Crossing Borders

We awoke up to a baboon staring at us from our balcony! After recovering from our shock, we proceeded to enjoy a nice relaxed breakfast before packing to move. Somehow, we were not provided lunch by the lodge and neither were we provided a packed lunch. Otherwise, our transfer day which went over lunch time and beyond thankfully went smoothly. The border crossing from Botswana into Zambia was easier than expected! We were driven from Muchenje Lodge back to Kasane Airport where we transferred into another van taking us to the border crossing. Our driver accompanied us into the immigration hut where it was a matter of getting our passports stamped. We were then loaded onto the boat along with our luggage to cross the river into Zambia. This point is very close to where Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Zambia share a border. Once on the Zambian side, we were picked up by the next driver and loaded up into the van. He then accompanied us to get our visas. Only 1 representative per family was required. We assumed we still had to go through immigration but once visas were issued, we were done! We proceeded to drive to Livingstone Airport to get the last of four international flights out of Livingstone. Our destination was Nairobi. Surprisingly, the small Livingstone airport had a priority pass lounge! They had, however, run out of food…so they kindly went to the café downstairs to buy us some food. We had the lounge to ourselves with very fast wifi until the arrival of a large Indian family.

The three hour flight to Nairobi was uneventful. We were all grateful for the USB charger, the inflight meal and the choice of 2 movies on the inflight entertainment system. We were met by &Beyond representatives and taken to our hotel, a disaster that is Southern Sun Mayfair. It was hotel branded as four star hotel but really would only just scrape it to make three star. The rooms were tired, run down and mouldy. By this stage, it was past midnight and we were exhausted. Too tired too to do much more than writing to the &Beyond travel agent who booked our trip for us, citing our disappointment at the minor issues to date. I was even too tired to take photos of the room like I usually do!

Goodbye to the river scene

The children relaxing with games

On the river crossing from Botswana to Zambia!

The lounge at Livingstone Airport!

That's our plane! The last international flight our of Livingstone

Waiting to board...

The captain was kind enough to do a figure of 8 loop over Victoria Falls so we could see. Saved us on the costs of a helicopter flight....

Victoria Falls & The Mighty Zambezi

Victoria Falls is found on the Zambezi River, is the largest sheet of falling curtain in the world. We were picked up for our private tour of Victoria Falls right on 0825. The less than 2 minute drive took us to the entry gate where our guide took care of park fees, followed by a session of going through the information boards at the entrance. We started "touring" the Falls from Victoria Falls Bridge (built in 1905) where the border crossing to Zambia was and followed the falls along stopping at multiple view points along the way. We were there at low water as this was the end of their dry season and the beginning of the wet. This had pros and cons. The biggest downside was that you don’t the full appreciation of the sheer size of the falls and might of the falls but the biggest plus side was that you could actually “see” the falls. When the Zambezi River is full, there is so much water going down that the mist and spray created make it virtually impossible to see the falls well. And directly as a result, you get wet…very wet. There were only “shower” sections at about half our stops and we got wet plenty as it was! The low water level however did not take away the magnificence of the walls. It was still a rather amazing natural wonder and now off our tick list! To be honest, the private tour wasn’t worth the money, even the children noted that the guide only regurgitated information that we could read on the boards ourselves and that although friendly, he wasn’t particularly passionate. I would highly recommend getting there early though as the numbers increased exponentially with time and it gets hot!

The very airy and very colonial breakfast room

Doughnuts for breakfast. Yes...

Followed by pancakes. Why not?

The border crossing bridge. Single lane...and where people bungee jump

Can we do a selfie with 9? Yes we can

The driest at the moment. The waters will continue to increase as the rainy season starts

These would all be gushing with water the whole length during high water levels

An advantage visiting during low water levels is the lack of mist/spray so you can actually see the falls!

Getting progressively wetter and wetter....

A statue of Dr Livingstone, erected in 1955, 100 years after the "discovery" of Victoria Falls

The gardens outside the hotel restaurant

Nice place to enjoy lunch

For once, something that was NOT overpriced in Zimbabwe!

Our afternoon was spent lazing by the pool side for lunch while the Chins took a scenic helicopter flight over the Falls. Our intention was to swim but the heavens opened up and it bucketed down. Fortunately, that stopped in time for our evening cruise of the Zambezi River. We were picked up at 4pm for the Ra-ikane cruise. We picked the smaller boat with a capacity of 12 as we thought it would be nicer and more intimate. Fortunately, as a result of our numbers, we got one whole boat to ourselves! It was supposed to be a sunset cruise and thus all drinks and snacks were included. However, the storm clouds prevented any real sunset viewing. The trip up and down the river was relaxing with much wildlife on the banks as well as in the river to look at. We finally saw the hippos much to everyone’s delight! It was a wonderful way to end our short time in Zimbabwe.

Our ra-ikane cruise down the mighty Zambezi

Private boat! Yeah!

Some of the snacks provided

Apparently it was that cold,,,

Reading up on Dr Livingstone's life and expeditions

SO many these in the river

Vultures

Dr Chin, I presume?

A big thank you to Euhan Chin for many of the photos! Thank you for bringing your nice cameras and lens!

We farewelled Namibia and flew to Zimbabwe! After a near mishap of being directed to walk behind a 737 which was about to leave, flight delays which were on and off, and a few power outages at the airport, we arrived safely in Zimbabwe. After the deserts of Namibia, it was so refreshing to see the colour green in abundance! Our arrival to Zimbabwe was somewhat marred by a pushy Maltese family of 6. Long story short…we were first in line at immigration off the plane and were the last to leave because of them…Fortunately, our transfer was still waiting outside for us. We met another person with a cool name to add to our list, Admire!

Waiting at the lounge at Windhoek Airport. Wifi = happy children

The drive from Victoria Falls airport to the town of Victoria Falls itself was short, around 25 minutes. Our base for the next 2 nights was Ilala Lodge about 500m away from the Falls itself. The children were relieved that the cool drinks and towels upon check in remained the same in Zimbabwe. Our check in, though, was delayed from them not being able to find the second room in a fully booked Lodge! After seemingly forever, they managed to locate the reservation. However the children would be on the 1^st floor while we were on the 3^rd enjoying the superb view of the falls.

Something about a big king bed with mosquito netting that makes it seem special....

The room keeps going and around the corner, the third bed for Jonah!

You can see the mists of Victoria Falls in the horizon

Another bonus of being in Zimbabwe was new travelling companions! We met up with the Chins who would be joining us for a big chunk of our remaining legs in Africa. Our many delays saw us arrive just in time for 7pm pick up to the Boma dinner and dance show. Temba, our driver, drove us there, talked us through the evening, and checked us in. After adorning the appropriate traditional garb (chitenges) and having our faces enhanced with paint, we sat down to feast upon the offerings ranging from seemingly endless choices of game to the challenge of eating the mopani worm. There was entertainment throughout dinner which finished with an interactive drumming session towards the end. It was obviously angled towards tourists but was still a lot of fun. We are yet to see the beauty of the falls or any of the area so we don’t want to be negative, but one thing we’ve noticed was that there was a different vibe to the encounters with people here. There is a separate currency for tourists and this is clearly a whole town that runs on the tourist dollar. After the natural kindness of Namibia where we were happy to tip to help individuals (and where the whole country seemed grateful for tourists to help their economy) this feels a little more themed and there is a fear of being exploited only to help the “haves”. Maybe this is the African tourism equivalent of a Western Chinese restaurant! Or perhaps this is simply Victoria Falls being a huge tourist trap. On the plus side, the rooms are large, the air con works, the wifi is quick and the minibar is complimentary. Victoria Falls tomorrow.

Hello to the Chins!

Cheers! 

The game meat station

mopani worm. Not really a worm but the caterpillar of a moth....

You get a certificate for eating one!

Face painting!

Goes with the wrinkles. We later found out we were supposed to tip...oops

The children getting along famously

Dinner show