Vic Falls sits on the Zambezi river, which doubles as the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. Rich and I got up, had our all you can eat buffet breakfast (which was quickly becoming the norm) and decided to go across the bridge to the Zambian side of the falls for a look. We cleared immigration and immediately I could tell I was in a different country. Zimbabwe is so modern and with it, but once you cross the border one can tell that Zambia is a true Third World country.
The buildings are a bit more run down, the roads in poor condition – it was a totally different feeling and all we’d done was take a twenty five minute walk across the river. After looking at the crafts market just after Zambian immigration we wandered over to the falls where I laid down on the rocks and hung my head right over the edge so I could look right into the falls. You could almost feel nature’s true power when looking over the edge; the falls are so spectacular.
Too bad the falls are only fifty percent the size that they used to be. There’s been a major drought going on and the falls have been progressively getting smaller and smaller. We were forced to walk across 150 yards of rock that used to be covered with rushing water form the Zambezi – no longer. After sitting for a while at the falls we headed back towards the Zimbabwean border, but not before going back to the crafts market to see if there was anything I might need to send home before leaving Vic Falls. Since we didn’t know when the truck was going to be arriving we just bargained the dealers down a bit on certain items so they’d be cheaper when we returned to really buy them.
Couldn’t stay in the market too long – we were due back in Zimbabwe, for we were booked on a sunset booze cruise on the Zambezi river. We got back just in time to catch the shuttle to the boat. Since the Zambezi is chock full of crocodiles and hippos, why not go for an evening game-viewing cruise and get pissed in the process? The boat pulled away from the dock just as the first beer was opened and wine bottle uncorked. Our mobile cocktail party cruised down the river under a brilliant sunset while we watched the hippos pop their heads out of the water to see what the human folk were up to.
We did see quite a few of them, floating in the water with their mouths agape before they submerged to go looking for dinner. An hour or so and quite a few glasses of wine later we pulled back up to shore where we poured ourselves into the shuttle which would take us back into town. We went straight to one of the local hotels for more booze (just what we needed) and I ended up having a crocodile filet with cheese sauce. It was out of this worked – super tasty. Croc has the consistency of an overcooked fish stick, but doesn’t have a strong fish taste at all – it’s really nice.
After a few more drinks I left with Jenny and Stephanie because we were too drunk to cope. Hitched a ride with a Zim dude who graciously dropped us off at our chalet. Head hit the pillow and I was out like a light.