Zimbabwe
John and I spent 10 days in South Africa and then flew from Port Elizabeth to Victoria Falls (via Jo’burg) on January 7th, 2011.
We bought a 3-night Luxury Link package 11 months ahead of time at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge.
Our room had an open staircase leading up to the bedroom and a sitting room overlooking Zambezi National Park.
After unpacking, we went on a Sunset Cruise on the Zambezi River.
Our Captain and Guide offered an endless supply of drinks and snacks.
We saw several birds and animals including hippos, crocodiles, and elephants.
Here we are just cruising the Zambezi River with Zimbabwe on one side and Zambia on the other.
Watching the sunset.
Surreal.
We were greeted back at the hotel with chilled champagne:
And the mosquito net unrolled over our bed.
This brought back such wonderful memories of our time in Haiti.
The next morning, we went whitewater rafting.
Un. Be. Leivable!
At one point our guide, Costa, encouraged us to jump out of the raft and swim through a few of the easy rapids.
We casually floated on our backs and twirled inside swirling whirlpools.
In. The. Zambezi. River.
That whole experience was an unbelievable and amazing adventure!
We ended our day at The Boma Restaurant where we ate our way through delicious Zimbabwean cuisine.
They dressed everyone in chitenges (traditional robes).
Of all the different food we tried, the warthog was our favorite.
Although, the Mopani Worm was a close second.
It’s a large edible caterpillar that is an important source of protein for millions of indigenous Southern Africans.
Amakwezi traditional dancers entertained us during dinner.
And storytellers and face-painters visited each table.
After dinner everyone was invited to play the drums.
The kids next to our table were really into it (but John was the biggest kid in the room).
Early the next day we went to the Lion Encounter.
The Lion Encounter operates the African Lion Rehabilitation & Release into the Wild Program on behalf of ALERT, the African Lion & Environmental Research Trust.
You can read more about the stages of The Lion Rehabilitation & Release into the Wild Program HERE.
Later that day, we walked the path along Victoria Falls.
Being there was AWESOME and deserves more than a few sentences.
You can read all about our walk by The Falls and our helicopter ride over The Falls HERE.