Vic Falls - 2012

Rolandi:

My dear husband thought of the brilliant idea of taking me to Vic Falls for my next birthday. We left the two doggie children on 5 October at 06h15, making our way to OR Thambo. Its always sad for me to leave them behind, but alas!

 

We booked in for flight T6951 to Zambia and from there we were a lot of groupon customers that were driving to lodges in Zimbabwe. The flight was over in a short time, but Rudolf and I were sitting on the wrong side, so we could not see the falls from the sky. We agreed to try and sit on the right when we return on Sunday.

 

The Zambians were very friendly and not once did I feel overwhelmed by poverty of the people around. Leaving Zambia by bus was quite a process as we were to get stamps at a one person border post. Rudolf bought a one trillion Zim dollar note. It was issued in April 2009 and expired July 2009. Poor people.

 

There was another post on the Zimbabwean side where they were changing shifts the moment our bus arrived... Much like RSA?

 

We dropped half the bus of people at The Kingdom Lodge and Casino. What a great place. With great disappointment I arrived at our budget room at Adventure Lodge. The room is almost just big enough to fit the double bed. Our bags were shunned into the small cupboard that could not close once our bags were inside.

 

Rudolf and I walked to the falls that exceeded my wildest expectations. Although it is dry season, the water and rainbows were spectacular. You had to walk to the perfect angle to be able to see it,but it was there all along. It reminded me of Gods grace in and over our lives... We sometimes get so busy with our problems at hand that forget the bigger picture and we also forget to view life from different angles. Gods perfect angles.

 

While walking back to the lodge me and Rudolf saw a warthog walking freely in the bushes. How nice to see game run wild. A old lady passed us on the road with a heap of possessions on her head and two bags-one over each shoulder. Rudolf asked her if her neck were not hurting... She stopped and immediately tried to put her load on Rudolf's head. He could barely stand with the extra weight on his head. While it happened, it was all jokes and laughter. Afterwards I told Rudolf how it made me think of each persons load they carry with them. That lady probably did not even realise the amount of extra baggage she carried,and we do the same. We keep going through life as if all is well and we adjust not to even look as if it is bothering us. We keep our baggage in exchange for an abundant and free life.

 

In town we ate at Lola's Tapas and Bar. We had home made burgers and fries that tasted very good after the days walking. We then returned home,but disagreed about the way home. Rudolf was correct (that does not happen often) and we reached our destination. Even though the room is very small I looked forward to a good nights rest.

 

Rudolf:

As Rolandi said, the first day was amazing. Flying out from OR Thambo to Livingstone was something extra since we knew we were going to stay in Zimbabwe's small Victoria Falls Town. When we got there everything ran very smoothly. No worries through the Zambian arrivals, their border posts or the Zimbabwean border. It took quite long at stages, but the people were friendly and assisted us a lot.

 

Mr Madenda (his surname actually means zebra) dropped us at the adventure Lodge. Very basic accommodation, but sufficient for the two nights we will be here. After we checked in and looked at the accommodation's different activities we went through town to the falls. On our way there we met lots of friendly hawkers approach you. Also, there are markets etc along the way. But the best was still to come: the falls itself!

 

It is dry season in central africa and the falls was not completely covered. Only the left side of the falls had water while the rest was one solid rock face, a 90m to 107m cliff. We started walking along the 1700 metre falls. Its a true spectacle that has to be seen. To enter is $20 per person for residents of SADC countries. Might be expensive, but well worth it! We walked around in the park until 6pm. We had to leave although we did not want to!

 

On our way out we saw some warthog next to the road. I think over time they became tame as so many people pass by. In actual fact they are quite dangerous. We also met with the baggage lady as described by Rolandi.

 

Our supper was fabulous at Lola's Tapas. The waiter was also great and entertained us thoroughly. Some artists had a mobile gallery in one corner with pencil sketches and painting of nature and animals.

 

By the time we left for the lodge it was dark with no streetlights, but since are home already I can assure you that it is quite safe!