VICTORIA FALLS, Part 1

We checked into the beautiful Elephant Hill Resort hotel on Saturday in time to rest a bit and meet the Sundowner Cruise on the Zambezi River.  We had a beautiful cruise with a gorgeous sunset and nice refreshments, but not many animals to see.  We then had dinner at the hotel and prepared for Sunday. 

Wow!  We made the one hour trip and crossed over into Botswana and had a lovely three-hour River Safari on the Chobe River with lunch at one of the lodges and then a game drive in the famous Chobe National Park.  We saw dozens of birds, elephants, hippos, giraffes, cape buffalos,  impalas, a few warthogs and several other species.  I love being on water, so this was a royal treat.  The afternoon drive was far different from  Kruger Park in So. Africa.  The rutted sand trails gave personality to our trip compared to the nice roads in Kruger and we saw the same array of animals in a slightly different setting that one can see from the water.  We returned to Zimbawe through the same set of immigration stuff we encountered in the morning and made our way back to the hotel.  We were surprised that dinner was not at the hotel, but at another resort with an African theme, food and music.  I ate ostrich, impala, Ghinea fowl, crocodile tail and warthog.  Just like McDonald’s at home!  Then they gave us all drums and some of us (guess who) got out on the floor and danced.  Pictures to follow!  Marilyn only took 900 pictures today, so processing will take a while!  I actually took a few.  Marilyn with elephant in background.  Below that see  the Lilac Breasted Roller, the national bird of Botswana.  Love this picture!

Tomorrow, finally:  the actual Victoria Falls.  We then have a bit of shopping time and head to the airport for Johannesburg, which we will tour on Tuesday, then say farewell to our group and await Wednesday’s departure for Dubai during Ramadan.  How that should be a story!

Joe