Victoria Falls and everything after

We left Bulawayo and travelled to Victoria Falls. We stayed at an AMAZING place called The Kingdom. I loved it. I never wanted to leave. It was an amazing resort. Alexio flew his mom and grandma to join us for 2 nights and we all spent the time relaxing. On the second day we spent a few hours at the falls – which were only a short walk from the resort – and it was awesome seeing the falls from the Zim side, since last time I saw them I was in Zambia. Later that night Alexio discovered a bit of a misunderstanding when he visited his mom and grandmas room. It is not their tradition to introduce a boy- or girlfriend to your family until you are announcing your engagement, so they were unclear about our “status”. They were also unsure of what kinds of questions they could ask me, because they were afraid of offending me and didn’t know what would be appropriate in my culture. Alexio cleared everything up and I was mini- interviewed the next day before we took them to the airport.

After the falls we started our journey back to Harare. We stopped at a national park called Hwange, and spent 2 nights in a treehouse lodge, then returned to Bulawayo. After a couple of nights relaxing in Bulawayo (and a morning spent swimming in a FREEZING Holiday Inn pool) we headed for Gweru. As we approached Gweru however, the car started giving us problems. We made it to Antelope Park, and handed the car over to their mechanics department. Our intended 2 night stay quickly developed into a 4 night stay as they tried to find the part required to get us back on the road. Unfortunately the distance to town was too great for us to walk, and transport wasn’t available, so we weren’t able to use any of this time to visit people we had wanted to see. On the upside, we were able to take part in an activity one night called the Night Encounter, where we took some of the young lions (who were now too old to do the walks) out to help them hone their hunting skills. It was really cool driving around in the safari vehicle looking for game and then watching the lions trying to hunt. We were out with 3 females, and they didn’t make any kills, but they put on a few good chases!

The morning of the 4^th day we decided to pay for a transfer into town, leave the car behind and then hitchhike back to Harare. As we were preparing to leave, one of the managers said he had a friend who had a similar car that was broken down and therefore might have the part. He called and came back reporting that the guy had the part and would be willing to sell it for about $120, and Alexio reported to me that he heard the name of the guy – and it turns out it was Lovemore, a guy I dated when I lived in Gweru! Needless to say, I got on the phone with him, and an hour later he had arrived at Antelope Park to get me. I hadn’t mentioned that I was with Alexio, so I think it was a bit of a surprise for Lovemore, who Alexio pointed out drove all that way WITHOUT the part. So we all had to go to town to get it, and in the end Alexio only paid $50, which I think was pretty cheap considering he ended up with me and the part J

We spent an entire day getting the part, and then watching the mechanics work on it. By the end of the day, it still wasn’t working, and it seems the part we replaced was only part of the problem. We lucked out and Antelope had a car going to Harare early the next day and they offered us a ride, which was so wonderful. The car was towed to a mechanic in town and Alexio will have to return for it once it’s fixed. We spent our last night in Harare at the best hotel the city has to offer – Meikles – and then, early Sunday morning I was back on a plane, landing in Malawi and feeling like it all ended way too quickly.

Our Chariot

The Odometer when we got to Vic Falls.
Our total trip (before it died) probably added 2500kms to it

Gardening crew at The Kingdom

Alexio with his grandma and mom