Day 3 Friday 15th July

A better nights sleep, but still awake too early. Breakfast is included with our package. It was a sumptuous feast. Lots of fresh fruit, several varieties of melon balls, paw paw, pineapple or custom omelettes or freshly made waffles with lots of goodies to put on them, then there is bacon, eggs, sausages and yes even toast and jam.

After breakfast we walked to the falls. Yesterday the sun was in our eyes as we looked at the cascade, today it was behind us forming beautiful rainbows. We decided not to walk along the path where we would get wet from the spray, but what we could see was amazing.

We also walked along the path towards the bridge to Zimbabwe. This goes along a cliff top and was reasonably flat. A pleasant walk, but we were joined by a young man trying to sell us copper bangles.

Back at the falls car park there is a curio [or craft ] market . Some really nice wooden carved animals, carved stone, beads, ear rings etc. The sellers were so insistent however that it became an unpleasant experience. There didn't seem to be many people looking, so perhaps it is desperation.

We had lunch back at the hotel at around 2-30pm. Lynda had a Mexican tortilla dish which was a bi like a stuffed pizza. David did have Pizza. They were large meals which meant come dinner time we were not at all hungry.

At 7-00pm we went back to the falls to see the rainbow created by the full moon. It is only one of a few places in the world [four I think ] where this happens. It wasn't quite as good as we had hoped. Yes we saw the rainbow, but at US$ 48 each it was pretty expensive and we wondered if we had got our monies worth.

Day 4. Saturday 16th July

We are getting in to the new time zone and are sleeping much better. Lynda's stomach has been giving her trouble and was still a bit uncomfortable. We think she either caught something at home or on the plane.

Another great breakfast. It really is dangerous having so many choices.

We decided to go into Livingstone to have a look at the town and to go to the Museum. A taxi cost US$10 each way. The hotel arranged one for us. He dropped us off and then picked us up again. We began our exploration at the top end of town by the curio market. The main road very gently runs downhill. These stall holders were even more insistent than at Victoria Falls. I suspect thy don't see many tourists. In three hours in town we didn't see more than 5 or 6 others who were obviously tourists.

We called into a 'supermarket' and marvelled at how few goods it had on display. The same was true of a clothing shop. Later we did come across a Supermarket more like we are used to, but apart from this all the shops has limited stock.

The local market was interesting There was a whole row of people selling 'mink' rugs. Piles and piles of them. Clearly the locals feel the cold. There was a row of plumbing supplies, a row of bags and belts and it was possible to look without being harangued. We bought some bananas [ 4] for 1000 Kwacha [ approx 25c ] from a very pleasant lady. I asked to take her photo and she agreed but only after she had taken her cardigan off and made herself presentable.

The museum was interesting. Some of the oldest evidence of human life comes from Zambia. They has replica's of some of these fossils and quite a few stone tools and pottery shards. The museum shop had 'curios' at better prices than we had seen, or been quoted, so we bought a couple of items.

For lunch back at the hotel we has a banana and some biscuits = we were still full from breakfast.

At 3-30pm we were picked up for our Zambezi River Cruise. There was a whole bus load of people equalling three boat loads. For some [fortunate ] reason we were directed to the smallest boat and we were joined eventually by a family of four from Florida and two men from Chicago [We'd met them on the moon rainbow trip the night before ]. The boat was a flat bottomed jet boat, which could both quietly move along and had real grunt when required. It was an amazing trip. We saw elephants, lots and lots of hippopotami, crocodiles, buffalo, lizards and many different types of birds. I took so many photo's I nearly ran out of battery. The final delight was seeing the sun set on the Zambezi river.

When we arrived back at the hotel the zebra were grazing around the pool area.

Not very hungry again - we'd had a picnic as part of our cruise so we ordered a pork snitzel and chicken burger from the room service. Another great day.

Day 5 Sunday 17th July 2011

The saying to eat breakfast like a king really is true at the Zambezi Sun. It certainly sets us up for the day and means we have not had to spend as much on food during the day.

We borrowed a couple of bright yellow rain coats from the reception and set off to walk the track along the cliff top opposite the falls. For some reason there didn't seem to be as much spray today as yesterday, when it did come down however it was torrential. The Zambezi river falls into a long split in the rock, falling over 100 metres. The split is not wide which means the spray drenches the opposite side. The track literally takes you along the falls opposite the curtains of falling water. It is possible to view half the falls from Zambia and half from Zimbabwe.

At times the spray is so heavy it is not possible to see through it. I was very pleased to have a waterproof case for my small canon. I was pleased with the photographs and video it produced.

We briefly returned to our room to put on different foot wear and then set off for the 'boiling point' the big whirlpool at the beginning of the gorge which leads away from the falls. It was quite a steep track, with lots of steps, but it was worth it. We were treated to bungy jumper's off the bridge to Zimbabwe as well as the violently surging river and the occasional flurry of spray.

The walk back up wasn't as bad as we had feared. On the way we were entertained by a family of baboons. The hotel has a running battle with monkeys and baboons who try to steal food. We saw a couple that were successful.

While Lynda read on a pool-side lounger David tried to update his travel blog. For some reason it kept on crashing which was very frustrating.

From 3pm to 5pm each day the neighbouring hotel [The Royal Livingstone ] has an English High Tea. [US$ 17 per person ] Very flash, bone china, cucumber sandwiches and plenty of very yummy cakes. It was a 'buffet' - eat as much as you like. Apparently there were seven types of cake and the lady who was serving us said we should try all seven to decide which we like the best. We didn't come close. We had a huge tea pot of English Breakfast, which we eventually finished, We couldn't eat any more, even though our eyes may have wanted to. On the way back we came across the Zebra's again.

We paid a brief visit to the bird hide, and saw some monkeys trying to steal food from the restaurant on the way back to our room.

No need to eat any more today.

Day 6. Monday 18th July

Today marks the end of our fabulous stay at Livingstone at the Zambezi Sun. It has been a great place to unwind and recover from jet lag.

Another excellent breakfast. David tried a custom made omelette - bacon and ham pieces, egg plant, capsicum, onion and cheese. Yum!

We had enough time for a last walk to the falls. Not much spray today - we could see the river at the bottom draining the cataract. Other days we have been lucky to see the facing wall.

We had to be at reception by 10-30am for our pick up for the 20min ride to the airport. A farewell from the traditional dancers and then a drive through the dry, sparsely treed landscape. Hardly any is cultivated and it doesn't look very fertile.

The airport was 'interesting' once again. A long line for the security check - for same reason we didn't have to pay the US$5 security fee. Once we had been through security then we were able to check in for the flight. I almost walked past the immigration desk as it sat in the middle of the entrance to the departure lounge. The lounge itself was half a dozen rows of chairs, with two duty free shops and two craft shops around the edge.

By the time everyone got into the lounge it was getting very hot. It must be unbearable in summer. To get on the plane we had to put our stuff and our shoes through another scanner, before waiting outside in a covered way for the plane to be ready to be boarded.

The flight to Johannesburg was uneventful. Our gate had a plane at it, so we ended up at on-runway gate at the far end of the airport and then get a bus to the terminal. Immigration was once again simple. No forms to fill in, just when are you leaving, and then when we had our bags a walk to the empty customs area and out into the greeting area.

Tonight we are staying at the Airport Grand. This is about 10min from the airport. It is next to one of the largest malls in Africa, but by the time we arrived it was too late to go. It was suggested that walking there, even though its only over the road a bit was not a good idea.

The hotel seems very nice. Everyone on line had given it positive reviews. Much better pricing than the one we stayed at closer to the airport.