Mini Vacations make it necessary to cram pack full our days. For our first day, we planned to cross the border to Zimbabwe, check out the Falls, visit the markets, head back to Zambia and then hike up to the Devil's Pool. If you are thinking that sounds like a busy day, you are correct. Richard kindly offered to give us a ride to the Zimbabwe border, which we happily accepted. However, as we were driving along, we blew a tire. Lucky for Richard, we had two guys on board who knew just how to take care of such an issue and they set to quick work! I gotta say, my husband is a stud. He changed that flat tire in a matter of minutes with Chris's help. I think Richard was impressed. And why not? Ben rocks!
We were told it would be a simply walk across the bridge to Zimbabwe. What we did not take into consideration was the intensity of the heat...from the sun and the asphalt. Of course we didn't realize this until it was too late. That walk turned into more of a hike and I was certainly itching to dive right into those Falls instead of just look at them! Finally, we reached our destination and continued our hike/walk around the Falls on the Zimbabwe side. It is a sight to behold, for sure. Slightly hindered by the amount of spray from the roaring Falls, but lovely just the same. One would think that the spray would feel good, but it only made for hot and damp clothing on top of our sweat. Lovely.
As we toured about, Chris was stopped by a group of Asian men who wanted his picture. Kelly determined this was because Chris is blond with blue eyes. Quite hilarious. Guess they didn't quite fancy brunettes. Ben also had many photo opportunities. He lugged his Boss, the head honcho of BV across the border (no passport required!) in his backpack. See, Ben had made a bet with a co-worker that he would take a cut-out of the Top Guy to the Falls and get a good picture with him. If he got the picture, then the other guy had to grow out a beard. If not, then Ben would suffer some sort of punishment. Needless to say, we did our best to get a good shot!
With Ben and Chris being the subject of so many photographs, Kelly and I got a little bored. We were ready for some animal action. And boy, were we pleased! Monkeys! Cute baby monkeys, mama monkeys, daddy monkeys....right up close. I couldn't get my camera out fast enough! But I did...and we snapped away...photo after photo. (Sadly I later lost all of these pictures through a stinky computer default....so I can't share these with you.) The guys, no longer the subject of the camera lens, quickly grew restless...and so we continued on our way in search of food.
Much to our dismay, food was not found...as the eateries in town were vacant. (I wasn't hungry anyway, the heat sucked that desire right out of me...but I was hydrated!) Guess that meant we would just have to continue on to the market! Ben dislikes the market. He doesn't like to barter...hates to be hounded and isn't a fan of shopping in general. So it may have been a mistake to drag him there...on top of an empty stomach...but that is what we did. Sorry, babe. I love you!
The market looked more like a series of run-down shacks...but we were after good deals. I had even brought some old clothing to trade. And my goodness! The seller's were so eager to get the clothing...and they asked for the clothing off of our backs as well as pens, anything we had on our person. (We kept our clothing to ourselves, thank you very much). I did get a few good deals...although I will admit it was quite overwhelming. I am happy with my wooden elephant, nativity set necklace and stone sculptures. One guy even threw in a "free" decorated bowl which I am quite fond of. Ben...eh...not so much. He was so displeased he had me carry all of our purchases back across the border. Yes, I learned my lesson.
We were exhausted. Hot, sweaty, hungry, gross. We managed to snag ourselves a taxi to the Zimbabwe border; however, we were still stuck with the LOOOOONNGGG walk back to Zambia. Our reward at the end of the hike? Ice cold bottles of Coke and Sprite. Mmmm. Sprite never tasted so good. Not quite food, but at least it seemed to cheer that husband of mine up a teeny bit. After all, he needed some fuel for our next hike of the day...out to the devil's Pool at the the top of Victoria Falls on the Zambia side.
1 comment:
I seem to recall Ben helping me change the tire :)
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