Victoria Falls - 11.sept

The night was really warm - had all the windows open and it was too warm for a blanket, even just a sheet was almost an overkill. Apparently 4 hrs closer to the equator makes a difference, probably the fact that we are closer to the sea level plays a role as well. The hostel we are staying at is quite small, it has only 5 rooms :) But it is quite modern and has lots of space, there is a swimming pool in the garden and there are many huge balconies. Have found few problems though - something is wrong with the water pump so occasionally there is no cold water, need to go downstairs and ask the guy to turn it back on. First time this happened to me was just when I was covered in soap from head to toe :) Happened to my friend twice this morning while she was taking a shower :D Fun huh :D Anther thing is that the rooms don't lock too well :( They gave us 2 rooms for some reason but only one of them can be locked :(

Anyways - breakfast was served on a deck by the pool, it was super nice. Right after breakfast we headed to town to take care of gazillion things like getting bus ticket to Bulawayo on Monday and booking our sunset cruise and whitewater rafting for the weekend and stopping by at the Internet spot and so on. 1.5 hours later all was done and we headed over to Victoria Falls National Park. The falls measure 1.7km across the precipice and the peak flow takes place in April. Victoria Falls is the largest curtain of flowing water in the world, twice the size of Niagara Falls. The amount of water depends on the rains in Zambia and Angola. Credit for discovering the waterfall in 1855 goes to Dr. David Livingstone, during one of the expeditions he followed Zambezi tribal reports of 'Mosi oa Tunya' - 'the smoke that thunders', he employed local Makololo tribesmen to take him by dugout canoe to the waterfall. It was not until 1960s that cheap air travel allowed Victoria Falls to grow into one of the premier tourist draws on the continent.

There is no point in describing of how beautiful and magnificent it was. Once I get the photos up you can see yourself. The way it is set up here is that you can walk alongside of the falls, basically on the same level as the top of the falls are - quite perfect setting. It is about 1 km walk down and then back through a rain forest. It is beautiful setting. At the moment it is a dry season and there is not as much water as at the peak time, but as we heard now is the best visibility as when there is lots of water all you see is mist. I took probably more than a hundred photos of the falls and the mist and the nature - it is amazing.

Our sunset tour starts at 4 so we walked over to Victoria Falls Hotel for a snack. It has been suggested by many to visit the hotel cafeteria and get an afternoon tea served. This ritual started at 3 so we had almost 2 hours to kill, which was not a problem at all in this gorgeous place. This hotel is huge, it has 180 rooms, as far as I could tell the rooms were only on 2 levels so one can imagine how much of the area the hotel would cover. It is a very luxurious hotel - dress code applies at the restaurant, only suits and dresses. Cafeteria side was quite a bit more relaxed, it was located on a terrace with a wonderful view to the Victoria Falls historic bridge. Whole hotel is like an open history book with the paintings and furniture and all little fancy details and courtyards - truly beautiful place. Had a light lunch - for me that was a Caesar salad with crocodile meat :)

Suggested afternoon tea was a very nice little ritual. Basically one would buy the tea and all the little sandwiches, scones and muffins are complimentary. Serving was beautiful, there was a whole pot of tea for one person and the butter for scones was whipped like it should be! A wonderful afternoon in a picturesque location with fabulous food.

Can't remember how much I have told about the temperatures here? Anyways, the nights and mornings were quite cool in Harare and Bulawayo, but up here in Vic Falls the nights are warm, I'd say at least +17C. During the night it does get a bit cooler, but not a whole lot. I'm guessing the days are about +27C in the shade and well above 30 in the sun. I've seen clouds only once during the last 8 days and then it was only partly cloudy for few hours. Weather is nice here and it is supposed to get warmer and warmer every day with October being the worst - it is called a 'suicide month' here as it gets very hot. Summer or the rainy period starts from November which will make it all humid as well.

We were picked up in front of the hotel at 4 to attend a sunset cruise on the upper part of river Zambezi. About 20 minute drive up the river and about 30 to 40 people were greeted by local dance session and guided to a two level open ferry. Sun sets about 6pm here, so we had about 1.5 hours to go up and down the river looking around and enjoying a much advertised open bar. Everything is a safari in this land :) We saw some crocodiles, a lonely and hungry elephant very close up, lots of hippos in the water, birds and monkeys. Cruise was beautiful and relaxing, sunset was even better. Sun gets really dark red here right before it hits the horizon, apparently that is how it goes here.

Had another activity planned for the evening - dinner at Boma restaurant. This whole setting was a bit too touristy, but then again the food was good and it was quite well organized. Entertainment program was thorough - dance sessions were set up every now and then, for the last performance there was an African drum session where the crowd was invited to join in as well. I must admit I quite enjoyed it even though there were a bit too many people and too much noise. Did I say the food was good :)? I ate more crocodile meat, namely tales this time :) I also tasted warthog and buffalo meat - both were very tasty, first being nice and tender and second a bit chewier. Also lots of different snacks like bananas in cinnamon cream sauce, avocados, crepes, pumpkin, mushrooms, peet and so on. All was good and I must have ate at least 4 plates of different courses all mixed together :)

Tourism is set up quite nicely here in Victoria Falls, it is run professionally and is running like clockwork - buses pick you up from the hostel in time and all goes by the plan, customers are cared for and well informed. There are many many activities one can do, basically anything one can wish for and see in Australia for an example - bunji, whitewater rafting, horseback riding, helicopter rides, elephant rides (probably not available in Australia even ;) ) and so on and so on. Instructors are very competent and equipment is up to date as far as I have seen. I'm impressed to be honest :)