What a great week!
The first few days were normal routine for us. Getting things done around the house and
running errands. The boys had two play
dates. One was our weekly playgroup and
the other was an extra play time with some of their friends.
In addition to the
normal tasks I had packing to do for our weekend vacations. Justin and Ryan were so excited about their
first sleep over. They were getting to
go over to stay with Zak (Rob’s boss) and Amy and their daughter. We talked up their vacation, and mentioned
very little of ours. I am not sure if
they realize that we went anywhere. We
told them they were getting a vacation and we were too. Who needs details? Maybe we can even show them pictures someday
and they will think they were there. J
Thursday after dinner we got the boys ready for bed and then
took them over to Zak’s house. Rob and I
returned home to go to sleep. The next
morning while we were getting ready to leave, we got a text message from Zak
saying that the boys had slept well. I
might have believed it if the message hadn’t come in at 5:15 AM!
Rob and I drove to the airport. Long term parking was full so we parked in
the regular lot. Fortunately it is not
horribly expensive the way it is in some places. If you have ever been to the airport in
Windhoek, you know that it isn’t very big.
They still want you to arrive early for flights, but when things are
going well it doesn’t take long to get through.
Our plane stopped in Botswana to refuel and pick up more
passengers. We got to wait in the lovely
boarding area. Back on the plane and
onward to Victoria Falls.
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| Guess they don't have a large budget for airport decor at the Maun, Botswana Airport. |
As we approached, we could see the spray from the Falls in
the form of a cloud off in the distance.
Immigration left much to be desired.
Heaven forbid a large plane ever flies in. The time it took to process each visa was
considerable. Our bag was waiting for us
when we got through immigration and our driver was waiting for us. On the drive to our hotel we saw baboons,
monkeys, warthogs, and African wild dogs.
The rural area eventually leads to the town of Victoria
Falls. Tourism is definitely the
business of the town. Tourist police,
markets full of souvenirs, hotels, and tour operator offices are all around
you. Our hotel was nice, but, like just
about everything in town, overpriced.
Lodging in many places in southern Africa is expensive for what you
get. I had been nervous after reading
some of the hotel reviews, but I think they were written by people who hadn’t
travelled in Africa much.
We checked in and then went to look around the hotel
area. In the back there is a path that leads
to the gorge viewing area and another that goes off towards the falls. We saw plenty of elephant poop as we went
along the path. The gorge was amazing
and we were able to see someone who was slowly being raised back up to the top
after her gorge swing activity. Lots of
high adrenaline activities in the area.
We walked on as we went to pick up some groceries. The main currencies used in Zimbabwe are the
US dollar and the South African rand.
Everywhere I went I saw things priced in dollars. Our groceries were overpriced and selection
was poor. My favorite part was getting
change. They only use bills, so we got
our 36 cents change in the form of a lollipop and a mini menthos. The guy in front of us was disappointed they
were out of chewing gum change.
We went back to the hotel and ate and rested until it was
time to be picked up for the sunset cruise.
Dancers stood on the shore while they had everyone get on the boat. We were able to see a crocodile and some
hippos in addition to a beautiful sunset.
It was a relaxing cruise. Since the dinner cruise options didn’t appeal
to me, we ended up having pizza for dinner.
We ate way too much.
Saturday morning we got up and went out to some of the craft
markets. Bargaining is the name of the
game. It was interesting to look at the
goods for sale and to see some of the artists at work. While I admired a lot of the things, there
was little that I wanted. I did find a stone
carving that I liked. I liked the guy
selling it too. I ended up paying right
around what I saw it selling for in the stores.
I also got some cheap little necklace things for the boys. I think I got 10 for the sweater I had with
me. I intentionally took some clothes
out of my donation pile for the purpose of bargaining. The sweater was definitely worth more than
the necklaces, but it doesn’t fit me very well anymore so it ended up a win-win
deal. Later someone tried to trade me
something for my socks, but I liked my socks more than what he had to offer.
We went back to the hotel to freshen up a bit. It might be winter here in the southern
hemisphere, but the sun was strong, the temp in the mid 80s and no breeze. After that it was to the Falls.
I don’t even know what to say about Victoria Falls. They are just awesome. The spray is so intense even across the
gorge. By the time we were finished there
we were soaked. It was hard to get any
good pictures, but it was such an inspiring experience. The noise of that much water pouring down was
so loud. I know why this is one of the
natural wonders of the world.
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The train ride we had hoped to take was cancelled because
they didn’t have the minimum number of people.
I went back to pick up a few things at the craft market. I wanted to get some keychains, but the
starting price was $40. At first I
thought it was 40 rand (about $5) which I would have paid. I had good things to trade as well as cash in
US dollars and South African rand. I
wasn’t going to waste my time bargaining back and forth to get to a reasonable
price. Wouldn’t you know I found the
same keychains in a store priced at $3?
Sold! If you enjoy bargaining,
the markets are great. They are fun to
look through, but so much of the stuff is the same and I think they are
starting the prices way too high. I
found it easier to buy things in stores, not that I wanted to get a lot.
We decided to go back down the trail to see the gorge
again. We were rewarded with an elephant
sighting. We watched for awhile and then
continued on our way. When we were
coming back to the hotel, there were still elephants in the area. They can stay hidden pretty well for such
large creatures. With trees between us
and them it was hard to get a good shot.
That evening for dinner we went to the dinner buffet in the
hotel. I did not try the mopane worms,
but I did have some crocodile stir fry.
I must say that I like crocodile more than a lot of the things that I
have had here. I wasn’t a very adventurous
eater, and stuck mostly to things that I knew.
More dancing for entertainment. I
imagine it is similar wherever you go in town.
Sunday morning we didn’t have to leave until 10 AM. That meant a leisurely morning, something
that I don’t have very often. I was
getting anxious to see my boys again though.
We made it back to Namibia and in typical Namibia fashion, no one was there
at immigration to let us through. An
officer saw that some of us were lining up and decided to get some people to
the counters to help us. At least we
didn’t have to wait forever for our bags like we did when we got back from Cape
Town.
The boys survived without us. In fact, they seemed to have a good
time. Guess that means that I can leave
them again. J Back to reality and to our laundry.
