My flight was uneventful, I was able to get the multi-entry visa (not single- or dual-entry), and the taxi arranged by my AirBNB host was waiting at the airport for me. It was a bright, (bright), bright, (bright), sun-shiny day 🎶 with temperatures hanging around 105 degrees Fahrenheit (about 41 degrees Celsius). At least the humidity wasn't outrageous! I got to the house and was met by the caretaker, a lady named Beke (pronounced like Becky). She showed me around and gave me the keys. She told me there was laundry soap in the bathroom if I wanted to do any laundry. The line was out back, but when I hung clothes out, I needed to keep an eye on them because the baboons tend to steal them! I made a mental note to be sure to do some laundry at some point and bring my camera! She also showed me the elephant foot print in the front yard and warned me to never be out walking at night because the animals from the park come up into town. She pointed out many of the fences that had been knocked down by them. I told her that many of my excursions would be picking me up from the Rainbow Hotel and asked her to show me where it was, which was just down the street, less than a quarter of a mile.
So, I got settled into the house and walked over to the hotel. Turns out, the back gate is the one that is almost right there. To enter, you have to go down the hill, around the corner, and back up the hill to the entrance. The back is kept locked. I spoke with the concierge and explained that I was staying in an AirBNB down the street but that I had given the hotel as my pickup point for excursions. They were fine with that. I asked if it would be possible to enter through the back since some of them would be early, and they gave me the WhatsApp number for security and told me to call and have the gate opened when I got there. We then talked about the excursion I had booked the next day and for which I didn't have a time for pickup. The concierge said that excursion usually picks up around 7:20, so I should be there by 7:15. I thanked them all and headed back to the house, where I took a shower and promptly fell asleep. When I woke, Gerald, the host, was home, and we went through some logistics, such as the wifi password. He reiterated that it wasn't safe to walk outside after dark because of the animals, pointing out that most of the homes had at least part of their walls knocked down by the elephants. Apparently, to keep an elephant out of your yard, you must either put something on top of the wall that pricks or otherwise hurts the elephant's head (razor or electric wire) or you have to build your wall tall enough that the elephant cannot see over it!
This is a neighbor's house. Gerald has given up on keeping a fence!
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The next morning I got up early, forgetting that I don't really need an hour to get ready when I don't have to pack up my bags! So, as soon as the sun started coming up, I headed to the Rainbow Hotel. Security let me in the back, just like they said. Since I was there early and hadn't gone to the store yet, I popped into the restaurant for some breakfast. Seven-thirty came and went. No tour for the Devil's Pool. So I stopped one of the porters. I had a phone number, but no indication of whether the guide was on WhatsApp, so the guy went to the desk and dialed the number and brought me their cordless phone. Apparently, TripAdvisor didn't send my reservation to him even though they charged me for the excursion. But, never fear! We can still make it happen. He changed me from the trip I booked which had a pretty significant hike to a trip to the natural infinity pool by boat. It was a little more expensive and needed to be paid in cash since TripAdvisor hadn't released any funds to him. He would help me arrange a refund from TripAdvisor, and the cost would be discounted because it wouldn't include TripAdvisor's fee. Since I didn't have enough cash on hand for this, his assistant took me to the ATM in town where I could withdraw the cash I needed and go in the bank and get change for the large bills. The US dollar is so accepted in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, that I was not given the option of withdrawing Zimbabwean currency at the ATM, just US dollars. And for those of you planning on doing Victoria Falls, you can get pretty much book any tour you want on the fly. When I go back, I won't pre-book anything.
With the trip to the Devil's Pool fixed and arranged, I just had to wait for the appropriate time. The porter told me that I was welcome to wait by the pool and he would come get me when the driver arrived. I reminded him that I wasn't staying there. He said his grandparents taught him that visitors are to be treated as family, and that even though I am not staying at their hotel, I should consider it my home when I am on the premises because a home where nobody visits is no home at all! From what I've seen so far, that seems to be the culture here. A big change from Madagascar where nothing is done without a request for tips!
When my driver arrived, I got in and joined a girl from Copenhagen. We crossed the border into Zambia, and there appeared to be no issue with my visa. One hurdle down! We changed shoes, got a towel, and boarded our boat, which took us over to a small island by the falls.
Past this cormorant resting by some rapids
When we disembarked, we were served the traditional drink, Maheu, which is made from maize, but is non-alcoholic! It was delicious!
As we walked toward the falls, we passed the Loo With a View!
We then deposited things that shouldn't get wet into a trunk that they closed and locked and cameras that were not for water were given to one of our guides who put them in a dry bag and carried them to the pool where he would stand in a dry spot and take pictures! I carried my waterproof camera even though it had already started leaking in Madagascar and was probably going to have the same problems here. But again, a poor picture is better than no picture, and I did get a lot of poor pictures with it!
To get to the pool, we had to walk through some fast moving water with some uneven and slippery rocks. To help, they had a rope line suspended across the area. I hung onto that rope like my life depended on it, and I made it across! The Devil's Pool is only accessible when the water levels are low. With the low water levels, the water doesn't rush quickly over the rocky ledge. When the water levels are high, the water rushes too quickly for the pool to be safe. This being the dry season, it was perfectly safe. When I got in the pool, I started feeling something tickling my legs. At first, I thought it was my bathing suit top, but then I remembered that my top shouldn't reach that low. So, I ran the camera underwater to see what it was! I can only guess it was some type of garra, the doctor fish that is commonly used for pedicures in Asia! I can't find any other option. They aren't listed as being native to the area, but they are now invasive to many parts of the world since they've been imported for pedicures.
Here is a still pulled from the video showing the fish sucking on my leg. They don't have teeth so they can't bite. Again, remember the crappy, leaking camera.
When it was my turn at the edge, I enjoyed every second of it! Don't worry, folks! There is a guy off camera holding my feet! You can see his head in the shot where I'm sitting up!
After we each had our turn, we made our way back over to land, using the same rope, and took some shots of the falls from a different angle. I really need to come back in the wet season if I want to make any kind of comparison between Victoria Falls and Iguazu Falls. When I saw Iguazu last year, they were flooding (like they are apparently doing again this year). It's not fair to compare a very heavily laden Iguazu River with a low Zambezi River and the falls they each create. Even dry-ish, though, it was easy to tell why the locals call it Mosi-oa-Tunya or the Smoke that Thunders! I can only imagine what it will be like in the wet season. I am told the best time to see them is in April or early May, when the rains have come, but the temperatures haven't dropped too far!
We had lunch on the island before crossing the Zambezi River again, past a bloat of hippos, before changing shoes and going back home.
There was no problem crossing back into Zimbabwe, so my visa was good for at least two crossings. We'll see if my luck holds up! The driver agreed to drop me off at my AirBNB, so I didn't have to walk back, and I could get showered and ready for the potjie (pronounced poikee) dinner that I had booked at a restaurant on the river called Pure Africa. I didn't have transportation booked, so I WhatsApped Dave (the driver who met me at the airport), who agreed to take me and pick me up.
We got to the restaurant and were greeted by a family of mongoose playing in the yard!
You could also hear the hippos grunting in the Zambezi River! The staff says the hippos don't come up out of the water until the restaurant goes quiet, so I didn't get to see them. Dinner was good, but it was just a 3-course meal. I was kind of expecting some type of production. The food was good and the atmosphere was great, though. The meat was in a pot, cooked like a stew. Apparently, potjie means "small pot food" and is just a stew prepared in a three-legged, cast iron pot. The first course was butternut soup. The sides for the entree were a maize dish called sadza, African sorghum, couscous, red cabbage, and creamed cauliflower. It was good, but way too much!
I did save room for desert, which was a delicious little flan-type number!
I simply didn't have room in my stomach for much, but they were great about getting me a doggy bag! Now it's not so urgent that I make it to the grocery. They even had Coke Zero, so I kinda got my fix of that!
On the way back, Dave swung by a sight just called "The Big Tree". It's even listed on Google Maps as The Big Tree. It's a 1600 year old baobag tree and it is protected in the area.
I could have gotten a better picture if I had gotten out of the car, but it simply wasn't safe. We were pulled into a little parking lot and just next to us was a small herd of elephants crossing the road, causing a road block in the direction we needed to go! I don't think I mind these road blocks!
All these animals are beautiful and stately and you want to just reach out and hug them. But remember they are wild animals, even when they come into town. They are usually gentle, but with they are in distress, they are unpredictable and dangerous. While I was there, a security guard was dismembered by an elephant in Livingstone, Zambia (the sister city on the other side of the Zambezi River). Details were unclear, but it sounded as if he was guarding a hotel and an animal that was already in distress came where he was. He tried to both scare the elephant away and run, but he was unable to do so, and he suffered the consequences of whatever had upset the elephant beforehand. If you go, please, please, please don't think they won't hurt you. But, these guys weren't in any distress and we didn't do anything to put them in any. They crossed the road and we went on our merry way home. I put my leftovers in the refrigerator and had a good night's sleep.
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