Welcome to hell in Victoria Falls
After leaving Hwange National Park, it was time for our penultimate destination in Zimbabwe. We wanted to visit Victoria Falls. At the beginning of our trip, we were confident that we did not want to visit the falls. The place seemed to be too touristy for us – with all the consequences that come along with it. Since many people in Zimbabwe advised us to visit the falls and also Al and Gail told us that it would be worth it despite all the hustle and bustle, we decided – against our feelings – to give in and set out to explore Victoria Falls.
Listen to your gut – always
It came as it had to come. The culture shock was just too big for us. Where we had just been surrounded by incredibly loving, sensitive and friendly people, we were now confronted with calculating, begging and cheating people. The grimace of greed was omnipresent, and we found the place repulsive. Sonja was hungry after our arrival and felt like buying a green curry with rice at the Thai restaurant as a takeaway. Guido stayed at the N1 Hotel in the centre of Victoria Falls and set up camp.
A small bowl of curry and rice, which had to be bought extra, ended up costing as much as 144(!) avocados the size of a small melon bought from the vendors on the street. It was also funny that they of course only accepted US dollars as currency. Their own local currency was not accepted. The “Three Monkeys” restaurant, on the other hand, is recommendable. We ate there on the second evening and felt we got decent value for money.
Did anyone see the falls?
The falls are located a bit off the centre of Victoria Falls. They were carrying so much water that when we visited them in the morning, all we saw at the Main Falls was a glistening white wall. The spray was illuminated from behind by the sun. This meant that we saw nothing of the falls themselves. A New Zealand tourist about 80 years old murmured an “awesome” to himself. When we inquired in conversation what exactly he found so awesome, we learned that he found it very impressive to see nothing and to be blinded.
People are different…
We continued to the Zambezi NP
When we set off the next morning to travel to the nearby Zambezi National Park and spend two days lazing on the banks of the Zambezi before returning to Namibia, we were glad to leave the hustle and bustle behind. The lesson of not having listened to our unambiguous feeling was clear and in the case of Victoria Falls, expensive – 2 nights at a campsite in town, dinner with wine for two, a snack at lunch, a serving of Thai curry and admission for two at the falls cost us more than $300 USD. At the Zambezi we let our souls dangle once again before we left the country in the direction of Namibia. Here we finally realized that we are approaching the end of our Africa trip with big steps.
