Fwd: Stunning Victoria Falls!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Patricia Gaudet
Date: Friday, April 19, 2013
Subject: Stunning Victoria Falls!
To: "pagaudet.gaol" <pagaudet.gaol@blogger.com>


We have reached what is a huge TDA milestone...back in January when we started on this odyssey, Victoria Falls seemed such a distant goal yet here we are!  We are somewhere around 8750 kilometres in so we are by no means near the end but we all feel like we are closing in, gradually, on the big goal of reaching Cape Town.  But that is tomorrow; today we are lounging by the pool and enjoying our second rest day here.  

The day we arrived, we rode a quick152 kms (compared to the previous day's 185 kms), then showered up and attended the bike donation ceremony.  It was quite heart-warming to be part of, so thanks to any of you who made a donation to the Tour d'Afrique Foundation; it has all come full circle!  Fifty bicycles were donated here, to local schools.  The schools then make the bikes available to any students who need help covering the very long distances in order to just get to school - some have to go as far as 20 km one way.  Students from one school put on a little skit about a brother and sister wanting money from their father for transport to school, he could not give it to them as food, clothing and shelter used up all his earnings.  The brother had to carry his little sister to school, he ended up getting to school late and so tired he was falling asleep in class.  So the school gave him the use of the bike and it all had a happy ending.  One older girl spoke about the difference having the use of the school bicycle made to her, it kept her attending when she otherwise might not, and a letter from grateful parents saying much the same thing.  I disagree with a lot of aid programs, for a lot of reasons, but this small-scale project really seems to be simple and successful.  We also attended one in Arusha, Tanzania, where the thirty bikes donated went to health care workers, mostly of whom care for families and individuals coping with AIDS.

After the ceremony we jumped right onto the dinner cruise on the Zambezi - what a mighty river!  We saw several hippos and a magnificent sunset, all while sipping gin and tonic - how very colonial!

Yesterday we went into the national park here on the Zambia side of the Zambezi River to see the falls in all their thundering splendour.  Right now the water level is extremely high so there is an unbelievably immense roaring fury of water tumbling over the precipice.  There is a walkway along the cliff side facing the falls, which we walked the length of, getting utterly drenched in the process - I could barely see, the spray was so relentless!  Then we hung out for a while at the Bungee Cafe watching several TDAers doing the thrill-seeking thing.  For some reason, natural splendour is not enough here and it has become an adventure hotspot, with micro lite flights, helicopter rides, bungee jumping, gorge swing, zip line etc being the big draws here.  Anyone who did fundraising as part of their TDA trip was given an excursion voucher - I got a gorge slide, which is the same as a zip line, and Wayne got a river cruise.  Well, we had already paid for our river cruises, so I gave Wayne my slide voucher and he gave his cruise one away.  Sandy received a gorge swing, which after watching yesterday, I think would be more of a thrill than bungee jumping.  Today, they went for their thrills, and Sandy's was definitely the most exciting!  I found it exciting enough watching them all, I felt no need to hurl myself Ito the void from the middle of the bridge!  Life is thrilling enough, I think!  I did take the opportunity to hop on the scale where they calculate whatever they need to know for the bungee jump and am now a svelte 124.5 lbs!  I may need a belt or some suspenders for my cycling shorts soon....

Today our plan was to walk over the bridge for lunch in Zimbabwe...we had planned ahead for this by buying a double entry visa when we entered Zambia several days ago.  However, when we got there, the price was a ridiculous $75 per person for Canadians (what do the Zimbabweans have against us??) just to go into the country, then it would be $30 each to go into the national park on that side, so we decided plan B would be lunch next door to our campground/hotel at a swanky new hotel.  So our money stayed in Zambia, sorry about that, Zimbabwe!  After lunch, we were back to reality, setting up our tent in the grass as the hotel room we had  been in was not available for our last night here.  The camping area is very nice, but it is almost creepy how many monkeys there are...and they steal everything not nailed down.  As we set up our tent we were entertained by a dozen or so of them playing around two nearby tents, they had figured out how to get into the vestibules so the whole tent was squirming when they ran around between the tent and the rain fly.  Then they would launch themselves out of a tree onto a tent, bounce like it was a trampoline then scamper off.  Hilarious to watch but what a nuisance.  Everything is zipped up tight but apparently they have zippers figured out too...!

So, on to country number eight tomorrow, Botswana.  Apparently there is a ferry to cross a river and it is where there are four countries adjoining one another.  The section is called the Elephant Highway, I hope it lives up to its name!  Other than that, we have heard it is notable for the monotony; a long straight road, a never-changing horizon and a tunnel of tall elephant grass to ride through.  I am hoping for tailwinds as we have some very long days coming up, including the record setting 208 km day!