Ollyphants day. Up early to meet the 7am bus. Jos was up, as ever, and was presumably sober. He has a funny Dutch drink (made from 55 herbs) which keeps him alive, chain smokes rollies, has awful teeth and is determined to sleep in the bus rather than disturb other people with his snoring.
Off to the elephant park picking up half-a-dozen people en route including one of the Americans we "rescued" yesterday during rafting. The elephants are orphans (it is illegal, even in Zimbabwe, to take elephants from the wild) who have been trained to take tourists on a short trip around a small game reserve. Helen and I clamber ungainly aboard with our "driver" and waddle off down the track.
At one point, Moka, decides that being the last elephant is a bad idea and starts a run down the track -- this is where you wonder what your insurance company will pay out if you let go of the canvas strap in front of you. It turns out that elephants like being in a particular order and Moka's place is second to back. I'm told that elephant riding is like horse riding only slower. Horse riding now appeals even less.
At little later we stumble across a pack(?) of buffalo who rise to meet us. It all seems a bit tense (a good job the lead man has a rifle) but I manage some wobbly shots of buffalo.
Back to the lodge with Moka eating [entire] branches off trees for some interaction with
the elephants. They like molasses, have squidgy tongues and wierd veneered
sponge-with-hairs skin (it's hard to describe -- go touch and elephant, you'll know what I mean). 
A spot of breakfast at the lodge watching three orphan warthogs who follow the elephants scoffing on dropped molasses before being rushed back to town for some stupid selfish French woman's mother who was due a helicopter ride over the falls at 10.30 or so. We had a quick look at the 15 minute video they produced which was funny but not worth US$40.
We bumped into Connie and Jos. Jos had spent all his money again on curios and spirits -- his vodka (his 55 herb thing has been drunk) cost less than US$1 per bottle. We stocked up with a wholly unecessary 12 litres of bottled water [under advice] and rushed to and from the Inn. We were going to do something useful but got as far as the first cafe and stopped for tea.
Back to Shearwaters' office at 1pm to watch yesterday's rafting video. It's funny to watch (knowing what it felt like inside) but skips the first, scariest rapid. Helen and I decided to buy a copy (at US$45!) but Kim stepped in to split the cost if we send him a copy in Norway. He wanted a copy on the Internet first but I said it might be tricky.
Off to the falls themselves via the Vic Falls Hotel -- a resplendent icon of British colonialism.
Actually, we were told it was a shortcut [to the falls]. We asked about the buffalo roaming the
back of the hotel (it's a wildlife park) but were told it wasn't there. Just before the entrance to
the [falls] park the street hawkers start up in earnest (you can't avoid curio/currency dealers
in Vic Falls) but in particular "Rose Marie" offered some mineral water from her shop declaring
there was no shop inside. No thanks!
US$20 to get in -- they don't accept Zimbabwe dollars! The falls are quite good though at this time of year there isn't "much" water going over -- the flip side is that you can see something other than mist!
Devil's Cataract, Victoria Falls S17.92384 E25.84787.
Curiously, the fencing (a thorny hedge) runs out at the Rainbow Falls which at 108m (and bone dry at this time of year) are the highest. I did some nervy camera work over the edge. On the way to the exit we saw a brilliant blue bird (c.f. the Carmine bee-eater) very pretty.
Rose marie didn't have anything pleasant to say to us as we waved a water bottle at her. On the other hand "Jeffrey" refused to give up. Having failed to sell his elephant curio started insisting I give him a present! Fortunately, a security man from the Vic Falls hotel came to our rescue.
The path was then covered by baboons which we were told were no trouble by another guard who then asked if we'd seen the buffalo sleeping by the path? We carefully took pictures of him from 10m as the woke up and lazily looked around. Cool!
Into the hotel for Afternoon Tea (scones and cream, finger sandwiches and pastries with a choice of tea) Very pleasant and filling. Back to the Inn to freshen up for dinner.
Mama Africa's Eating house was filled with adventure tourist groups (do they all choose the same restaurant on any given night?) We had a debate about how much we had to spend. Do we pay the laundry and bar bill in Zim dollars and not eat, or what? I plumped for a Cape Malay chicken curry. My guess is that they threw a whole chicken into a lawn mower and put curry powder on what was left.
We left (avoiding the group heading for the bars) uncertain in the knowledge that canoeing will use 2 litres of water per person per day for 2.5 days. And we have to do a full 9-12 hours travelling tomorrow. Maybe these 12 litres of water sat at the end of the bed aren't enough?
Copyright 2002 Ian Fitchet. All rights reserved.