More Adventures in Africa: October 2014

The next day we walked across the border to Zambia as we had read that it is best to experience Victoria Falls from both sides. We got a ride into Livingston with a Zambian policeman and stayed in a hostel/hotel there. We swam, bought crafts, toured a museum and had some yummy fish for dinner. The next day we got up before dawn to see the Zambian side of the falls. As we walked down the established trail, we were met by a "guide" who took us to unauthorized access parts of the park. This would never happen in the US!!! But we are glad we did it even though I was petrifiied the entire time!! We had amazing views and experiences.

Our next stop was Namibia and we took an excruciatingly long 22 hour bus ride to get there. We were again Couchsurfing, this time with a woman who runs a hostel. We arrived first thing in the morning, took showers and explored the town, learning a lot about Namibian history before going back to our "luxury tent" by the pool and having some fascinating conversations and dinner with our hostess and the international volunteers and students staying there. Our "luxury tent" was a double bed which barely fit inside a tent and there were other people in non-luxury teats about 2 feet from either side of our bed-funny but we had a great time there.

Crossing the bridge

A sign in the park. We weren't sure of the relationship between water bursts and litter bins!

In the dry season, you can walk on the top of the Falls.

You get great views looking down

......but experience very scary moments. Notice my lean! Remember that it is 350 feet down a sheer cliff and our guide kept trying to get us to go closer to the edge.

My acrophobia is getting worse as i get older!!

Mel however is oblivious!

There were a lot of baboons with their very prominent rumps.

Notice the rafters way down in the water.

Another rainbow

A baby baboon

Men painting the bridge between Zimbabwe and Zambia. There is a lot of bungee jumping off this bridge. Not us!

It was a very arid area but not adjacent to the falls.

Some of the rapids were so dangerous that only the crew paddled through them. Everyone else walked around them.

A crocodile lounging on the lawn at the hotel where we had drinks and enjoyed the sun set.

They must do this river crossing every night.

Another magnificent sunset over the Zambezi River

The TV preacher on the very long bus ride to Windhoek, Namibia.

Traditional compounds seen from the bus.

Sunrise on the bus.

Christus Kirche-a neo-Gothic and Art Nouveau style German Lutheran Church in the center of Windhoek.

Sam Nujoma

We bought round trip tickets to Jo'Burg, spent one night in a hostel near the airport and hopped on a bus the next day for Buyawayo, Zimbabwe. We had scheduled an overnight Couchsurfing with a local couple but the bus ended up taking 16 hours instead of the scheduled 12. Our hosts told us they would leave the gate and door to our cottage open so we could get in. They had a lovely piece of property with a main houses, some beautifully furnished cottages with en suite bathrooms and kitchens. The grounds were lovely as well. We unfortunately never met our hosts as they were asleep when we got there and we were asleep when they left for work the next day and our train to Vic Falls left before they arrived home. We had beautiful accommodations but we wished we had been able to interact with our hosts as that is the fun and interesting part of Couchsurfing.
We did tour the art museum and train museum in Buyawayo before our train departed the next evening. We both love overnight trains so we had a great time getting to Victoria Falls.
We checked into a small cabin at a rest camp in Vic Falls and relaxed by the pool that afternoon. In the evening, we took an amazing sunset cruise on the Zambezi River. I loved the elephants especially!
The next day, we got up before dawn to get into the Victoria Falls Park before the sun rose. We were so happy that we did as we were the only ones there for the first few hours and the colors were beautiful. Even though it is now the dry season, the amount of water going over the cliffs was phenomenal! We even saw a rainbow at the base of one of the falls. Vic Falls is much higher than either Niagara Falls or Iguacu Falls but not as wide as either.
That afternoon we had high tea at the very elegant Victoria Falls Hotel.

We loved this old sign at the train museum.

This was the china used by the royal Brits in 1947.

Cecil Rhodes' very nice wood paneled train car

As Mel said, it must be nice to have a railway and country named after you.

The inside of Rhodes' train car.

Our very beautiful traditional cottage where we Couchsurfed.

The gardens belonging to our hosts.

A traditional tree house

The sun setting during our train ride

Our very basic cabin with bunk beds and a sink

The sunrise the next morning on the train.

The train went right through a national park but we didn't see any animals/

The train stopped frequently. it was definitely a train for locals rather than tourists. A sleeping cabin cost the equivalent of $15 US.. This guy almost missed the train!

These dancers greeted us when we arrived for our sunset cruise-very touristy but fun.

Views from the boat

This huge bull elephant was standing right on the bank of the river when our boat went by. A female elephant came to join him.

A lot of hippos swam by the boat.

A friendly guide on the boat.

These elephants were intent on crossing the river and paid no attention to the numerous boats.

The next day we went to see the Falls. The translation is the "Smoke that Roars" and it really does look like smoke and it really does roar even in the dry season.