After a thunder and lightning heavy storm last night we met the bus in the lobby at 6:15am to take us to the elephant ride. It was still raining when we arrived and they gave us rain jackets to wear, but the rain soon stopped. David and I rode Detina, a 15 year old male who ended up being the leader of the parade. Rodney was his handler. He talked to us the whole ride about elephants and how he loves his job. There were 9 elephants in all. We had pretty good seats and weren't as uncomfortable as I had feared coming from people's past experiences. Detina's huge ears kept whapping my left leg as he would reach over to the side to pull up big clumps of grass along the trail. A person on foot was at the head of the trail with a rifle. There are wildlife in this area, even some black rhino. After the ride they cooked a big bush breakfast for us over an open wood fire pit.
We were back at the hotel in time to change out of our wet, dirty clothes to go on the Flight of the Angels helicopter ride over Victoria Falls. 12 minutes of awesomeness. I got a couple movies which I hope can be posted soon.
After lunch at the hotel, David and I took a taxi to the Elephant Walk Mall. It was composed of some nice art galleries and shops. Zimbabwe, especially the Shona tribe, are known for beautiful stone carvings. If they weren't so heavy to ship, they would probably be in everyone's home who visited here because the artistry is excellent. I found a music shop, thinking they might have instruments to buy. However it was CD's. I bought one of Oliver Mtukudzi, the most popular African musician today. They were out of his newest CD, but the cab driver sold me his which he was listening to when he picked us up.
After shopping we had high tea at the Vic Falls Hotel. It is a beautiful setting. The hotel is over 100 years old. You can see the bridge and the "smoke that thunders" coming from the Falls, from the hotel patio. There was also a rainbow to complete the view. The Zimbabwe paper headlines were: Industry Loses Out on AIDS Levy. Apparently local pharmaceutical companies were not taking advantage of a Global Funds rebate for AIDS medicines. Also: Angry Birds Break Classrom Windows. Zhombili primary school had windows broken and school was closed because of a group of southern ground hornbills, the two foot tall birds we have seen with large bright red beaks.
For dinner David and I were the only ones to try wildabeast stew at Mama's African food restaurant. It was tender and tasted just like beef stew. I wonder if Thompson could even tell the difference. He ordered it as well as pap and chomolia.
OAT has been taking us to local restaurants for dinner as a diversion from most tour group who just have hotel food. Our hotels have all served excellent, beautifully presented meals, but it is nice to get out into the town. This night there was a marimba band playing across the street.
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