Day 14 started with a morning trip to Victoria Falls. We were told to be sure to have a raincoat, umbrella, and shoes with rubber soles. I would sugges that a person visiting the falls wear a bathing suit, tennis shoes, and bring a towel. There is nothing that is going to keep you from getting drenched unless it is a wet suit. The Falls are so intense that it is like walking in the worse rainstorm you can imagine. The mist is so dense and high that you can see it from a great distance; it looks like a cloud. Because the water was high, it was hard to get a good impression so I just bought a postcard later to see how it really looked. Some folks took a 15 minute helicopter ride over the Falls and I would have but the copter only seated 4. Darn it! haha
After the trip to the Falls, we stopped at a craft market. This was the worst part of the entire trip. Zimbabwe has an unemployment rate of 90% and the people are desperate to sell anything. They attacked us like flies trying to negotiate a price. Every stall had basically the same stuff in it so there is no need to walk through the entire area. I bought stuff that I didn't want or need but they don't want a handout as much as to 'sell' their products. When I ran out of my $30's, they would ask to trade for an ink pen or sadly, my socks. My socks were soaking wet from the falls and I just wasn't going to do that. It was so difficult to be there.
The money of Zimbabwe is worthless. The tyrant Mugabe has totally demolished the economy. Everyone pays to go to school. It cost $20 per child per quarter but very few can afford it. We learned about sponsoring children/schools from a man from England (formerly of Zimbabwe). It takes bags full of 'money' to buy a bit of bread. He printed 100 Trillion Dollar currency. I purchased a 50 Billion Dollar bill. I can now feel free to spend any money I have because I'm leaving the 50 billion to Clint as his inheritance. I paid $1.35 (1 South African Rand) for the bill. We were told to NOT take any pictures of government buildings or police or our cameras would be confiscated. There was no interest in taking pictures of either, so it wasn't an issue. The staff at the hotel was wonderful and friendly with a great sense of humor. I don't know how they are able to withstand such living conditions. Most of us left clothes, pens, medications like aspirin and benedryl, shoes, socks, cookies, basically anything we could leave for the housekeepers to take home. Tips were generous because they are pooled among all the staff.
So, anyway, later in the day, several of us went to the Lion Adventure. This was one of the best parts of the trip. We visited a project to increase the lion population <
http://www.lionencounter.com/>. the lions are kept in a natural environment. They are not penned up or on leases. There are some folks that work with them that accompanied our visit (one had a big gun). We were able to pet a 10 month old lion and a 4.5 month old cub. You may think that it's not a dangerous thing but if you see their paws and teeth, you think differently. There isn't a reason to worry about them attacking you because they aren't afraid of humans. But they like to play by swatting at you and nipping, which could result in some bad injuries. We were all very careful to not pet their foreheads because they don't like that. We were told not to rub their bellies because they act just like our housecats and raise their paw to our hands. It was great fun and I will have a picture of my personal encounter.
When we returned from the lion walk, we ate at restuarant called The Boma <
http://www.thebomarestaurant.com/> Upon entering, our faces were painted just a little and we were wrapped in a nice piece of batik, which turned out to be a pretty good napkin! The menu included lots of game meat--wart hog, kudu, crocodile, impala--and a huge salad bar. The entertainment was very fun and energetic. We were all given drums and had an interactive dance. There was probably 200 people there and it was really something to hear the drumming.
By the time I finally got to go to bed, I was exhausted from all the activities of the day but I doubt I'll ever forget them.
