9/21/17 Victoria Falls

A crested bobbet tried to steal my toast this morning when I got up to get some more juice.  He landed close by so I took his photo.  I didn't finish my toast and when the waiter took my plate away, he put it on a table just outside the dining area.  A red-billed hornbill stole the crust off my plate and enjoyed it while trying to fend off several more who were also interested.  After breakfast we were given a back-of-house tour.  The kitchen is quite small considering that they have to cook for both our camp and the sister camp which is next door behind a tall wooden fence.  There is a storeroom for flour, canned goods, etc. and another for  towels and linens.  The laundry is done by two men who wash everything by hand in two large bathtubs - one for washing and one for rinsing.  The clothes, sheets, towels are then hung on lines to dry in the sun.  While we were getting the tour, Vimbai and the guides were putting our bags back into the plastic garbage bags for our trek back through the coal area.  We set off in the land rovers and met the bus at the ranger station.  We rode through the coal mining area again and eventually got back to the main road.  The driver stopped at one point to show us a place where some sable were being kept.  I didn't quite get the story straight, but I think someone was trying to smuggle them so they are being held here.  We arrived at the hotel and stowed our extra bags since our rooms were not ready yet.  We then got back on the bus and drove to Victoria Falls.  The falls were lovely.  This is a great time of year to see them because even though the flow of water is less at this time of year, when the flow is at its peak, you can barely see the falls due to the large clouds of mist that arises.  We did get some mist at some of the viewpoints, but it felt great as it was quite hot out.  At one point we could look out and see people sitting in the Devil's pool.  The pool is at the edge of the waterfall.  It looked like a crazy idea to me.  One false step and you would go over to your death.  Vimbai told us of a guide she knew who saved a guest who was in danger of falling.  He, however, fell to his death.  We were very lucky as Kelly had told us that she was harassed by the baboons when she was here last year.  We, however, did not see a single baboon at the falls.  We walked back to the car park and enjoyed sitting on the bus in the air conditioning as we waited for the others to arrive.  The bus driver gave us a tour of the town on our way back to the hotel.  We had lunch by the pool and by the time we finished, our rooms were ready.  Dave was ready for a nap, so Lana and I went to the Elephant market.  This is a huge market.  Most of it is open-air, but the people there are a bit pushy wanting you to buy from them and not from the other guy.  We then went to the indoor shops and did a bit of browsing.  The pressure was off at the shops, but, of course, the prices were higher and you were not expected to dicker about the price.  It was less hassle however.  We asked our cab driver, who insisted on sticking with us wherever we went where to find a bookstore.  The one he showed us had used books from about 40 years ago - not what we were looking for so we went back to the hotel.  I blogged for a bit to catch up while Dave was napping until it was time for dinner.  We had a young man come and talk to us about his wooden carved cane/water pipe and then . a group of young men and women came in to sing and dance.  One of the instruments was quite interesting.  Traditionally, it was made from a pumpkin shell, but the modern ones are made of fiberglass.  It is hollowed out and there are two layers of keys which when pressed give a pleasant stringed instrument sound.  After dinner we all retired to our rooms.