Day 2 – 12.03.2018
The next morning we woke up surprisingly early, even though we had a late start that day. I guess its the time difference as well as all the unfamiliar noises that surround you in the morning. I got woken by monkeys throwing stuff from the trees onto my tent. Definitely a new experience : ). We got ready for breakfast and the shower I had couldnt have been better!! Breakfast was a large array, buffet style surprise, with everything ranging from weetabix with bananas, to cake, to coffee and tee, to sandwiches with Peanutbutter or Nutella.
We were picked up at 10:10, either going to go do a zipline over the gorge, or like me heading to a helicopter flight. The evening before I had booked myself into a short helicopter ride and was convinced to actually book the longer trip by the man driving me to the helicopter place. I was glad I changed from 15 minutes to 30 minutes, since that included more time over Victoria Falls and also time over the safari park. Keep in mind I had not seen anything of Victoria Falls by that point.
We arrived at the helicopter pad, were put into groups, were weighed to make sure we didnt surpass the weight limit for the helicopter, and then it was about a 30 minute wait until it was our slot to go into the helicopter. Our pilot was called Elisabeth and the only female helicopter pilot at Victoria Falls.
Below is the route we took:
The views were amazing. We first headed out over the falls and took a right turn and a left turn, and then we flew lower into the gorges (part of the longer helicopter experience). We then returned over the falls which are just so majestic.
Then we continued back over towards the safari park. Here we spotted a big heard of giraffes – probably like 20 to 30 animals. We then circled over a large gathering of buffalo in a not quite dried out stream. Then we found some zebras which we could just about spot against the white background. We then headed back over the river where I also saw the backs of three hippos. Unfortunately we passed them too quickly for me to take a photograph.
Zebras:
Giraffes:
See all the massive footprints below in the mud:
Buffalo:
More zebra:
When we returned I was just over the moon! It was so worth it, especially seeing the game from up above.
I let the driver drop me off at a restaurant / cafe called the Viewpoint Cafe, where you sit on the top of the gorge with the most amazing view. Here I met up with the rest of my group mates for lunch.
I had some great Zambezian „fish and chips“, pretty much just grilled Zambezian brass with chips and a salad with salad dressing – so yummy!
I also ordered a sour green apple daiquiri, which seemed like it was mixed using 2 entire apples. I couldnt get behind drinking it fast enough before it melted all over the table...
After lunch we decided to head out and explore the waterfalls.
We had been warned that the waterfalls would get us drenched, but we hadnt really completely understood what that meant. We entered and were greeted with informative plates teaching about the geography behind the falls, that it is one of the 7 natural wonders of the earth and how it compares to other grand waterfalls such as the Niagara Falls.
As we headed to our first view point, we saw several skulls of game, that tought us about the different sizes from for example an elephants head, to a hippo, a poached blak rhino, a lions head, a couple of turtles and a white rhinos head. It really puts their comparative size into perspective...
When we got to the first view point I was just in awe of the power of the water plunging into the depths. I had seen the falls from above, now it was all about seeing them up close.
The further along we got from view point to view point the more spray we encountered and after only a couple more view points we were absolutely drenched.
Below a rhino tree stump:
Some points were so full of spray that you couldnt even see the falls, just a white very wet misty fog.
Once the spray had completely soaked our shoes we decided it was time to head back and get ready for the sunset cruise. We walked back to the campsite, got changed into dry clothing, and hung up our wet stuff in the hopes of it drying in time for the next day. The dark clouds werent helping here. Just before we left it really hit me and I was ready to go for a nap instead, but thankfully I pulled through and managed to get on our transfer to the cruise no problem. The transfer arrived slightly late and so we didnt have much time to get there before the cruise would take off.
We were in a packed vehicle and when we were about to take our last right turn in a bit of a distance I could make out a large cat that was moving away slowly, with a long tale and with movements of a female lion. (What you see in documentaries : ) ) Unfortunately no one else saw it and so I was so sure anymore whether or not I had seen it or not. In hindsight I should have probably shouted „lion up ahead“.... You see with the Malaria tablets that you take, one of possible side effects is hallucinations, so I was quite sure whether or not I had seen it or not : )...
We arrived at the little „harbour“ and were instantly greeted again by a similiar group of singing and dancing men in traditional costumes signing the lion sleeps tonight. (How appropriate!)
After a quick introduction the free bar was declared open and off we went.
The people on the boat were a wide variety of young and old, different nationalities, there for a fun time at the bar, serious bird watchers including binoculars and all, there to see the hippos, and then the obvious separation of upper and lower deck.
The upper deck instantly gained notoriety after we had passed some hippos and were told to be quiet, when they dropped a glass with seemingly endless amounts of ice cubes that scattered all over the deck. With an aluminium deck, you can imagine the noise that makes below.
Anyway, we got what we came for – we saw several hippos and a couple of random impalas on an island (We all wondered how it got there and whether or not it was feeling lonely there). We took photos and videos of the hippos and saw them yawn – which actually isnt a yawn but a territorial demonstration – we had obviously gotten too close.
Since it was a sunset cruise, the sun came back out in time for it to set and we had the most amazing view, sipping at our drinks and just enjoying the serene surroundings.
Once the sun had set it was pitch black. We drove back to the campsite and I guess partially due to the darkness, and due to the fact that we had been drinking on the cruise, we felt quite tired and were thinking of heading off to bed. We quickly decided against that when we looked at our watches and realised it was only 19:30 and apart from a couple of snacks on the boat we had not had anything for dinner. We stopped at the campsites restaurant and hoped for an alright wifi signal. With 20 or so school kids around that was wishful thinking!
I had some croc spaghetti – as you do in Africa, which tastes just like chicken.
After dinner and a bit of wifi, there was a funny situation with the school children. They suddenly all huddled around a picnic table near the pool and shouted to their remaining friends, „hey, you want some?“ holding up a pack of cigarettes. Their teachers had already gone to sleep and I thought, wow, they are doing this completely out in the open. But because it was such a dim light I didnt realise that the pack the girl was holding up was actually a pack of uno cards, and they were being absolutely lovely children.
We headed to our tents and went to sleep, not until the „lovely children“ kept me up for another hour or so listening to 80s music....
