Day 18: Tuesday, August 24th:
This morning's breakfast at Audi Camp was delicious, with some of the best bacon I've ever had. Then the morning quickly went downhill. I got sick. Like, I'm not having fun anymore sick. Great. And we have to fly today. I popped a Cipro (the greatest drug ever created) and some Immodium and started praying for a quick recovery. We had planned on going shopping before our flight, so I sucked it up and explored around Maun like I was feeling fine. I was not about to put the trip on hold over some GI issues.
We (well, everyone but me) had lunch at a coffee shop by the airport, and then boarded the plane to Kasane. Another small flight with a very bumpy descent and landing. Just what my stomach needed...NOT!
We caught a taxi at the airport and headed straight for the Zimbabwe border. The taxis cannot legally drive back and forth across the border without a special (and expensive) permit. So we had to walk across the border and carry our bags to a driver we had waiting for us on the Zimbabwe side. It's about a 45-minute drive from the border to Victoria Falls. At least we were in an air-conditioned van with a cooler full of cold water.
We got dropped off and checked in to the Victoria Falls Rest Camp. We're staying in a mini house...2 rooms with a kitchen and bathroom. We started walking around town and had an early dinner at Mama Africa. I was starting to feel better at that point and had some delicious homemade pasta. I don't know if it was because I hadn't eaten all day, but this was some of the best pasta I've ever had in my life.
Then we walked over towards the Falls for what I think my mom had been waiting for the entire trip. The night before, the night of, and the night after the full moon each month they allow you to go inside the park to try to see a lunar rainbow. Yes, a lunar rainbow, which is a rainbow from the light of the moon. Well, we lucked out and timed our trip so we were there on the night of the full moon. So we waited patiently outside the gates until they decided the moon had gone high enough.
We weren't quite sure what to expect. They led us on the tiny paved pathways by the light of the moon, and we are now some of the lucky few to have seen a lunar rainbow. At first we couldn't get our cameras to capture it, but then we figured out the settings and got some proof...
We caught a taxi back to the rest camp, and then walked just down the street to get some soft-serve ice cream. A nice treat after a rough start to the day.
Day 19: Wednesday, August 25th
This morning we walked back over the Falls to see it during the daylight. Let me tell you, it's a completely different experience. And had we known just how close we were to edge of the cliff without a railing last night, I'm not sure we would have gotten some the pictures that we did. Tori said that when she was here earlier this year with her friends, the water levels were a lot higher, so all you could see was the mist. The amount of water flowing is quite impressive, and Victoria Falls actually means "the smoke that thunders" because the mist goes so high up in the air it looks like smoke.
After taking lots more pictures, we hiked back to the rest camp and checked out. Then we took a taxi down to our hotel for the night, Ilala Lodge. This hotel was amazing. This was our splurge night, and it was worth it. The nicest hotel I've stayed in besides our splurge night in Hawaii earlier this year. They greeted us with fresh guava juice while we checked in. We probably should have packed some nicer clothes, but oh well. We've been on safari!
After we checked in, we walked over to The Victoria Falls Hotel for lunch. I'm starting to realize that Victoria Falls has some of the most delicious food I've ever eaten in my life. I had an open face balsamic chicken sandwich. I don't know what all was in it, but it was amazing. I could have licked the plate clean. I think everyone else enjoyed their lunches too, but I was too busy devouring my food that I didn't notice the world around me. This hotel also has a beautiful view of the water and the Zim-Zam bridge that acts as the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. We thought about going to Zambia, until we saw how much a visa cost. Sorry Zambia...maybe we'll visit you next time!
This afternoon, my mom and I went on an elephant ride. You're supposed to ride with a driver and another person, but when we got there, they had some younger elephants that they were still training, so my mom and I got to ride on them by ourselves and a driver/trainer. I was in heaven! I could have stayed on that elephant all day. After the ride, you got to pet and feed the elephant you rode. I wanted to take him home. So cute and sweet.
I also learned something I didn't know about elephants...they are very much like humans when a herd member dies. They make different sounds that they only make when they are "mourning" a dead elephant. They then stay with the dead elephant for about a week, then return a year later when only the bones are left. At that point, they separate all the bones because they don't like seeing the full skeleton together. It's their version of spreading someone's ashes.
Then after a wonderful shower, we had another amazing meal at the Ilala Lodge. I had beef wellington, which was divine. My mom's warthog dish came with these fried little mashed potato balls that were from heaven. My dad's fish tasted like it was made of butter. And Tori's stuffed chicken...delish! I will say we definitely all ate very well! And slept well...some of the comfiest beds, or maybe we were just tired from traveling. :)
Day 20: Thursday, August 26th
After an amazing breakfast, we headed to the local craft market. I don't know how much you know about Zimbabwe, but people are pretty much everywhere you turn begging for money or food or trying to barter with you. It got a little overwhelming at times, especially when it was little kids asking for something. Well, the craft market wasn't any different. I got offers for pretty much every article of clothing I was wearing, including my hair tie, socks, and grungy old shoes. It kind of makes you put life into perspective. There were some really cool sculptures and carvings that I would have loved to take home, but at this point my bag was pretty much overflowing.
Then it was time to drive back to Kasane. We did the border crossing again, and then stopped for one last night at Waterlily Lodge. Hard to believe that this trip is almost over, but I'm starting to be ready to go home. We made sure to stop at the places we wanted one last look at, and had dinner at the Chobe Marina Lodge. There was a hippo swimming around the dock, munching on the little grasses along the shore. One last beautiful sunset, and it was time to pack up our bags.
Days 21-22: Friday, August 27th-Saturday, August 28th
So now it's my dad who's not feeling too hot. Of course when we have to fly again. He had a rough night (and morning), and is hoping to feel a lot better before we get on the plane. We had breakfast at the coffee shop again, and then got ready to head to the airport.
It was really hard to say good-bye to Tori. As Lucky said, there's nothing wrong with crying...it's only water. We hugged a bunch of times, and then walked into the airport to get ready for the looooong way home.
First we flew from Kasane, Botswana to Johannesburg, South Africa. That flight was super hot and stuffy and crowded, and I really just wanted to get off the plane. Then from Jo-burg, we flew to JFK, with a 1-hour stop in Dakar, Senegal where they switched flight crew and fumigated the plane...while we were in it. Hopefully my future babies won't have 3 eyes. There had been some communication issues, and we weren't able to request our seats ahead of time, so we were stuck in the middle section of the plane. I gave my dad the aisle seat, and got the joy of sitting next to a college student from Zimbabwe who thought he got to have half my seat as well. My poor mom got to have lean into her personal space for the whole flight. Sorry Mom!
Then we finally made it to JFK in the morning, went through the shuffle of customs, where my mom got the surprise of black lacy underwear in her bag. Obviously it was not hers, and with the sleep deprivation and jet lag, it was quite hilarious. Then we flew to D.C., before our final flight back to LAX. Well there turned out to be something wrong with the black box, so we sat on the plane for almost 3 hours before we took off. My dad took full advantage of the free mimosas, and we got to watch some extra movies. Thank goodness we were in first class or I might have lost it. I just wanted to go home. I smelled, I hadn't showered in what felt like forever, and I had no idea what time zone I was in.
We finally made it home, and got a wonderful pick-up service from my grandparents at the airport. It was a wonderful trip that I will always remember. Thanks Mom and Dad for the trip of a lifetime!