Adventures of NaDave: H'moon 13

Leaving Jo'burg Hostel
We slept in and had a nice homemade breakfast at the hostel. It was sunny and quiet, but we were joined by a couple from Wisconsin. We chatted a bit and learned they were headed to a safari and then back to Cape Town when we were (foreshadowing!).

But we packed up our things and headed for the airport. Along the way we had to stop for fuel, and we found all places were full service. Our attendant was nice and responded “yes boss” (just like the movies!) We dropped our rental car off and walked into the airport, next stop was Victoria Falls!

Victoria Falls & Border Crossing

We arrived on-time to Johannesburg for our connecting flight to Victoria Falls (VF), but when we looked at the monitor, it listed two VF flights, and one was canceled. We were very confused and made our way to the gate. We got there and it was a zoo. Long story short, British Airways combined two separate flights (VF-to-Zimbabwe & VF-to-Zambia) into one flight (VF-to-Zimbabwe-to Zambia). Luckily they kept the original we were one, but the other flight got to the point where attendants were hand-writing paper boarding passes at the gate. In 2018, pencil and paper boarding flights were being used Africa! Luckily they issued the normal ticketed people on first (which was us) and then the others filled in. We took off several hours late, which would eat into our time at VF.

We arrived safely in Victoria Falls airport in Zimbabwe (but in hindsight we should have flown into Livingstone airport in Zambia…more on that later). We were excited to finally be in the interior of Africa and closer to our safari!

We got to the immigration/visa part of the airport, and the second zoo began. We were waiting in long line, while older middle eastern people were trying to just scoot by. Luckily we formed a barrier with another Australian girl and tried to stop the non-sense!

We got up to the line and realized how complicated our Visa would be because we were going to cross so many borders (Zimbabwe-to-Zambia-to-Botswania-to-Zambia-to-Zimbabwe) across so many days. It was hard to explain to the immigration agent, so we picked what we thought was right, paid the money in US Cash, and off we went. We were being picked up by pre-booked taxi to drive us the 30 minutes from the airport to the Falls.

We found our driver and saw an atm nearby. We said “let’s get some local currency” and the taxi driver laughed and said “there won’t be any cash in there” (what?). Then he said “currency in Zimbabwe is US Dollar anyway, so we should be okay” (wait, Zimbabwe uses the US Dollar, that’s crazy!). Not to mention Zimbabwe was undergoing a military coup and a new president was sworn into office the day before.

Okay, off we went with our bags and no local currency. Our group taking the taxi walked outside, and we were immediately met by local African dancing group. Very neat! We paused for a second, but kept moving as were already behind schedule.

Our driver was nice, the van was new, and we drove safely to the Falls. We were joined by an Australian girl and we chatted about our travels the whole way there. We first arrived to the taxi company location in town and walked inside to pay for this taxi, and our next booking at 6pm to drive us from VF into Livingstone. We didn’t have cell phone service, but the company assured us taxi would be on waiting for us after our border crossing. (foreshadowing!)

We entered the park and first went by a large, old Zimbabwe Baobab tree (neat!) Then we were dropped off just outside the park, kept our bags on our back, and got ready to see the falls. We had about 3-4 hours to see the falls, walk across the border-crossing, and meet our taxi.

Off we went, and the Falls were beautiful! It was the dry season, so the Falls weren’t roaring to capacity, but that was okay, because that meant we could see them! We started by Cataract Falls and stared down the 1+ mile shelf, gorgeous! We made our way across to each of the viewing sights, and when we got to the Main Falls, we even saw a group entering Devils Pool. Only photos can truly show the craziness.

We continued on to where the falls finally ran dry. It was neat to see the shear cliffs, and compare it to the raging falls. We both imagined what it must be like to see the full line of falls! We got to the end of the Zimbabwe side and looked back at the crack in the earth that formed the falls. So awesome :). We looked at our watches and it was already time to cross the border. We knew it take a while to get all the way there.

We left the park before we wanted, but still satisfied. We then started our trek down the busy road that all the truckers used to the cross at the single border crossing. In we walked to the office, got our stamp to leave the country (more detail? We were offered one million dollars by a guy) and continued on to cross the bridge across the Zambezi, where you can also bungee jump. We snapped a few photos from the center of the bridge, and then officially crossed into Zambia.

As we neared the office to enter Zambia, we passed a semi-truck with a monkey sitting on the back eating a banana. Wow, so different! We walked into the office and it was just us. A local woman walked up us with a deep-eyed look, she grabbed our passports, looked at us, and stamped them. Then she pointed to the door. We were in!

We exited the office and were immediately hassled by a local. He wouldn’t leave us alone, asking if we needed a taxi, but it was obvious as were the only white people in sight. We ignored him and walked briskly to where the VF entrance was on the Zambia side. We looked for our taxi and didn’t see it. It was a little after 6, where was our driver? There was an odd feeling in the air, and the sun was within 1 hour of setting.

We looked around and saw lots of different taxi company vans, other people were being picked up. We decided to back-track a bit, as maybe our taxi was parked closer to the border-crossing office. We got there and no luck. We also got hassled by the same guy again. People could tell we looked lost. It was now 6:15-6:20.

We walked back to the first location, and still no taxi. We down the road towards town, no sign of anything. There was a group of local drivers starting to collect near us. They weren’t threatening, but they could tell things weren’t going right. I got our reservation paper and noticed they all had phones, I found the number, and asked the nicest looking gentleman if he could quick call this number for us. He replied with “how much will you pay for the phone call?”. Bastards, they were using their phones with no problems, so it was obvious they could make a call, even at the border.

I looked up and saw what I thought was our taxi driving the wrong direction. I stopped the driver and he was nice, I asked if he had seen our Taxi company and he thought a car should be driving our direction soon (into Livingstone), but didn’t say much more than that.

It was now after 6:30 and shadows were getting long. We huddled and Nadine said we should just go ahead and pay to get a taxi. Dave couldn’t disagree, it was getting dark, the sharks were starting to circle, and we just needed to drive the 30 minutes to check-into our hostel. No need to dig this hole deeper. But where was this damn taxi we paid for?

We standing there looking at each other about the start the negotiation, when our taxi van appeared and was headed on our direction. I raised my arms & started waving, the taxi didn’t stop. I scurred out into the street with my bag on, kept waving my arms, and starting yelling. I looked at Nadine and said “drop your bag and run after the taxi, GO! NOW!” She did just that, dropped it at my feet and sprinted like a track star. (In that instance I knew I should stay with two bags among the sharks, and not her…but then again splitting up in any way risky).

With Nadine sprinting and me waving yelling and waving my arms at a Taxi van driving away must have been quite a sight for the locals. Then our prayers were answered (!) and the red brake lights appeared on the van. Nadine ran that SOB down, and the van stopped, about 100+ meters from where we were standing. Delighted & relieved, I grabbed both bags and started to quick walk towards her.

Nadine asked the driver to go back and get her husband, and the nice man replied “no ma’am, I am sorry. I am afraid of those taxi drivers. They will harass me, I will not drive back.” What the? What place is this? Nadine then jogged back to Dave to help him with her bag. We linked arms and scurried into the van. Let’s just get outta here! The taxi driver said he was not our driver, but happily called in our reservation number to confirm us (good thing I had that damn paper!). Everything checked out, and we headed into town.

The man again apologized about what happened to us. We got super lucky and there was not another taxi to drive that road for hours. When our nerves calmed, he asked Nadine how she learned to run so fast. He was impressed and said she had professional form (ha!). We started talking and he started that he ran a little bit for fun and his favorite race was the 400 meters, but he was not as fast as Nadine.

We drove into town and to our hostel. What a relief. We hopped out and it was already dark. We were greeted with a totally different, welcoming vibe at Jolly Boys, thank goodness! We got our to room (the Cheetah Room, Nadine’s spirit animal!) and dumped our stuff. We exhausted but also starving and thirsty. We were safe and it was time for some beers!

We headed out to the common area, and ordered some grub and beers. So delicious! We of course had to avoid to the water, and stuck to highly cooked food. We noticed a friendly group chatting together, so we sat down and said hello, true hostel style! We chatted with one guy who had been for 6+ weeks, and a Brit was living elsewhere in Zambia, but visiting the area for the week. We had a few extra beers, felt relaxed, and then decided it was time to head to sleep. We were headed off to our Safari into Botswana tomorrow!

Flights are a mess to Vic Falls