Breakfast of champs!

The early bus

Once again, we packed ourselves up, and were on the move. I split my stuff up, only taking what I needed for a few days. I left a big bag at the hostel, and just hoped it would be there when I returned in a few days.

We caught the bus at a hotel a short walk from the backpacker. Before leaving town, we stopped at the local chicken inn, and were provided a snack and refreshment for the bus ride.

Friday night!

After the fun performance if the kids, another beer and a little dancin... We made our way back into town for some dinner at mama Africa. Really yummy food, probably the most authentic Zimbabwean fate we had had to date. Peanut rice, polenta, and meat stews.

I had every intention of hanging out that night at the bar back at our hostel... Which was also one of the local hot spots on a Friday night. Things were just getting started when we got back... I made it through a fraction of a beer, went back to the room, and was out. So much for my big Friday night!

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Tin can kids

Made it back to the backpacker just in time to catch a Friday evening performance of the "tin can kids". These kids were awesome & talented!!! You can check them out on YouTube and Facebook!

Beers behind bars

Not sure if the cars are there to keep the chaos out, or in? Hummm. Was a quiet afternoon, so guess it didn't really matter.

Victory beers!

We were returned to town, tried to get Lori our of paying for the aborted flight, but no dice. Another quick visit with the travel agent, and it was surely beer thirty!

We enjoyed a few cold beverages and time to sit and watch the town go by. Pretty sleepy town, but all the entertainment we need for that moment.

On my way back to solid ground

It was pretty short "flight"... And the dragged me back to solid ground. Not a minute too fast to get the stupid choking harness off!

Flying fox!

Jumped off the platform, and flew out over the river canton! It was fun, and a rush for sure... And of course, I was totally looking down and checking out the rapids below, trying to remember the boat line from high above! Dork.

3-2-1.... Go!

Next victim

My body's natural defenses against extreme actions were apparently on vacation. Clip me in and show me which way to run....

Not today

Lori got herself up on the platform, rigged into the wires and ropes... But was definitely not comfortable with the idea of jumping any longer. The guys did their best job to try to coax her into jumping, but it wasn't the day. Understandable that the human body has all sorts of defenses against jumping off a cliff, and harnesses, again, just not comfortable!

The second victim...

From the side of the jump platform, we watched another girl get roped in and fly out over the canyon. She was a champ. Came to jump by herself (in work clothes), Just got up there, and went without a thought.

Lori was looking more and more uncomfortable, so I volunteered her to go next.

The flying fox

While talking to the travel office at the airport earlier in the afternoon, Lori spontaneously decided that we needed to jump off the Zambezi river canyon wall, and hang on a wire high above the river, better known as "the flying fox". Me? I'm a good wing woman. My travel buddy wants us to jump off a cliff, who am I to rain on the parade?

We were picked up at the backpacker mid-afternoon, taken to the edge, and suited up in body harnesses. Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike harnesses? Turned out, Lori was not a big fan either.

Back in town, time to lock in some plans.

Lori and I got checked into the shoestring backpacker, and after dumping our stuff, we walked a few blocks back to the main street in vic falls, and went straight to the backpacker travel office. We spent a bunch of time talking through the different options people had suggested to us... And a plan finally took form. All the advice people had given us wax invaluable as the travel lady was able to assist in booking the things we had come up with, she really didn't have much to offer in terms if any new ideas.

Here's the plan. We were going to take the Citilink bus to Bulawayo (second largest city in zimbabwe) the following morning at 7:30am, arriving in town around 1pm. The travel lady helped us book budget accommodations in town (Berkeley house, sounded good to us ca girls!) and arrange for someone to meet us at the bus. We would have the afternoon to explore the city, and then we planned to book a tour to go to a nearby national park, Matopo, the following day (Sunday). The return bus to vic falls didn't run on Tuesdays, so I had to head back on Monday. Lori was still working on her "onward plan" from there. She was trying to find a way to travel to Kruger national park in south Africa to meet a friend, but was hoping to avoid having to go all the way to Jo-berg to get there (way outta the way, but the major route everyone was trying to send her on!). We also booked a tour from vic falls on tues to go to the Chobe national park in Botswana. I was scheduled to fly out of vic falls on wed, so every minutes was filled.

Excited to finally have a plan in place, we stocked up on a few provisions at the 7-11 market, and returned to the backpacker to rest for a bit.

Time to finish up

I returned from Africa a week ago. I didn't do a very good job of keeping myself to any kind of schedule upon my return, so jetlag has totally been kicking my ass. Sleeping and meal time have been all over the place! It was great to have the long thanksgiving weekend to unpack and clean up a bit, and getting back to work, as tiring as it has been this week, has done me some good to get back to a routine. In my haze, the trip seems so surreal. A world away, full of so many unbelievable sights and experiences. I've been at a bit of a loss to really describe the trip... Which makes me even happier that I managed to capture so much on the blog, relatively in the moment.

So, before it totally fades, I need to finish it up!

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