Afternoon Tea in Zimbabwe

I awoke pretty early to the sight of rainclouds above the skylight of my tent. Weather forecast informed me there was 30% chance of rain. I could hear the microlights above setting out for their sightseeing trips over the falls. My second batch of washing (I get bored doing it all at once, and I also don't have enough washing line space for it all at once) was no where near dry so I left it in place for the day- deciding I would risk the forecast. After a lazy breakfast by the Zambezi, 

Catherine, Liz, Steph, Alistair and I set off on our bikes for Zimbabwe. We traced our steps back to the Victoria Falls Bridge, it felt a lot further on a bicycle, even though it was probably only 5km or so. At one point we stopped next to the river to take a picture and picked up a local boy on a pushbike too. He called to me and asked if I had a pump, which I did. He said his front tyre was flat- didn't really seem flat when I touched it. I was relucant to give him the pump (I have become, or maybe always have been) a bit distrusting and tried to pump his tyre myself. It was the wrong valve so my pump didn't fit. He didn't seem to mind and asked if he could cycle with us. I agreed. He was maybe 14-15years old and was cycling down to se the falls, but said he doesn't do it that often. When we arrived at immigration (before the bridge) he said 'I think now you will buy me a drink.' I simply told him that I was going to Zimbabwe so wouldn't be buying him a drink in Zambia. It was a bizarre encounter, and I am not sure if he was trying to steal the pump, or genuinely coming to the falls, or what to make of it. When I reflect on situations like that I always feel bad that I am being so distrusting and unfair, but really never know if it is justified, or how other people would act/react. It's hard to know what motivates those around you, especially in Africa where there is such a financial disparity in some places. Equally, as a tourist I shouldn't assume that all those who approach are financially motivated. Hmm. Checking out of Zambia and into Zimbabwe was a smooth and efficient process. A bit of a cash earner as the visa- for a day trip to Zimbabwe- was $55usd. On the Zimbabwe side there were two windows- one for passport holders and one for permit holders. The queue for the permit holders was fairly sizeable. Maybe 20 people, men and women, standing with crumpled and very well used bits of A4 paper. The papers had typed text on one side, and were scattered with stamps on the other side. I asked one of the locals if I could read the paper. Turns out they are permits that allow them to travel between Zambia and Zimbabwe for 30 days, I think the cost was 30usd. I'm not sure the immigration guy was even really studying the bits or paper. He just appeared to be stamping and returning. The border is in the middle of he bridge, we didn't hang around on the bridge due to the spray from the falls. Literally a few hundred meters into Zimbabwe is the entrance to the Victoria Falls National Park. We were surprised at how soon it was 'Oh, is this it here already?!'. $30usd entrance fee and we were in. The park is pretty simple and low key. The country must profit a huge amount from Victoria Falls as essentially their overheads will be pretty low. There is a cafe, a shop and a few information boards just past the entrance, and then a bush walk along the cliff top running opposite the falls. We followed the walk along, stopping at each of the 16 lookout points. I had learnt from the others yesterday- don't leave anything unprotected, water gets everywhere and you will be drenched. I had my dry bag in my rucksack, and my rucksack under my jacket. Initially my rucksack was to the front, but I soon got sick of a large abdominal region, and swapped for the turtle look. 

Once again very much deterred from pregnancy, I could just switch the backpack around, problem solved in an instant! There was a huge amount of spray from the falls. While impressive to see, it does hinder the view of the Falls themselves. The foot is invisible during the wet season, due to spray. The spray can rise 400m and is visible upto 48km away. The amount of water over the falls increase 10fold between the dry and wet season. In the wet season the amount of water that plunges over the edge in 3.5days, is enough to support the entire of New York City for a year. We started at the edge of the falls and traced them along until we were at the foot of the bridge. I agree with the stats- 75-80% of the falls are visible from the Zim side, and 20-25% on he Zam side. I am glad we made the trip. As we walked along the trail there was a sense of anticipation, and a build up to when the majority of the falls would be visible to us. Initially there was just the one section, albeit impressively powerful, it was a small section, and then there were two, and then the vista expanded even more. The falls isn't just one sheet of water, there are five 'falls' over the 1.7km span, each with different names. We started with the Davila Cataract and moved Eastwards. We watched in awe as the 550million litres of water plunged 70-108m every minute. 

The roar was amazing. You could hear them as we passed through the entrance gate. It was like going on a log flume at a theme park. First you walk through the forested area, anticipation building and the roar audible in the distance. As you get closer the ground gets wetter and you start to hear voices. You do the ride. Get wet, and exit through the forested area again. One of the last viewpoints is Danger Point. We walked along here and out to the point, heeding the warnings about sticking to the path. There was so much spray that the view was fog. Like going for a walk in Scotland, except a bit warmer! I pulled my hood around me, dip up my pit vents and didn't look up until we had reached the end of the detour round the point. We were soaked. Right thought. Alistair, unprepared, had no rain jacket and had his nice shirt on in preparation for our Afternoon Tea a bizarre experience of waking through torrential rain, while knowing it's not rain. We stopped by the bathrooms on the way back to ring out our clothing. Back in the bikes we cycled up the hill into Victoria Falls town. Steph had found a cafe - Shearwater Cafe- that we went to check out. Just as we were cycling up the rain started. I stopped to take pictures of the street art just as the pitterpatter turned to torrents. We made it to the cafe just in time. It was full of mazungu (white foreigners) with MacBooks and laptops, obviously using the wifi. It was a very nice cafe, wouldn't have been out of place in London. We ordered. My coffee habit has increased 4 fold on the trip. I am hoping it's not an addiction. A large cappuccino for me and banana bread with espresso butter to share (well, that's what I told myself). The rain got harder and the thunder started. The wifi went off. The cafe went dark. The coffee didn't arrive. The generator took an hour to get started. The burgers and chicken salads were delivered from the kitchen- cooking with gas! But the coffee machine needed more than gas! Eventually the order arrived (complete wth a shot of Kahula too) and my angry disappointment at the lack of warm caffeinated beverages was placated. Essentially we spent a few hours wandering round the falls, a few hours hiding from the rain in a cafe, and then relocated to The Victoria Falls Hotel for afternoon tea. It was a pleasant afternoon however I had been hoping to see some more of the town. Torrential rain, and rivers for roads hindered this. We had some good conversation. I learnt that in Freakonomics (book) the author discusses a dramatic decrease in crime being related to legalisation of abortion. 15or so years previously. The theory being that there were less unwanted kids around to commit crimes and so crime rate decreased! We also speculated on the predisposition of some countries to experience higher rates of crime and violence etc, particularly within the African continent, and what factors could influence this. One theory was that prolonged exposure to violence in youths may lead to a propensity to deal with future situations in a similar way. There is a concern with regards to those regions ruled by ISIS, that a whole generation will have become desensitised to extreme violence (such as beheadings) and therefore will have a very dangerous social structure going forward. Afternoon tea was a novelty. Not something I would have chosen to do, or have done myself, but highly enjoyable- and one of the Lonely Planets must do activites in Vic Falls. The hotel itself is the epitome of Colonialism. It was built in 1904 to accomodate passengers on the railway (to be part of the Cairo to Cape Town rail network). We were lead through elegant rooms with framed pressed flowers on the walls, chez longues, a man playing a grand piano, mounted game heads above he doorways; to be seated on the terrace. 

The terrace overlooks the Victoria Falls bridge and the second gorge on the Zambian side. We were served bottomless tea, sandwiches, scones and some little cakes. All with the rainfall in the background. Very British. A quick ride back to Zambia to find a flooding campsite and a BBQ! My tent appeared to be in a reasonable location, Alistair relocated onto the beerlympics arena. I joined the BBQ and tried to pretend it wasn't raining. Quite a few people were sleeping in pusdles. A year after the Edgecumbe floods we were dealing with rising water levels again. I actually had a good nights sleep- very worth spending the money on a Hilleburg, and choosing an elevated camp spot. 

 tents are expensive, but it has proven it's worth to me on numerous occasions so far, and I now trust it enough to pitch in most places and to sleep in the pouring rain. The only thing they are permeable to is monkeys. The monkeys at this campsite have been in, out and on my tent on numerous occasions. Not impressed! One was even wearing my pillowcase over it's head before!