My original plan was to take the bus from Victoria Falls to Windhoek in Namibia. The bus company, however, told me that they no longer provide services from Zimbabwe due to fuel shortages and political instability. If I wanted to take the bus, I would have to (1) take a taxi to the Zimbabwe border (2) pay $135 for the Zambia visa and cross the border with another taxi (3) take a taxi from the Zambia border to the bus station, and (4) take the bus to Namibia. What a hassle!!! And most likely, I would be ripped off by the taxi drivers. The easiest option would be flying. But for some reason, flights to Namibia are outrageously priced at $600! So, I had to make the tough decision - forget Namibia : ( Oh well...can't see/do everything, right?! Instead, I booked a flight to Cape Town for the following day (the office had no electricity when I went in, but they managed to get me on the flight once the power was back 4 hours later).
Once I got my escape from Zimbabwe sorted out, I headed out to Victoria Falls. My host from the guest house was on his way to Zambia for the day, so we decided to take the 2 - 3km walk together (you pass by the falls on the way to the border). The streets were pretty quiet, but perfectly safe.
I didn't realize it at first, but the rainy season just ended around here, making the water levels really high. Walking around Victoria Falls, therefore, got me wet from head to toe!!! I was warned about it beforehand, so I did bring a rain jacket, but that didn't help at all. It was fun in the beginning, but as I got further in, it was just too much...I couldn't really see much of the falls because of the mist, and the water was pouring on me as if I were caught in a thunderstorm. Rather than taking a leisurely stroll through the park, I rushed to the end. Here, I ran into a group of tourists from China, who kept pushing me out of the way to take photos of the border bridge. Waru was very annoyed and cursed them.
There's a really posh hotel at the falls. I was in the mood for a decent meal, so decided to try it out for lunch. A tiny vegetable curry (southern Africa is big on curry) cost me $20!!!!!
From there, I headed towards the market although my host warned me that I'd get myself into trouble with the aggressive sellers. No problemo! It was actually quite amusing...everyone wanted to make a trade. They were especially fond of my cap, which I liked too and was not willing to part with. Pens were often requested as well. Unfortunately, I wasn't carrying around anything that I didn't need. I wish I could've offered something though, knowing how short on some basic items they were....
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