Another catchup time and yesterday we flew from Johannesburg airport on British Airways to Victoria Falls Internation Airport in Zimbabwe. First off - something was "broken" on the plane and they needed a spare part so we sat in the plane for 2 hours and finally got it fixed! We had dancers to welcome arrivals and then next up directly to our riverboat for the Zambezi River cruise and happy hour - what else!!!
The Zambezi River divides the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe. So - for now - I will just post these pictures and put the stories in when I have more time😇 as it is now 4:45pm and we never miss happy hour with our friends Greg and Linda and we also enjoy ice cream every day!
These dancers greeted us upon arrival at the Victoria Falls airport - well actually they greeted everyone!
And even though our flight was 2 hours late instead of going to hotel checkin we got a private cruise with free wine and appetizers (including crocodile and kudu) on the Zambezi River. It was called a "sundowner" cruise and a local guide told us the story of Dr. David Livingstone who was a Scottish explorer and missionary and I suggest reading his history. He died at age 60 after some illnesses but he never gave up exploring even with wives and kids in another country other than Africa. Recall the phrase "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" I need to read his autobiography!!!
Quite the ladies room! First I thought it was a refrigerator! The door is on the right side and it was hanging a little loose and didn't quite lock but when you need a toilet you need a toilet!
There were other boats on the Zambezi also as it's apparently a hot tourist spot in Zimbabwe.
This is the best view of a hippo so far and the song "Hungry Hungry Hippo" got stuck in my head for a while after seeing this. Hippopotamus is a Greek word that means river horse!!! And they kill humans but do not eat meat so we might be dead but not chewed up and swallowed.
Warthog - in same family as pigs! Tough and sturdy and covered in warts as protection so the name makes sense. And it has no connection to the Harry Potter hogwarts!
Crocodile - a little difficult to spot on the rocky sand and they sit pretty still but I would not want to poke one to see if it is awake.
What a guy - our driver was so awesome as was the bar and bartender standing behind him.
Our tour group of 30 plus the guide Nancy was really listening to the talks about the discoveries in Zimbabwe and especially about Dr. David Livingstone.
And here we are again at happy hour on the Zambezi River. This is our 3rd trip with Greg and Linda and we have 2 more planned in the next year or so.
A couple other "young" couples that were also fun and it was their first big tour.
Sunset on the Zambezi - beautiful but sunsets are beautiful everywhere including at Jolly Fisherman Resort in Waubun, Minnesota!
Love this warning on our hotel room desk. I never leave anything important in the room even though I'm sure sometimes I look dumb with my small purse backpack with me all the time. Some people use the safes in the room but not me as I have read about them being opened and robbed and even removed and a couple times at least a fellow tour person has forgotten their passport in the safe - duh!
I always wear a neck pouch that has everything of importance so go ahead steal my backpack!
Yes it's mosquito and malaria country but we were in off season but this was in our room. I was faithful about using my DEET repellent every day as I chose not to take the malaria med but a lot of people including Ross did. I didn't like the "possible side effects" and some people did have them and I also never got one mosquito bite.
Victoria Falls Hotel Zimbabwe and it was so British looking and so awesome.
This was a sign on the ground on the path we took to the breakfast, lunch and dinner patio and Victoria Falls is way in the background.
The swimming pool was lovely too but since I travel with a darn small suitcase I don't take anything I won't use or wear a bunch of times.
There were 16 stops on the hike along Victoria Falls and it gave the number of steps. There was one area called the "rainforest" and it was just the right position with the falls to get the spray and constant wet rocks on the path. One of the "young" women (in her 50s) fell and gashed her knee and back at the hotel the house doctor did 7 stitches to close it - a couple days before we were heading home.
Photos just don't do it justice but it was pretty awesome. I have not been to Niagara Falls but we have Minnehaha Falls near us which is also pretty darn awesome. - see next photo!
Granddaughter Rooke July 2019 Minnehaha Falls!
And the statue of the famous Dr. David Livingstone.
I still haven't figured out why this view is called Cataract Island - I don't think it's an eyesight thing!
I looked back and saw this awesome rainbow from top down to the water from the sun shining down on Victoria Falls. Much better in person than in a photo for sure.
This guy was using his broom to clean the path and it's made of branches with leaves - clever idea. When I asked if I could take a photo he smiled and said "one dollar".
Would not like to the on the path when this big guy fell.
This is the point where explorer Dr. Livingstone first viewed Victoria Falls.
Looked across the gorge and there are people lined up to do selfies sitting on the rocks right where the water goes down - apparently a hot tourist spot but I don't think I would like to do it.
Huge Victoria Falls Gorge and in the high rainy season this is full to the top with water.
Victoria Falls Bridge - how in the heck do they build things like this. We could actually see this from the breakfast patio of our hotel room!
I tried to highlight the little chameleon or salamander climbing up this tree stump right outside the women's restroom.
This is a "pop gun" that formerly used chili peppers to get the animals to go away without harm but now uses ping pong balls - very clever as it's made out of PVC pipe. This is in the Elephant Sanctuary.
This is where they do lab testing of animal parts and things to do with ill animals to determine treatments.
This was Justice the vulture who guards the palace.
And the elephant parade coming to where we were able to feed them off the deck.
Elephants have very long beautiful eyelashes!
This is the elephant food and we use both hands to scoop and then walk up to the rail and call out either "trunk up" or "trunk down" - if up they open their mouth and you throw the food in and if down they put their trunk way down and you throw the food in the hole in the trunk and it works!
Ross and trunk up!
This is the Elephant Wallow where they go in to take a bath/shower. They suck up the water in their trunk and spray it on their bodies.
I was trying to figure out why this elephant was standing with his legs spread like this but I never saw poop come out!
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