Thursday, January 4, 2018

I’m feeling much better this morning. We did walk to a nearby pharmacy to get some electrolyte powder to mix into our water. I don’t want another experience like yesterday!

The grounds are beautiful at the Royal Livingstone Hotel in Zambia. We saw several zebras on the grounds, as well as some Vervet monkeys. We heard that there was a giraffe as well, but we didn’t see it.

In the morning, we took a boat ride on the Zambezi River to Livingstone Island, which is the place where David Livingstone first viewed Victoria Falls in 1855. The island is inaccessible for about 4 months each year because the water level is too high. Locally named Mosi-o-Tunya which means The Smoke That Thunders, the falls stretch a little over a mile, and are 355 feet in height, making this the world’s largest waterfall. When water level is at its highest, the mist is heavy enough to block views of the river below.

From the island, we could view much of the falls. Also, several people were swimming in the Devil’s Pool, taking them right to the edge of the falls. It’s only possible to swim here during a few months of the year, when the water level is low enough.

Following a lovely lunch on the island, we returned to the mainland, then walked to the park, less than a mile from our hotel. We visited several vantage points, and got to see rainbows at several locations.

We weren’t the only ones visiting the falls, several baboons walked across the bridge, climbed the hills, rifles the trash cans, in the park. I actually saw one baboon nursing a newborn whose pink skin was still visible under its fur.

It would have been possible to cross the Victoria Falls Bridge and gone to Zimbabwe had we planned earlier. It was very close, but we didn’t know if we had enough time to do that, so we skipped it.

In the evening, we boarded the Royal Livingstone Express for a short ride to the Victoria Falls Bridge. During the ride, we learned more about the history of the train and South Africa. It was built in the 1920’s by Northern British Locomotive Works. It was restored in 2005, and has been operating as a dinner train since then. We enjoyed a delicious meal on board, then returned to our hotel to pack for yet another travel day.