Victoria Falls 3 (8-23)

Monday I took a tour to a village near Victoria Falls. I wanted to see how villages in Zimbabwe compare to those in Namibia. They are very similar in many ways. Homesteads are far apart. Houses are round with thatch roofs. They are made with bricks that are covered with stucco and painted. 

The fences are made with branches rather than palm leaves.

The village has a population of about 5000. The visit is to the village chief’s homestead, which is quite nice. Nineteen members of his family live there. He greeted me and took me to the social area to chat. 

Mostly he talked about himself and all the important things he has done and his philosophy. He spent some time in Albuquerque. His philosophy is that that we should be zebras: black and white together. He believes we must take care of the earth in order to pass it on to the next generations. These are good things. The village has no electricity. Homesteads have a borehole to underground water that is piped to a tap. People don’t have much money and use animals and food as means of paying locally. The school is operated by the village, not the government, a situation which he is quite proud of. Parents pay with labor or goods if they don’t have money. When I asked if young people stay in the village or go to town to get a job, he skirted around answering, saying that they like the village and always return. Eventually he did concede that many go away to work but said they come back to retire.

After he finished talking, he took me to the other end of the building where his son sells carved items and baskets. Then he gave me the tour of his homestead. There were three foreign doctors in a special hut for volunteer foreign doctors. The man who was being seen had come from 16 km away. The doctors were there for two weeks. He said that different doctors come several times a year. 

Some houses are round and some are rectangular. Single people live in the round huts 

while married people have a larger, rectangular one. Some of the rectangular houses were made with stone rather than bricks and stucco. He has a fish pond and said he is trying to get others in the village to raise fish. 

He has a lot of goats and a large, experimental organic garden. He wants others to follow his example.

His homestead has both an outdoor and an indoor kitchen. 












Hanging from the roof of the indoor kitchen are plants, maybe herbs, that are covered with soot. He said that these are used for various medicinal purposes. 

His grandchildren were playing in the yard since it was a school holiday.

















After the tour, I returned to the curios and purchased several items—baskets, a carving of the big five, and masks. I thought his prices were quite high and had to do some bargaining. I ended out paying 2/3 of his original total, which I thought was OK. In town I saw baskets that were $10; he had asked $15 and I paid $7.50. Later a man at the curios market was selling them for $5; so I bought another. I didn’t see any big five carvings or masks like the ones I bought; so the prices I paid were fine. You have to feel OK about what you paid so as not to be upset when seeing the same item for less and just smile about it and take it in stride.

When we drove to the village, the driver pointed out the different styles of thatch on houses. These are indicative of different tribes. There is a lot of intermarriage, and the couples have huts in the style of both tribes. We saw many people walking along the road because they don’t have money to hitchhike.

After returning to town, I spent the afternoon walking through the shops, mostly looking, but I did purchase several things. On an impulse, I booked a Boma dinner and entertainment that evening. Later the woman I bought a skirt from was very excited that I was doing that, as she loves it. This made me feel good and look forward to the event. I was heading to the craft market that I had read about and asked directions to. When I finally got there, I was tired and not into shopping or dealing with people who wanted me to buy something from them. I looked around the shops and enjoyed the stone carvings. I thought this was the craft market until I got to the end and saw a sign pointing to it. Way down in another area there is a covered open air market about 100 meters long. Vendors sell pretty much the same things down one side and up the other. Since I was tired, I put them off and just walked through to see what was there, thinking I’d return on Tuesday. I did succumb to buying the $5 basket, and I ended out not returning.

The Boma dinner turned out to be more about the dinner than the entertainment, which was a little disappointing. I was anticipating something like the other such events I’ve been to that have dinner and a nice show, but this had a very limited show. The dinner was an all-you-can-eat buffet with starters at the table. The starters included a sample of crocodile and impala. The latter was wrapped around a grape, which was a tasty combination. I liked the crocodile. There were also biscuits, cornbread and a vegetable samosa. 

The buffet selection was very large. One area had salads, which included well-fried mopane worms. If you wanted one, you could get a certificate saying that you had eaten mopane worms. I didn’t feel the need for one. Another section had a grilled lamb on one side and carrot soup, fish, and pastas on the other. I had the soup, which was delicious. 

There were three grills where you could choose whatever meats you wanted: steak, marinated chicken, skewered chicken, eland meatballs, and warthog. There were also stews with kudu and guinea fowl. 

I tried the eland meatball, warthog, kudu stew, and guinea fowl stew. The eland and kudu were too meaty for my taste, and the guinea fowl I got was mostly bones (It felt like part of a neck.), but I liked the warthog. The last section of the buffet had several desserts.

While we ate, dancers performed three short dances. We were each given a drum, and after people had finished eating, they did group drumming—follow the pattern the man beat. The evening finished with everyone standing in a circle and some people showing themselves by dancing in the middle. I felt like the event was a bit overpriced ($50), but perhaps those who ate more—and ate more meat—felt like it was a good deal.

Tuesday was my bonus day with nothing planned. I started out going back to the craft market. First I stopped and talked with a stone carver. He explained the difference between him and the others: He is an artist who carves stone and sells his art and nothing else. 

After purchasing a few small animals, I walked through the Elephant Walk shops, which I thought would be very exclusive. Some were, but some weren’t. I enjoy looking at art in exclusive shops, as they are like museums. 

When I came to a café, I decided to sit there and have a drink and sweet. I chose the avocado smoothie, remembering having had a similar drink in Asia (I forget which country.) and baobab cheesecake, which I was informed was very healthy. I don’t know about that, but it was tasty. The café is in a lovely garden area; so it was a relaxing and refreshing place to sit and eat, drink, and read.

Near the café there is a small heritage center that has displays related to several local tribes.

When I left the shopping area, I decided to walk back to the falls to see them in the late afternoon. I went the way the car had driven. The distance turned out to be farther than I’d remembered, which I realized after I walked for about twenty minutes. But I enjoyed walking, as it was a lovely, blue sky day. 

After a while the road was along the river. A car had pulled off; so I went to look. There was a good view of the river, and a couple was there taking photos. She wanted a photo with me; so we took photos together. 

Later there was another area where you could go to the river. This one was very lovely with rocks in the water. The couple was there, too. He was really into taking photos for me; so I let him take a few more. When we left, he offered to drive me to the park and I accepted. It was only about a kilometer away.

When I arrived at the first viewpoint where you can see the falls, there was a brilliant rainbow. One of the reasons I had returned (and paid the $30 entrance fee again) was to see the rainbow at a different time of day. With the late afternoon light, it was visible at the first several viewpoints, sometimes brilliantly dark and sometimes very light. Its position changed with the mist and light and angle of viewing. 

The mist was hazier with the late afternoon light, giving a different feeling to the falls. I enjoyed watching the mist move, remembering watching the clouds move at Huang Shan in China. The falls were ethereal in places as the sun lowered and the misty haze took over. The mist wasn’t as strong as it had been in the early afternoon on Monday, as there was hardly any wind. This was nice because the camera didn’t get very wet and it was easier to stand and watch for a while without having the camera and my glasses get wet. 

When I was walking back, the setting sun was visible beside the misty haze.

When I got to the exit, I decided to quickly go for one last look at the falls before exiting. I was rewarded with a bushbuck that crossed the path in front of me and stopped to look at me. Their coloring is fascinating. 

After a final look at the falls, it was time to head back to town. Thus ended my time at Victoria Falls. I was glad to have been able to have a second walk there on my own.

Since it was after 6:00, I asked two women in a car if I could ride to town with them. They took the direct road, which would have been a ten-minute walk rather than the hour I had walked on the longer route. But they also drove me to the guesthouse, which was nice since I’d been walking for most of the day.

One of the shops in Victoria Falls town is the Seven to Eleven, which someone referred to as the “Seven to Eleven.” One woman referred to it as the "Seven Eleven." I find such names amusing, knowing where the name comes from. 

Victoria Falls 2 (8-21)

Sunday was the day for the falls. I had booked a package that included three activities: a 12-minute helicopter ride, a walking tour of the falls, and a tour of the historic bridge. It was a full, but wonderful day.

The day began with the helicopter ride—my first. I had thought about doing it sometime, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Six people are in the helicopter—one in front and five in the back, with four having a window seat. Although I felt bad for the man in the middle, I was glad to be at a window. 

The helicopter does a figure eight above the falls so everyone sees views from both sides. 

I enjoyed the views of the river, 

seeing where the sunset cruise had gone 

as well as the canyon and dry landscape after the falls. 

It’s amazing how far away the mist can be seen, and it’s the dry season with less mist. 

As we were above the falls, it was fun watching the rainbow move as we moved and had different sunlight angles. 

It was also fun to see the historic bridge that I would be walking across later in the day.

As soon as I exited the helicopter, the guide for the walk met me and took me to the van. We had a small group of five—four Italians and me, which was nice. I realized that there wasn’t much advantage to having a guide. Other than giving a bit of history about the bridge, he just took us from viewpoint to viewpoint. He did answer questions, which was helpful. It seemed that the main advantage of having booked the tour was having transport there and back. I hadn’t realized that it the tour would be on the same path that anyone can walk on without a tour. But the guide was pleasant and I enjoyed talking with him.

On the way to the falls we stopped at the Big Tree. It’s a famous baobab that is 1000-1500 years old. I’d been wanting to see baobab trees; so now I have. After seeing this one, I recognized others along the road.

Victoria Falls is the highest and widest of the three continuously falling falls (Niagara and Iguazu being the other two) using some special way of measuring the combinations. 

Standing near the main sections, it is easy to understand its indigenous name “the smoke that thunders” as one looks at the volume of mist and listens to the sound of the waterfall. In those sections there was a lot of spray, and things got wet quickly. I had to be careful to dry my camera before shutting it. And I needed to dry my glasses.

Following our guide’s suggestion, we took the short path to the far end so we could reach the viewpoints with mist on the way back when it was hot. That end of the falls—near and in Zambia—is sparse these days, as it’s not the rainy season and the last rainy season didn’t have as much rain as usual. The drought in southern Africa is here, too. Because of the low rainfall, the falls are at about 45% capacity; whereas they are usually between 65% and 70% at this time of year. I had read that this time of year is recommended for visiting because during and after the rainy season the mist is so heavy that you can’t see the falls. And as the year goes on, the amount of water coming to and going over the falls decreases. Even though the falls were not completely full, they were still spectacular.

At one of the first viewpoints, which we went to last, there is a constant rainbow. It was fun to come upon it unexpectedly. 

At that end of the path, you can also walk to a view of the Zambezi River going into the falls. It’s so peaceful.

After finishing the falls walk, I was delivered to the pickup point for the historic bridge tour. We had to wait quite a while because there were many people signing up to do bungee jumping and the swing and slide which also take place on the bridge. Again I was with a small group of seven—a British couple and an Indian family. First we had a monologue about the man who built the bridge. This was a good introduction to its history. The bridge was built 110 years ago and is still in use. It links Zimbabwe and Zambia and is part of what was originally conceived as a Cape to Cairo railroad that was never completed. The border is in the middle of the bridge, and we had to submit our passports to enter Zambia for the couple hours of activity. 

The bridge is 130 meters above the river. The walk is on the original catwalk below the top of the bridge, which was a surprise to me. 

We wore a harness that has links that attach to a cable on the bridge. As we walked, we unfastened the links one at a time to move them past the bridge structures and refasten them. After doing this a few times I got into the rhythm and really enjoyed the walk.

When I arrived back at the guesthouse, my bag had not been delivered. Since it was after 5:00, I gave up on getting it that day, and the manager drove me to a Seven to Eleven store to purchase a toothbrush and toothpaste, as I couldn’t go another night without them. Then at 7:15 my bag arrived, which made me very happy.