Victoria Falls

Wednesday June 25 Victoria Falls

Debby and I were up before dawn drinking instant latte outside our bungalow.  Birds were chirping, squawking, singing all around us.  The river had early morning fog/midst covering it.  Yes we are in paradise.  There are hippos in the river who usually come up in the yard at night.  We are not allowed to walk around at night because hippos are dangerous to humans and kill more humans than any other wild animals do!!

Speaking of food (hippos are vegetarians) we have delicious breakfast options at the Waterberry Lodge: French toast, omelets, English bk with eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, AND baked beans.  Cereals, yogurt fruit. Wonderful way to begin a day of sight seeing.

We boarded our 20 passenger van with 20 passengers - we have this process down pat.  We have a great driver, Tom, who works for Christian Alliance for Children in Zambia CACZ.  

Off to see Victoria Falls - you can see the mist rising from the falls for miles away.  The park is a rainforest environment compared to the rest of the countryside in this dry season.  As I followed others to view the falls, I was looking down and looked up to - well VF is a natural wonder of the world - words or even pictures can't describe the wonder of it!!

We were given a light weight and heavy raincoat and walked on to cross the pedestrian bridge.  

From then on it was rain and rainbows-shoes, socks,hair wet-purse and phone DRY under raincoats!!

The Victoria Falls bridge spans were joined in 1905.  Today it's used by cars trucks and as a bungee jumping station. 

The Vance girls hiked down to the boiling pot where the Zambezi River continues on its way to the Indian 

Our visit to the park ended with baboons playing along the path.  

Back to Waterberry (Waterberry is a tree that grows along the river) Lodge.  Rest time and then the Bush Dinner.  We met out in a field with a bonfire and the"table" set on the ground.  The sky was black with millions of stars-we all found the southern cross - but know none of the constellations in the Southern Hemisphere. 

Our food was prepared by the WB chef, Moses.  Dinner was eaten with our fingers.  Nshima is the staple at every meal. It's made from mealy meal - a corn based grain- boiled into a thick paste which is rolled into small flattened balls and dipped into various sauces.  Dishes included pumpkin leaves with ground nuts, aubergine and tomatoes, a bean dish, and beef stew which I think was for us westerners!! Our finger food seems easier to manage but all the dishes were delicious so licking my fingers seemed appropriate.

Drums, singing, and dancing followed with one of the staff dressed as a symbolic bush figure.

A lovely evening under the stars.