A Baboon Ate My Croissant!
Friday 18 – Sunday 20 June: Victoria Falls
The flight from the Magkadikgadi Salt Pans was very pleasant (a Gippsaero GA8). Flying into the airport in Kasane, I could see the large river systems that feed into the Zambezi River, many kilometres before Victoria Falls. Our first driver took us to the border between Botswana and Zimbabwe, where I received a very handsome visa in my passports. Luggage was then transferred to a Zimbabwean vehicle and we were soon on our way to the Victoria Falls Hotel.
This is a very large, white, colonial style hotel, now more than 110 years old. The grounds are glorious, with rich green grass, old and very large trees, and sculptures dotted around. Walking from the lobby to the terrace, the views of the bridge across the Victoria Falls and the clouds of mist that rise above the Falls are glorious. We would be crossing this bridge on Sunday when we drive to Zambia.
The photo below, taken soon after sunrise, shows how clearly the mist from the Falls can be seen from quite a distance away.
The local indigenous name for Victoria Falls is Mosi-oa-Tunya – it means "the smoke that thunders", and walking around the grounds (avoiding baboons and warthogs), the sound of the Falls fills the air. It’s amazing to hear this – if only you could leave windows open at night so that the sound would permeate your room. But this is not a good thing to do since the baboons are rife, and the last thing anyone needs is a baboon in your room.
On Saturday a guide took us along the Zimbabwean side of the Falls with ponchos on hand and shoes that I was prepared to get wet. If the wind is blowing the wrong way, everything gets wet as you walk closer and closer to the main Falls. Today the wind was not blowing towards us, and other than one brief sprinkle, I stayed dry. The power of the water as it continues to cut a canyon through the rocks on either side is evident, and the volume of water is extraordinary, particularly at this time of the year.
Later that day it was time for a sunset cruise on the Zambezi, well upstream from the Falls. It was a very pleasant evening with great sightings of rhinos and even an intimidatingly large Nile crocodile.
This morning, Sunday, I finished packing, and found my way to breakfast. The food at the hotel was very good, and having not had dinner the evening before, I thoroughly enjoyed eggs on toast and a muffin, and took a small takeaway in a brown paper bag. Who knows how long the border crossing might take.
Our first driver took us to the Zimbabwean officials who “signed us out”. He then carried our bags to the next driver who would take us into Zambia. All we had to do was take our carry-on bags from the first car, walk down the road towards Zambia, and meet our next driver who would take us the rest of the way. Easy and efficient.
I had my backpack on and was carrying my small sun-hat in my left hand together with the brown paper bag that contained a croissant from breakfast. As we were all standing and chatting, I felt a thump to my left and saw a baboon racing away from me carrying the brown paper bag, swallowing the croissant whole! Amazingly it had not touched me or my hat – this was a very practised “swat and grab” manoeuvre, watched by a bunch of baboons running across the top of the building next to us. Lots of laughter all around!
Our second driver organised the processing of our paperwork to enter Zambia, and we were at the airport with plenty of time to spare.
Our flight from Livingstone to Lusaka on a British Aerospace Jetstream 32 was uneventful. The airline, ProFlight, must have overbooked the original flight because they organised a small charter for about 10 of us - this arrived shortly after the one we’d originally been booked on. These shifts and changes seem to be part of the joys of flying in Africa.
We were met at the airport in Lusaka, and as we pulled into the Taj Hotel, Sue M and Ian D were getting out of the car in front of us. It’s so great to see Sue after all this time, and to meet Ian.
So here I am in Lusaka, ready to fly to the South Luangwa National Park on Tuesday for almost 10 days of safari. Tomorrow we’ll catch up with Sue F, and on Tuesday when we fly to Mfuwe, we’ll meet up with Cindy.
We’re going to have loads of fun together, and I look forward to sharing our travels and my photos with you, once we’re back in wifi range next week.
Update re photos. I’ll be adding photos to https://www.elanezphotography.com/ tomorrow, and will include a link on the front page to “Botswana”.
Short break in blog posts: from Tuesday 21 June, there’ll be “radio-silence” for about 10 days while we’re in the South Luangwa National Park.
Location on Map: LINK