Smoking thunder

 May 5th

 Today we have been married for 53 years, a lovely surprise awaited us at breakfast at 6.30am, we were wished a Happy Anniversary by Kobus and Diedrie. They then presented us with a card and a gift each, socks for Ian and a sarong for me. Most unexpected.

 

During breakfast, the rest of the gang arrived, and we had congratulations from them all. What a lovely start to the day. 

A shuttle bus came to collect us, and just before it arrived, someone spied elephants in the bush. We raced over for a look! It beat our sighting of the hippo last night a 4 am! We were woken by its loud grunting.

Eventually, we all piled into the shuttle and dropped us on the Zambia border for passport checks. To get to the Zimbabwe border, two options open to us, walk the 2 km or take a taxi. We chose to walk. 

Not sure whether that was wise because they don't call the Victoria Falls ' the smoke that thunders' for nothing. We got drenched crossing the Victoria Falls bridge! Raincoats could be hired or purchased at the entrance to the falls, but that was 2 km away! In fact, it wasn't until I showered on our return that I discovered my still wet undies had turned blue with the dye from my shorts! 

 

Once we reached the Zimbabwe border, again we had to show our passports. This time a slight delay in having it stamped, but easy compared to what we had to endure on our way back. More of that later.  The shuttle was waiting for us to be taken to the helipad. 14 of us had booked, 2 couples on a 15-minute flight, and the rest split into two groups of 5. We had booked a 35-minute flight, and with one in the front and 4 in the back, a window seat for viewing the falls could be offered to all. 

 

j

With Steve and Sheila

 

Spectacular, amazing and wow, what a privilege to see and it being our special day. The extended flight also flew over the national park. Ian saw giraffes, but I saw the elephants. The time flew by, and all too soon it was time to land.

After the flights, we were shuttled back to the Falls entrance. Finally, we got to purchase the ponchos, and within minutes of setting foot through the turnstile, the spray began. Before long, it was more like monsoon rains, good job I had the presence of mind to take a plastic bag for the camera!

The walk to the far end of the falls to where the bridge crossed the Zambezi was about 2 km, but oh so worth it to see the rainbow so vibrant. It was a relief, though, to get back to the Zambizi border and discard those ponchos. We were wet, but more from sweat from wearing them than from the spray. 

 

The arrangement was to make sure we were on the Zambian border by 2.30pm because the hotel shuttle would pick us up at that time. What no one had reckoned with was the time it took at both border posts just to have the passports stamped again. OMG, the first border post (Zimbabwe) we waited for nearly 3/4 hours, but at the Zambian border, it took over 90 minutes. Tour operators were arriving, collecting their passengers' passports and getting them stamped first. More and more people arrived to queue, some were returning citizens and had to go to the first window, and then the tourists (us) at another. It got so confusing, people were being accused of pushing in, not realising which window they had to get to. One of our group even had a panic attack, so claustrophobic the atmosphere got. And to make matters worse, another couple from our group arrived late, had not got a taxi to cross from the Zimbabwe side to the Zambia side and tried running the 2 kms instead. Unfortunately, Helen fell and grazed her elbow and knees, but worse of all, her foot started swelling, not sure what she had done to that! We have a vet amongst our group, and he became the group's doctor! Anyway, in the end, the shuttle bus driver came, collected all our passports, took Helen into the office to sit her down and managed to get all our passports stamped at the same time. In the end, we returned to the hotel by 3.30pm Then, a very quick shower, put on our posh clothes and assembled at the Livingstone Lady for 4.15 for our dinner cruise.

 k

The offering was either fish or steak. I had the steak again, and this time it was done to perfection. Plenty of wine and bubbly drunk, all included in the price, so no one held back! This was the perfect ending to a wonderful anniversary and one that will be hard to beat. Oh and when we returned to the hotel room, this was on the bed!

So here are more photos from today

That is my spare wheel officer!