Dad's trip, pt 1

Dad's Trip, Part I- Zambia, a moment in Zimbabwe, and Victoria Falls

After spending a long weekend in Maputo, going to the Peace Corps office, seeing friends, and enjoying a bit of "life in the big city" I boarded an airplane on Monday, June 10th (first time in over a year on an airplane) to Johannesburg. I was indulged with my very own seat for travel, complete with a seatbelt, snacks, and cold refreshments. Is this what travel is like on the other side? I arrived in Jo-berg safely and easily, waited a total of 3 minutes in front of customs for my Dad, as we had decided that would be our meeting spot. Minding my own business, I suddenly hear "HEY GIRLIE GIRL!" that familiar nickname could have only been meant for me, my eyes quickly scanned the crowd, seeing my Dad, I drop my bags and break into a sprint, literally jumping into his arms and knocking him over. MY DAD CAME TO AFRICA!!

With glowing smiles on our faces we entered into the customs line, Dad pointing out and introducing me to all of his new friends he made on the plane. . . Like father like daughter, we have the gift of gab. That night we stayed in a lovely guest house in Johannesburg, complete with a free shuttle to the airport and everything. Hot running water, my own bed, and a TV with cable to boot! We were able to skype with my mom, my brother, and I got to talk with one of my best friends from college. It was an easy day of travel, with a fantastic ending.

The next morning we had our complimentary breakfast at the guest house, and then it was back off to the airport to catch our plane to Victoria Falls!! A quick and easy flight, with the falls visible from the plane as we landed - I don’t know what I was more excited about, a new country to check off my list, the fact that I was traveling with my Dad, or actually seeing Victoria Falls. Sensory overload! We had no problem getting through customs, collecting our bags, and meeting our very own private chapa back to the hotel. -when I entered the small bus, I looked around, asking the driver if we were waiting for more people? "No, it is just the two of you" he said with a smile, and proceeded to hand me a chilled bottle of water. Needless to say, you could have picked my jaw up off the floor. An entire chapa just for the two of us?! Chilled water?! What sort of fantasy vacation had I landed myself on?

And that was just the beginning. Pulling up to the hotel, we were instantly served a delicious drink at check-in (free cold drinks in Africa. . . I was blown away) and shown to our room. Now, the hotel we were staying in. . . wait, hotel is not the appropriate word - resort? swanky accommodations? a dream come true? yeah, those all seem a bit more fitting to what we had going for us.

That afternoon we had a private tour of the falls, complete with poncho's to shield us from the ever blowing mist. We started at the top edge of the falls on the Zambia side, walked around onto the Knife's Edge Bridge (where we got soaked) and saw the falls from every angle along the way. Victoria Falls is 1.2km wide, dividing Zambia from Zimbabwe. The sheer power of the ever pouring water creates a defining roar, non-stop mist that shoots upward, side-ways, and pours down on you at the same time. It forces a person to gaze upon its majesty, taking in the splendor of it all and realizing just how small and insignificant you are, compared to something like this. It is truly humbling.

Words cannot describe what it was like to witness one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Mind-blowing, incredible, extraordinary, fantastic, awe-inspiring - these all come to mind, but hardly do the falls and the feeling you have standing there on the Knife's Edge Bridge gazing at the sheer expanse of the falls, soaking wet from the non-stop mist, laughing with your Dad about how unbelievably amazing this experience is.

And that was only day 1.

Day 2; we spent another full day at the falls, doing a bridge tour, hiking down to the bottom of the falls -battling off crazy baboons on the way (true story, not a fabrication!) and in the evening we had a lovely sunset cruise along the Zambezi River, saw some hippo's, a beautiful sunset, and indulged in free alcoholic beverages! We met a nice mother/daughter duo who had been traveling in Southern Africa for a few weeks. Lovely ladies, who just couldn’t believe my living conditions here in Moz (which really aren't so bad, or I'm just jaded). It was nice conversation, the sunset was gorgeous, and life couldn’t have been better. But then, it did get better - one thing I have failed to mention about this wonderland where we were staying was the all-you-can-eat buffets for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now, for those of you in Americaland who may be rolling your eyes at this comment, please remember that as a PCV I don’t have access to insane amounts of food such as this. The first thought that ran through my mind was, "wow, that one part of the buffet there would feed my neighbors and their family for a week", and then my second thought was "mmm, I wonder what it tastes like". Needless to say, the workouts and eating healthy that I have been doing here at site, went out the window quickly, as I proceed to stuff my face with delicious things. Cheese and lox?! Dried fruit, yogurt, and granola for breakfast?! YUMM.

Day 3, back to the falls. The last morning we were there Dad and I woke up very early, and walked to the edge of the falls on the Zambia side, where we watched the sunrise. Now, there is constantly mist surrounding and rising from the falls, but in the mornings, before the sun burns of some of it, the cloud of mist is absolutely massive. As the sun rose, hitting the cloud of water particles turning it bright pink, it seemed as if it was a giant mass of cotton candy rising from the base of the falls. As the sun continued to rise, we were lucky enough to witness a full spectrum and arc of a rainbow. It was absolutely breathtaking.

Unfortunately this is when we had to say "tchau" to the first part of our adventure. Boarding our own private shuttle again, we headed to the airport where we returned to Johannesburg for the evening- staying in the same lovely guest house.

Thus ends the first part of our adventure!