Victoria falls!

assisted by guides, our group swam through the water to a rock bank at the edge of the falls. from there, we jumped into a pool frothing on the very edge, calked "the devils pool", and we sat on a rock bank with less than 2 feet of wet rock separating us from the drop off of the falls. pictures in the pool are on my other camera, so you will have to wait till u get home for those action shots.... but nothing short if phenomenal, and nauseating!

after the swim, we retreated to a small tent nearby, and had a wonderful lunch together.

truly an awe inspiring place in the world! i am a very fortunate girl to be here.

standing on the edge

a truly fortunate girl. :)

boat to the falls

from the royal livingstone resort, we boarded a small boat, and were shuttled out to the last island in the flow to the falls. the "smoke" in the distance is the spray from the falls. really... not so distant!

girls on adventure in Africa!

me and Lori!!

hello Zambezi!

out off the back of the hotel, we had our first view of the river, and rapids! standing on the Zimbabwe side, the bridge in the distance is the crossing to the Zambia side. from the hotel... we trekked quite a distance (in the heat) to the bridge... paid our exit from Zimbabwe, AND enterance to Zambia.. and continued onto the livingstone resort.

day 2 agenda...

so our plan for the day today was a full one. we set off from our "camp" (I still use this term lightly!), and headed into the town of Victoria falls proper, and parked at the historic Victoria falls hotel. pretty swank old place!

yup. that's how we roll in the bush.

eating breakfast... herd of zebra grazing, and wandering by. I am in love with the zebra! :)

bright and early start to day 2...

I slept like a champ for mist of the night. was wide awake at 4am (not sure how that time factors into the jetlag/time difference?)... but managed to stay snuggly in bed till 6:30. we had a 7:45 am pick up for an adventurous day 2. Lori and I made some coffee/tea in our palatial suite, and packed up.

back over to ursula camp for breakfast with the group... we had to kick around for a bit before breakfast. the lightening storm knocked the power out at Ursula, so they needed to truck some water in... but we got to hang out and watch the amazing birds in the trees while we relaxed. saw paradise flycatchers, and hooded kingfishers. unlike their ca cousins, the kingfishers had brilliant blue tails, and a red beak.

sun goes down on day one.

oh what a day it was! I am still in shock and awe of all the things I saw in one short afternoon.

we closed the evening back a Ursula camp with a lovely big meal together. squash soup, followed by roasted chicken with fresh potatoes and steamed veggies. and wine. bottles of yummy south African wine. topped off with a little thunder and lightening storm out over the bush.

I was nothing short of amazed that I made it through the day awake... and happily passed out by 10pm... resting up fir a big day ahead!

the peanut gallery

more mammals

we were graced by the presence of 2 adult and one baby eland. this adult has the little birds hanging out on his back. (have to check the books for the bird name). lots of variations of horned animals walked through. eland, kudu, waterbuck, and spring buck.

I swear at some point I really was so overwhelmed by all going on around me (capped off by the jet lag) that I swear mist of this had to be a hallucination!

and this was just my first afternoon in africa!

yup... we were that close!

after lunch wildlife!

we went to Ursula camp (where the other half) is staying fir our first lunch together as a group. we are the only group using ursula camp, and have a lovely space to dine at a big table outside. Laurence and piero gave us a full overview of the trip, and we all started to get to know one another. 10 women, 1 guy, and our 2 guides so far.

after lunch we returned to Stanley camp, and after a quick dip in the pool to refresh, our lawn turned into a regular mob scene of wildlife! we all laid out on the edge of the wall, chatted and were amazed by the life around us!

a little herd of elephants (we counted at least 8) came super close to where we were, and totally put on quite a little show. I totally think they were showing off fir us.

...and don't forget the birds!

the top if the tree is full of little weaver bird nests. quite the center of activity throughout the day. busy and vocal little birds!

grazing pond

there is a pond in the yard that attracted a revolving door of animals... including this guy, either a waterbuck ir a cape buffalo.

...back to the wildlife.

our "backyard" when we arrived was FULL of bush animals grazing. pictured below was a bunch of zebra, including the cutest little baby zebra! it is spring down here, so all the animals have little ones around!

i can't believe it, zebra in our backyard.

our "room"...

...is off the hook! met up with Lori in the pool, and she showed me the room. it is huge! full living room, bedroom and bathroom with a big tub, shower, ac, tv's, minibar, and all sorts of crazy luxury! very much not what I expected our "camp" to be.

the bush "camp"

as I have mentioned before... I didn't have any time to really research my trip before I left, so other than the basics of what I would be doing, and what I needed to bring, I am just taking in the details as I go.

not even 10 minutes from the airport, we arrived at the "camp". our group is split into "huts" in 2 locations. and by huts... it turns out we are in a really gorgeous exclusive and fairly luxurious African bush camp, with the huts ( thatched roof) sitting on the edge of an expansive nature preserve.

the first hour here was fairly overwhelming to take in! meeting all the new people, settling into the accommodations, and on my, the wildlife........

arrived!

we stepped off the plane to wonderful dry heat, and made our way through the one room airport. we had to line to to "clear customs", and purchase our visas for Zimbabwe.... which took quite a long time for the officers to review and fill out all the documentation by hand. starting to understand Africa time.

we met one mire member of our travel crew in line, Ted, also a sf local... and were met by Laurence, or trip leader, and Piero a guide from Peru.

Zimbabwe out of the plane window

I met erica and her step-mom dee, and her friend Jessica in the airport just before boarding the last flight. and, I relaxed a little when I saw my bags loaded onto the plane, but by now was getting pretty travel wary. pretty ready to "be there".

...a little too close for comfort!

after over 11+ hours on the plane from London to Johannesburg, and I am starting to feel a little punchy! made it through customs, collected my bags, and apparently missed the "international flight recheck" sign. ended up in the main terminal of the airport to check in for the final leg of the trip to Victoria falls... only to be informed the flight checkin was closed for my flight! yikes. still an hour to departure, they snuck me in, and I am just praying my bags also make it. fingers crossed.

well, i made it to africa! vic falls... here I come!

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