Map and flag of Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia)
DAY FOURTEEN - 27 MAY 2006
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
Today is Lisa and my anniversary. We got to spend it with Lisa's parents and our new friends. Last night in Jo'burg, Lisa's Mom (with some help from our tour guide Ron) arranged for everyone to sing Happy Anniversary to us, then the waiter brought us a very good chocolate cake with sparklers in it. This was a very nice surprise and was very much appreciated!
Before we went to the airport, we drove into downtown Johannesburg. This was fascinating. Our guide explained how the city has deteriorated. We saw that many of the buildings were barred and bricked up. We saw tons of people milling about in the streets. We saw one building on fire as everyone stood by watching. One real interesting place was an old hotel. Our guide said he used to go to the bar there with his friends to hang out when he was younger. Today the hotel is scary looking. You wouldn't catch me near the place. As we left the city, we passed mining areas. Jo'burg was originally a massive gold mining town.
After our quick tour of Jo'burg, we made our way to the airport. As the plane banked into Zambia at the end of our flight, the pilot announced that Victoria Falls was on the left side of the plane. He said everyone could get up to see the falls. Of course, everyone jumped up. We were on the right side of the plane, so we didn't get a very good view. The remarkable thing about the falls is the amount of mist generated. All I could see of the falls from the plane was a huge mist cloud. It looks like a big cloud stuck in one place. We were told that Zambia is coming out of the rainy season, so the falls are at full capacity. This makes for an interesting view, but not necessarily the best view. There is so much water coming over the falls that the mist cloud blocks at lot of the view. We could still see most of the falls and it was very impressive! The other cool thing about the mist cloud is there is always a rainbow and sometimes a double rainbow.
To get to Zambia, we flew to a tiny little airport in Livingstone, Zambia. Whereas South Africa is the modern fancy Africa, Zambia is more what one would think of when imagining Africa. The airport was tiny, the town was small and third world, and the roads were bumpy. However, where we stayed was pretty appealing. Our hotel was very nice and was within walking distance of the Victoria Falls. Unlike South Africa, the water was not safe to drink. The hotel directory said Zambia is definitely a malaria area. It said to keep the air conditioning in our room on, and to use the hotel-provided plug-in device to keep mosquitoes away. Having said that, we saw very few mosquitoes on the whole trip. I think that is because it is the Fall and about to turn into Winter, so basically, it is not mosquito season. We were taking malaria medication anyway, but not everyone on the trip bothered. We also got loaded up with over $800-worth of vaccinations, but not everyone bothered with those either. I guess it is a judgment call, but we figured better safe than sorry!
Once we settled in to the hotel, we went for a beer. The first thing we noticed was the temperature. Since it's winter there, South Africa was mostly cool, but varied from comfortably warm to down right cold. Zambia was comfortably warm to hot. I never wore shorts once in South Africa, but I wore them a few times in Zambia. The beer in Zambia is Mosi. It is another pretty good beer.
While we were drinking our first Zambian beers, I had the video camera out filming the hotel. As I was doing this, a Vervet Monkey ran up to the table next to us. It jumped on the table and grabbed food from a plate on the table next to ours. The couple who had ordered the food was still eating it, until the monkey showed up.
The guy reacted and smacked the monkey. The really funny part is the monkey did not run, but instead made another grab at his food before running off. I swung the camera around and caught a lot of it on video. A few minutes later, another monkey jumped on their table and made a second attempt. I showed the video to this couple and everyone got a good laugh. We later met this couple again on our river cruise and they asked that I email this video to them. Dick is going to help me figure out a way to do this. If I can make it available to you guys too, I will.
The monkeys would also visit the tables of coffee drinkers and steal the sugar. They are real pests, but it is hard to be mad when you are laughing.
A few hours later, we boarded a boat for a sunset cruise. We went up the Zambezi river, checked out the animals, enjoyed a few drinks, and talked to our new friends from Pretoria. This couple did the bungee jump at Victoria Falls. We all had decided against this :-) After our hectic schedule, this cruise was a wonderful and relaxing break. The sunset in Zambia over the Zambezi river is spectacular!
We had another laugh that night at dinner. On the ceiling of the restaurant, we spotted a big brown clump that looked like a large tarantula. Of course, we were all freaked out about the thought of huge hairy spiders above our heads. I called over a waitress and asked what the big lump was. She smiled and said "bees that fly." Of course, this made no sense to us and we just started laughing. It was not until later that we figured out what she meant. We found a clump closer to eye level. I went and inspected it and the waitress was right. The lump was a big cluster of bees/wasps. You probably had to be there, but we got a big kick out this experience.
Technical note - I have never done a web site like this. As this site continues to grow, I am realizing that there is a lot of text on these pages. I fear this is going to bore people and if so, I apologize. Feel free to skim and just check out the photos if all the text is too much.
Lisa, Dick, Susan, and Marlene having a Mosi toast in Zambia
Brad gets in on the toast
Marlene, Dick, Susan, and Lisa taking it easy on the Zambezi sunset river cruise. Right behind Dick is the couple we met from Pretoria. They are the ones who had their lunch stolen from the pesky monkey :-)
Check out the hippopotamus in the river. I see at least three. If you look real close by the tree in the background is an elephant. You can't really see the elephant in this photo, but we got a better view of it later.
This isn't our ship, but it might as well be a sister ship as it looks identical to ours. We are sitting in the Zambezi River watching the sun set, before we turn back and head back to our hotel.
Unless you are lucky or a photographer, photos never do sunsets justice. Take my word for it, the sunsets in Zambia are BEAUTIFUL!
Another view of the sunset
DAY FIFTEEN - 28 MAY 2006
On this morning, we did a walking tour of Victoria Falls, which is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. This was fascinating. We also got soaking wet. Remember that mist cloud I was telling you about? When you walk down beside the falls, you get hammered by this mist and it feels like pouring rain.
Next we strolled over to the bridge that joins Zambia to Zimbabwe. Susan REALLY wanted to get her passport stamped in Zimbabwe. A few of us walked across the bridge with her so we could say we were in Zimbabwe. I hear that in the past, Zimbabwe was the country for visiting the falls. However, Zimbabwe is having troubles in the last few years. I don't know the facts very well, but I gather Zimbabwe nationalized all the farmland and redistributed it. The people that obtained the land do not have farming skills so now the country is starving. I bet Zambia is happy about this as they are getting the tourists now. I talked to a lady who went to the falls years ago. She said Zimbabwe was the tourist country and Zambia was the country to avoid. Now it is the opposite.
Anyway, we walked across the bridge into Zimbabwe and had our photos taken as proof of our being there. A few of our group decided that was good enough and wanted to turn back, but Susan really wanted her passport stamped. She begged us to join her. No one wanted to pay the $30 visa fee just for a stamp. Susan finally offered to pay my visa if I would join her. I told her if it meant that much to her, that I would accompany her. We walked across only to find out that the $30 visa fee is only for Americans. For a Canadian, it was $65. That made for one pretty expensive passport stamp, but what the heck, it also made for a good story. We crossed the border, walked up to the falls area on the Zimbabwe side, and then walked back to Zambia. I bet we were in Zimbabwe for all of 1/2 hour.
In the afternoon, we went to Mukuni Village. This is a functioning village and not just a tourist gimmick. Of course, their main income comes from tourism. It was still interesting to learn how one lives in a village. The only part I hated was the ending. I was already getting tired from the heat. At the end, they dropped us off in the market (village form of a gift store). I am used to this and wouldn't have minded, but the villagers used high pressure sales approaches. I actually wanted to look at their nice work, but they were so aggressive in their sales tactics that I turned my back on them and walked away. This is unfortunate, but they sure lost a sale from me.
In the evening, we went to our sister hotel which is just up the river a little ways. This sister hotel is super nice. Our hotel was the Zambezi Sun. It was nice, but seemed like more of a family hotel. The only downside to our hotel was the price gouging. They really take advantage of the captive tourists. For example, a bottle of water cost $3. A tourist T-shirt cost $50. A postcard cost $2. Can you believe it? That's ridiculous. Oh well, what can you do.
Anyway, we went to the sister hotel, and it is beautiful. It is right on the river. We went down to the sunset deck and ordered a few beers. We sat there for hours and enjoyed the sunset. I have never seen a place where the sun takes so long to set. I don't know what causes this, but it was truly beautiful. Again, a photo won't do it justice, but the weather was warm, the sky was pink, there was just a sliver of a moon. You had to be there. Behind us on the hotel grounds were zebras, monkeys, giraffe, and some varieties of antelope. Off to our left, you could see the big mist cloud formed above Victoria Falls. I was hoping we had a good photo of this big mist cloud so you could see what I mean, but I guess we didn't take a photo of it. Sorry. Once the sun went down, you could see tons of stars, including the Southern Cross.
This is the very top of Victoria Falls as the Zambezi River goes over the edge. We were amused by the lack of protective railings. You could walk right up to the edge of the falls. The only warning was a sign saying not to swim due to crocodiles. Ah HELLO, what about the waterfall???? You can see the ever-present rainbow. You can also see part of the mist cloud, but it doesn't do the cloud justice. Imagine a big white cloud stuck on the ground 24/7.
Due to trees, the mist cloud, etc., it is hard to get a really good photo of the falls. We took a hundred photos of Victoria Falls, but we won't bore you with them all.
Victoria Falls
Postcard of the entire Falls
Here is some of the mist blocking the same photo as above. I suppose I should also mention the noise. The falls are so big that there is a constant roar.
Even though we were provided a rain poncho, we still got soaked!
Check out this mist cloud. We walked down around all this mist so you can understand how we got so wet.
This is probably the best photo I could find of the mist cloud. When you see the falls from a distance, you can't see anything because the land is flat. However, you can see that big white cloud.
Check out the rainbow and the mist. This bridge connects Zambia to Zimbabwe. Crazy people bungee jump off this bridge. We chose just to walk across it instead of jumping off it. The bridge itself is kind of a no-man's land in between two countries. Unfortunately, there are a few curio sellers who harass you trying to make a sale. They never bothered me for some reason, but they sure swarmed everyone else. Maybe they recognized me as a tightwad who won't buy their junk?
Continue on for Zimbabwe
This page was updated on Sunday, June 4, 2006.