1st July – To Victoria Falls.
So we left there and headed off to Elephant Camp at Victoria Falls, where we were again going to be slumming it in a tent. We pulled up and two staff members were standing in the drive with wine glasses of iced tea waving. A hoard of men came to carry all out luggage down and we were ushered into the magnificent common area. Which technically is a tent. Though, it is mores then 50 meters long, 15 wide, stunningly furnished, complete with a bar and a deck that overlooks the watering hole at which we saw Kudu and Elephants all within the first two hours. We were liquored up and given a wonderful lunch. 
And ode to joy, we were given access to a decent internet connection. First time in a long time. News from home, time to update this blog a bit and for Sarah to get her uni results. (Two Distinctions and a Credit).
Like we said…roughing it in a tent!
Victoria Falls is basically an activity centre built around the Falls.
You pretty well arrive – hand over your credit card and bank account then go have fun! Much fun to be had in the next few days.
But it was time for bed. Listening to “The smoke that thunders” from our beds.
2nd July – Victoria Falls.
Cannot believe the day we had today!
We had to get up early today – 6.30am as we had an appointment with Sylvester. Sylvester is the resident Cheetah at Elephant Camp in Victoria Falls. 26 months ago a park ranger was out and witnessed a lion kill a Cheetah and three cubs. He went to look around and found one cub alive and hiding. The ranger, named Sylvester took the cub with him and Elephant Camp became his home and he was named Sylvester. 
Cheetahs do not rehabilitate after being hand reared so he was to become a Cheetah Ambassador, raising awareness and meeting people. He has a great pen and a PA named Ed as well as an assistant. We were lucky enough to get a special visit up to Sylvester’s pen.
They imported a lure machine (designed for grey hounds) and have set up a 150 meter track where he chases it around as well as climbing all over his ramps platform (as cheetahs like to get a high vantage and look) etc. He also gets taken out for free runs with the wild game. As he has never been taught to hunt he has no idea how to kill but likes to chase things. The animals in the area know this and they then chase him back. Apparently it is very funny to see Warthogs chasing a grown Cheetah.
We learnt so much about Cheetahs.
They are not cats. They are close to cats but are of there own genus – Acinonyx. And is the only living member of this genus (others are long extinct).
They are very similar to sight hounds – such as Greyhounds or Afghans and are superbly designed to run.
Their claws do not retract (as a cat’s does). They stay out like a dog and act as running spikes.
A cat paw has a three lobed footpad. The Cheetah has two lobes and a space (almost a U shape) that acts as brake pads for turning.
The tailbone and muscles are not round like a cat but are a flat shape allowing it to act as a flat rudder when cornering at speeds.
Their head is tiny in relation to the body size and the neck is set on a horizontal gyro allowing it to move back and forth rather then up and down thus creating a more aerodynamic running machine and steady vision so they can keep their eye on the target.
They have the fewest teeth and smallest teeth of any of the large cat and dog carnivores and cannot kill anything much bigger than a small antelope.
They are also more dog like with their trainability and have been used as trained pets for centuries. We saw Sylvester sit on command, came to a whistle and follow other commands.
After out private viewing he then went down to meet the guests before breakfast- so we got to cuddle him more. His purr is SO loud. Almost a growl. It was fabulous.
Sylvester then came down to the lodge deck to meet the rest of the people…so we got more cuddles.
Of course we could see the mist billowing on the falls in the background.
After breakfast we headed off for our fist look at Victoria Falls. From above – in a Helicopter. That too was fabulous. 
It is hard to understand how the Falls work and why they produce so much mist. But it is a waterfall into a great big slot canyon. The water flows over the long side of the canyon and crashes into the opposite wall, having nowhere to go but up.
Spectacular.
We then went for a wander around town. The main attraction, being mobbed by the guys selling things – carvings, Zimbabwe money, tours, bracelets and on and on.
Once again Sarah was a genius with these guys. Setting her price and refusing to budge! She often won. Raina as usual hatted it.
We then went to the Victoria Falls Hotel. THE hotel in town – built in Colonial times and still run in that manner. We went for the famous high tea but thought a cocktail would be far more appropriate. Raina had a “Dr Livingstone” and forced Sarah to drink an “I Presume”. We then sat on the deck of this very grand hotel, being served by men in white safari-esque suits, overlooking Victoria Falls, imagining a bygone era and toasting, naming our cocktails…….”Dr Livingstone”….”I presume!” Hahahahah.
We then went back to Elephant Camp for lunch and to prepare for the afternoon activities.
First up…an Elephant Ride. We ditched our first booking that we made with our accommodations as we found a far better deal. The place we were staying at was owned by a group called “Wild Horizons”, who have a total monopoly over the town. Most activities were run by them and were very much the big production, a pure money making factory.
The other mob we found was a small outfit, owned and operated by locals, and we were the only customers for the session. We each got our own Elephant and went for a lovely long ride through the national park.
They picked us up in town and drove us out to the place. We met people on the houseboat who were saying that one of their elephants was tiny. “I want a big Elephant” was Raina’s quote. Well, be careful what you wish for, because as Sarah mounted her large Elephant we both realised just how big Raina’s was – we both nearly had a heart attack. It was close to 3 meters tall. 
And it dawned on us how screwed we were if the elephants decides to ignore the tiny fleas on their backs with a stick to control them with and run off. There is no way you could survive bailing out, the fall would damage you severely and then you would be stranded on the ground at the mercy of a huge and intelligent creature. Luckily though, elephants are charming and gentle creatures. Not to mention, fond of a food reward.
So off we went on our Elephant ride – accompanied by a man on foot with a huge rifle and ‘Talent’ the videographer – running along with us.
The elephants are trained with food rewards. Sarah’s girl was still fairly young (only 16, Raina’s was 32) and interpreted this to mean that she would get a reward if she did something good. She had been taught to pick up items that the guide might drop and pass them to him. So all the way along the ride she would pick up stick and pass them to the driver, expecting a treat. “Tricks for treats?” Sarah kept saying she could almost hear the elephant say. Raina’s Elephant was like a pony that needed grass reins and kept stopping to snatch a mouthful of food. But her idea of a mouthful was often a fairly large branch or even a whole tree. She would strip off the leaves then chew the bark off and spit out the sticks. Some branches would not snap off, so she would give it a bash with her foot and break it.
Riding an Elephant was surreal and amazing.
We then went back into town and walked down to ‘THE’ bridge. The one that joins Zimbabwe and Zambia, is three kilometers of no-mans land and is the one the stupid people jump off with a piece of elastic tied around their feet. NO, we did not even contemplate bungy jumping! But we did watch idiots jump.
Instead we looked at the magnificent falls and got wet from the mist.
And Sarah threw a glass Coke bottle off the falls! (as in, “the gods Must be Crazy) 
Not really. Just pretended.
We then went and fed the monkeys (the food we picked up off the ground that they were already eating) until it was time to go onto the next activity.
And this was why we had rabies shots.
At one stage one Monkey was cross that he was not getting the food. He jumped off the fence, ran up behind Sarah and whacked her on the butt. Very, very funny!
A Lunar Rainbow or a Moonbow.
These happen at only four places in the world and are produced by light reflecting off the surface of a very full moon. They are fairly faint and appear off white as the light is too faint to make the cone receptors in the eye react. If long exposure photos, the colours will come up.
We didn’t take the good camera as it was pouring. Well not really raining, just dumping with mist.
The Vic Falls Lunar Rainbow can only be seen in the dry season, only of three nights a month and only when the sky is perfectly clear. About 10 or 12 times a year. AND WE SAW IT!
It was a funny tour. Cost $40 each to get in. We were then told that “This is a strictly guided walk….we will all stick together”. Then off they go bolting along the wet slippery track in the total dark – through a national park in which we had watched Baboons and warthogs and buchbuck to name a few, earlier in the day. Only took 10 minutes for us to be wandering along, alone in the dark through a thick rainforest. And dressed in our big heavy raincoats. But we did eventually make it to ‘Danger Point’ – great name for this walk and saw the rainbow. It was very cool.
We then bumbled along again in the dark, back to the start and made it out! 
Our pick up was there waiting for us. Back to Elephant camp, to dinner then into bed and collapse. What a day!
3rd July – Vic Falls
Oh Joy!!! Another day of getting up at stupid o’clock. This time up at six am! Sarah gets so excited about these mornings.
But it was worth it. Today started with a visit to the see some Lions.
In the last 30 years the population of African Lions has dropped by 80-90%, taking them from the threatened status to Endangered. We went to a group called ALERT – African Lion Environment Research Trust, a not for profit group that raises Lions for re-introduction into certain areas.
They have a great four-stage plan. There is a game farm 600km away where they breed lions. Cubs are taken for the parents at three weeks old and are hand raised. At around six weeks they start going on walks with the handlers. These cubs will never live in the wild.
Stage Two sees their cubs raised in family groups with genetic compatibility.
As the stage One hand reared cubs get older they are used in a program called “Walk with the Lions”. This is where tourists – read Raina and Sarah- have the opportunity to walk through the bush with both three month old and seven month old cubs. As they get older they have the opportunity to chase game. After this age, they move away from the humans into stage two.
The year old lions in stage Two are encouraged to kill – given access to small game. By the time they breed they are self-sufficient and are in massive reserves with no human intervention.
Their cubs are Stage Three.
They live a wild life (in a reserve with no human contact) – again in genetically compatible groups.
Their cubs are Stage Four – totally wild lions who are shipped off to various parts of the continent where lion numbers have fallen. They never leave Africa and do not end up in Zoo’s or worse, as pets or in circuses etc.
The guys at the markets nearly attacked you and tried to keep you in their stalls, hounding you to buy from them at any cost – almost with physical force. But they were so aggressive Raina thought it was no fun. Sarah loved it though, being firm when you have to and then eventually bargaining them down. Figuring out the best bargaining tricks for each place and person. Here the trick she learnt was to offer a price first, not let them suggest one. They would offer up stupid prices, like $60 for a bracelet if you didn’t start the ball park at your level.
We spent about an hour walking through the Vic Falls National Park. First with two three month old cubs, then with two seven month olds. Walking, patting, watching and laughing. Fantastic.
There was a family on this activity that made it wonderful. They had been to ‘the outfitters’ and bought all their ‘safari’ clothing. They were so entertaining – in their Chevy Chase manner. Sarah wanted the buy the video of their group so we could see them again.
After that we then went back to the lodge, got a packed lunch and headed back to town. Back to see the Monkeys and the Baboons, and the Warthogs. The day before we saw four juvenile warthogs who had somehow lost their parents. They were so obviously lost and were trying to find their way out of the National Park fence. They would snuffle around for a while then huddle up – four noses together making a cross. They squeaked and grunted, a few got cross then the huddle broke up and they all tried again. We watched them for 20 minutes having the same problem trying to get through a drain. Very entertaining.
As we were walking along near the border crossing we saw them again. Happily united with the parents and all so happy. Good team work kids!!!
Back for another look at Victoria Falls. We caught a taxi to Zambia – well three taxis. One from town to the Zimbabwe exit point. Through immigration, then another taxi across 3 ks of no mans land to the Zambian entry point. We walked around for a while and went to the most aggressive markets ever. And it was stinking hot. In the mid 30’s.
The guys at the markets nearly attacked you and tried to keep you in their stalls, hounding you to buy from them at any cost – almost with physical force. But they were so aggressive Raina thought it was no fun. Sarah loved it though, being firm when you have to and then eventually bargaining them down. Figuring out the best bargaining tricks for each place and person. Here the trick she learnt was to offer a price first, not let them suggest one. They would offer up stupid prices, like $60 for a bracelet if you didn’t start the ball park at your level.
We then went to the local markets where there were about 100 stalls selling plushy blankets – it was winter after all. Others were selling grog. It took a while for our brains to click that there were stalls at the markets selling every kind of spirit imaginable. There was a stall of dried fish. Many selling electrical plugs and cord and another selling used nuts and bolts. So cool.
We saw an awesome train rattling through town. It could have been from a Depression movie it was so old. It had people travelling on open cars, cattle in others. All the school kids walking home ran and climber on and went for a ride all whooping and cheering without the train stopping.We hired another taxi for a few hours to take us around to see a few sights.
We then bid farewell to Zambia and returned to Zimbabwe. We decided that we would try High Tea again, but again went for the lovely cocktails. Sarah was allowed to chose her own this time and had an Espresso Martini – her first decent coffee hit in three weeks.
We had so much fun on the houseboat we decided that we would do the Sunset cruise…… It was OK. Saw a few Hippos and to Crocs. We did see a young bull Elephant on a tiny island. Poor guy. Four very large boats full of yelling tourists got really too close to the island and herded him from one end to the other. Then back again. It was very sad to watch. We so strongly believe that if you are disturbing the animal you are too close. And these guys were certainly too close.
Our boat also went over the top of a Hippo. They were showing off a few on the left had side and didn’t see the one ahead to the right. As the Hippo swam away our boat happened to turn and go directly over the poor guy. We do love the whale exclusion zones in Australia.
There was a lovely sunset of the giant sun into the Zambezi River. Then the giant full moon hanging low in the sky, a blood red colour. Great.
It was then back to the lodge. We only just managed to stay awake and eat a few mouthfuls of dinner. It had been a huge few days. We slept!
4th July
Not much happened today.
We did have lovely massages. Raina had hers on the deck and saw elephants. We left Victoria Falls and headed off to Jo’burg, again.
For dinner we did an internet search for a game restaurant and came up with “The Boma’, only 30 minutes from where we were staying. At our hotel inside a huge compound with razor wire fences.
Sadly the Boma was not much better than a food hall. And the game they had that night was stewed Springbok. Could have been lamb…could have been road kill. We will never know.
Oh….and they also had ‘something worms’ floating in a sludgy pot of red stuff. We went home hungry!
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