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| our pool on the banks of the Zambesi |
Livingstone, Zambia
We landed in Zambia yesterday and we have been busy ever
since we got here. We were picked up at the airport by two Micato
representatives; Joseph, a black Zambian and Mel, a white Zimbabwean. Since Victoria Falls is shared by Zambia and
Zimbabwe, both countries have tourist infrastructure near the falls. Both the
towns of Livingstone, Zambia and Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe have multiple hotels.
It was nice for us to have a Micato person from both countries because they are
both quite different. Joseph’s Zambia is a fully democratic country that just
had voted in a new government, which includes a white Vice-President. Zimbabwe
is a real mess of a totalitarian country, which has a very recent history of
multiple conflicts and a shattered economy. Only 10 years ago, Mugabe, the
President of Zimbabwe, confiscated the farms of all the white farmers in the
country, without compensation to the former owners. He then dished them back
out to his political cronies.
Joseph drove us through the town of Livingstone and deposited
us at the Royal Livingstone Hotel. We checked in and had a little bit of time
to freshen up before Joseph and Mel met us again to take us down the road for a
planned cruise down the Zambezi, aboard a two-deck river boat. As we boarded an
African duo played African instruments similar to xylophones but made out of
African hard wood loosely strapped to a frame over top of graduated sizes of
animal horns. Together these guys made a pretty cool sound together. We were
served finger food and drinks and Mel accompanied us on the boat and was happy
to discuss politics and whatever else we were interested in talking about,
between sightings of crocodiles and hippos. We got back to the hotel and would
eat dinner in the dining room that evening. We needed to get some decent rest
that night because the next day would be a very busy day. The next day’s
activities included a hike to the Eastern Cateracts, a helicopter ride over the
falls, and a boat ride to the Island right on top of the falls where Livingstone
first viewed them in 1855.
Mrs. Gym was dreading the helicopter ride.
Here are some pictures from our first half-day here:
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| The Royal Livingstone Hotel |
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| hotel pool on the banks of the Zambezi |
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| Victoria Falls' mist downriver from the hotel |
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| this is how you keep crocs and hippos out of the lobby |
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| crocodile from the river boat |
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| marimba players |
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| Merry Christmas from Zambia |
Stay tuned for more from Zambia.
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