73 Languages and English isn't one

"It used to be when a Zimbabwean would speak ill of the government they would disappear overnight never to be heard from again."

Breakfast continues to be perfection. I did not feel hungry today so I ate mostly fruit.  This worked out because my Devil's Pool swim today included breakfast. I made my way to the Kingdom Hotel which is the pick up point for this particular activity. The hotel is massive with over 300 rooms. It was also very upscale possibly seeming even more so because of its immediate town surroundings. It is owned by the Victoria Falls Hotel people (which is just next door, where the Queen stayed once, and also where you take high tea). Both hotels have their own path to the entrance of the falls. In an attempt to observe "Africa time", I waited 30 minutes past when I was supposed to be picked up and then had the front desk call the tour operator. I was told, "This is Africa so wait at least 5 more minutes." and by that she meant 45. At least I had confirmation that they still planned to pick me up. I used that time to practice handstands. 

The In Love with Africa bus arrived to "pick me" and we drove the less than a mile to the Zambian border. When I booked the tour I was told I would pay the driver $10 to take me to where I needed to be. I did not have change (big mistake) and nor did he. He handed me over to the Zambian transport and the transfer fee suddenly became $20. Attempting to be savvy I had made the booking guy write $10 on my voucher. The Zambian guy called the operator and I heard them on speaker phone tell him ten dollars. He hung up and looked at me and said 20. I said 10. We were at stalemate. By that time we had arrived at the Hotel which was about as luxurious as they come (around 850 USD a night) and I got change from the front desk. I handed him 10 dollars and he escorted me to the porch on the river to wait for the boat to Livingstone island. 

Zambia has 73 languages, English being the 74th and the official language. 7 of these have been selected to be major languages. English is the determining subject to progress in school. Even if a student has honors in everything else if they do not pass English they are a failure. The currency here is the Kwacha (10:1 USD). My driver told me Zambia as a landlocked country surrounded by countries that occasionally have turmoil has a good number of refugees. 

He was eager to talk about the current political and economic situation in Zimbabwe. He says that in some ways it has improved. People who have said negative things about the government no longer disappear overnight never to be heard from again. 

It seems that they are still prosecuted for saying bad things.  The current President of Zimbabwe is Robert Mugabe at 92 years of age is incredibly corrupt. It is also incredible because here life expectancy per the BBC is 54 years. He has been the president since 1980. The elections since he took power have been marked my violence and intimidation. Freedom of speech does not seem to exist. Newspapers that don't tow the line have been shut down and foreign journalist are deported. My driver said he has attempted to pass control to his much younger (54) wife (who he was having an affair with while he was still married to his first wife he died of kidney disease) so that he will not be held accountable for all of the things he has done. Her nickname is Gucci Grace because of her love lavish shopping sprees. The army is also reportedly corrupt and the reason he remains in power is that all of the generals support him. His other option, per this guide, is to live for 100 years at which age he can not be punished for his crimes.  He is also known for his economic mismanagement. Currently the average annual income is $400. On a positive note he has remained very committed to education, being a former school teacher, and as of 2008 Zimbabwe had a literacy rate of 90% which is the highest in Africa. 

Livingstone island was a 3 minutes skillful boat ride from the hotel dock. Prior to the journey we signed a release just in case we went over the falls. David Livingstone stood on the island for the first time on November 17th 1855, so I missed the 161st anniversary of this by 1 day (Man that would have been special). On arrival to the island they repeatedly stated that we must follow the instructions of our guide at all times. Then they casually mentioned "There are fish in the pool." 

Our group was made up of a family of 4 from Durbin (the son was an orthopedic surgeon), a German guy with a hard core Go Pro helmet (who looked like he might just jump over the falls to capture it on video for funsies), a couple from Canada, and me. The swim to the rocks that surrounded the pool was short and easy. It was also not very deep so entirely possible that you could hippo swim it (Hippos don't swim they propel themselves off of the floor by walking). The family went first, followed by GoPro guy, and then me. I was waiting my turn when he was told by the guide to swim up stream away from the falls in a certain direction. So he pushed off and immediately almost drowned. 

As it turns out the guy who looked most prepared for this adventure could not swim at all. Our guide had to leave me (apparently not protocol because I was now alone on the edge) and save him. In the meantime he swallowed SO MUCH WATER (hopefully he is traveling with antibiotics and an anti parasitic). As I sat there something bit me. Hard. I squeaked then laughed because I did not know what else to do. It hurt a little bit and it kept happening. The fish he had briefly mentioned were apparently hungry. He motioned to keep kicking my feet. Then they started biting my legs. I couldn't stop laughing. 

Being at the edge of the falls and looking down into the gorge was so cool that I completely forgot my small fear of heights and the biting fish. After everyone had gone we ate breakfast in a tent on the island. It was the Zambian version of eggs Benedict: a poached egg, ham, on a biscuit with no sauce. 

Arriving back at the dock my driver was no where to be seen. I waited patiently for 30 or so minutes then asked the front desk what I should do. They said I could wait longer or walk. I guessed he wasn't going to come since I had refused to give him 10 more dollars for the 1.5 mile ride. I set off to walk and another guide from another company offered me a ride to the border which I took him up on. He asked why I was walking. I told him my driver had not come. He said, "Well this is more adventurous anyway." I agreed. I walked across the border meeting a German couple along the way. They had taken pictures of me from across falls while I was in Devil's Pool and offered to email them. 

On the walk back I checked out the Lookout Cafe which has a beautiful view of the falls and the bridge I had just walked over. It also had baby warthogs (adorable). I then walked on to look at the famous Victoria Falls Hotel. 

While waiting for the shuttle I decided to look through the Elephant Walk Shops. These shops like all of the rest in town look like a closing store in its final moments of markdown. Things are faded and there is very little variety. I didn't spend much time there. I felt guilty for not purchasing anything. The shop tenders were all very nice and not pushy.  

I had run out of bug spray and 12 dollar bug spray at the hotel seemed completely unreasonable so I went in the bigger grocery store in town and bought $7 bug spray. I used copious amounts the next few days and if it did anything other than asphyxiate me I would hate to see what my body would look like if I hadn't bought it. 

For the rest of the afternoon I swam in the pool and did yoga. Tonight happy hour at the watering hole was all about the buffalo. It was an impressively large group. As the sun set there was also an 8 year old girl from Harare lingering around my table who seemed incredibly bored with the adult conversation that was happening at her table so I broke out my star tracker app and we found the constellations that were above us. I really love this app genre.  While we were playing with the app the elephant family paid a visit.

I was given an edge seat at dinner and told that I was lucky that usually they don't let single travelers have them because it is nicer for two people, was I sure someone wasn't joining me?