Victoria Falls

 

 

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LISA  

8/9  After an incredibly laborious journey (over 10 hours from SFO to London; a nine hour layover in London (with a brief nap in a hotel); 10 1/2 hours from London to Johannesburg; 2 hour layover; 2 hour flight to Victoria Falls - Finally!), we arrived at the beautiful Victoria Falls Hotel.

We were greeted on our balcony by a family of baboons.  We watched them play as we sipped our glasses of champagne.  Three young baboons jumped from the rooftop just above our balcony to join their family.  It was great.

8/10  We met some cool Brits on the raft trip and met them for dinner at the local pub - Explorers.  The economy is so bad that beers literally cost us less than 50 cents.  The banks and hotels charged a "government" rate to exchange dollars - 55 Zim dollars to 1 American dollar.  On the street we exchanged 500 Zim dollars to 1 American dollar.  Fair market is about 600.  Craziness - gotta love Mugabe.

MICHAEL

8/9  Hellacious day of travel...technically I believe it was more than one day, but we have finally arrived and I am already blown away by how beautiful and truly wild Africa is.  The Victoria Falls Hotel, where we are spending our first few nights, is the perfect start. 

8/10  Our first full-day was spent rafting on the Zambezi river which is the border dividing Zimbabwe and Zambia.  The river is full of class 3,4 & 5 rapids as well as one class 6, and the occasional crocodile.  In the first rapid the boat very nearly flipped and Lisa clung on for life.  They claim the Zambezi is the biggest commercially rafted water in the world and I can now see why.  It was easily the biggest rapids I've ever been on.  While we did survive the day without flipping, one of the guides was dumped twice. 

Later that evening Lisa and I took a private helicopter ride over Victoria Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world.  It is perhaps a mile wide, over 330 feet high, and a truly incredible sight. 

 

 

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