Beautiful!After all the “excitement” of the first part of the trip Nicole and I were really hoping that we could at least salvage some of the trip. Sunday morning we got up and knowing that most of the shops were going to be closed, decided to head to Victoria Falls and check out the park and the falls from the Zambian side. We took the public transport instead of a taxi and during that ride met a nice lady named Blessed who was from Zimbabwe and spoke over 10 languages and laughed at our ability to barely get by with three. She was training to be a doctor in Zambia, and wanted us to come with her into Zimbabwe so she could show us around, but we didn’t have our passports. She also took us on this “back” way to the park because the mini bus just kind of dropped us off on the side of the road and we had no clue where to go.
While we were walking to the park multiple people told us to watch out for the baboons because we were both carrying plastic sacks because we had bought snacks at the grocery store before we left. We didn’t really think much of this because I mean really how often do baboons just wander around in the open? When we finally got to the park there were a lot of typical tourist shops and, those shop workers who try and tell you how poor they are and how they need money to survive in the village, when really they are selling things for a RIDICILOUS price that is ten times the price it should be. We bypassed these guys on the way in and headed straight for the falls.
The way the park is set up is there is a giant statue of David Livingstone when you enter. (For those of you who forgot he was the first white man to set eyes on Victoria Falls, as well as being an all around awesome African explorer who when we died the local people took out his heart and buried it in Africa before sending his body back to Britain, basically true love). After the statue you follow a path and get some pretty nice glimpses of the falls and then you get to the bridge where you are basically face to face with the falls. We just so happened to come at the time when the Falls are at their fullest due to all the rain so there was so much mist that we were drenched after walking across the bridge. It was an amazing sight to see I will have to say. You are also able to walk further upstream on the Zambezi and during the dry season are even allowed to cross the river and can even jump into this pool that is at the edge of the falls. Like I said right now the river is really full we did get on the edge and stick our feet in though.
pre run in with the baboon, still excited
upstream, right before the falls start
On the bridge in the middle of the fallsEverything was going great and we were enjoying our time at the Falls and our opinions of Zambia were starting to look up when all the sudden we were walking on the path to take a look at the famous bridge that connects Zambia and Zimbabwe over the gorge, when a massive baboon walked into our path. We trid to turn around and walk the other way but another one stepped onto the path. It was like they were cornering us on the path. We were stuck and I know I was frighten. You don’t really realize how big those things are until you are that close. Nicole had a plastic shopping bag in her hand and I told her to give it that and she also had a plastic water bottle that she threw at it in hopes that they would walk away. A guy even walked by and saw us in this sticky situation and laughed took a picture of us and kept walking….so rude. The bottle did help in distracting the one baboon and we ran away super fast. It was just another way we decided Zambia was trying to get us down.
The after math of the run inAfter that excitement we left the park and headed to start a trend that we continued throughout our time in Zambia, going to the grocery store. I know it sounds weird but the ShopRite and Spare became our way to kill time. After living in rural Tanzania having the opportunity to go to the grocery store and have an entire aisle devoted to yogurt and cheese made us really happy, they were both air conditioned, also a plus.
On Monday we were able to finally try and get some other clothes and try to find a swim suit to take advantage of the pool at the hostel or any other water activities that were offered. We looked everywhere but could not find any womens swim suits, finally we wound up at what I have liked to believe is the Old Navy of Africa. The store is Called Pep and they sell clothes that are along the same lines as old navy and at around the same prices. We both broke down and bought boys swim suit bottoms because we needed some shorts and wanted something to wear by the pool. I was able tog et out of there with a pair of skinny jeans two shirts and my lovely 1990s inspired boys swim trunks for about 30 dollars, I was pleased.
We had planned on going to Zimbabwe and possibly Botswana during our time in Livingstone because both are easily accessible and our hostel had multiple activities we could do in both countries. We had even looked at the things to do and were really interested in a few of them, when Zambia played another cruel trick on us. Nicole had lived by the Lonely Planet guide to Zambia and Malawi to plan the trip and it said that you only needed to buy a single entry visa and could easily go into Zimbabwe to see the falls or take day trips into Botswana no problem. We learned that in fact this was not the case and if we wanted to do either of the things (side note all of the main tourist infrastructure for the falls is on the Zimbabwean side of the falls) we would have to pay another fifty dollars on top of the fees we would have to pay for the activities to buy another visa. Zambia just kept getting a laugh out of us. We seriously considered it a few times, if only to go into Zimbabwe and see the falls and attempt to find swim suits, but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth it and went to the grocery store instead.
We were able to go on a walking safari one morning and we got to get within fifty feet of four white rhinos, including one baby. We also got to get close to zebras and giraffes. The icing on the cake for that experience was we got to ride in what is basically a truck with bench seats and a canopy in the back, but we felt like we were in a parade because you are sitting up higher than the cab and it is open air. That was probably the highlight of the trip to Livingstone after seeing the falls of course.
Stay tuned for the final part of the trilogy of The Best Worst Spring Break Ever!
On Monday we were able to finally try and get some other clothes and try to find a swim suit to take advantage of the pool at the hostel or any other water activities that were offered. We looked everywhere but could not find any womens swim suits, finally we wound up at what I have liked to believe is the Old Navy of Africa. The store is Called Pep and they sell clothes that are along the same lines as old navy and at around the same prices. We both broke down and bought boys swim suit bottoms because we needed some shorts and wanted something to wear by the pool. I was able tog et out of there with a pair of skinny jeans two shirts and my lovely 1990s inspired boys swim trunks for about 30 dollars, I was pleased.
We had planned on going to Zimbabwe and possibly Botswana during our time in Livingstone because both are easily accessible and our hostel had multiple activities we could do in both countries. We had even looked at the things to do and were really interested in a few of them, when Zambia played another cruel trick on us. Nicole had lived by the Lonely Planet guide to Zambia and Malawi to plan the trip and it said that you only needed to buy a single entry visa and could easily go into Zimbabwe to see the falls or take day trips into Botswana no problem. We learned that in fact this was not the case and if we wanted to do either of the things (side note all of the main tourist infrastructure for the falls is on the Zimbabwean side of the falls) we would have to pay another fifty dollars on top of the fees we would have to pay for the activities to buy another visa. Zambia just kept getting a laugh out of us. We seriously considered it a few times, if only to go into Zimbabwe and see the falls and attempt to find swim suits, but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth it and went to the grocery store instead.
We were able to go on a walking safari one morning and we got to get within fifty feet of four white rhinos, including one baby. We also got to get close to zebras and giraffes. The icing on the cake for that experience was we got to ride in what is basically a truck with bench seats and a canopy in the back, but we felt like we were in a parade because you are sitting up higher than the cab and it is open air. That was probably the highlight of the trip to Livingstone after seeing the falls of course.
Stay tuned for the final part of the trilogy of The Best Worst Spring Break Ever!
We found this on the side of the street and loved it
No comments:
Post a Comment