29. victoria falls 1

29.
We had a brutally early start due to the fact we were booked on an early morning safari at Chobe National Park. This meant being at the reception by 5.45 am. When we got back we would have to quickly take our tents down, eat breakfast, pack the truck, and head to the nearby border with Zimbabwe.
So there we were; all wrapped up with warm clothing and blankets, speeding through the approaching dawn, to catch animals before the heat of the day made them listless and hidden. The roads in the park were atrocious; definitely not made for driving a truck, so we were loaded onto two safari jeeps with their stereotypical raised seats.
We saw the usual animals such as impala and baboons, but as were driving alone Marcel cried out “Stop!”; he had seen a buffalo. This is one one Africa’s big five, along with the lion, elephant, rhino and leopard. Up to now, we hadn’t seen a buffalo close up, and now here was one within meters of our jeep.
Our guide was pretty obsessed with finding us cats; as in lions and leopards. Consequently, we sped around the sandy tracks in search of them, the whole time our guide in close contact with other guides using an RT. Eventually, it paid off, and we came across a lioness, so close to the jeep. A little later we saw two more, maybe 20 meters away, and finally, a family group of 5, just striolling along seemingly oblivious of the twelve jeeps laden with excited travelers. At one point we passed the other half of our group who proclaimed proudly that they had seen a leopard. Alas, that was not to be our luck this day.
Back at camp, things went smoothly, and we were soon on our way traveling the few kilometers to the border. The contrast in border posts was immediately noticeable, even down to the pot holes on the main border road on the Zimbabwean side.
We were through in no tiem, and sailing along a very straight road towards Victoria falls. This took us through yet another national park, and we lucky enough to see yet more elephants at a water hole on the way.
We arrived at the town of Victoria Falls, and encamped at Rest Camp, and aptly named location. They had plenty of unpgrades available, meaning that, in the end, only Sandy, Marcel and myself are in tents. But, hey, the weather is good, it’s not too cold, so why squander money on a place to lay your head when the tent is free.
We met Lucy, a friend of Paul’s, who helped organise the various activities, along with a friendly t-shirt salesman who was looking at making individualised t-shirts for everyone which would include a map of Africa on the back showing the route we were taking.
In the afternoon I went for a wander around the town with Sandy and met a very nice photographer called Nigel out doing his photography thing. We exchanged contact details with me later relaisingnhe had been involved in the making of a short film called Rise.
That evening the group went for dinner together at the Three Monkeys Restaurant, where I had an absolutely delicious gruger with a blue cheese sauce and cramalised onions.
Before going into the park, we perused the souvenir stalls across the way. A group, all decked out in traditional clothing, was singing and dancing. I took some video before being cajoled into joining them for a dance.
On to the park, fighting off raincoat vendors who said we would get drenched. Actually, they were pretty much right. But the day was warm and hot and we would soon dry off.
We spent a good couple of hours there. At the very least, we needed to in order to justify the US$50 entrance fee! But to be fair, you could easily spend hours there, soaking in the amazing atmosphere of these thundering waterfalls displayed right before your eyes. It was the end of the rainy season and the river was high. The volume of water cascading over the edge was immense. It was creating its own atmosphere, with “rain clouds” rising high and every now and again unleashing a torrential downpour. It was the least expected thing; rain on a clear, cloudless day.
In the evening I went with Monica, Ashleigh, Ebony and Terry to the Boma drum show. This was one very cool night out. Whe we arrived we were dressed with a colourful African blanket across our shoulder, before being inducted to the round thatched building that served as dining area and performance circle. We were entertained all night with singing, dancing and drums, including quite an audience participation, which we all got into. The food was delicious, the company enjoyable, and the whole experience quite worthwhile. The worst part was being peer-pressured into eating a mopane worm. Too big to swallow, I had to chew it into three pieces before I could get it down.
The whole evening finished with some of the singers coming to our table and singing “The lion sleeps tonight”. What a great day!
@OasisTravel

Видео 29. victoria falls 1 канала Paul Artus