Crunched into the back of a rusty old Toyota van with nine of our closest Zambian friends, we handed over our kwacha when the operator started collecting fares. Some paid in Zambian kwacha, some paid in US dollars. We paid in kwacha because, naturally, the exchange rate was in their favor if you used dollars. Exchange rate… I’m talking as though it would have been a large difference, the rate in kwacha was under a dollar.

Welcome to the combi van! For those who don’t know, a combi is a shared taxi. They are typically small vans, and drive fairly set routes, sort of like a bus. They are very cheap and they load up with people. You’ll see them driving the streets with the operator hanging out the window—or, often, the sliding van door—barking out their routes, looking for would-be passengers.

There is one square in Livingstone where all the combis originate. I say square because it seems like the right term, but… parking lot? Patch of dirt between buildings? Those may be more apt descriptions. So after breakfast, Erika and I wander over to this patch of dirt between buildings—clearly the only foreigners there—and start asking for the combi to take us to the border post. We were directed to the rusty Toyota we were now cruising along in.

The combi didn’t quite go all the way to the border post—it stopped a few hundred meters away, so we had to walk the rest of it. No big deal, it was good to be out of that sweat box. And after the short walk, and having only spent a bit over $1.50 total, we were at the Victoria Falls entrance!

Victoria Falls, Part Two

The Zambezi river cascades off the Zambian side of the canyon to create Victoria Falls, so most say the best views are from Zimbabwe, which makes sense. However, in our experience, on the Zimbabwe side the spray from the crashing falls was so intense that it rendered the falls invisible through most of our time in the park. We did have good views at Danger Point, but for the most part, the Zimbabwe side gave us an experience, but not as much in the way of views.

For our part, we had much better views in Zambia. The Zambian side includes a… well, I guess it’s an island, really. With the deep gorge of the river surrounding it, there is an island in the middle of the Zambezi river, connected by a terrifying footbridge. Walking toward the island, the bridge is a narrow suspended path, far above the river, with the thundering falls to your right. It’s a hell of a thrilling experience and… oh, I’ll just stop talking, see for yourself:

Man, I feel those goosebumps again!

You can walk the perimeter of this small island to take in various views of the falls and the gorge. We got far less wet on the Zambia side, and also got to see more of the falls, instead of just feel and hear them.

On the back side of the island, you have a perfect view of Victoria Falls bridge. We saw there was some activity on the surface of the bridge. We watched, waited, watched some more–there! A bungee jumper! Jesus Christ that’s terrifying! We stood around watching, and watched a few more jumpers take their turns, wondering to each other if anyone had ever fallen.

While we were watching them, a small tour group came up beside us, so we listened to the tour guide for a bit. He started to talk about the possibility of bungee jumping… and mentioned how a few years ago, an Australian woman fell into the river when her bungee cord broke. Yeah, we looked that up when we got home that evening. First, the cord tied to her feet almost drowned her, then she washed up somewhere on shore well down the river and had no way of signaling for help. This was, of course, after being crushed by the fall into the water to begin with.

Somehow she survived, was found, and airlifted to South Africa where she received medical attention. Not surprisingly, the tourist enterprise of bungee jumping off the bridge took something of a hit after this. To “prove” it was safe, and try to entice tourists to start taking the plunge again, the major of Victoria Falls took a publicized jump.

Anyway, speaking of death-defying! To leave the island, you have to cross back over that footbridge and… hoooo, one more time:

On our way out of the park, a taxi offered a ride back to Livingstone. We decided we were thankful for our combi experience that morning, but not quite ready to do it again, and since the driver offered a good rate, we took him up on it.

Cafe Zambezi

Our hotel, Cafe Zambezi, had a restaurant with the same name attached to it. And partly out of laziness, partly because it was quite good, we never ate anywhere else.

Cafe Zambezi had a large outdoor courtyard, filled with sand, giving it sort of a beach bar feel. They served Caribbean-ish dishes, like jerk chicken, and they were really good. The evenings were pretty chilly, but they would bring these awesome coal braziers to put under your table, or next to your chair, to keep you warm. You’d leave smelling like a fire pit but it was such fun!

I don’t have much to say about it otherwise, really, but it was a great place to eat, catch a couple World Cup games, and drink some of Zambia’s finest lagers. Speaking of…

Beer Talk

I wish I’d been more organized with a feature like this, but instead it’s been scattered throughout the blog and often fully neglected. Hello! Welcome to Beer Talk! I’ve continued in my very unofficial, very haphazard exploration of local beers the world over. Remember, wherever you are, you can always fall back on Heineken—it’s always there for you!

But generally in Africa, I didn’t need to fall back, as there are some decent to quite good local beers that can be had for cheap.

Let’s start with the decent, which is what’s available in Namibia. There, your big choices are Hansa and Windhoek Lager. They’re available literally everywhere, and they’re, eh, okay. If you’re really craving a beer, they’re always there, and won’t cost you much.

Zambia has a good local beer with Mosi Lager. Named after the indigenous name for Victoria Falls (Mosi Oa Tunya), I had a lot of these during our stay at Cafe Zambezi.

But the real winner was Zimbabwe’s Zambezi Lager. Maybe I’ve just been deprived of really good beer for a while, but I dare say I’d drink it on the regular. It was more than just there in a pinch, I thought it was quite good, and with how cheap it was, it was an easy addition to meals!

Angela

Cafe Zambezi had a large lounge area around the garden and small swimming pool, with numerous couches and chairs. And among those couches lived a skinny, frail cat and her very young kitten. I don’t know if she just crashed there, or if the Cafe Zambezi staff actually cared for her in any way, though she seemed much too skinny to be looked after much. At any rate, I named her Angela, and we became besties.

We gave Angela a little milk in the mornings when we had breakfast out there. We fed Angela some of our leftover chicken, when we had leftovers for lunch one day. She… okay, I guess this was largely a one-sided friendship. But she meowed at us (because she wanted food) and rubbed lovingly against our legs (in order to ask for food), so I think we’re pretty even-Steven.

Sadly, I’ve lost contact with Angela, on account of her not having an email address. Or opposable thumbs. But I hope she and her kitten are doing well, and that she knows we miss her!

What’s Next?

Our time in the Victoria Falls area done, we were about to start another ridiculous road trip, culminating in the third—and last—of our safaris. Come back next time as we take to the Zambian roads and head to South Luangwa National Park!