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My final half day at Victoria Falls was on the Zimbabwe side.  Exiting and coming back to Zimbabwe to renew my visa was the official point of my trip.  My 6am experience at the Zim/Zambia border will be part of a post about my now extensive experiences with Zimbabwe Immigration (I’m still here so it’s more of an entertaining tail than an alarming one)

Monday, December 5th was the end of my incredibly full weekend at Victoria Falls.  I was up early, left the hotel by 5:45.  One more shout out to the Avani Resort Hotel – I asked for a lunch to go because I had to leave before they opened for breakfast.  What I received exceeded all expectations – juice box, breakfast panini, fruit, crackers and cheese and a wee scone.  And they did not charge me.  Breakfast was part of my room rate but I still anticipated a money grab for the special request.  Nope.

Once I made it past the aforementioned border hiccup I proceeded to my first adrenaline rush of the day a Walk with Lions.  It was unsettling, exciting, exhilarating.  I am happy I did it.  I will not repeat the experience.  We met, pet and walked with two siblings, a male and female of 14 months.  We mainly interacted with the male which I think is by design.  His mane was starting to come in and I think they assume that tourists would prefer to be photographed with the maned male.  The female entertained on her own as she was quite sassy and playful.  Watching her give chase to and play with a branch being dragged by a hander in the exact same way my daughter’s cat chases her toys was most entertaining.

We all had a walking stick which is how the cats are “trained” to behave.  They are not hit with the sticks.  The sticks are used to hit the ground or lightly poke/push the cat.  What kept me comfortable was the handler with the gun.  The cats are trained to be with people but they are not tame in a truly domesticated sense.  So here are a couple of pictures of me pretending to be calm and fine with what’s happening!  hahaha!

No photos, but next I took a 15 minute flight over the Falls.  It was my second helicopter ride.  Small world part of the experience was I joined some folks from Saskatchewan for the flight.  Canadians meeting in Zimbabwe for a quick excursion in the sky!

My final activity of the trip was THE BEST!  I did the Adrenaline High Wire Half Day with Wild Horizons.  It entails turn at each of the Flying Fox, Zip Line and Gorge Swing.  And thankfully it does not take a half day hahaha!

They start you with the Flying Fox – you are strapped in and take a running leap over the gorge in a superman pose.  I was TERRIFIED until the second I was off the ramp and in the air.  Then it was indescribably perfect!

Then you move up to the Zip Line which takes you a lot lower into the gorge.  I was a bit cautious stepping down but then the air took me back to such a happy place.

The finale is the gorge swing, which is basically a bum first bungee jump.  I don’t ever want to go head first but I would do this one again and again and again.  I was over my fear even before the rope hit tension.

I felt safe and cared for the entire time.  The staff were friendly supportive and competent.  I mean, I’m still alive.  I paid for the video of my entire experience.  I can’t upload videos here but if I ever upgrade I will share.  In the mean time, here are  a couple screen grabs of the swing.

Wild Horizons

After this I had a quick lunch and flew back to Harare.

Truly a weekend of  a lifetime!

This post is a tad overdue but it has been a very crazy time for the NGO I am working at.  Maybe when this has all passed I can share some of the situation, but no promises because, well, privacy. 

On my second full day in Zambia I stayed close to my hotel but still did two thrilling things.

1. I took part in the Devil’s Swim – they call this place the Devil’s Pool because it is literally at the top of Victoria Falls.  Apparently there is a net just over this part of the Falls to catch any tourist that might go over but I didn’t take a look for myself.  This was a lot of fun.  I was with two groups of women – two young women on a short holiday from their jobs in Angola with EY, and 3 older women (my vintage plus maybe 5 years) on a group trip.  I hung out in the pool waiting for my turn at the top – little fishies nipping at my dead skin (ew!)  This is somewhat less scary than it looks as there is a man holding on to your leg the entire time.

2. After a quiet afternoon enjoying the zebras wandering around the resort grounds,

I went to the Elephant Cafe for a chance to interact with some African elephants and have an excellent gourmet meal.

For dinner I joined a family of 6 from Cape Town.  Mum and Dad, originally from the UK were celebrating their silver wedding anniversary.  Steve and Mel, Alex, Dan, Chloe and Cat if I remember correctly.  They invited me to join them for dinner after our interaction time with the elephants, so I didn’t have to dine alone.  I would have been fine dining alone but it was much more fun with this entertaining family!

This was my last full day in Zambia.  The next morning I was at the Zimbabwe border at 6 am to embark on the most thrilling day yet…….. one more post to come on this mini vacay

I packed a lot in to my 3-day trip.

1. Saturday, I went to Botswana for a Chobe River cruise and then a safari ride at Chobe National Park (name?) An impressive lunch buffet was provided at ?resort? in between the two outings
2. Sunday morning, I headed over the sister Royal Livingstone Hotel to go across to the Devil’s Pool at the top of the Zambia side of the Falls.
3. Sunday late morning and afternoon I hung around the hotel grounds, swam and had lunch by the pool
4. Sunday evening was interaction with the elephants and another fabulous meal at the Elephant Café, just up the road from my hotel on the Zambia side
5. I got up at 5am on Monday so that I could be at the Zimbabwe border for the 6am opening. Outings packed into Monday am are Walking with the Lions, Helicopter ride over the Falls and finally 3 wire activities over the gorge – Flying Fox, Zip Line and the gorge swing

I have so many photos from the activities except for the helicopter and the wire activities.  I just enjoyed the copter and was not about to risk dropping my phone for selfies while sliding swinging and hanging over that gorge and river!

1. To Botswana on Safari

The people I met along the way were friendly and some went out of their way to include me, which is nice sometimes when traveling solo.  A group of nine Portuguese folks from Angola were my companions for the Chobe trip.  I spent the drive to the Botswana border talking with the driver and enjoying the scenery (perk of solo travel – usually get the best seat).  Once across the river(s) to Botswana, Antonio, Marta, Sofia and Mariana introduced themselves. Thankfully the introductions stopped there as I would never have remembered 5 more names (assuming I remember these correctly).  We drove further to the resort where we joined another group for a river cruise to see wildlife.

My small world story for the weekend is:  we discovered early in the cruise that there was a Canadian couple on the boat.  I asked where they were from, saying I came from Edmonton.  Well, so did they.  What neighbourhood, they asked.  Millwoods, I said.  And you?  Holyrood was their reply.  I told them my daughter went to that school from kindergarten through grade 4.  It turns out we had girls in that school at the same time!  Different programs/classes but still.  Crazy small world!

Between the boat cruise and safari ride I think we saw almost everything imaginable except for big cats.  It was mid afternoon when we got to the park, so they were sleeping.  We saw hippos, different types of water buffalo, antelope, birds, crocodiles – including a croc buried into the carcass of a dead elephant!  On our drive we added impala, baboons, elephants and giraffes.  It was definitely a full day.  The lunch in between was a full buffet including ice cream!  I had a nice chat with an American about their bad joke of a president.  It is meeting American’s that feel the same way about him as I do that helps restore my opinion of that nation.

I went somewhat diva with my hotel selection for my mini vacation and stayed at the Avani Victoria Falls Resort (formerly Zambezi Sun Hotel) on a recommendation.  It did not disappoint.  The room was gorgeous, the food was great and I even made it to the pool a couple of times.  The room rate includes access to the Zambia side of the Falls, Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park, which saved me the $20 admission fee.  I only got there once because of my action packed weekend.

But the true stars of the Avani Resort are the animals.  I shared the path and ground with impala, zebras, banded mongoose and baboons.  They did not care at all as I went by.  They are wild so people are told not to approach them.  In the interest of not being bitten or kicked I followed instruction.

Breakfast was also included in my rate and included a lovely hot buffet, omelette station, cereal bar, bread and pastries bar and fresh juices.  On my last day I had to leave before the restaurant opened so I asked for a breakfast to go.  I got a breakfast panini, juice, scone, cheese and crackers and a pear!  I expected a charge for the packed meal but there was no extra fee.  Very nice bonus!

Since I am transitioning out of corporate into ngo salary, I may not be back to the Avani for a while but I am so glad I indulged myself for this trip!

Zimbabwe visa renewal requirements dictate that one must leave the country and re-enter to apply for a new 30 day, single entry visa.  In country renewal is not done, and 30 days is the maximum length per visa if you are volunteering.  As a result, I had to leave Zim by November 5^th.  I had a very full three days so I am going to make a few posts about my stay.

I decided to head to Victoria Falls because it is possible to find great accommodation and activities on both sides of the Zimbabwe/Zambia border.  I had the Avani Victoria Falls Resort (formerly Sun hotel) recommended to me and it did not disappoint.

The hotel assisted me in arranging transportation from the Victoria Falls airport in Zimbabwe, across the border, up to the lobby of the resort.

I had a lovely chat with Joshua from the airport to the border.  I causally mentioned that I was excited to see some baobab trees, so he took a quick detour to show me Victoria Fall’s oldest baobab – The Big Tree, estimated to be around 1500 years old.  This tree lover was thrilled – seeing baobabs was an actually bucket list item for me.  I saw several over the weekend but the Big Tree tops the list.

I enjoy good conversation with anybody and somehow Joshua and I got around to discussing his granddaughter.  She is four and regularly gets tonsillitis.  The doctor wants to remover her tonsils but her dad, Joshua’s son, is reluctant.  Dad had his removed but still has reservations about putting his own girl through the surgery.  Well, I also suffered from tonsillitis a minimum of once a year while in elementary school.  My dad also did not want me to have surgery, so I told Joshua that I still have my tonsils, that I was on antibiotics for tonsillitis regularly until I was about 12 and that I haven’t had any issues since.  I even had a phone conversation with the Dad.  I declined to make a recommendation, saying “I’m an accountant not a doctor” but I was happy to share my experience.   I have no idea how we ended up discussing a little girl’s tonsils though!

Friday, October 26 2018

I was invited by my friend and Airbnb host Debbie to attend a cocktail party at the home of the Austrian Consulate to Harare in honour of Austrian National Day.  It was a lovely evening featuring entertainment by the Mbira Centre.  I met Milan Djordjevic , Honorary Consul, who is also a dentist and long term resident of Harare, and many other lovely people.

We were entertained by local gentlemen playing the traditional instrument the Mbira.  I was thrilled to add to my book collection Township Girls – The Crossover Generation for two reasons.  First, because it is published locally by Weaver Press Zimbabwe and I met Irene, publisher.  I hope to stop in and get another book that I missed picking up, leading to buyers remorse 🙂  The second reason is that Debbie is friends with one of the authors so my copy will be signed before I leave!  Weaver Press Zimbabwe

We also got to chat with Walter, owner of the very interesting business card and his charming daughter Anastasia.  She is already a globetrotter, having lived and worked all over the world just recently returning the Harare for however long.

The reason for the evening:

The Austrian National Day is celebrated on October 26 and relates to political developments after WW II.

After the end of the War, Austria was occupied by the four Allied forces (Soviet Union, United States, Great Britain, and France), who divided the country into four zones. The capital Vienna was also divided in four, with the historic central district being jointly administered by the “Allied Control Council”. Although the Austrian parliament was democratically elected, every legislative regulation or political action of the government at first required consent by the Allied Control Council and later on could still be vetoed by it.

The negotiations over a State Treaty putting an end to the occupation could finally be concluded in the spring of 1955: the Austrian State Treaty was signed on May 15, 1955, in Vienna’s Schloss Belvedere and entered into force on July 27, 1955.

On October 26, 1955, the Austrian Parliament passed the constitutional law on permanent neutrality, which has been celebrated as the Austrian National day since 1965.

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This is a Facebook post I made just after returning from Peru at the end of April 2012