Journey Extraordinaire, Part Five
May. 11th, 2025 11:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chaosvizierIs there no end to this madness? Of course there is; we're just not there yet.
Day Nine
We had scheduled an all-day tour of Victoria Falls and the surrounding area.
Actually, before we get to that point, at some point in the evening Sirloin tried messaging me but my phone did not react. Apparently something was getting murdered just outside of her room, and it was loud and terrible and I slept through the entire thing. Only her, I swear.
Anyway, day tour.
No, wait, first there were these spiders. Small body, big leg span, and very fast. One was outside my room on a flowerpot. He was too fast to take a good photo. The other was in Sirloin's room, unsurprisingly. After our Spider Adventure we had breakfast, which was a really nice buffet setup in a cafeteria that had a very Christmas-themed decor. This felt odd to me until I remembered that it was, in fact, mid-December and therefore really close to Christmas, even though it was still hot and sunny all day.
Ok, now the day tour.
We get picked up by a minivan. Prisca, our driver, and Locks, our guide, welcome us on board, where an Indian couple were already seated. From there we drive to Victoria Falls Park. Victoria Falls was so named by Robert Livingstone; the local name of the falls is Mosi-oa-Tunya, "The Smoke that Thunders". We were there in December, just after the dry season, and so the falls were at a lower volume. In May the falls are so full that tourists actually can't see the falls because of all the mist.
We walk along a path that parallels the mile-plus length of the falls via the Zambezi river, and then Locks takes us to a street market and across the bridge to Zambia. The bridge is nearly 120 years old, built by British engineers who constructed the pieces in England and then shipped them over to Zimbabwe and assembled them. People can bungee jump off the bridge into the Zambezi valley. Sirloin and I both agree: No Fucking Way. The bridge can accommodate vehicle, rail, and pedestrian traffic, although the customs stop at the end of the bridge can hold traffic up for hours on end, if not days in the case of truck traffic. Following the construction of the bridge, the warehouse that supported the builders was converted into a luxury hotel.
We also learned about Zimbabwe itself. The word Zimbabwe means "House of Stone. We learned a few words in the local language: Siyabonga - "Thank You"; Mangwanani - "Hello"; Dumela - "Goodbye"; Ujaani - "How are you?"; Nakheshe - "I'm fine"; Siyakamakala - "You're welcome".
During the low water seasons, one can go white water rafting down the Zambezi river after the falls. Sirloin and I had entertained the concept during our planning stages, but agreed that the day tour would be more comprehensive and we would have a lower chance of dying.
Locks then took us to the The Big Tree, a giant baobab tree that had been a gathering place for local tribal leaders for centuries. Livingstone had remarked on the massiveness of this tree in his records. We tasted the fruit of the baobab, then did some shopping at the small tourist market they had there. From there we went to a restaurant called Baines, situated right on the Zambezi river above the falls. The food was amazing and the view was spectacular. When the waiter asked what we wanted to drink we asked "Savanna?" - "Oh, you know Savanna! Very nice." Obviously we are people of culture.
We returned to our hotel for a break, during which time I tried again to kill the spider in Sirloin's room, but failed because he was fast as fuck.
Prisca picked us up again later and took us to the next part of the tour: a river cruise on the Zambezi above the falls, which came with free drinks. We're certainly not a pair to turn down free drinks, that's for sure. The cruise was incredible; we saw crocodiles, hippos, vultures, egrets, lots of other birds, and elephants. The wildlife volume was enormous.
After the cruise we were taken to the Boma dinner and drum show. The food included crocodile, eland, and buffalo, among other things. We missed out on the roasted caterpillars. We had our Savannas as usual and watched the show from our table. They did some traditional dances and drum pieces, and then the audience received drums and were taught some basic rhythms. Not far from our table a large party of very well-dressed ladies took their seats; we estimated that maybe it was a high ranking government official and her team or friends, based on their clothing and the treatment they received. At the end the audience was invited to dance, and the show closed. Prisca brought us back to our hotel, where we found one last Savanna, watched some telly, and crashed out.
Day Nine
We had scheduled an all-day tour of Victoria Falls and the surrounding area.
Actually, before we get to that point, at some point in the evening Sirloin tried messaging me but my phone did not react. Apparently something was getting murdered just outside of her room, and it was loud and terrible and I slept through the entire thing. Only her, I swear.
Anyway, day tour.
No, wait, first there were these spiders. Small body, big leg span, and very fast. One was outside my room on a flowerpot. He was too fast to take a good photo. The other was in Sirloin's room, unsurprisingly. After our Spider Adventure we had breakfast, which was a really nice buffet setup in a cafeteria that had a very Christmas-themed decor. This felt odd to me until I remembered that it was, in fact, mid-December and therefore really close to Christmas, even though it was still hot and sunny all day.
Ok, now the day tour.
We get picked up by a minivan. Prisca, our driver, and Locks, our guide, welcome us on board, where an Indian couple were already seated. From there we drive to Victoria Falls Park. Victoria Falls was so named by Robert Livingstone; the local name of the falls is Mosi-oa-Tunya, "The Smoke that Thunders". We were there in December, just after the dry season, and so the falls were at a lower volume. In May the falls are so full that tourists actually can't see the falls because of all the mist.
We walk along a path that parallels the mile-plus length of the falls via the Zambezi river, and then Locks takes us to a street market and across the bridge to Zambia. The bridge is nearly 120 years old, built by British engineers who constructed the pieces in England and then shipped them over to Zimbabwe and assembled them. People can bungee jump off the bridge into the Zambezi valley. Sirloin and I both agree: No Fucking Way. The bridge can accommodate vehicle, rail, and pedestrian traffic, although the customs stop at the end of the bridge can hold traffic up for hours on end, if not days in the case of truck traffic. Following the construction of the bridge, the warehouse that supported the builders was converted into a luxury hotel.
We also learned about Zimbabwe itself. The word Zimbabwe means "House of Stone. We learned a few words in the local language: Siyabonga - "Thank You"; Mangwanani - "Hello"; Dumela - "Goodbye"; Ujaani - "How are you?"; Nakheshe - "I'm fine"; Siyakamakala - "You're welcome".
During the low water seasons, one can go white water rafting down the Zambezi river after the falls. Sirloin and I had entertained the concept during our planning stages, but agreed that the day tour would be more comprehensive and we would have a lower chance of dying.
Locks then took us to the The Big Tree, a giant baobab tree that had been a gathering place for local tribal leaders for centuries. Livingstone had remarked on the massiveness of this tree in his records. We tasted the fruit of the baobab, then did some shopping at the small tourist market they had there. From there we went to a restaurant called Baines, situated right on the Zambezi river above the falls. The food was amazing and the view was spectacular. When the waiter asked what we wanted to drink we asked "Savanna?" - "Oh, you know Savanna! Very nice." Obviously we are people of culture.
We returned to our hotel for a break, during which time I tried again to kill the spider in Sirloin's room, but failed because he was fast as fuck.
Prisca picked us up again later and took us to the next part of the tour: a river cruise on the Zambezi above the falls, which came with free drinks. We're certainly not a pair to turn down free drinks, that's for sure. The cruise was incredible; we saw crocodiles, hippos, vultures, egrets, lots of other birds, and elephants. The wildlife volume was enormous.
After the cruise we were taken to the Boma dinner and drum show. The food included crocodile, eland, and buffalo, among other things. We missed out on the roasted caterpillars. We had our Savannas as usual and watched the show from our table. They did some traditional dances and drum pieces, and then the audience received drums and were taught some basic rhythms. Not far from our table a large party of very well-dressed ladies took their seats; we estimated that maybe it was a high ranking government official and her team or friends, based on their clothing and the treatment they received. At the end the audience was invited to dance, and the show closed. Prisca brought us back to our hotel, where we found one last Savanna, watched some telly, and crashed out.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-14 08:15 am (UTC)Good call on not bungee jumping or white water rafting. An alive chaosvizier is always preferable.
And poor Sirloin; what terrible luck with the critters.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-15 02:09 am (UTC)I have done white water rafting before, in Maine and on the upper Hudson. But this is a much higher level of challenge, and I am not aquatic enough to accept the risk.
Sirloin had a better animal experience than most first time safari-goers, and yet it was so very terrible. :D