Tales From the Chicken Bus

Day 254

One of the great things about Jolly Boys is they have a free shuttle to the falls for the first 14 people who sign up each day. Its only one way but saves about 25,000 Kwacha ($7 CAD) in taxi fare, a decent savings when things cost quite a bit here. As we ate breakfast we discussed doing rafting or walking with lion cubs. We always thought we would go rafting at the source of the Nile instead of here since we heard it was cheaper. So that left us with the rare opportunity to walk with lion cubs. It was $120 U.S. per person for a few hours. It sounded unique but also sounded odd to me. I mean why were these lions here? Where did they come from? Are they ever going to be released to the wild? We tried to get these answers from the friendly girl at the tour desk but she just didn’t know. I didn’t know if I wanted to spend $240 on what might be something I regret in the end.

At 10am it was time to climb in the mini van for Victoria Falls, or Mosi al Tunya as the natives call it. Victoria Falls was named by David Livingstone, the first white man to see it. He decided to name it after his queen, I guess the real name just wasn’t good enough. Well at least the Mosi name lives in the form of Zambia’s favourite beer. The van stopped outside the modest entry gate to the national park. We all exited and paid our $10 U.S. entry fee. Again a fee that was posted only in U.S. dollars. I asked, “Can I pay in Kwacha?” “Yes, no problem”. With the rate they used it worked out to be a few dollars cheaper to pay in kwacha. I figure you have your own currency you should use it.

We entered the park and walked along a path through the forest. We passed some vervet monkeys and a man selling paintings then we caught our first glimpse of the falls. Through the trees I could see some water falling, but not a whole lot. We exited the forest and came to a view point on the edge of the canyon. We had a great view of the falls across from us, problem was the falls were little more than a trickle of water. There were about 3 sections that we could see that contained quite a bit of water, but most of the falls were dry. Further down as the canyon narrowed we saw a huge volume of water plunging over the side. However from our vantage point it was mostly mist we saw. Standing here looking out we could see that in the dry season Zimbabwe is the side to best view the falls. We walked as far as we could and stood at the end of the viewing area. I’ll admit it, I was disappointed. I mean we did hear it was the dry season but this was very dry, almost dried up when I compared it to photos from the rainy season. Don’t get me wrong it was still very beautiful. We began to walk back when we saw people across the canyon, atop of the falls. I wanted to get over there, but how?

Jordana and I followed the path back to the ticket office, before the office was another path that led to the other side. We reached the shore of the Zambezi river. There was not much water and plenty of exposed rocks. We waded through knee deep water and skipped along rocks and eventually reached the edge of the falls. It was incredible to think the volume of water that would be soon flowing here after the rains. Today we stood right at the edge on the falls looking way down below. Imagine doing such a thing at Niagara if there was ever such little water. Even though the volume of water just wasn’t what we hoped to be able to be standing where we are is an incredible thing.

After a couple of hours at the falls we caught a taxi back into town and stopped off at the Ocean Basket for lunch. A South African restaurant that we actually never went to there but decided wed try it here in Zambia. The food was OK if very overpriced. It began to thunder and soon after the heavy rain came. We tried to wait out the storm but eventually made a run for it when it let up. Livingstone’s streets turned very muddy with the rains, which only made the already scruffy town look that much more unattractive. We returned to Jolly Boys not overly wet and both relaxed with a books as the rain still fell.

We decided that night that the activities on offer were just way out of our price range and to be honest they weren’t really things that we had a great desire to do anyways. We came here to see the falls and that we did, one day of rest and relaxation and the next we’d be off to the capital, Lusaka. I was interested to see the countryside of Zambia. A remote and rural country that the guidebooks tout as “real Africa”, well outside of Livingstone at least. I’m not sure what that meant exactly but I figured if anything it would be less touristy.

Day 253

It felt a bit strange going to the airport, its only the 3rd flight we’ve used to get somewhere on the trip. Strange but good as well. In South America we had a clear goal, overland from Toronto south to Tierra del Fuego. Here in Africa it was a bit unclear if we had an overland goal anymore. I had hoped it was north through Zimbabwe or Mozambique but neither was going to work. We have discovered that traveling overland on a budget and doing activities in Africa is very difficult. So taking a cheap flight, like todays saves us time and probably money. Overland we’d have to go through very expensive Botswana and it would take 2 days to reach Livingstone. Today we will arrive 2 hours after take off.

The hostel had a free drop off service at the airport, one of the reasons we wanted to stay there. We checked in for the flight where we met a interesting fellow Canadian in line. She was a middle age ex-banker from Newfoundland, living in Oakville who was now running an children school in Lusaka. The school was for children affected or infected by HIV/AIDS. We walked around the shops in the newly named and renovated Oliver Tambo Airport. Soon enough we boarded our British Airways flight to Livingstone, Zambia.

The flight was quick, with a decent meal and lots of empty seats. As we neared Livingstone the pilot announced out the left window we could view the falls. It was quite a sight below. The snaking Zambezi river with a cloud of mist rising above the green landscape, it was a beautiful sight without much civilization in view. We touched down at the small airport and pretty much drove right up to the door of the airport. Upon entering we were immediately at customs and were second in line. “$50 U.S. please”, the smiley customs agent asked from us. I never understand why countries demand payment for a visa in a currency other than their own. Zambia will only accept $50 American and nothing else. I’m not sure what happens if you don’t have it but lucky enough I keep a stash for situations just like this. Don’t tell any muggers that.

We have booked 3 nights at Jolly Boys Backpackers here and they had free airport pickup. We quickly grabbed our bags from the carousel and I excitedly searched for a sign with my name on it. I’ve never had anyone pick me up from the airport before with one of those signs. “Jolly Boys – Michael Coroneos”. I looked, and nothing. From the runway to customs to baggage claim to the airport exit was about 50 meters so we were just about outside. Where was my sign?! “Sir, do you need a taxi?” A man asked. “No, there should be someone here picking us up, Jolly Boys”. He led us outside where a large man was having a smoke while holding a small chalk board. It read “Michael”, I was disappointed. This wasn’t the way I pictured my first time being picked up at an airport to be. We’ll have to try again somewhere else.

Nevertheless he was a friendly guy and soon enough we were pulling into Jolly Boys Backpackers. We checked in and settled into our neat little thatch a-frame bungalow. It was well designed with screens all around for ventilation and a good fan. The hostel was pretty nice, a pool, bar and even small gift shop. Jordana and I set out to get some Zambian Kwacha from an ATM and find some early dinner. Livingstone is surprisingly pretty much a simple one street town. Its a bustling street but I pictured something different for such a touristy spot. With the falls 11km away most of the upscale accommodation is located outside the town, so its actually not a very touristy place.

“Money?! Money?! Change here!” It seemed every other guy on the street was a money changer. I just used the ATM to withdrawal money but I did have some South African Rand I changed with one guy to $ U.S. for a great rate. Gotta love the black market. It didn’t take long for Jordana and I to notice how friendly everyone seemed. People smiled as the walked the street and even the ones that tried to change money or sell us something just wanted to say hi and know how we were after they knew we weren’t needing their business services. One young man selling wood cravings just wanted something from Canada to trade for something he had made. Really, he didn’t want any money. We felt bad cause we don’t have anything “Canadian” with us, we used to but have given it all away already. For dinner we found a strange Zambian pub where American country music played. We talked about the friendly people of the day and tried to decide what activities we may want to try here. Apart from Victoria Falls everything from white water rafting to bungee jumping or walking with lion cubs is on offer. Problem is it all comes at a steep price. Tomorrow we are off to see Victoria Falls, a place I’ve heard makes Niagara look small. We shall see.