Today was a wonderful day with beautiful weather, although it was chilly in the morning. I left my room to head out for breakfast but ran back to get my camera as there were three zebras walking the path outside my room (possibly the prior day’s evening visitors)!

 

We headed out to Victoria Falls, where our bus driver gave an overview of the area’s natural history, its discovery by David Livingstone, and the building of the Victoria Falls Bridge that connects Zambia and Zimbabwe. He explained that the falls do not look the same year round, and we were now in the dry period, exacerbated by the current drought. In spite of the reduced water flow, the falls were still worth seeing. The Rainbow Falls were beautiful.

Victoria Falls Bridge

Rainbow Falls

We then headed to Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park (the name means “The Smoke Which Thunders”, a reference to Victoria Falls) and had a walking safari with a great guide who pointed out animal tracks, trees, birds and animals. Our hope was to see a rhinoceros or two (there is a group in the area, but we were told it’s rare to see them all together). To our great delight, we saw the whole family of ten rhinos napping, including a mother and baby who got up and started walking around!

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We then went on a game drive where we spotted more animals.

Southern Reedbucks

Common Warthogs

Blue Wildebeest

Zebras
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The drive ended at the David Livingstone Resort where we boarded the Lady Livingstone for a buffet lunch cruise on the Zambezi River. Another local guide told us about David Livingstone and his African explorations.

Lady Livingstone

Egrets and ibis

Musicians at the David Livingstone Resort

We returned to our hotel mid-afternoon with time to relax and get our duffel bags ready for a busy day in transit tomorrow.

See more photos:

• Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park
• Royal Livingstone Hotel
• Victoria Falls
• Zambezi River Lunch Cruise

This day was actually less “action-packed” as the tour did not begin until mid-afternoon. I had the luxury of sleeping in and eating a late breakfast, and I decided to spend the day in my room going over the itinerary and planning for the “duffel bag” days (as we were going to stay in safari camps, we would pack what we needed in a duffel bag while the rest of our luggage would be put in storage and then get sent directly to Cape Town). Our group met with our tour director in the late afternoon; we introduced ourselves and got an overview of our itinerary. 30 minutes later, we left the hotel for a rail journey into the bush on the Royal Livingstone Express. Unfortunately, there were no animal sightings, but there would be plenty during the tour, and this became a great “get acquainted” opportunity for our group.

Royal Livingstone Express

In the lounge car, we had drinks and appetizers and a high-level presentation on African history, Zambia in particular, with parallels to North American history, by a local guide.

 

Further into the bush, we disembarked while the engine switched tracks and were visited by two curious but shy local boys and their dog.

 

Some daring folks climbed up to the engine to blow the whistle.

 

We got back on the train and moved from the lounge car to the dining car where we had an excellent five-course dinner.

 
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Royal Livingstone Express

I call this “Day 0” because it was the day before my tour started. My tour company offered a free night’s hotel stay before or after the tour, and I chose “before”, which turned out to be a very wise decision.

I had gotten up at 2:30 AM to get to the airport in time for a 5:30 AM flight to New York, only to learn there was a two-hour delay! Then, as were were finally getting ready to board, lights started flashing in the terminal, and there was an announcement that there was a fire and everyone had to evacuate onto the tarmac (??!!). I couldn’t help thinking, “Can’t we just evacuate onto our plane??”. Once on the tarmac, we saw a police car and fire truck pull up. Then I started wondering whether I would miss my connecting flights, and then I told myself I was coming in a day early and wouldn’t miss my tour even if I had to reschedule my flights. After about 15 minutes, though, we got the all-clear, and I was finally able to board my flight. With that cumulative long delay and a slow security checkpoint in New York, however, I just barely made my 16-hour overseas flight to Johannesburg, which was cramped and uncomfortable, resulting in very little sleep. Fortunately, after arriving in Johannesburg, the worst of my trip was over.

While waiting for my flight to Livingstone, Zambia, I met two of my soon-to-be fellow travelers – a couple who would be celebrating their wedding anniversary while on tour. When we got to Livingstone, a tour representative met us at the arrival gate, and we received an unexpected nice surprise. He got us tickets for the Zambezi River ferry and went ahead to the hotel with our luggage. We cruised for about 30 minutes and spotted a crocodile, hippos and geese and other birds.

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The ferry docked at our hotel, the Royal Livingstone, where we were welcomed by singers and dancers (they even invited us to join in the dancing!). We also received a hot towel, fruit juice and a hand massage. We were advised to keep the sliding doors in our rooms locked as animals freely roam the grounds and monkeys sometimes will come indoors and steal things!!

 

I had a very nice comfortable room – a welcome sight after long uncomfortable hours in the air. While I was reading on my bed, a shadow passed over the room. I looked up – and there was a giraffe walking by my balcony! I got up and went outside to take pictures – there was an impala there as well.

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On the way to dinner, a trio of zebras crossed the grounds in front of the dining room.

 

I had a great dinner with cream of mushroom soup, beef tenderloin and chardonnay while a trio of musicians played a wonderful mix of classical and popular music – a wonderful way to end a hectic travel day.

View of the Zambezi River at sunset from my table at the Royal Livingstone Hotel

See more photos:

• Royal Livingstone Hotel
• Zambezi River Ferry