Saturday afternoon, November 9th

Hard to believe that it is Saturday already.  Yesterday afternoon was full of animal sightings.  We saw so many different animals.  We saw rhinos, wildebeest, zebras, warthhogs including a set of twins born during the spring, guineas fowl, baboons and vervet monkeys.  Then as we were driving back to the lodge, we saw an elephant right along the roadway eating some corn which seems to have escaped from a bag that someone was transporting.  Then suddenly there was a giraffe running across the road!  What a sight!  It was a was a giraffe who was joining 4 or 5 other giraffes in the bush beside the road.  The rest of the trip back was uneventful.

Upon our return, we took a boat ride on the Zambzi River.  During a very enjoyable hour of cruising around, we saaw an assortment of birds, monkeys and eight hippos lounging in the river waiting for the sun to set so they could leave the river to go browsing.  As we watched the sunset, our driver brought out some crackers, dips and drinks.  It was dusk when we returned.  A delicious dinner was served and we were all escorted back to our cottages.

Today dawned early and we were all at the mainn lodge by 6AM to sip coffee and hear a lecture about the history of Zimbabwe (we had all agreed to the time and Road Scholars does have an educational component). After the lecture and breakfast we loaded up the luggage and headed out.  First we went though the Zambia border crossing, drove over the gorge and then through the Zimbabwe border crossing.  Both border crossings went smoothly.

Now we were going to see the Zimbabwe side of Victoria Falls.  Unlike the very dry Zambian side, there was plenty of water on this side.  We walked though the woods to the falls.  We walked along the edge of the gorge to different viewing points.  Sometimes it was dry and other times the mist would be blown back on us which was a real and cooling treat in the heat.  After the last viewing point, we walke through a sectioncalled the rainforest and it was amazing at the change in the different plants and how shady it was.

Back on the bus, we headed to the Imbabala Lodge which was about an hour away.  It is located in a national preserve and there are no fences around the compound.  It is right alng the Zambezi River and as we sat on our porch, we could see a number of hippos in the swampy grass out in the river.  The vervet monkeys are running aound and it is important to be sure that the door to our cottage is always locked!  After a delcious lunch al fresco, we had a swim and soon there will be afternoon tea before we head out on an afternoon game drive.  I wounder what we see this afternoon?