Us in front of Victoria FallsSorry, folks, for the long delay in posting this. As mentioned previously, rainy season has officially begun, and the large storms (among other problems) have caused our internet connection to be extremely hit-and-miss over the past three weeks or so (well, substantially more miss than hit). Anyway, as promised, here is the reportage from our two days in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe:
After a few hours drive from Hwange, we arrived on Wednesday night at the beautiful Victoria Falls Hotel, a palatial 1906 English colonial estate built only two years after the railway to Victoria Falls was completed. The hotel had lush, expansive grounds with exquisitely manicured landscaping and breathtaking views of the Batoka Gorge, into which the water from the Zambezi River plummets to form Victoria Falls. The big, spacious lawns are a favorite stomping grounds of the local warthog and baboon populations, who pretty much have the run of the hotel's outdoor spaces (would you want to mess with them?). We arrived in time for dinner at the Jungle Junction restaurant, where a cultural presentation was in progress, featuring traditional drumming and dance (some with gigantic, flamboyant masks) from a number of Zimbabwean ethnic groups. The dinner buffet was a mouthwatering spread of meat (including crocodile), poultry (including ostrich), fish (including Zambezi River bream) and vegetables prepared in a dizzying array of styles.
A view of the Victoria Falls Hotel from the courtyard
A view from the courtyard of the Hotel, with view of the Victoria Falls Bridge, Zimbabwean flag, and warthog sauntering through
A gigantic male warthog that waddled by our lunch table to munch on some grass
The gang at breakfast : (clockwise from left) Rev. Dr. Fred Anderson, Dr. Jeff Miller,Rev. Libias Boloma,Elder John Carr III, Rev. Don Wahlig, Elder Lauren Logan,
Elder Jack Hobson, and Rev. Pattison Chirongo
We woke up early on Thursday morning to go whitewater rafting on the Zambezi River with Don (MAPC Associate Pastor), Jack (MAPC Elder), and Jeff (member of MAPC's Zimbabwe Partnership Committee). When Don had made the announcement/invitation for this activity on the bus the previous day, he had simply asked, "Who wants to go whitewater rafting tomorrow?" He did not mention that the experience would include an exhausting hike down into and up out of the gorge. By the time we got to the bottom of the gorge and into our raft, our legs felt like jell-o. The rafting itself was amazing--we went through about 10 rapids, each with a unique name like "White Man's Grave," "The Devil's Toilet Bowl," or "Highway to Hell." Our rafting crew (the five of us MAPCers, an Afrikaans couple from South Africa, and our guide, Kazi) were impressively strong, if I do say so myself, as we did not capsize (flip over) even once. We remained in the raft when we wanted to, and we ended up in the river when we wanted to (a few times when Kazi said it was safe to swim). The afternoon ended with a lunch of burgers and grilled chicken, followed by the grueling hike up the gorge, at the end of which there were cold beers, soft drinks, and water waiting for us.
When we got to the hotel, we were informed that we would be going for a game drive in the bush before dinner; we should meet in the lobby at 4pm. Molly and I were so excited; we hadn't been on a real game drive since we arrived in Zambia, and seeing African animals in their natural habitat is a thrilling experience. We got to the lobby a bit early so we went out into the parking lot to look for the 4x4 or Land Rover that we would be taking into the bush. Oh well, it must not be here yet. When Fred got there, and headed toward the bus (the one we'd been using to travel around Zimbabwe) we realized, to our chagrin, that this was the vehicle we would be taking. Would this be safe?
The game drive started out as a rather bemusing experience: when we got to the entrance to the park, the rangers refused to give us a guide to ride with us. The Zimbabweans in our contingent were none too pleased with the idea of going into the bush without a guide, so a couple of them got out of the bus to talk with the park rangers, but to no avail--no guide was to be had. Neither did they have a map of the park to give us. They mentioned, however, that the road inside the park was a simple loop, so all we'd have to do would be to follow it, and we'd be fine.
The frustrations didn't end there. While Walter, our bus driver, was extremely skilled as a bus driver, he was no safari guide. He drove through the park at a speed a bit too fast for game viewing, and when we did manage to spot an animal, he'd already have driven past it. The frustrated Americans would then yell to him, "Back up, back up," whereupon the bus would go "beep, beep, beep," and scare away all the animals. This carried on for quite some time, until Walter evetually got a better handle on things and drove a bit slower.
Soon, dusk was approaching. "What a beautiful sunset!" our companions exclaimed, while I found myself thinking ruefully, "In about ten minutes the sun will have set, it will be pitch black, and we have no real clue where we are." In about ten minutes, that was indeed the case. We had realized, maybe half an hour before, that the road on which we were traveling was not actually a loop; it was a straight line, with a number of loops departing off of it, so that a vehicle could turn onto a loop, make the loop, and be headed in the opposite direction on the main road, toward the park entrance/exit. The problem was, we were already about 90 minutes into the bush by the time we turned onto Siyasamba Loop. While it was rather disconcerting to be traveling around in the dark on unknown roads, we figured that as long as we just followed the loop we'd be fine. Unfortunately, about halfway into the loop, we heard a thud and felt a big bump. The bus' wheels were sinking down into the sand, and we could not move. Despite the protests of the terrified Zimbabwean ladies (by this time we had seen multiple signs saying things like, "Wild Animals--Do not alight from your vehicle for any reason), a number of us got out of the bus and tried to push. It didn't work. We were stuck. We got back into the bus and turned off the lights--in part to conserve power, in part so as not to attract or disturb animals. "Just so you know what I'm thinking," said Fred, "I'm planning on spending the night in this bus. We will likely miss our flights home tomorrow morning. We'll make arrangements when we get back to the hotel. But for now, we're in a safe place, we have enough water--we'll just sit tight."
At that point, everyone was checking their cell phones to see if they could get coverage. Don even climbed up to the roof of the bus to see if that would help out. No luck. Suddenly, Lauren, who had been unable to use a Zimbabwean SIM card in her phone because she hadn't unlocked it prior to the trip, had an idea: "Well, why don't we see if my American AT&T SIM card will work?" It seemed a long shot, but at this point, anything was worth a try. She turned on her phone. "Well," I asked, "do you have signal?" Lauren couldn't tell. I took a look and couldn't believe my eyes: three bars! I tried calling Lamiel Phiri, a friend of ours who was back at the hotel, but the call wouldn't go through. I sent a text: "We r stuck in Zambezi Camp on Siyasamba Loop. Bus won't move. Need rescue. Plz confirm that u received this msg." About five minutes later, a one word message came back: "Confirmed." A sigh of relief swept over the bus. Nothing to do now but wait.
Since we were planning on spending the following morning debriefing the visit, and we hadn't yet found a quiet, out of the way spot in which to do it, Fred suggested that we start debriefing the trip in the quiet, out of the way spot in which we currently found ourselves. We did so for about two hours, and finally Fred closed in prayer. The end of his prayer went something like, "...and send us rescue in the time that is prudent within your will. Amen." As soon as he had said, "Amen," we saw headlights heading toward us on the road. It was Lamiel, along with the manager of the Victoria Falls Hotel and a park ranger. We piled into the van in which they had come, and began the roughly 2-hour drive out of the park. We finally got back to the hotel at about half past midnight.
When we got to the hotel, we were informed that we would be going for a game drive in the bush before dinner; we should meet in the lobby at 4pm. Molly and I were so excited; we hadn't been on a real game drive since we arrived in Zambia, and seeing African animals in their natural habitat is a thrilling experience. We got to the lobby a bit early so we went out into the parking lot to look for the 4x4 or Land Rover that we would be taking into the bush. Oh well, it must not be here yet. When Fred got there, and headed toward the bus (the one we'd been using to travel around Zimbabwe) we realized, to our chagrin, that this was the vehicle we would be taking. Would this be safe?
The game drive started out as a rather bemusing experience: when we got to the entrance to the park, the rangers refused to give us a guide to ride with us. The Zimbabweans in our contingent were none too pleased with the idea of going into the bush without a guide, so a couple of them got out of the bus to talk with the park rangers, but to no avail--no guide was to be had. Neither did they have a map of the park to give us. They mentioned, however, that the road inside the park was a simple loop, so all we'd have to do would be to follow it, and we'd be fine.
The frustrations didn't end there. While Walter, our bus driver, was extremely skilled as a bus driver, he was no safari guide. He drove through the park at a speed a bit too fast for game viewing, and when we did manage to spot an animal, he'd already have driven past it. The frustrated Americans would then yell to him, "Back up, back up," whereupon the bus would go "beep, beep, beep," and scare away all the animals. This carried on for quite some time, until Walter evetually got a better handle on things and drove a bit slower.
Soon, dusk was approaching. "What a beautiful sunset!" our companions exclaimed, while I found myself thinking ruefully, "In about ten minutes the sun will have set, it will be pitch black, and we have no real clue where we are." In about ten minutes, that was indeed the case. We had realized, maybe half an hour before, that the road on which we were traveling was not actually a loop; it was a straight line, with a number of loops departing off of it, so that a vehicle could turn onto a loop, make the loop, and be headed in the opposite direction on the main road, toward the park entrance/exit. The problem was, we were already about 90 minutes into the bush by the time we turned onto Siyasamba Loop. While it was rather disconcerting to be traveling around in the dark on unknown roads, we figured that as long as we just followed the loop we'd be fine. Unfortunately, about halfway into the loop, we heard a thud and felt a big bump. The bus' wheels were sinking down into the sand, and we could not move. Despite the protests of the terrified Zimbabwean ladies (by this time we had seen multiple signs saying things like, "Wild Animals--Do not alight from your vehicle for any reason), a number of us got out of the bus and tried to push. It didn't work. We were stuck. We got back into the bus and turned off the lights--in part to conserve power, in part so as not to attract or disturb animals. "Just so you know what I'm thinking," said Fred, "I'm planning on spending the night in this bus. We will likely miss our flights home tomorrow morning. We'll make arrangements when we get back to the hotel. But for now, we're in a safe place, we have enough water--we'll just sit tight."
At that point, everyone was checking their cell phones to see if they could get coverage. Don even climbed up to the roof of the bus to see if that would help out. No luck. Suddenly, Lauren, who had been unable to use a Zimbabwean SIM card in her phone because she hadn't unlocked it prior to the trip, had an idea: "Well, why don't we see if my American AT&T SIM card will work?" It seemed a long shot, but at this point, anything was worth a try. She turned on her phone. "Well," I asked, "do you have signal?" Lauren couldn't tell. I took a look and couldn't believe my eyes: three bars! I tried calling Lamiel Phiri, a friend of ours who was back at the hotel, but the call wouldn't go through. I sent a text: "We r stuck in Zambezi Camp on Siyasamba Loop. Bus won't move. Need rescue. Plz confirm that u received this msg." About five minutes later, a one word message came back: "Confirmed." A sigh of relief swept over the bus. Nothing to do now but wait.
Since we were planning on spending the following morning debriefing the visit, and we hadn't yet found a quiet, out of the way spot in which to do it, Fred suggested that we start debriefing the trip in the quiet, out of the way spot in which we currently found ourselves. We did so for about two hours, and finally Fred closed in prayer. The end of his prayer went something like, "...and send us rescue in the time that is prudent within your will. Amen." As soon as he had said, "Amen," we saw headlights heading toward us on the road. It was Lamiel, along with the manager of the Victoria Falls Hotel and a park ranger. We piled into the van in which they had come, and began the roughly 2-hour drive out of the park. We finally got back to the hotel at about half past midnight.
Guinea fowl
Giraffes
A good-lookin' baobab treeOn Friday morning, it was time for the delegation to leave Zimbabwe and head back toward the US. Molly and I had a quick check-in meeting with Fred over breakfast, and then bid goodbye to our friends from MAPC. Kangwa, our supervisor at TEEZ, had come to Victoria Falls to meet with Fred as well, so after they were done, the three of us had lunch (crocodile Cesar salad--pictured below) and Molly and I headed to the Falls to get a glimpse of the for the first time. They were spectacular (enjoy the pictures below).
When we were finished seeing the Falls, Molly, Kangwa and I got a taxi to the border post, where we crossed back into Zambia. The overnight bus to Kitwe was full up, so we spent the night at a guesthouse in Livingstone and took the early morning bus back the next day.
Overall, our time in Zimbabwe was inspiring, adventurous, and fun. We're so glad we went!
When we were finished seeing the Falls, Molly, Kangwa and I got a taxi to the border post, where we crossed back into Zambia. The overnight bus to Kitwe was full up, so we spent the night at a guesthouse in Livingstone and took the early morning bus back the next day.
Overall, our time in Zimbabwe was inspiring, adventurous, and fun. We're so glad we went!
The group in front of our trusty bus
The bus ready to head to the airport, proudly displaying a gift from the Hwange congregation
Our lunch on Friday: crocodile Cesar salad (note the classy Victoria Falls Hotel crest on the plate)
The Main Falls, Victoria Falls
Rainbow Falls during dry season--during rainy season this is a thundering wall of water
The Devil's Cataract, Victoria Falls
The area immediately surrounding the Falls is rain forest, simply because of the spray
A beautiful flower in the rain forest near the Falls
All but the area immediately around the Falls is rain forest; the rest is savanna
A rainbow over the Main Falls
No comments:
Post a Comment