When we woke up Saturday morning, we were the only two people left at the campsite. Tommie and the students left very early to go back to Gaborone. The owner of the camp came to pick us up and took us to the border at Kazungula to catch the ferry to Zambia. We crossed the Chobe River again (in Zambia they call it the Zambezi River), and took a taxi to Livingstone. It was a good thing we had done this once before, because we would have been completely lost otherwise. Tommie's brother, Bobby, who we met last Tuesday when we went to Victoria Falls, picked us up at the Livingstone Post Office, and we dropped off our suitcase at his house, where we will be staying the next two nights. Bobby would also be our personal driver and guide throughout both days in Zambia/Zimbabwe.
From there, we grabbed some lunch at a fast food restaurant called Hungry Lion, and then drove to the Zambia/Zimbabwe border. Our first stop was going to be the Zimbabwe side of Victoria Falls, but we decided it wasn't worth paying $30 to see something we had seen a few days earlier, even though many people recommended seeing it from both sides. Instead, we walked into Victoria Falls town to look for some of the activities we had heard about from other people we've met in Africa--elephant rides, the zip line across Victoria Falls, and a traditional dinner with dancing and drums called "Boma."
After checking out a few different tour companies, we found a good one called Elephant Experience that offered all 3 activities. We booked the "Boma" dinner and paid for the zip line and the elephant walk in US dollars, which is the accepted currency in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean Dollar was phased out long ago due to very high inflation--one US dollar is equal to one trillion Zimbabwean dollars, so they don't even use their own currency now. After paying, we were told that the zip line was too busy today and we wouldn't be able to do that and be back in time for our elephant ride. We were refunded that part of the payment, and then we walked back to the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe, which spans the gorge at the bottom of Victoria Falls. After taking a few good pictures of the falls, we found an even cheaper zip line on the Zambia side of the gorge. They also offer bungee jumping and a swing--similar to bungee. We decided we would come back there tomorrow morning to do our zip line.
view from the Zambia/Zimbabwe border bridge
The 6 elephants walked in a straight line along a trail through an area that borders the national park. On the other side of the property is a crocodile farm, so we got to see quite a few crocs up close. During the walk, we also saw other animals, like warthogs, baboons, impala, and many different birds. Riding an elephant was much smoother than we expected. We sat in large saddles behind the handlers, and it was easy to stay balanced without using our hands. This allowed us to take a lot of pictures and video on our own. Doug's elephant stopped at almost every tree to eat the leaves and the bark, and the handler had to keep yelling, "Apongo, move up!" Dena's elephant, because it was so big, kept slapping Dena's legs when it fanned it's ears. The view from the top of our elephants was amazing, especially for Dena who has never been the tallest person in a group. We walked for around 1 hour, and then got back to the main building. We had the opportunity to feed our elephants, either by putting the small pellets in their trunk, or directly into their mouths. We did both, and putting our hands right on an elephants tongue was slimy, but cool. The elephants all saluted us by lifting their trunks and picking up their front left foot, then they went back to their stables to be fed.
We immediately scrubbed our hands, and came back to watch a rough cut of the video that was made. While we watched, we snacked on beef samoosas, an African treat that we have been trying to find, but every restaurant is always out of them. We decided the video was really cool on top of our own footage, so we purchased one copy. We told them we would be at the Boma dinner later, so they promised to deliver it to us there.
We got a ride back into Vic Falls town, and we had one hour to kill before our Boma dinner. We did some quick souvenir shopping and had some coffee, then we were picked up again for dinner. When the three of us arrived at the Boma, we were greeted at the door by drummers, then we were eached wrapped in a traditional African dress. Then we each had a small amount of paint applied to our cheeks and went inside to check in. We were given a table at the very front and center, next to the stage where the performance would be. We started our dinner with a quick appetizer of sweet potatoes and roasted nuts, and we were given a small taste of traditional sorghum beer. Dena doesn't like beer, and Bobby doesn't drink alcohol, so Doug drank all the beer. It was much sweeter than regular beer. Next we went to the buffet for a few more appetizers, including avocado and olives, green beans, salad, impala meat, and crocodile tail! We each also ate a Mopani Worm, which is a type of caterpiller. It was cooked, in fact, very burnt, and tasted like charcoal. Each of us was given a certificate for successfully eating the worm. Then it was time for the main course--MEAT. They had several choices of meat for us. They had marinated chicken and also sirloin, but we skipped these boring dishes that we can easily find in America. Instead we chose Boewors (sausage), kudu steak, warthog, pork ribs, and eland. We also took some stir-fried vegetables and butternut squash soup to balance the meal.
While we ate, the traditional dancers and drummers came out to give us a show. The dancing and drumming was very wild and exciting, and at one point, Dena even went out on stage to dance with them. We couldn't eat our food because we were enjoying the show and trying to capture it on film. We managed to get a few bites in between each dance. When the dancing finished, we tried a little dessert, and then every person in the audience was given a small drum. The sound was deafening for a few minutes as each person played his or her own rhythm, but soon a group of real drummers came out to play for us. They also taught the crowd a few techniques and beats so that we could play along. Just as we were getting warmed up, our driver flagged us down and said it was time to leave. If we waited too long, the border would close and we would be stuck in Zimbabwe all night.
We made it back to the border with enough time to spare, and Bobby drove us back into Livingstone. We stopped at an outdoor nightclub attached to a restaurant in a strip mall. Doug had a chance to try Mosi, the local beer which is named after the Tonga word for Vic Falls--Mosi-Oa-Tunya. The music at this club was extremely loud, so we left after one drink and went back to Bobby's house. When we arrived, we got to meet the rest of his family who live there--his sister, Nancy, and her two sons, Choolwe (11 yrs. old) and Lushomo (7 yrs. old), and the baby daughter, Chiyabi (1 year, 4 months). They also have a live-in housekeeper, but we weren't properly introduced. Our sleeping arrangements were a little strange in this crowded household. Dena shared a room with the housekeeper, while Doug shared a room with Bobby and Choolwe. The others slept with Nancy in her bedroom. Also, the bathing situation here was a little difficult. They only have running water during certain times of the day, and never when we would actually need to have it. We had to use buckets of water in order to wash our hands and faces, and to fill up the toilet tank when we needed to flush. So again, we would not be getting to shower for a few days.
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