It has been another amazing few days in Zim :-) Thanks a mil for all of your mails and messages, it was great to hear from everyone.
I have visited Botswana and Zambia since I last wrote. we started off by visiting 2 national parks in Zim and on teh first one because we were with a professional hunter and fully qualified guide we went on a walking safari and were able to approach white rhino (they are the friendly ones)!he photos we got were amazing, 2 young males being put back in tehir place by an old fella, it was incredible!We also got very close to hippo and a big croc!We managed sunrises and sunsets and saw a lot of game through the week. The next day we visited Hwange, which is their biggest national park but unforunately like the rest of the country it has suffered and many water holes etc are dry and poaching is a big problem so we did not see very much, except ended up VERY close to 2 big bull elephants on our night safari!Our accomodation was very cool .. outdoor (cold) shower, complete with its own set of frogs!
After that we headed to Vic Falls , the adventure centre of Zim but like everywhere else there are almost no tourists, not even at teh park,I found it all a bit depressing and very frustrating. We headed straight for the booking office and myself Natalie and Fiona booked ourselves onto an 8,000 foot skydive across teh border in zambia ... it was INCREDBILE or as teh Ozzies here say .... it was AWESOME!!Cannot describe the fear or the ecitement or the feeling as I stepped out onto the wheel ... then suddeny the guy let s roll off and there was a 23 second freefall, his computer said we were going 103 mph!!You should see my face in my DVD, my cheeks look they are going to wobble off. Then there was the sense of relief when I felt the parachute work and knew I was going to live to tell the tale . Can't wait to do it again!!
After that we headed to teh fancy safari lodge whose bar gives you blankets so that you can watch a waterhole below and drink your sundowners. That was followed by a trip to Boma Restaurant,a game restaurant, all you can eat for 40 dollars,tons of bread, real butter, salad with dressing,soup,warthog,impala,ostrich and then a huge set of desserts and this is where i earned my food hangover ... choc mousse and meringues for a tummy that has been eating rice,stew and plain salads etc for 2 weeks,i was not well the next day!!!But it was totally worth it :-) We had our faces painted and tehn we all learnt to play the African drums!
Next day was Botswana to visit Chobe national Park,its most famous gamepark and it was brilliant, South Africa safaris that I ahve done have paled in comparison.We saw lots of animals and the best bit was that we got to watch 2 wild lionesses ... incredible!We did a boat cruise int eh afternoon and the animals are much calmer about boats so you get closer and they are more natural,we watched as about 8 elephants played in the water right in front of us :-)
That night we ate in what was once the best restaurant in town. The waiter started by saying, for starters we have no starters and we only have 4 mains.Prices were in Zim dollars, it is trillions of dollars for a steak at this stage.To convert to US, you divide by about 100 billion,11 zeros I think!
Next day I visited the Falls on my own while the others went white water rafting, i will jump out of a plane anyday rather than go through rapids!Last night we headed to another national park and camped on a island ad we could hear hippos honking as we went to sleep,. And once again we got wonderful food,salad with dressing (you don't know how rare dressing and sauces are)We even got french toast this morning and maple syrup ... there were a lot of very excited tourists at the breakfast table!
A 7 hour drive home today in a not very comfy bus but we did make it in time for dinner!However, there is no cold water in camp, some problem that has been going on for days so you cant flush the toilet,have a shower etc ... not good!And I could really do with a shower after camping,driving around in teh dust etc!
i shall leave it there,didnt mean to make this such a long one!Will try and get to mails on Sunday, hope everyone and everything is well xxxx
