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AFRICA - DAY THIRTY - VICTORIA FALLS |
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Previous Blogs: Day 1 Pretoria | Day 4 Dinokeng | Day 5 New Years | Day 6+7 Umdloti | Day 8 - DumaZulu | Day 9 Hluhluwe | Day 10+11 PE to Knysna | Day 12 Ostrich Farm | Day 13 Hermanus | Day 14 Hout Bay | Day 15 Cape Point | Day 16 Table Mountain | Day 17+18 Namib Desert | Day 19 Sossusvlei | Day 20+21 To Swakopmund | Day 22 Cape Cross | Day 23 Luderitz | Day 24 Walvis Bay | Day 26 To Windhoek | Day 27 Katatura | Day 28+29 Zambezi | Day 30 The Falls | Day 31 Chobe | Day 32+33 Going Home Click photos for a larger image... |
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Our day today was all about Vic Falls. Taxi picked us up at 7am for the short ride to the park entrance. $30 per person later (!!!!) we were on the top of the falls. The last time I was here was in 1993. There was no entrance fee and no marked and paved walkways. Just a dirt track. My how things have changed. Expensive to get in but it was worth it. The widest continuous water fall in the world and one of the seven natural wonders of the world. |
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| The falls are over a mile wide and 300 feet high, one and a half times wider than the Niagara falls and twice as high. | |
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| In the rainy season (now) the falls are a lot heavier producing a huge amount of mist and spray. At the main section of the falls it rains because of this continuously and has produced an actual rain forest on the side opposite the falls. | |
 These people are nuts! Swimming in a pool right on the edge of the falls! |
 No matter how often I wiped my camera lens the "rain" would just clog it up again. |
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| Then it was time for a helicopter ride over the falls | |
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 Definitely the best way to see the falls!
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 The bridge separating Zimbabwe (on right) from Zambia (on left). And of course they bungee jump right off the bridge. No thanks! |
 The entire town of Victoria Falls. Not big, 40,000 people and basically a tourist trap! |
 Afterwards it was time to celebrate with a flight of craft beers at a local brewery! |
 And for dinner we went to the Outlook Cafe, a restaurant built out over the gorge. Got there right after sunset and this was our view - you can see the bridge in the distance lit up already. |
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Dinner was surprisingly excellent! The one thing that amazes me in Zimbabwe is the level of service. Given the country's background the level of service we have received is outstanding. Every shuttle, taxi, transport was exactly on time! (unlike Namibia). The level of English spoken by even the gardener and construction worker is excellent and by Taxi drivers and other tourism workers was absolutely perfect. The food presentation (and this is not a Michelin rated restaurant) is better than I have ever seen in the USA. Even on the cruise boat the previous night the food presentation was a work of art. Just look at Gloria's plate - she's having Ostrich kebab and those designs are not painted on the plate, that was part fo the food! |
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Since switching to USD, the country (or Vic Falls I should say) is
pretty expensive. I paid $20 for a for dinner (lamb shank) which is
pricy compared to SA and Namibia. A 750ml bottle of whiskey is well
over $20 which is a lot more than SA. But this is a tourist town and
that's probably the reason. And finally... You know you are in Africa when the communal meeting place alongside the main road in town consists of a few busted up cars for seating and some guy selling drinks from a cooler under an umbrella! |
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