December 19, 2012
Today is our last full day in Africa. We’ve experienced so much – from wine tours to scenic drives to leopard, giraffe, lion, rhino, and elephant encounters – that it feels like we’ve been here for a lifetime. Yet, it’s been so magical that it feels as if no time has passed at all.
We’ve been completely present here in Africa – no email, no Facebook, no cell phones. This is the longest period of time I’ve been “unplugged” and yet, I feel entirely connected. 
We began our day with an excursion to Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world. The width, in conjunction with the height, of Victoria Falls forms the largest sheet of falling water in the world. The spray from the falls often rises more than 1,300 feet. We’ve been able to see the spray from miles away since we’ve been in Zimbabwe. 
The falls truly are spectacular. We walked about a mile and saw the continuous flow of water the entire length of our walk. In some places it felt like the water was pouring uncontrollably over the edge. In other places, the flow felt more controlled, more consistent. 
Feeding into the falls is the Zambezi River, which looks like a huge, still, flat, body of water. . . until it reaches the edge and forms Victoria Falls. 
We saw a surprising number of people tempting fate, ignoring the danger warnings, and hanging near the edge of the viewing points. I didn’t experience any fear, but I do have great respect for the power of nature. Watching an elephant knock down a tree directly in front of us and hearing a lion’s roar from nearly 8 kilometers away – all in less than 24 hours – gave me an even greater reverence for nature. 
We spent a decent amount of time at Victoria Falls. I found myself spontaneously meditating several times. The sound of the water, along with the balance of beauty and strength, absorbed me. The quietness of my mind was punctuated by the sound of water crashing into the river below.
We learned about geographic changes to the falls in the past, as well as some forthcoming. Each time an island or piece of land falls down with the force of the falls, it changes the landscape and flow patterns of the water. It can take many lifetimes for this to occur, but as our guide described the developments, it was easy to look out at the falls and clearly see what he was describing.
After getting sufficiently soaked from the spray of the falls, we turned to head back to the lodge. On our way out of Victoria Falls park, we came across a large troop of Baboons. We didn’t seen any of the infamous, mischievous Baboons when we were in Cape Town and those we saw during our stay at Lion Sands were not in direct contact with humans. The baboons at Victoria Falls park have a lot of contact with humans and therefore can be quite. . . interesting.
We hadn’t expected to see the baboons, so I was surprised to turn the corner and see a gigantic male, lying spread eagle, with a smile on his face, taking care of some sexual urges, adjacent to the sidewalk. As I turned my head, I saw we were surrounded by baboons. Some of them jumped from tree to tree as we walked by, others approached us on the sidewalk. One baboon was not happy about having his picture taken and jumped out of a tree toward the head of the woman who had a camera in his face. 
We left the baboons and boarded our van back to the lodge. As usual, my friend and I weren’t ready to go back to the hotel, so we asked the driver to drop us off at the artists village. The moment we stepped off the van, we were surrounded by artists showing us their works.
I met a man named J.J. who carved a beautiful bird statue out of stone. The man next to him had made various stone sculptures including elephants, leopards, figurines. I wanted to purchase dozens of them. Speaking to the artists and seeing the results of their hard work was amazing. I envisioned carrying my luggage, which had already increased by one duffle bag, during the remaining three flights. Unfortunately, I had to be selective with my purchases.
I bought two stone statues and then went inside a building where dozens of women were selling goods. Some locals had advised us to support the women as much as possible because “they’re the ones who take care of and feed the children.” We took their advice to heart and spent a great deal of time with the women.
I ended up purchasing several sets of carved wooden serving spoons, some wood dishes, stone dishes, and necklaces. 
At one point, I looked over at my friend and laughed. She had at least 20 handmade bags draped from her arms and was surrounded by women holding up dozens more bags. “Make a decision!” one of the women commanded, jokingly. My friend’s “decision” ended up including 11 bags and several other items she purchased as gifts.
With our hands and our bags full, and our wallets empty, we caught a ride back to the lodge. We laughed as we spread out all of our purchases on our beds. How will we get all of this home?!?
As most of our days on this trip have been, today was jam packed with activities. Fortunately, we had time to grab a quick bite and a cocktail prior to our sunset river cruise on the Zambezi. We’ve made some good friends on this trip and it was fun to be reunited with them during the river cruise. Everyone was in a celebratory mood, enjoying every last moment of our time in Africa.
When we boarded the boat, we light-heartedly asked for clarification about which direction we’d be traveling. Earlier today, we witnessed the force of the Zambezi River as it rushed over Victoria Falls, we reminded our captains. They quickly soothed us with unlimited cocktails and some appetizers.
As we cruised around the Zambezi, we saw a baby crocodile lounging on the river bank. We were able to pull the boat fairly close to shore so we could observe the little croc for a while. 
As we continued up the river, we came across several hippos. Our guides informed us that we couldn’t get quite as close to the hippos. They reinforced what we learned at Lion Sands – hippos are very territorial and can become aggressive if you enter their territory. We watched the hippos from a safe distance and then cruised around the river some more.
We also saw impala prancing along the river banks and some birds we hadn’t previously seen. 
By the time our river cruise concluded, everybody on board had more than enough drinks. Our next activity was to take part in a special dinner, featuring traditional African food, dance, and drumming. Rather than get dropped off at our rooms, we asked the driver to take us all directly to the Boma, where our dinner would take place.
We were the first ones to arrive at the Boma, so there was only one thing to do – have some drinks at the bar, while we waited for the restaurant to open. The remainder of the night was exceptionally entertaining. We sat at a large table, with the friends we made on the trip. At the instruction of our server, we blindly drank the most disgusting drink any of us had ever tried. We laughed at our ignorance afterwards. “We should have known it wouldn’t be good when he said, ‘don’t smell it’,” our new friend, Ben, reminded us.
We ended up turning the disgusting drink into a phenomenal people-watching game. Each time people sat down to dinner, we watched their faces as they too blindly drank the disgusting drink. It was hysterical to witness the domino effect of their expressions as, one-by-one, they tasted the drink.
The food was served buffet style and there was plenty of it. There were meats and stews that were new to us. Having been adventurous with the drink, some of us were a bit more reserved with the food, veering away from things like the worms. Nonetheless, there was great variety and we were sufficiently fed and hydrated.
As we neared the end of our meal, a group of drummers and dancers came out and performed in the center of the room. 
When we finished our meal, they handed everyone in the restaurant a drum. Have you ever walked into Guitar Center on a Saturday afternoon? Imagine a couple hundred people banging on drums at the same time.
It sounds as if it could be painful, but it was hysterical and a lot of fun. It was amazing to witness how everyone – no matter their age – became a child when they had the drum on their lap. Nobody waited for instruction nor a “go” signal. Everyone just started banging away. Eventually, the leaders reigned us in and had everyone in the restaurant drumming at their command. It was a blast.
When we got back to the room, we looked at our luggage, alongside our numerous additional bags of gifts, and laughed again. We’ll pack up tomorrow. It’s time to get a good night’s sleep. We have 48 hours of travel ahead of us and tonight is the last time we’ll be able to lie in a bed until we get back to Los Angeles.
Leaving 
Things appear to be more organized than we humans are used to. I inquired about the elephants: “Why does it seem like they have a predetermined plan that they’re all aware of and on board with?”
Every now and then today, somebody would exclaim, “
This morning we again woke up before our 5:00 am wake-up call. Prior to arriving at Lion Sands, I mistakenly assumed it would be challenging to wake up so early. As it turns out, the sun begins to rise and the birds begin singing around 4:30 in the morning. Last night we slept with the curtains and glass doors open, so the sounds of the river and the birds, along with the morning light, came pouring through the screen doors this morning.
Monday
We absorbed Marion’s verbal history of each point along the route as we stood outside, taking in the views. This was a very impressive and impactful way to learn more about South Africa. Marion was born and raised here. She has experienced the development of these regions first-hand and has vast knowledge and wonderful stories to share.
We also learned why there are two lighthouses at the Cape of Good Hope, what the city is doing to manage the baboons, and the vast ecosystems of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans which intersect here. As we were leaving the Cape of Good Hope, Marion pointed out two eland. Eland, the largest antelope, are shy animals so we were quite lucky to see them. Marion suggested we journey to see the old bushmen cave paintings of eland the next time we come to South Africa. “The bushmen revered the eland,” she noted.
After lunch, we headed to Boulders Beach to see the penguin colony. The penguins settled on the beach, in a residential neighborhood, in 1982, much to the dismay of the human residents. The penguins are protected, however, and Boulders Beach is a great place to view them in their natural habitat. We did notice some entrepreneurial human residents who had converted their garages into mini businesses to capitalize on this relatively recent tourist destination.
One of the things I’ve come to appreciate about South Africa is that the animals appear to have the right of way. There seems to be an awareness and respect that we – people – are the visitors in the animals’ habitat. I’m often upset by the removal of wild animals from “suburban” areas in Los Angeles. Where are the animals supposed to go as we continue to build on their land and force them out of their natural habitat? It’s inspiring to witness some of the fair, respectful, wildlife policies in South Africa.
We were exhausted, but we’re in Africa and we didn’t come here to sleep. So, we dropped off our stuff at the hotel and took the cable car up Table Mountain. It was extremely crowded as a result of discounted prices after 6pm. Rather than fight the crowds for a spot at the edge of the mountain, we purchased some Pinotage, found a quiet table, and watched the sunset peacefully.
We woke up early this morning so we’d have time for breakfast prior to the day’s wine tasting adventures.
Our wine tasting began at 
We selected a special tasting that included cheese pairing. “Colette! It’s 9:15 in the morning and we’re already drinking,” my friend exclaimed, reveling in the absurdity of it all. “Cheers!” I replied, raising my glass. I had no doubt we’d be able to endure the extended day of wine tasting.
Taking a break from wine, we set off to 
It appears 
Cheetah Outreach raises the dogs alongside chickens so that the dogs naturally become protective of the chickens and scare away potential predators. There are fewer than 1,000 cheetahs remaining in South Africa and Cheetah Outreach’s mission is to help ensure their survival in the wild.
Just as our group was about to leave, another group was headed down for a tour of Ernie Els’ private cellar. We spoke with both guides, as well as the staff at Ernie Els, and arranged to stay behind for the special tour.
I’m sitting awake on the second of three flights to South Africa. I should be sleeping now to get my body adjusted to the new time zone, but alas the Tylenol PM has worn off. Back-up plan activated: melatonin, red wine, and writing until the next wave of sleep kicks in. We’ve got 15 hours on this flight, so there’s time for it all.
My Travel Tales 