We crossed into Zimbabwe with little trouble and only a bit of nervousness. Relations between the United States and the government of Zimbabwe are poor, so it is best to maintain a low profile. Before entering the country, Poniso advised us (quietly) to make sure we don't ask anyone any questions about Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe. I later learned that criticism of the president is an actual crime. After we crossed the border the scenery was dry and generally flat. We were actually driving through Zimbabwe's Zambezi National Park. After a short time, we arrived at the falls. Total drive time was about 1 1/2 hours. Our guide for the falls, Felix, had been on the bus with us since we left Chobe Chilwero, and we learned that he was a Zimbabwean citizen himself. Before we began our tour, many of the group took a bathroom break, Felix then began a conversation whereas he was criticizing the policies of his government. Those of us who happened to hear this fell immediately silent.
Victoria Falls are amazing! From the south, where we were, we can't even see all the way to the north end of the falls. The volume of water coming over the falls is enormous. We were told that in one minute, the volume of water coming over the falls is enough to supply Australia for one month. At this time of year, the water must be at its maximum flow. The walk on the Zimbabwean side was not too long, and we were supplied with umbrellas to try to keep us dry. The mist rising up from where the water hits the bottom or the gorge then reverses course and lands on us as rain. This small area is actually considered a rain forest. We had been warned that there would be so much water that I did not bring my phone to take any pictures. Rob did bring his water-proof camera.
After our tour, we were taken to the historic Victoria Falls Hotel, a property that goes back to 1904, the year the railroad came through here. It was originally conceived as accommodation for the workers who were to construct the Victoria Falls Bridge (more on this later).
A lovely buffet was served to us (this was described as a snack -- lunch would occur later in the day!), and a marimba band serenaded us as we sat at an outdoor table near the hotel's beautiful pool and cabanas. The hotel is really nice and superbly maintained with period furniture and decorations. There is a large veranda with an outdoor restaurant that overlooks the famous bridge and the clouds of mist rising from the gorge of the falls.
We were offered a short tour of the hotel from a guide named Sindy, who had a lot of personality. He told us a lot about the hotel's history, but the most interesting part of the tour was entering the suite of rooms where King George and Queen Elizabeth stayed during their visit in 1947. Their daughters, Elizabeth (the current queen) and Margaret had also accompanied them. Some of the furniture in the suite remained from 1947 including a framed picture of the falls that I took a picture of.
After our "not lunch" at the hotel, we reboarded the mini-bus to cross the Victoria Falls Bridge to Zambia. The bridge was completed in 1905, and at that time it was the tallest bridge in the world. During our tour Sindy told us the story of the problem encountered in completing the bridge. When it was time to put the final piece in place, it was discovered that the piece was two inches too long. The engineers were devastated that this mistake had occurred. They all went to the bar at the Victoria Falls Hotel to drink. In the morning, after the cool of the night, they returned to the work site and discovered that the piece had contracted and as a result fit perfectly. Everyone was happy and could only conclude that drinking can solve any problem! Another feature of the bridge that makes it unusual in modern times is that it accommodates three types of traffic: trains, motorcars, and foot traffic. However, there is only one lane for cars and the bridge can only handle one car in one direction at a time. Worse, there did not appear that there was any authority directing traffic, so one might need to wait a while before it became your turn to cross.
On the other side of the bridge is Zambia. We cleared immigration and drove to our camp, another Sanctuary property called Sussi and Chomo. Those are the names of the African porters who served explorer Livingstone. The camp is contained within Zambia's Mosi Oa Tunya National Park. The park is named after the African name for Victoria Falls. In English, Mosi Oa Tunya means "the smoke that thunders." Seems appropriate! Our check-in was to be expected delightful with singing and celebrating from the staff! The hotel staff was expecting to provide us with lunch, but that seemed ridiculous given how much we had already eaten, but they insisted on providing us with "tea," which involved way too many sweets. I ate a few to be polite.
Our afternoon activity was to view white rhinos. They are located close-by in the national park, which we learned was a relatively small park. We took a short drive and were met by armed security personnel (AK 47's no less). They are on hand to protect the animals from poachers. They escorted us a short way on foot to the rhinos. We walked single file to appear to be a large entity to the rhinos.
There are only 11 white rhinos in Zambia, and 9 of them are in this park. They are considered to be "endangered." Zambia also has 43 black rhinos. They are "threatened." The white rhinos are not actually white. The name arose from a misunderstanding. The original Boers (white Dutch settlers) told the English that they were called "wide-lipped" rhinos, but because their English was heavily accented, the English misheard this as "white." The white rhinos have wide lips, which enables them to eat from the ground. The black rhinos have hook lips, which enable them to eat from trees. Both rhinos are hunted for their horns, which are not made from bone, but are compressed hair. They can weigh from 3 to 5 tons. There were five in total that we were viewing, including a youngster named Lucy, who was born in February 2014. It was really amazing that we could be in such close proximity to them, but the rhinos did not feel any threat from us.
On the return trip to camp, we passed a morula tree that had small green fruit. Morula was the name of the elephant we had met at Stanley's camp, and it is also the name of a fruit that the lions like to eat. I tried a piece and it tasted good, even though it was not fully ripe. When ripe, Poniso said it would be delicious.
We discussed the origin of the work Africa. I had been curious to find out if it was the same word in all of the different African languages, and Poniso said it was. He believed that it meant "movement of people," or something similar to try to describe in one word a way of life of the African tribes: always moving around.
Before dinner, drinks were served on a candle-lit deck overlooking the Zambezi River. Then dinner was a seven course meal. I can't recall all of the courses, but it began with a tomato tart accompanied by a shot of tomato juice, then I also recall a tasty lentil soup. For the main course, I had chicken with mashed potatoes in some sort of sauce, and Rob had lamb with roasted vegetables. Dessert was lemon meringue pie.
No comments:
Post a Comment