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I am sitting in one of the three cabin lodges the team is staying in tonight next to the Zambezi river. We saw baboons and warthogs on the drive here and there is purported to be elephants roaming around outside. We definitely saw the “evidence” of them earlier when it was still light. I’m spraying myself and bedding with deet since the climate here is different and the insects abound. I found a beetle today by the side of the road today that was of a proportion I would certainly not expect to encounter in the states. Also of note during the drive are the trees, especially in the valley before coming into Hwange. I love them. They create an exotic landscape that is impossible to capture on digital media as we rush by in our cars. It is hard to explain…the varieties and diversity are just so different than what we are used to. There are these monstrous Baobab trees that have immense trunks (width) and spidery branches with small leaves. Most of them looked bare because they shed their leaves during the winter season. They also store water during the dry seasons (thus the large trunks)…imagine a naturally occurring species that can store 32,000 gallons of water!

Another note about wildlife concerns the ants…there are little ant hills and holes all around the rest stops of this area – very prolific. Similarly, the termites are being quite fruitful and their labors are much more apparent when driving by in a vehicle. We see what appear to be termite mounds all over, and some of them quite large – 10 feet high or more.

We did not arrive in time to see the falls before it closed at 6:30, so we will attempt that early in the morning. Instead we congregated at the Wimpy burger joint in downtown Victoria Falls for burgers and milkshakes. The Zim-dollar price sheets were astronomical. You can pay in US $$ here, but that doesn’t make the food much cheaper. My bunkmates are already in bed, so I shall turn in soon too.

Monday May 19, 7:00am [ Zambezi River, Zimbabwe]

Just watching the sun rise over the Zambezi…the mist is rising from the profoundly calm waters that probably drop over the falls a few km to the south (not entirely sure of directions here). Had plain instant coffee this morning, with bread & peanut butter, and oranges that Fanny and Irene peeled for us – how nice! Already the mist has burned off and the sun is much higher now – I can see it from the window of the lodge. Well, it is time to be off to the Falls.