Mosi-oa-Tunya: The Smoke That Thunders

January 25, 2010
Livingstone, Zambia

Victoria Falls is absolutely amazing! I wasn't initially thrilled to visit Livingstone, an "adventure capital" and I was a little annoyed that we are scheduled for 5 days here, but the Falls are definitely something to write home about! I visited the Falls today, took lots of pictures, looked at the birds in the rain forest across the Falls Bridge and hiked down to the Boiling Pot at the base of the Falls, where the water swirls around like it's in a boiling pot. There were lots of baboons on the pathway down and allegedly, some cobras! I would love to see some snakes, but for now I'll have to settle for the snakes that populate my Lariam (malaria medicine) induced nightmares. Again, I ran into my overland group, but they were only there for an hour and half (and I could stay as long as I wanted) so it was a mercifally brief sighting. I spent most of the day at the Falls, and when I left I spent some time shopping for curios. The sellers were very, very motivated and very skilled salesmen. They could have sold the Brooklyn Bridge! I bought a malachine cat, an ironwood lion, an ebony African queen / king set and a passal of teak carvings. I'm sure I paid way too much but I don't mind. If I paid too much it was only to the tune of 20 USD for everything (and I LOVED the malachite cat).

Later today I went on a sunset cruise on the Lady Livingstone, a three story tall ship which set sail with only four passengers! I enjoyed wine and tasty snacks, and our guide, Ernest, was a bird lover who spotted lots of birds along the Zambezi. We also saw a croc and a whole group of hippos! The sunset was spectacular. The sunset cruise was so civilized and was perhaps the best evening I've spent so far on this trip, or at least ranked at the top (there were some lovely evenings in Shela & Zanzibar). Along the way, we passed the booze cruise, an ugly barge full of drunk, noisy backpackers. Drunken fools! I thought. As you might expect, my overland group had booked the booze cruise the following night.

Birds spotted: Malachite kingfisher, Fish eagle (looks like a bald eagle), African pygmy beeeater

Books read: A Tale of Two Cities. I've always wanted to read this book but I couldn't get past the boring, confusing stagecoach bit at the beginning. Once I did, it read like a thriller set during the French Revolution. A great story, although I found myself rooting for the vengeful, evil Madam Defarge (well, she had some legitimate gripes against the aristocracy!).

Silly things done: My Teva sandals fell apart almost as soon as I set foot in Africa. I got a guy to fix them in Lamu, but they bit the dust again in the mud in Arusha. They've been muddy and in pieces ever since. Upon arrival in Livingstone, I washed them and set out to find a shoe repair shop. Instead, I ended up with five fools in the marketplace ineffectively applying Super Glue to my wet sandals and charging me a bundle for it. Then, they refused to give my my change. What about labor? they asked, and one pointed, melodramatically, to a tiny abrasion on his hand from the glue. The agreed price includes labor! I said, and threatened to go to the police. They handed over the change, after trying to cadge 1000 Kwatcha for cigarettes.