Victoria Falls: The Mist that Thunders!

     Saturday, May 27, 2023, we made our way back to the Zimbabwe border. We made friends from Paris, France standing in line at immigration, which we bumped into again and again at the falls and dining twice. After waiting about 30 minutes in line, we realized we could just go to the residents of Zimbabwe window since we have working visas. There was only one line and no one there to direct anyone. Once across the border of Botswana, we changed drivers and entered Victoria Falls to meet our personal guide, Terrai with Kazungula Low Budget Travel. This guy is a personal friend of a member; which Reeve Nield lined up for us. He drove us all over the Victoria Falls area and gave us advice and delivered us to the airport Sunday afternoon for $100. He was quite pleasant to visit with, plus he got a free helicopter ride and lunch with us.

    We had lunch at the famous "Look Out" restaurant, which overlooks the gorge. You can watch the bungee and zipline daredevils go off over the gorge. Looks scary! I would've tried it but, we are missionaries and are supposed to avoid risky activities. I tried ostrich meat, like steak slices, on my salad. It wasn't the best and I got sick afterward.

     After taking us to our lodge to drop off our luggage, Terrai came to take us to see Victoria Falls via helicopter. This was a wonderful way to see the whole falls and gorge from an aerial view. I sat in the front by the pilot and Bruce & Terrai were in the back to even out the weight. We had an amazing view! This natural wonder is named, "The Mist that Thunders" in Shona. You certainly can hear the roaring waters thunder even a few miles away.

An exciting helicopter adventure over Victoria Falls to see some amazing views of this natural wonder!

WELCOME to VICTORIA FALLS! Our welcoming committee danced for us. Vic Falls is one of the world's seven natural wonders. Now we know why...(2023.05.28)    Baboons everywhere, loved the mom and babies!

We went and saw the "Big Balboa Tree". Its trunk circumference is enormous!  These trees produce a hard pod with seeds; you can break them open to get "cream of tarter". The Shona people eat the inside or boil it into a custard-like porridge by adding a little water and sugar. Zeri, at the temple site, gave me one to try.

At the Victoria Falls Market, all sorts of artisans are selling their goods and expect you to barter on price. Bruce fell in love with this artist's talented drawings of pen and ink. He coached him to set a price and not barter because his talent was worth it. We bought this original of the Balboa tree. 2023.05.27

    We stayed in the Lokuthula Lodge and attended a fun buffet dinner and drum show. It was fun to drum and dance around with the staged Africans for photos.

I tried a little piece of crocodile meat appetizer. I think that's what made me sick. The buffet was quite fancy with a whole pig roasting, kudo steaks, and eland stew along with yummy butternut squash soup, salad bar, dessert bar, and all sorts of sides. By the time we got our main course, after the soup, I was getting quite nauseated. Bruce had mentioned he was tired and didn't mind leaving early. I felt like vomiting and told Bruce, "We need to leave" because I was getting sick. We barely made it outside when I vomited on the grass next to the paths back to our lodge. I felt better after I lost it, literally!  I really think I got food poisoning from the ostrich meat or the crocodile meat. Yuck! I actually slept it off and felt much better in the morning without any nausea the next day.

The Boma Drum Show and Dinner were lots of fun; except I got food poisoning! I think we've become Africans so sorry kids; we may not be coming home for a while! 2023.05.

    On the last day, we walked the Victoria Falls trail. Terrai had us rent rain slickers. We really wished we would've brought swimming suits instead; because we still got drenched! The falls were amazing from both views. As you walk back along the fall trail, there are rainbows glistening in the sunshine from all the mist. Photos can't even capture the beauty of this majestic natural wonder. 

We made our way back, soaked, to the David Livingston statue, explorer, founder, missionary, etc. 2023.05.28

We flew back "home" to Harare on Zimbabwe Air and made it safe and still sound. It was an enjoyable trip, and we checked things out for future friend and family visits.

Zeri, from Electrical HZT site, gave me a Balboa pod like the big tree we saw. You hammer them open and eat around the hard seeds inside. white chalky inside is what they make cream of tarter with. Zeri told me to boil the seeds with a little sugar and it makes a great porridge super food.