Zambia, Day One

We got up early, and made sure that Traveling Stick and his friends, as well as any books, cameras or other items we wouldn't need at Victoria Falls, were safely packed in my carry-on bag, which we are leaving with the hotel concierge. As we headed toward the elevator, we heard the lovely sound of a chorus of women singing. We asked the porter helping us who was singing, and he told us that all the members of the housekeeping staff at the hotel sing every morning before they begin work. When we got off the lift, we watched for a while as about twenty-five women sang and danced and smiled...they were clearly enjoying themselves, and so were the guests and hotel employees who stopped to watch. What a lovely, happy way to start the day!

After a great breakfast...omelets as you like them, roasted tomatoes, sausage, Thai fish cakes, croissant and biscuits light as air, wonderful coffee....we took the hotel shuttle back to the airport, to catch the British Airways flight to Livingstone, Zambia, and Victoria Falls. It was a fairly short flight, a little less than two hours. We flew over Botswana, and I looked for Pete's Pond, but didn't see it. As we landed, the pilot gave passengers on both sides of the plane a brief look at Victoria Falls before we landed, which was fun.

Once through the long line of visitors getting visas to enter Zambia and a quick walk through customs, we were met by a representative from Bushtracks Africa, who took us to our hotel, The Zambezi Sun.

There is a lot of construction , both buildings and roads, going on in the town of Livingstone, which is suddenly getting most of the tourists coming to see Victoria Falls. Construction notwithstanding, our driver found us a small herd of elephants along the road, apparently feeding on mopane trees. The hotel was pleasant, and within walking distance of the eastern end of the Falls. We decided to take a walk to see, and met an employee of the hotel named Webster, who feeds a small group of zebras and three giraffes. The animals are free to walk about the hotel grounds, and are tame enough to be very cooperative about having their pictures taken with Webster and with guests of the hotel. Not wild Africa, but fun nevertheless.

Here is a young giraffe, followed by Susan and Doug having their backs nuzzled by a friendly zebra and, finally, Webster and his friends:

We then walked to the eastern side of Victoria Falls....absolutely stunning. Susan and Doug walked further...up steps and down steps and uphill along the trail, to see more of the Falls, but knowing we would see more tomorrow, I decided to sit in a comfortable spot watching the Falls and curious birds, including some blue waxwings and a fork-tailed drongo. If the drongo sang, I couldn't hear his song over the boom of the Falls.

That evening, after a buffet dinner that included crocodile curry, (yes, I tried some. No, it didn't taste like chicken.) we walked to the boma, where we watched Dancing Around Zambia, a performance of songs and dances from many Zambian tribes, performed with great enthusiasm and energy by the young members of the Livingston Arts Foundation. Doug filmed a video of the performance, and once it is processed we'll put a link on line and perhaps send them a DVD. It was a very colorful show, and great fun.

13 Sept 09

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