Breakfast this morning was amazing, Moyo outdid himself with french toast, sausages, and fresh fruit. We all boarded the trucks and stopped to get our departure stamps from Botswana. As is common, the police here tend to ask for bribes for everything, for instance, if you drive past the speed limit you can pay to not have it on your record. As we were crossing the border to Zimbabwe the police officers tried to get a bribe out of our driver Theunis, although we hadn't done anything wrong, the police officers still try to get bribes. We had a very short drive, only about 45 minutes long until we made it to Victoria Falls!
We headed to the adventure lodge we were staying at picked a room and unpacked our things. It felt amazing to have a real bed after 6 days of sleeping on the ground. I always love trips that remind me of how grateful I need to be for every little thing that I have. After unpacking we went to the bar/lobby and watched a video that explained to us all of the options of the activities we were allowed to do. I knew for sure I wanted to do white water rafting, and as a group we all decided to do a sunset booze cruise as a great cap to an amazing trip.
After paying for the activities we changed into clothes that could get wet, packed our cameras into some heavy duty water resistance storage bags, (a.k.a a grocery bag :)) and headed on the truck to go to the actual falls! As we waiting to get our tickets inside we saw monkeys running around wild, it was so great! Something else I noticed as well was that the entrance fees to get into the falls differed depending on the country you were coming from.
We entered the falls and I couldn't stop smiling, after having seen a picture of the falls on a poster on my wall for the past year I was actually seeing it in person!!! We were instantly drenched in water as it was high water season and a wet one indeed. We stopped at every lookout point and every time we were always amazed, as well as sopping wet. It was literally like someone was pouring buckets of water on us but hey, I hadn't been able to shower in a while so it was very necessary. Every corner we turned there were multiple rainbows due to the constant flow of water all around us. The falls were so loud and roaring, it was sweet music to my ears. We got to view the bridge where people usually bungee off of, and on the opposite side of the bridge is Zambia. It was amazing to be so close to another country.
Afterwards we all went to a market soaking wet, which I think may have helped more in my bartering skills. I ended up getting two purses, two bowls, two spoons, and a pair of earrings and a maraca, for the grand total of a pair of green old navy flip flops I was wearing on my feet (I decided I had already been walking barefoot the whole trip, I can go a few days more), a dirty pair of socks, a towel, a white t-shirt from goodwill, and 15 dollars. I would say that it was a great deal! Afterwards we all took a necessary shower and got ready for an amazing dinner that we were going to be taken on.
We all got dressed and headed to a restaurant called The Boma located in town. Upon entrance we were given traditional African clothing which were wrapped around us like togas. Near the entrance there was a man playing a Djembe drum and a place where people could pose to get their pictures taken. It was obviously the ultimate tourist spot because of the idea of it representing traditional African cultures. We took our seats where we were all served a sip of bantu beer that is usually made and sold withing local townships here. It was so disgusting and tasted what I would imagine urine would taste like with a very gritty taste to it as well..obviously my description makes you all want to try it right?! We were also given a small plate of appetizers and told that this was a buffet style place so whenever we were ready we could get our food. There were people doing traditional African drumming and dancing in the center of the restaurant, there was a fortune teller offering his services as well as a man who painted small pictures on our faces. I got to have a guinea fowl painted on my cheek. I skipped the appetizers line and of course went straight for the meat where I chose warthog, impala, kudo, as well as buffalo stew. Warthog was by far the tastiest with the sauce they had placed on it as well as how tender it was. I then went for an appetizer of bread, crocodile, and fruit. And of course I had to try the famous Mopani worm! That is right everyone...I ate a warm, which was cooked and covered with a bit of salsa. It was not the best tasting thing I've had but I would rather eat that then asparagus. It tasted like very burnt gritty bacon, and i got a certificate for eating it! I also got to eat crepes cooked in wine and topped with raspberry and litchi, it was delectable. Dessert was a mixture of cake and chocolate and it was all incredible. Everyone in the restaurant was then given a djembe drum and taken through a drumming session. It was great fun as we all tried and failed to play together. Afterwards we were all invited in the center of the restaurant to form a circle where the drumming continued but the drummer would point to someone in the circle to jump in the middle to show of their dance moves. It was great to see people try their best at not looking silly, as well as looking mortified at being called on. Of course I had to be one of the people who was called on so I hopped in the middle and showed of the best salsa steps I could manage in a matter of seconds. Afterwards we all came together and everyone was dancing and having an amazing time! After being full and happy, and spotting some buffalo on our way back to the lodge, I fell asleep exhausted recognizing that we had a long day ahead of us tomorrow.
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