The day started in the AirBNB with an inpromptu breakfast made by my Mom, and then a pickup to head to the Victoria Falls "Rainforest". The rainforest itself was a series of walkways and lookouts across from the main falls that stretch about a mile wide, 105m down, with thunderous, cascading power. It truly is a massive, imposing waterfall, with such everlasting power. They call it a rainforest because the spray caused by the falling water is so sizable and voluminous, it creates an everpresent mist, that expands to a steady rain in some places. We've been gloriously lucky with weather, with the actual forecast today being intermittent clouds, zero rain, and about 80 degrees, but if you saw our clothes during these stretches, it would not look that way.
The first strectch is one side of the entry, which goes towards the closest area resembling a river - the Zambezi River, which in this area cascades down in a sizable flurry, if far thinner a breadth than much of the falls to the other side of the entry. At this point, the spray was fairly standard and light, and we were not yet cursing ourselves for foregoing buying a poncho at the entrance. The view from this side was nice, with such a massive amount of water forcefully crashing down, and just glimpses of the wide expanse of waterfall to the other side. The falls themselves all lie on the Zambia side of the border, with the better viewing points being from where we were in Zimbabwe.
Slowly we started walking to the other side of the falls, which you see this massive expanse of waterfall on the other side, spreading a mile wide, with spray and mist encompassing you. It was a challenge even taking photos - me having to recede to slightly less misty places to unlock my phone. But aside the mist was enough sunlight to make it all worthwhile. It truly is an imposing place, but by the end the wetness of the spray took hold and we eschewed seeing the last five lookout points (we got to #11), and took another route back to the start of the rainforest, fully wet but hearts and eyes filled with some great, imposing sights.
The rest of the Victoria Falls tour was a walk across a bridge that crosses the Zambezi, with Zimbabwe on one side, and Zambia on the other. That was a bit thrilling, adding another country to the list, and had a great view of the Zambezi below it. Off the bridge is one of the multiple bungee jumping points - a lot of these more thrill-seeking activities are on the Zambia side. We briefly went into Zambia long enough to get the passport stamp, but by then were quite tired and turned back.
Met on the Zimbabwe side, we went to see the Big Tree, whcih is a giant baobab tree, aged at over 1,200 years, with giant trunks which begat giant branches and a canopy of green. From there we went to River Brewing Company, after our false start the prior night. The place had a great vibe about it, and decent beer - though there seems to be some sort of unofficial 5% ABV cap. The beers were good, and the food was better. A fairly staid bar menu, livened up by an incredible red cabbage and spice sauce to cover the burgers my dad and I had, and a good IPA-fried fish and chips that my mom enjoyed. The place had the distinct vibe of American's moving to Zimbabwe and opening the place, which after asking one of the hostesses, was mostly accurate, with it being owned by three locals and two Americans. One can always tell, with the IPA-heavy draft list a dead giveaway. The place was really quite good, with the food probably outstripping the beer.
After a brief respite at the AirBNB, the final event of the night was maybe the most beautiful, if not the outright best, which was a dinner cruise on the serene, placid, picturesque, stunningly calm Zambezi River. Far away from the thrashing glory of the falls, the cruise took a loop around the large "Long Island" that technically sits on the Zambia side of the river. The cruise was generally staying 1-2 km upstream of the falls, the closest we got was to see the omnipresent cloud of spray. Fear not, though, despite being far away from the town's main attraction, it was incredible.
The food was excellent, with three canapes to start, from a home made bread with mackerel hummus, a lightly roasted brocolli, and a trio of watermelon, brie and sun roasted tomato. A light start, which was then followed by one of the best butternut squash soups I've ever had - so brilliantly glowing was the thick puree. After a lengthy break - probably to give people time to utilize the open bar, of which I tried three different locally flavored gins (1 - protea & hibiscus, 2 - lemongrass & ginger, 3 - blood orange), we anchored up to watch the last vestiges of sunlight, and eat our mains. Mine was a really well cooked beef fillet (filet mignon), with a great reduced wine sauce, puree and vegetables. Given the chef was cooking in a little tiny kitchen in a really beautiful little barge, the food was really impressive.
The setting however blew the food away almost. First was the just everpresent placid tranquility and blue-ness of the Zambezi, with beautiful little shrubs and trees lining each side. It was endlessly stunning, and just a great setting for this cruise - which was about six groups, maybe 15-20 people. There were a few notable sights. First was us getting maybe within 10 yards of a group of hippos. We first heard the noise, then saw them bobbing up and down out of the water. A few times a big one popped its whole head out and opened up wide, yawning or stretching or just being imposing. Whatever it was, it was magical. Next to them were a series of buzzing little cute yellow birds. The whole scene was really something. The next bit was us coming maybe 10 feet away ashore of a silent, still but crazy scary looking giant crocodile. The whole thing, seeing hippos then crocodiles (which despite the size are apparently often killed by hippos) was just a "welcome to Africa" moment, ahead of our day trip safari tomorrow.
The final bit of magic was also a gift from the weather gods. The mostly sunny day exploded at sunset into a series of yellows, oranges and purples - us able to watch the sun's slow descent with locked gazes. It was incredible, and when it was finally gone, we were left to enjoy a clear night and an absurd amount of stars. It was mesmerizing, entrapping us for the last 10 minutes of the cruise, to the walk from the shore back to our mini-bus, to finally the backyard of the AirBNB. It doesn't come out in photos, at least those that can be taken by a phone camera - and maybe it's better that way. Somethings are just better left seen and not perfectly remembered.
This whole day was a perfect encapsulation of what we wanted when coming to Zimbabwe to see the falls. There was the spectacular, from the falls itself to the cruise and the wildlife only visible in Africa. There was the inane, like the few hawkers (to be honest, they're worse in India) and the series of odd charges when navigating the falls and the borders and such. And there was the plain weird, like finding a craft beer oasis in Victoria Falls. But in the end, what we'll remember is the spectacular, and more to come tomorrow in the safari.
