First night in Africa Zimbabwe
We landed in Johannesburg South Africa and took a flight to Victoria Falls 2 hours later. The weather was warm, not like London at all! Our airport greeters included a group of native dancers, singers and drummers who invited me to join them in a celebratory performance while we waited for our driver to collect our bags and another couple. Immediately we began to see wildlife...sometimes right on the road (Elephants always have the right of way). It was so exciting! We also saw giraffes, baboons and warthogs.
Our driver was also a fountain of information, sharing with each siting, pertinent information about each animal. It turns out that every driver we ever had was a great wild life guide.
We scheduled our trip to Africa during the rainy season, when everything is green and there are lots of babies, and it's less expensive. There was a little rain that first night. So, I took one of the Victoria Falls Hotels umbrella with me when we walked to the falls the next morning. They have a path that goes through their grounds to the National Park, but it was closed. Apparently wild animals had taken up residence and it was no longer safe for humans. We took the road. Local entrepreneurs convinced us to rent their rain slickers. We wisely did. The falls generate so much mist it's like walking inside a raincloud. My camera remained hidden most of the time.
We took a sunset cruise on the Zambezi river (not the Chobe...I made a mistake on my sketch but it's in ink so it can't be fixed). There were only 8 guests on the boat, with three hosts waiting on us. Unlimited cocktails and beverages, lots of freshly cooked appetizers (BBQ grilled) and a knowledgeable guide made for an awesome evening. The weather was perfect, warm with a slight breeze as we slowly cruised past crocodiles, (you only swim once in this river so they claim) hippos, water buffalos, kudu. impalas and so many birds. The birds were the best and my favorite were these weavers. They made these Christmas-like ornament nests that hung in the trees near the shore. The idea for the sketch above came to me after we got home and we found ourselves "locked down" and kinda "hanging on" to our healthy life. I also made a linoleum relief print called "Hanging On". It's on our website gallery.
