Drums, Rhinos, and a Worm

Today was a bust.  I went to the hotel to catch my scheduled village tour.  Timed it perfectly.  Garbage collectors were coming in and the guard had the back gate already open and let me just go right in.  I waited.  And I waited.  And I kept waiting until it was past time for my pickup, I decided to WhatsApp the tour operator to see if they were coming.  Apparently, the tour operator had an emergency come up and was unable to provide the tour.  He learned about the emergency and cancelled the tour with Trip Advisor a week ago.  I don't know why Trip Advisor charged me and confirmed the tour.  But, oh well.  I just requested a refund through the app.  It was approved same day.  So, since I didn't have a morning activity, I decided to use that opportunity to go to town and get some groceries.  I boarded the shuttle, which was actually heading the other way, but he said he could drop me in town anyway.  After a short hop, I was able to find my way to the OK Mart.  I didn't need much with the leftovers from last night and a dinner scheduled for tonight.  So, I picked up some ramen noodles, oranges (the only 2 pieces of fruit that weren't rotten, moldy, or otherwise unfit for human consumption), a six pack of Diet Pepsi in bottles and a couple of candy bars.  All for a grand total of $7 and change.  Since neither I nor the store had coins, I gave her $8.  How magnanamus of me!  (LOL)  Then I hailed a taxi for $5 to my Airbnb.  I ended up having to give him my phone with Google Maps on.  He didn't know what the app was, so I explained it to him and showed him how it works on the phone.  He didn't have change, so I tipped him extra.  He gave me $2 from a $10 bill, and I called it even.  I could have scheduled another activity for the day, but I'm really not feeling so good, so I just decided to go to my AirBNB and rest up.

When I got back to the house, Gerald was there, and he apologized that the water was turned off.  No big deal.  I hadn't really exerted myself today.  Thought it was hot and I was sweaty just from the temperatures, I could go without a shower for a day.  Besides, all I really wanted was an orange and a nap.  I wasn't feeling very good and I wanted to be able to enjoy the dinner show tonight.  So, I just laid in bed with my shirt off and the fan on and watched Eat, Pray, Love in shifts between naps.  I also spent some time with Google trying to find out why my watch keeps refusing to charge.  The consensus seems to be a software issue.  So, I'll just turn it off while charging so it doesn't interfere and go to the store when I get home to see if they can fix it.  Or maybe it will stop doing it by the time I get home.  (Turns out the temperature was so hot, my watch kept overheating and stopping the charge.)

I finally finished the movie at about the right time to get up and start getting ready for dinner.  So, I put my shirt back on, took my evening meds, and headed out to the hotel.  I wanted to get there early because I didn't want to be walking at sundown.  Since I was early, I walked on around instead of calling for help from the back gate.  The hotel's concierge was there, getting ready to walk home after the day's work.  He asked me why I didn't use the back gate.  Told me to never feel that it is an imposition for them to open it for me and that I should get inside soon, as it was getting late.  He pointed to the herd of water buffalo starting to come up and said I should never walk this late.  It was about 5:30 by this time.  Sunset is around 6:15.  When the driver came to collect me, around 6:15, that herd of buffalo were just at the corner where I turned to go to the hotel entrance.  Definitely proves they don't wait for the sun to get all the way down here before leaving the park and coming to town!  I asked my driver if he could take me to my airbnb when coming back because I didn't think it would be safe to walk that late, and he told me that of course he could.  He let me know that it is against the law for a tour operator to refuse to pick up and drop off from an airbnb so long as it is within the range that they would provide service to hotels.  He said the city doesn't want tourists to have to risk their safety from wildlife just because they're staying in an AirBNB.  

When we pulled up to the place where the dinner and drum show was being held, he cautioned me that there are several places in the show that it will appear that it is over.  Don't be fooled.  There is a dance show, the dinner, and the drum show is last.  The drum show doesn't start until after the buffet is cleared and bills have been issued.  The cue that the drum show is going to start is when they give you your own personal drum for the evening.  I thanked him for the information, and he said he would be there waiting for me when it is over.

So I went in and got my sarong tied around me (and a picture made with it) and watched a little dance demonstration while waiting for the venue to open.  

When it opened, they seated me at a table close to the buffet and the presentation floor.  There was a lamb on the spit and a brazilian type spit behind that with ram steaks on it.  Those were both delicious.  Zimbabwean style potato salad is right up my alley – it's boiled potatoes with some softened red onions.  Delicious!  I also had the butternut salad, which was basically spiced and roasted butternut squash.  For the main course, I had to try to the eland steaks and the impala stew.  The eland was dry and kind of tasteless.  The impala was very good.  Could have been the stew.  I don't know how the meat would have tasted cooked on its own.  

The center stage was the mopane worms.  I had to try one.  Big mistake!  It was naaaasty!!  I couldn't swallow it.  Kept gagging.  Stuffed it over into the corner of my cheek and spit it out in my napkin when I got back to my table.  Maybe that's cheating, but I got my certificate!  Also got some more food to wash the taste out of my mouth!  Finished with some desert of a really thick chocolate pudding and fruit cocktail.

The dancers were awesome.  High energy.  Just like you would expect.  

He didn't miss a beat on the steel drum while jumping!

Like my driver said, a lot of people left when the dancers were finished.  This left a table open right in the front, which I quickly took advantage of!  They taught us the techniques of beating the African drums in the different places on the skin and had us playing as part of the drum band.  I only got a few shots of this because I was just too busy learning how to play the African bongo!

Then he had everybody get up and dance, which I felt was beyond my capabilities if I wanted to have energy for a walking safari tomorrow!  My body is starting to really wind down.  Maybe this length is still too long for me now.  So, I just kept beating my drum and having a great time!

As promised, Joseph, my driver was waiting right outside for me when the show was over.  We talked about how nasty the worm was.  He doesn't like it either, but his wife loves them.  And, I got home and went promptly to bed.

Up the nexst morning before the alarm went off.  Decided not to shower and just go stinky.  Obviously, I'll need to shower when I get back!  So, I put on my dirty trekking pants and packed my backpack for a walking safari.  When it started getting kind of close to time for my ride, I locked up my room and went to watch the door. I had WhatsApped them during dinner last night, and they agreed to pick me up from the AirBNB.  There was someone standing just outside the front door already.  It was my ride!  He took me to the Zambian border where Clive, my guide, picked me up.  If you've never done a game drive with rhinos, this would be a good one.  If, however, you have been to Ziwa in Uganda and other parks with Kalema, it's nothing spectacular. They have 11 white rhinos here.  One clutch has a baby, and they don't take visitors to see that clutch.  They have started posting guards with each clutch to stop poaching.  White rhinos only give birth every five years, so there is a hope that, with time, more rhinos will populate the park.  We learned that the difference between white rhinos and black rhinos is their mouths.  White rhinos have white-ish, ribbed mouths used for eating only grasses.  They are strict grazers.  Black rhinos have mouths that are suitable for eating both grasses and sticks, twigs, and bark.  They are not strict grazers.  Rhinos also use that small horn for communication.  Noises come out of that little horn at the top!  Who knew!?  Because the town is so close to the park, the big cats have been transported out and relocated to other, larger parks in Zambia.  The Zambezi River apparently keeps them from crossing back into Zambia from the Zimbabwe side.

Aside from the white rhino, we saw a breeding herd (because there is one male with horns) of impala

some white-fronted bee eaters

water buffalo

giraffes

zebra

We had to wait for the herd to cross the road.

This is what we saw when we turned that curve!

So we waited for this herd, too!  Damn, these traffic jams!

After the drive, my ride back from the border to my airbnb was nowhere to be seen, so Clive just arranged for a taxi that took me to the post office in town.  I met an artist/vendor who was born in Lexington, KY.  My homeboy!  His father worked there as an engineer until he was 3, when they moved back to Zimbabwe.  Obviously, he doesn't remember much about it, but he does have dual citizenship!  I couldn't really buy any of his artwork (which was very good) because I don't have space for it in my luggage, but I did buy some Zimbabwean currency from him at inflated exchange rates.  I found a nice postcard of the falls and mailed it off!

Though it was early and I had plenty of time to do another excursion, I hired a taxi to take me home, just in time for a nap before showering, eating, and taking another nap.  I pretty much slept the whole afternoon away, taking a couple of breaks to watch Netflix or upload pictures or read some of my book.  I slept all night, too.  I guess I extended this vacation a bit long because my body seems to be rebelling.  But, I'm really looking forward to some of the things I have planned, so I'm going to just push through!