Victoria Falls

Back with NYDT after a long weekend in Victoria Falls. Was nice, but strange, to see Zimbabwe from the touristy point of view, even to be in a touristy spot in Zimbabwe, which was a first for us! Victoria Falls itself is just a small town made more or less for tourists, its got one main street with curio shops, for the rest just hotels and lodges. It is a hub for doing activities like rafting, safari, bungy jumping etc.., so for broke students like Malaika and me, we spent most of our time by the pool, whilst the people we met were out doing activities all day. We did go on a cruise in the Zambesi river though, as that was the cheapest activity you could do. It’s called a sunset cruise, but has adopted the name “booze cruise” as there is all –you- can- drink on board. Great for two girls on antibiotics and the two older couples that were there. At least we saw a few hippos,- who would have known these quite, fat animals are the ones killing most people every year.

Not surprisingly, we went to see the actual falls, which was quite spectacular. Victoria Falls is divided between Zimbabwe and Zambia, with (lucky for us) the most water coming from the Zimbabwean side. It is actually one of the World’s Seven Wonders, a gorge/huge crack that was naturally formed and developed into a huge waterfall some time way back.

The last night we were there we put on our finest clothing (2$ dresses we’ve found at the second hand market in Bulawayo) and had dinner at The Victoria Falls Hotel. It is an old renowned hotel, very beautiful, we felt totally colonial sitting there in that old English-style hotel looking out over the Zambesi river and the bridge crossing over to Zambia. A big contrast to other things we have seen in Zimbabwe! But the chocolate cake we had for dessert made it all worth while…

The trip was not only leisure- we also visited Environment Africa, another MS partner that works with everything from planting trees to advocating for youth to take part in the decision-making processes. Was really interesting, it is a great organization that is rapidly growing. As they have their offices out in the high-density area outside of the touristy town, we got to see a different part of Victoria Falls, where the world of five star hotels and helicopter tours over the falls seems very distant. It is strange how the human mind, or my mind at least, can cope with these great differences - and if I might think it is hard, then how is it for the people living out in the townships, coming in to work as a waiter at one of the luxury hotels everyday. Beats me.