Traveling to Victoria Falls

We got to sleep in until 6 am today. This is some kind of vacation! It was sprinkling outside but I took the opportunity to use the outdoor shower one more time. We were served a hot breakfast in the lodge before we headed to the office to settle our bill. As we got ready to load into our transfer to the airport, Phanny, Rifos and our new friend from New York returned from their game drive. They had seen a pride of lions but returned early because of the cold and rain. It was good to see them all one last time.

As we drove to Hoedspruit to catch our flight we saw giraffes, pregnant hyenas and a jackal. This truly is an amazing place. I didn't recognize where we were when we arrived in Hoedspruit. Our driver explained that we weren't going to the regular airport because we are on a shared charter flight. We arrived at an airstrip with no attendant. We waited with the driver until we heard a plane fly overhead. A little while later a small airplane taxied up the runway. We met Chris, our pilot. He loaded our bags in the back of the plane, worked on his flight plane and checked in with his company. Then he went over to a self-serve station and filled out on invoice for landing fees. 

We had no idea we would be the only passengers on this flight. What an incredible treat. We put on our headsets and the plane took off down the runway. 

We flew over rich farmlands, cities and some foothills. It lasted a little less than 30 minutes.

When we arrived our pilot escorted us to the ticket desk and then took off to fly some other tourists to another destination. We boarded our flight to Livingstone, Zambia. Upon arrival we went through passport control and got a KASA Univisa, which allows us to go between Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana with less hassle. We were picked up by a man named Paul to take us to the Ilala Lodge. Crossing to Zimbabwe was more difficult than I imagined. Paul had to park on the Zambia side so we could go inside and stand in line. Then we crossed the bridge that is the border to Zimbabwe. Again he parked the car so we could go inside and stand in line. It felt nerve-racking. By the time we got to the hotel it was 2:45 pm and we were being picked up at 4 pm for a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River. We hustled to get ready but did enjoy a piece of birthday cake left for me in the hotel room.

A van picked up quite a few of us from the Ilala and drove us to the river. There were about twelve people on our boat.

We were served wine and snacks.

We saw hippos

Elephants

Crocodiles

We had the great fortune to spend five days at a safari camp so we had seen many of these animals. We got to the point where it was more fun to watch the humans. At one point one of our fellow passengers actually asked the captain of he could make the hippos stay on top of the water. 

We got back to the hotel in time for our 7 pm reservation at the Palm Restaurant. The food was delicious. The service was beyond slow.

We have a huge day planned for tomorrow. It begins with a 2 hour walking tour of the falls. Gayle has decided to forego the walking tour and join me when that is over.