Victoria Falls Weekend.
Travel ‘specials’ are so great! Email is wonderful! Downloading email the other day a Flight Center advert came in…2 nights at Victoria Falls, flights and accommodation included. Pretty good price.
I was last at the Victoria Falls as a 10 year old. My late brother must have been 6 at the time, and I remember standing, somewhat soaked, at a lookout on the Zimbabwe side, gazing at what appeared to be the edge of the world. All ahead was white mist. Suddenly, like a curtain opening before a greatly anticipated performance, the veil would part, and a thunderous wall of water would appear, crashing with unimaginable power. I shall never forget my little brother’s excited boyish words to me, “ Sonnee, that’s the biggest thing WE’VE ever seen!”
I mooted the idea of a trip to the Falls to Piper Payer, and since it IS our 30th year of marriage, it seemed fitting that this milestone be commemorated in some way. He liked the idea.
Within two weeks we were booked, packed, organized, and leaving the pets and house in the hands of all our kids (Intrepid Traveler and Sidekick being primary care-givers, while Dwayley would be ‘back-up’), we found ourselves on a 1-Time flight to Livingston, Zambia.
I like Africa, in small doses. When we were newly arrived on the African continent we did all the ‘tourist’ things whenever we could. In a way it was overkill. I’ve been there, done that, got the t-shirt, so to speak. I lived it, and am so over it. I did my stint living and working on a game ranch. I like Africa, its animals, it people, but it was my mother’s passion, not mine.
I DID enjoy this trip down memory lane though! I had forgotten how friendly Zimbabweans are! Despite their troubles, despite their difficulties, they are always ready with a willing smile, kind words, a joke, and laughter. Those who know me will tell you I am jaded and cynical by nature, and my first thought was “Well of course they HAVE to be nice to tourists - we are probably paying for their dinner tonight!” But then it came back to me, this is just how they ARE. I remembered. Whether under the yoke of colonialism back in 1967, or under the yoke of a dictator, they are a friendly outgoing people.
Our carrier was a local budget airline called 1-Time. Pretty much “Easy Jet”, just ‘newer’. I’ve flown Easy Jet before, and I would give 1-Time two thumbs up for smartness and freshness. Maybe we were just lucky to fly in more recently upgraded planes, but everything looked neater and cleaner than I’d experienced on the European airline. It had been drizzling solidly for two days when we arrived in Kingston, Zambia (just across the border from Zimbabwe, and directly opposite Victoria Falls town. For Americans, think Niagara and Buffalo!) The similarities end with localities, though, because Livingston is a typical small African town with a small airport boasting a single runway. And on this particular day it was a singularly WET runway.
We literally waltzed down the tarmac, but our pilot kept control, and soon we found ourselves sliding through the town in a bus, on the way to the border post through to Zimbabwe. A checkpoint invaded by a troop of baboons, then over the bridge across the Zambezi (second glimpse of the Victoria Falls. First being from the airplane. Excellent approach and good bird’s eye view if you are sitting on the left-hand side of the plane), and on to the Zimbabwe checkpoint, which leads on to the town of Victoria Falls.
The 'Special' included two nights at the Elephant Hills Resort and golf course. It’s quite a large hotel, close on 300 rooms, housing this particular weekend only about 40 guests (consisting of couples and families), and a conference of delegates from the African Union of Ministers in charge of Youth. The hotel was a 5-star affair in her day, and one can see efforts have been made around the reception, public areas, and conference rooms, to keep her fresh and maintained. The rooms were a little tired though. On check-in we found our room’s verandah flooded after all the rain. Quickly we were relocated, and we sat watching a Waterbok out on the lawn and talked about how vibrant and exciting this hotel must have been in her heyday.
In 2000 tourism to Zimbabwe had all but come to a halt, and it has been a hard climb back. The efforts are so evident. It is almost like living in “The Truman Show”. Hotel staff, tour guides, transport personnel, taxi drivers, and other locals seem to have been intensively trained and briefed on how to play their roles. Nowhere to be seen is the poverty and desperation one hears about in stories and in the news. Yes, shops are poorly stocked, but it feels like the town of Victoria Falls is being given the lion’s share - although the lion’ share of nothing is still not much - in order look good for the desperately needed tourist industry. Zimbabwe sees its need, and it is doing what it must to meet those needs. I can respect that. All around there seems to be a positivity. Things are slowly looking up, though I don’t know if it is fast enough.
We took a river cruise on the mighty Zambezi. I love river cruises, and will take them wherever there is a river and a willing barge with booze. Sooo relaxing. A couple of drinks, a few snacks, peace, water, nature at a pretty safe distance (where it can’t actually touch me!) and if you are lucky, a hippo or two before watching a breathtaking sunset.
While booking our activities at the desk in the hotel, we met up with another couple, and seemed to hit it off straight away. A little tentatively at first, of course. One doesn’t want to appear desperate! Friendship was taken a step closer on the cruise and cemented later that evening over coffee and cake in the bar. We found we had a lot in common, and certainly had enough to talk about, until talk became almost impossible over the drums and singing of the troupe brought in to entertain the conference delegates. We were tired anyway. Amazingly, they seemed to like us! We decided we would all do our own thing the next day, and meet up again in the evening for the train ride we had both booked.
First thing on the agenda that morning was the Falls. We booked a guided tour, picking up at hotel and dropping off again, in the hope of getting some history and interesting information along the way. I guess we have lived in Africa too long, and are of a generation that KNOWS stuff, because there was very little the poor tour guide could tell us about the Falls or Dr Livingston that we didn’t already know! Well, we paid him for the transport, I guess.
It was exciting for me to see that little had changed since I was 10 years old! I found the exact spot where my brother and I must have stood when we were both entranced by the sheer magnitude of what thundered before us. However, Piper Payer was a little disappointed. I think I know why. You can’t just stand and SEE the Victoria Falls. This is no Niagara Horseshoe Falls where you can stand on the wide plaza on the Canadian side, and see the falls in their entirety, and pop into a Starbucks for a latté while you continue to enjoy the display. In Africa nature, not man, rules. You can only see PARTS of these great falls, from various vantage points, and then only when the mist and spray deems to clear enough. She makes you work for it. You traipse through rainforest on wet slippery paths, up and down stone steps built 100 years ago when the first efforts to hail the inevitable visitors were devised. You get drenched. All to reach yet another point from which to view the misty falls. You cannot see the raging waters of the Zambezi River below, or catch the entire vista from any point at all. The geography of the falls is such that they plummet into a huge gash in the earth, of which you stand on the Zimbabwe edge, looking across. You can’t see down below into the fissure, and to the left and right there is either too much foliage or mist. And from the air or at a distance it looks simply like the smoke from a great veld fire…smoke rising into the blue sky.
The great Smoke that Thunders likes to keep some mystery to herself!
We shared our Vic Falls tour guide and bus with a most interesting young man, Frederico. He had been in Zimbabwe hunting with a friend for about eight days. His friend had returned to Europe, but Frederico decided not to leave till he had seen the Victoria Falls. It was easy to confuse this young man….just ask him where he hails from. He was born of a Dutch mother and Italian father, raised in Rome at a French school, lived in Monaco for many years, married a Mexican/French woman, and now lives in Geneva, Switzerland with his wife and 5 year old daughter who already speaks 4 languages fluently! While we were with him he spoke confidently in English, though with an intriguing accent, he spoke both French and Italian on the phone, and he says he speaks Spanish to his wife. Well! I for one was impressed!
You can carry umbrella’s and wear dry macs all you want, but one thing is certain while looking at the falls, you will get drenched! By the time you get back to your hotel, you are at least half-way dry again. Fully dried off, we had some lunch, Piper Payer had a snooze, while I went for a swim in the hotel pool. Rested, dressed, and dry again, we assembled at the front of the hotel with newfound couple friends (did I mention they liked us?) to await our transport to the Victoria Falls train station, to take a romantic train ride to the bridge across the border, and the Zambezi river.
The guide did give us the history of the train and the actual carriages, but I just didn’t hear over the general chatter of the other passengers and gave up. So no history lesson (Yay!), just a pleasant (though very short) train trip from Victoria Falls Station, to the middle of the bridge in No-Man’s-Land between Zimbabwe and Zambia. Gin and Tonic’s were served by very Colonial looking waiters, and once on the bridge we climbed out for a great view of the falls themselves, the Zambezi below, and the bungy platform from the bridge. A few sellers of curios did make the stop a little unpleasant when they would not take ‘No’ for an answer, and once you cave in and purchase an item or two they only get more enthusiastic about their wares and determination to make yet another sale. No matter how much you have already bought, for some reason they think you would actually want MORE. Long before the whistle blows for our return to our seats on the train I was wishing we could head back, if only to get away from the pesky curio sellers!
The train station is directly opposite the grand old Victoria Falls Hotel, which is probably the only building in the area that is not showing the ravages of Zimbabwe’s recent history. Immaculately up kept, the old Colonial hotel smells of old money, snobbery, and an old world beauty. The sun had set and it was dark by the time our train returned to the station and we decided to take a sneak look at the grand hotel while waiting for our transport back to our own hotel. Our discreet exploring (we tried to be invisible, feeling decidedly ‘underdressed’ for our surroundings, expecting a tap on the shoulder by a disapproving concierge pointing us unceremoniously towards the exit) led us out onto the hotel verandah that overlooks the falls, we were told, with a magnificent view. However after dark, although you can hear the thunderous waters, the view from the verandah is only pitch blackness. We found our Cosmopolitan friend seated there enjoying a cigar. He had just been informed smoking was not allowed. He took several more puffs before snuffing it out. He said he’d been sitting there since before sunset and indeed the view was wonderful. We kicked ourselves for not thinking of spending an evening there ourselves enjoying some sundowners, and perhaps having dinner. Next trip!
Next morning we headed home. Doing everything in reverse. Arrived back in South Africa, followed by the drive back to Bloemfontein. Wherever I go in the world I end up coming home thinking “I MUST go back some time” *sigh* . I really think one NEEDS to visit a place twice at the very least. The first time is always just a ‘look/see’, finding out all the things you SHOULD do - the things that no one told you about despite the hours of research you have put in to the planning! The second trip is for all those things about which you said “Next time I must do…”! Yep, I know what I’ll have to do NEXT trip to Vic Falls.