victoria Falls as “Mosi Oa Tunya”, meaning “the smoke that thunders”.
Once again, our tour director, Barbara, prepared an excellent summary of the history and recent political history about Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is the country formerly known as Rhodesia, after Englishman Cecil Rhodes, who exploited the gold and diamond wealth of South Africa and advocated a British version of “manifest destiny” whereby England should rule the entire African continent from Cape Town to Cairo. The British began exploring the area in the 1850s and then founded a colony there known as Rhodesia. In 1923, the white foreign transplants voted to become the self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia as part of the British Empire.
Following World War II, after a brief union with Zambia (formerly known as Northern Rhodesia) and Malawi (formerly known as Nyasaland), The white minority government of Southern Rhodesia voted to remain a colony when its two federation partners elected to declare their independence from Britain in 1963. However, in 1965, the minority white government, under Ian Smith as Prime Minister, declared its independence from Britain. The majority black African population opposed this move as it promoted a white ruled government like that of South Africa. In 1970, Rhodesia declared itself a republic, with help from South African guerrillas, but after years of internal warfare, in 1978, announced a power sharing government with the black Rhodesians. Free elections were held in 1980, and Robert Mugabe was elected by a landslide. He then ruled as a semi-dictator by the use of rigged elections until he was finally ousted in 2017. He was succeeded by Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was formerly one of Mugabe’s close aides. As I write this, there are violent uprisings in the capital, Harare, and some of the larger cities over the stratospheric inflation rate, and the inability to purchase such basic necessities as gasoline.
Zimbabwe has a total population of slightly over 14 million people today, and about 99.7% of them are Africans. There used to be a larger minority population, but the Mugabe government promoted a policy of forced land redistribution, and many of the former white farmers in Zimbabwe left the country. Sadly, Zimbabwe used to be known as “the breadbasket of Africa”, but food production has dropped precipitously since the forced dispossession of the farmers began.
Nonetheless, we arrived in good order, and with a minimum of disruption. Outside the airport, we were greeted by some performance artists in their tribal dress, singing and dancing for us.
After a short drive, (and a view of the railstation complete with warthogs), we arrived at our very posh hotel, The Victoria Falls Hotel, built in the best British Empire tradition and completed in 1904. The property is just stunning, and looks toward the edge of the falls, although you can’t actually see the cataracts from the grounds.
Our main activity for the afternoon is a sunset cruise along the Zambezi. Unfortunately, right as we are setting off, a huge rainstorm hits, so we had to drop the plastic curtains on the boat. Meredith is in her element, though, as she’s been missing Oregon’s rains. We’re not fazed by the weather, though, as we have sundowner cocktails for the whole trip. Our little trio is joined by Lee and Marlene Alexander, who Meredith has decided will be her next adoptive parents. Medicinally speaking, we all decided we had to have gin and tonics so the quinine could ward off any potential malaria attack!
Lee & Marlene Alexander (photo credit to Ginny Tinner) (photo credit to Ginny Tinner) (photo credit to Ginny Tinner)
The “jungle cruise” started out with a bang, as we saw a juvenile crocodile lying on a nearby bank. Then we cruised upstream, while listening to a really good local author give a rousing lecture about David Livingstone, who discovered Victoria Falls for the western world. He told us some amazing tales of Livingstone’s explorations. We made a brief stop in one of the bywaters of the Zambezi, where we could see giant lily pads and water lilies (lotuses?) beginning to bloom. Meredith captured some great shots of a bird like a sandpiper walking on the surface of the lily pads, and then the heavens graced us with a rainbow as we started back downstream.
Then the cruise turned into a weird flashback to our childhood visits to Disneyland as we approached a bunch of hippos who were baring their teeth. When you know it’s just their custom to yawn at sunset, they are not as sinister as the D-land “jungle guides” made them out to be. Still, it was a little surreal!
We closed the night out with a dinner under the stars back at the Victoria Falls Hotel, complete with native dancers. Tomorrow, we make the hike along Victoria Falls. Meredith and I can hardly wait!
Vaya con Gringos 