Today was our day for seeing the Victoria falls..., having seen them from the Zambian side we were looking forward to seeing them from the Zimbabwean side. They are the biggest if you take all 3 factors into consideration height, width and volume and the size makes them one of the 7 wonders of the world.
After breakfast we took the path from the hotel with a security guard who helped us try to avoid the guys, even though they are very nice and not aggressive, trying to sell us stuff - you may feel sorry for them they say buy in the shops as this is the only way to reduce the hawkers. On the way back we were escorted by one of the tourist police - the guys just melted away as he has powers of arrest.....They really are trying hard to stamp the sellers out as they know it affects their reputation - the tourist police do a great job in keeping everywhere safe.
We paid our $30 each and entered the calm of the national park - the falls were really running fast and were much more powerful than when we saw them in August. Apparently the level in the dry season drops about a centimetre a day!
If you don't hire a poncho or take a rain jacket prepare to get wet and even then you will get a little damp as the clouds of spray are ever present. They do come and go which means your views change moment to moment.
Zambia or Zimbabwe -both very different and worth seeing the falls from both sides - Zimbabwe has the bigger expanse - Zambia you can actually be on the same side as the drop.
On the way back we saw some seed eating birds - black and cream - no name yet and the swallow tailed bee eater which was a new one for the list as well as the whitefronted bee eater.
We decided to sit in the warm sunshine and have a cappuccino at the Falls cafe before venturing back to the hotel.
Back at the hotel we did a quick change before heading into town to prise the souvenirs and get some money $
from the ATM. I was struck by the quality of the shops and the goods - best we have seen in Africa.
We bought some really nice momentos including an oil painting of a leopards eye which we saw the young artist actually completing!
We decided to have the buffet dinner at the hotel's Jungle Junction and watch the show of traditional dancing - excellent - I hadn't realised the role masks played in their society. Apparently besides helping in telling stories they assist in overcoming shyness -and they had some magnificent examples of masks they were using.