We Finish Our African Trip with a Visit to Zimbabwe and Victoria Falls

Nelson Mandela's house

Back at the lodge and dried out, we had breakfast with our new Canadian friends, Dave and Linda, and then it was time to pack up and head to the airport for our flight to Johannesburg. We traveled to the airport in covered Land Cruisers and spotted all sorts of animals. It never stops! Two of the nicest things about group travel are that you don’t have to constantly handle and worry about your luggage. Turn it over to the porters (which we were told were handsomely tipped) and it magically appears where it needs to be next—even carry-ons. The other thing we enjoyed were group check-ins at airports or priority handling at immigration and customs which make other travelers standing in line ahead of you just fume.

Nice airport for Zimbabwe

Arriving at Joburg or Josie as it’s called by the locals, we board a bus as our bags are taken care of and ride to our next hotel—54 on Bath—for check-in. We find the hotel to be nice and upscale, but somewhat sterile and cold with its gray, black, and white color scheme. Our bags were no sooner delivered to our room than it’s time to board our bus for our Joburg tour.

One-legged women only, please

Our first stop is the Apartheid Museum, and just as we arrive it starts raining. At the entry into the museum, each entrant is randomly assigned to a white/non-white category which exposes him/her to what would be experienced as an individual under the rules of apartheid. Capt. Larry was a white, and Jane a non-white (she has Cajun in her!) and we saw the documentation and rules that the government required for each group.

Taking drink orders

We rejoined inside the museum and started a tour of the apartheid movement which initially dated back to the 1920’s. The history and timeline of the implementation of apartheid was interesting and we were at the 1950’s when the timeline was abruptly truncated by our local guide, so that we would have time to see the other part of the museum which focused on Nelson Mandela. We were irritated that our historical recount of the apartheid movement was interrupted so that we could visit the adjoining Mandela museum which was not nearly as historically interesting.

Leaving the water to feed

If you are going to make apartheid history the focal point of the tour, allow enough time so we can absorb the entire line of events.

A "float" of hippos

To the blacks in South Africa Mandela is godlike, but little credit is attributed to Prime Minister F. W. de Klerk who set Mandela free and really was responsible for starting to roll back the oppressive acts of the apartheid movement.

Done with the museum and it’s still raining, we board our buses and head to Soweto (SOuth WEst TOwnship), a section of Joburg that was the focal point of the anti-apartheid movement.

We saw the home that Mandela occupied after his release from Robben Island, and before he moved to more upscale digs as the head of the new government. We then retired to a local restaurant for lunch which was sort of a soul food mecca for local palates.

Maybe I'll get back in...

We had our lunch then retreated to the streets for some shopping with the local vendors, before boarding our bus and returning to our hotel. We found it ironic that with all of the emphasis on the good things that came with the fall of apartheid, we would be cautioned not to venture outside the confines of our hotel and adjacent shopping mall (in what seemed to be a fairly upscale neighborhood) as it was deemed not to be a safe neighborhood.

Hotel lobby and StanleyRoom

We did manage to meet up with Dave and Linda for some pizza and beer, after which we toured the mall, getting lost only occasionally! After this day, we returned to our room and prepared to check out the following morning for our flight to Zimbabwe, the next stop on our itinerary.
After breakfast the next morning, we boarded a bus that would take us to the Joburg airport.

Hotel lounge

We were able to store our big suitcases with the local Tauck representative, so we only had two carry-ons which we checked. How nice not to have to deal with luggage. The flight to Zimbabwe only took 45 minutes, but our guide, Jeff, told us to expect at least an hour to get through immigration control. Again, we were moved through immigration as a group which didn’t sit well with some of the other travelers.

Livingston, I presume...

Jeff obviously has some really good connections and we imagined him going through airports, hotels, and transfer companies with a big bankroll of cash, greasing every palm that would benefit his tour group and likely earn him the moniker “Mr. Quick Lube.” The week before we arrived in Zimbabwe there was a military coup that forced President Mugabe from power, a position he had held since 1983. But the county is very desperate for cash and this power struggle would not negatively affect tourism which is a major source of income.

~88 cents in Zimbabwe

Jeff gave every American $30 USD and every Canadian $150 USD (they must have made someone mad!) to purchase our visas. The passport control agents do all of their paperwork manually so we expected a long wait, but amazingly the entire group was finished in about 25 minutes.

We boarded a bus and met our local guide “Lucky” who shared some background facts about Zimbabwe as we rode to our hotel, THE Victoria Falls Hotel (apparently there are imposters). We checked in and got settled into our room, only to get ready for a river booze cruise on the Zambezi River, the stream between Zambia and Zimbabwe that supplies Victoria Falls.

Main part of Victoria Falls

As we arrive at the boat dock, we are met by a singing and dancing group of males dressed in native costume. Of course, they want money to pose for photos. Boarding our pontoon, we are given safety instructions by our captain as we place our drink orders. We are not far from the dock when we spot a bloat (yep, that’s the collective noun) of hippopotamuses in the water. We count 7 including a baby hippo. We are told that hippos do not swim so we estimate the river depth to be fairly shallow.

Falls overlook

The water level is low as the dry season is just ending and more water will collect as the coming wet season progresses. Hippos are nocturnal and spend most of the day in the water. They have sensitive skin that can crack in the sunlight so they come ashore to feed at night. The Zambezi River is the fourth longest river in Africa and we are told that the falls are about 4 miles downstream. Victoria Falls was discovered by Dr. David Livingston, a Scottish-born, doctor, and missionary, and iconic explorer that spent many years exploring central Africa in the mid-1800’s.

Long way down

As we were starting our return trip to the dock we were treated to a lecture about Livingston’s life and explorations by a local Livingston expert. As the sun was setting at the conclusion of the lecture, we spotted an adult hippo leaving the water to feed on the bank. It was a great little cruise.

Cecil Rhodes' bridge

Back at the hotel we get ready for a night of food and entertainment provided by a native group of dancers and turned in early after a very busy day.

The next morning we breakfast with Dave and Linda as we watch groundskeepers deal with a troop of baboons that are trying to steal food from the buffet. They shoot them with pellet guns which sting the animals and scatter them when they see a groundskeeper with a rifle approach.

Elephant Camp main lodge

Boarding a bus we head out to see Victoria Falls, one of the 7 world wonders. The falls are in a national park and we were disappointed that they did not have a stamp for our national park book. Outside the gate, Dave is approached by a local who has a handful of Zimbabwean money he is trying to sell. The first thing we notice is the one billion dollar note followed by 4-5 notes denominated in the hundreds of millions. Dave asks how much and buys the notes for $10.

Sly and some friends

He's told that the billion dollar note is worth about $5. Unreal that conditions are that bad off. The falls are viewed from the Zimbabwean side of the river from a trail with 16 overlooks extending for about 1¼ miles. Victoria Falls is the tallest waterfall in the world, but Iguazu Falls in Brazil is the widest and Niagara Falls is the most voluminous. We made our way along the trail, stopping at the overlooks to snap some pictures.

Jane makes a friend

At the final stop we were able to view the bridge that was constructed by Cecil Rhodes, an African entrepreneur in diamonds and gold. Rhodes envisioned a Cape Town to Cairo railroad that would cross the Zambezi River at Victoria Falls. He ordered the bridge so passengers could see the falls from it. Completed in 1905, the bridge was prefabricated in London and shipped to the falls and reassembled and erected in only 14 months time. We walked back to the park entrance, boarded our bus, and rode to our next destination—Elephant Walk Rescue Center.

The Elephant Camp provides a safe refuge for elephants that have become injured or abused.

Linda, Dave, Elephant, Jane, Capt. Larry

But probably the center’s most famous resident is a cheetah named Sylvester. Sly was brought to the center as a cub after a lion killed his mother and two siblings. Raised among humans, the cat has no wild instincts and for all intents and purposes is more comfortable among humans than other wild animals. Everyone in our group had a chance for a photo session with Sylvester. The staff noted that Sylvester the Cheetah is the only cheetah with a Facebook page. The center then served us a delicious lunch, after which the elephants were paraded in for an up-close petting session.

"Trunk up!"

These animals have been domesticated and familiar with being around people. But the elephants also know that treats will be fed to them after the petting is over. When it came to feeding time, we were told they understand two commands: “trunk up” where they raise their trunks and open their mouths so we can throw the pellets directly into their mouths; and “trunk down” where they invert their trunks so we can place the pellets in their snouts and they feed themselves.

The cleanup crew!

After the elephants were fed they retired to a pond to cool off and a family of warthogs moved in to devour the pellets that fell to the ground. We watched a video on elephant social behavior, then moved to the gift shop (Jane was already there!) before boarding the bus and returning to the hotel.

No rest for the wicked and back at the hotel we had to pack our suitcases for tomorrow’s flight back to Johannesburg where the tour ends, and get ready for tonight’s farewell dinner. The dinner started with cocktails before retiring to the Stanley dining room for dinner.

Farewell dinner in the Stanley Room

The meal was good, but the food at the hotel did not match that at some of the other venues we had eaten at. We were given carved wooden “Big 5” animals as a gift along with a group photo.

The next morning we had breakfast with Dave and Linda then prepared to go to the airport for a flight back to Johannesburg. We retrieved our stored bags at the Joburg airport and passed through immigration control and security. We said our goodbyes, exchanged our information, and headed home. We spent the layover at the Frankfurt airport in the Lufthansa business class lounge.

Some of Africa's beauty

Jane said she could live there. Finally it was time to board our flight and head back to Miami. The travel to and from was really arduous, but the in-between was really great.