Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

We put up the tents in ten minutes, a record time for us, to be ready to ride to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.  Our tour van was leaving at 7:05 am.  Three other people shared the van with us. 

Fortunately we were not in the line for Zambia because big trucks were lined up for miles awaiting their turn to cross the bridge.

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Victoria Falls is well into Zimbabwe.  Crossing the border for the day was relatively easy.  It cost $30 per person for the one day visa.  We had paid $45 per person for our tour, but that was only for transportation.  

Once across the border, there were just trees and the occasional elephant.

To view Victoria Falls you enter the Victoria Falls National Park for another $30 per person.

Steve first wanted to see the falls from the air in a helicopter, which I am sure was a lot more money.  He took some great photos of the plunging and winding Zambezi River from above.

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While we waited for Steve, the rest of us went for espresso at the Lookout Cafe.

Our table had a wonderful view.

Our driver advised us to rent the $3 rain ponchos because we would get sopping wet.  He was so right.  Once in the park there are walks and side trails for well over a mile.

Victoria Falls looks better in my pictures than through mist and rain droplets.

David Livingstone is supposedly the first European to see the falls.  He named them after his beloved monarch Queen Victoria.

This bridge leads to Zambia.

You can walk on the bridge and technically enter Zambia if you get a bit of paper at the border crossing to allow you to walk just on the bridge then return with your bit of paper to go back into Zimbabwe.

A group of people sang and danced to entertain the tourists while they shopped.

I think our driver probably thought he was herding a bunch of cats as we all had walked off in different directions.  Finally, we all managed to be at the van at the same time.  

Our last stop was a late lunch/dessert at the Victoria Falls Hotel.  It is a beautiful hotel.  A friend of mine that taught in the American School in Harare, Zimbabwe, told me that when friends came to visit her, she would drive the back roads to the Old Vic to have high tea in the late afternoon.  That sounds just wonderful.  As part of a tour group, that was impossible for us to experience.  Next time...!

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Before crossing back into Botswana, our driver Joe stopped near this very old baobab tree.  It is 1000-1500 years old.  The plaque says that David Livingstone camped next to it over 100 years ago.