The second day was a day trip to Chobe National Park in Botswana. A driver picked me up from the hotel along with two older men who spoke very little English. We arrived at the border and had to go through the immigration office. After going through the process in Zimbabwe, my expectations were low. Botswana surprised me. It was organized, efficient, and smooth in a way I wasn’t expecting. There was a lot of construction on the way to the boat dock, which turned out to be infrastructure improvements to support tourism. Good sign.
The water safari was really neat. The boat was small enough that I was hesitant at first, but it was steady and the guide was funny in a way that made everyone relax. We saw lions and elephants on the shore, which doesn’t get old no matter how many wildlife documentaries you’ve watched.
After the boat ride we had lunch at a riverside restaurant. It was clearly a stop on a tourist loop, buffet style with a lot of people moving through. While I was looking for somewhere to sit, I noticed someone waving me over. It was the two Russian men, gesturing for me to join them. We didn’t talk much beyond where are you from and how long are you here, but the company was easy. At the end of the meal I took out money to pay for my drink and tip the server. They wouldn’t hear it. We went back and forth a couple of times before the one who spoke a little English explained that letting me pay for my own food was not acceptable to them culturally. I accepted that and let them pay. We went our separate ways and I did a short land safari through the park. The elephants were everywhere and we saw the lions up close that we’d only spotted from a distance on the water.
The trip back across the border into Zimbabwe was a completely different experience from coming in. Big tour buses, crowds, and chaos with no clear sense of order in the line. And then out of nowhere, the Russian men were by my side. They stayed with me as the line moved and didn’t leave until we were back at the hotel. I didn’t ask them to. They just showed up.
The next day I booked a driver to take me across the bridge from Zimbabwe to the Zambia side of the falls. Traffic moves one way across the bridge and there was a backup with a train and tractor trailers. We waited over an hour for the bridge to open and my driver had another tour he needed to get to. We ran into his cousin while we waited and agreed that the cousin would drive me for the rest of the day. The Zambia side of Victoria Falls felt more commercial than Zimbabwe. Statues, plaques, souvenir stands at the park exit. I met a guide at the entrance who was kind and easy to talk to and we spent most of the time just talking about life.
After the park, the driver took me into the city. I was entranced by the architecture as we drove through. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant where I met an American man who had moved to Zambia to start a business and never left. He had friends visiting from Seattle and we talked occasionally while eating. His wife gave me her number before we left and told me to contact them next time I visit so they could host me. I think about that offer more than they probably realize.
We made our way back across the bridge after lunch and the driver took me to see the Big Tree. There was still time left in the day, so I asked what else there was to do. He suggested a helicopter ride over the falls and managed to get me a last minute ticket. We made it just in time for me to be weighed and sit through the safety briefing. And as I got in line to walk to the helicopter, the Russian men were standing right behind me. We looked at each other, smiled, and laughed at the coincidence, then made our way to the helicopter together.
The view of the falls from the air is completely different than from the ground. I was awestruck in a way that the ground level experience, as incredible as it was, hadn’t quite prepared me for. The flight lasted about 15 minutes and wasn’t nearly long enough, though not long enough to justify paying for another round. We got off, turned in our helmets, and that was the last time I saw them.
I made it back to the hotel just in time for dinner and then packed for my flight to South Africa the next morning.