Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

We arrived in Vic Falls around 3pm and were met by Patience and Timby. We made a quick stop at the hotel and then we're off to the falls for our guided tour. The Falls were spectacular!  The Zambezi river simply falls into a gigantic gorge or what appears to be a huge crack in the earth. The official name is Mosi-oa-Tunya or smoke that thunders.

They are 355 ft in height and as the water crashes to the bottom large amounts of spray rise up well into the air creating what was originally thought to be smoke. It was very cool and because we were there in the late afternoon there were beautiful rainbows in the spray.   There were 14 view points to take in this amazing natural wonder.



After we toured the falls the girls took us to a local food market but there was really nothing we could purchase but they walked us through and explained what the various bins contained. During one conversation they told us the names of a particular food but none of us really caught what is was. So Joyce started to ask a few questions and one of the answers was “ we harvest them twice a year when they climb down the tree”. Once we comprehended what had been said we asked again what it was  and it turned out to be a type of worm they dried and either ate that way or fried as a side dish. By the time we had determined what exactly it was Corrine had put one in her mouth. When we told her what she was eating she freaked and spit it out grabbed Sherry’s Coke to rinse her mouth out!  It was quite entertaining as this was not the first time she wasn't paying attention.

After the market we went to a home of a local woman named Fatter.  Fatter toured us around her small garden and explained what the plants were, she then demonstrated how to grind maize into samp by hand with a cylinder type container and a rounded pole. After we all tried I was glad I had a food processor at home. It was quite a difficult process. After this we went into her very basic kitchen and we pealed pumpkin leaves we would be having for dinner. Then we went into the living room where a table had been set for all of us. We washed our hands in a bowl by pouring water from a pitcher over our hands.
Our first course was samp and beans. There was a chili sauce to add to it but Fatter warned us not to use too much as it was very spicy and hot. Joyce was first to try and she also warned us so I only took a very very small amount it was very flavorful but HOT.  Our second course was chicken in a sauce, beef stew, very tiny whole fish smaller than a minnow, the worms that had been fried, pumpkin leaves cooked and mixed with peanut butter and kale. Fatter explained that these were types of food they would eat, but they would not have them all at the same time. It had been a very long day so after dinner we went back to the resort. It was an eye opening experience that made us appreciate being Canadian and very lucky to have all that we do.

The next day was a rest/pool day so we decided to just hang by the pool. It was so hot we stayed in the shade, however, the shade we were under did not reflect the UV rays so those of us that did not use sunscreen burnt like lobsters.  We left the resort at around 5 to explore and find somewhere to have dinner. It was still smoking hot so we didn't go to far, but ended up in another resort having a cocktail with our feet in the pool until the restaurant opened. We had a great meal trying, crocodile, ostrich, and kudu Wellington .