This morning we were up early again. Today we are transferring from Johannesburg to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. A very short international flight of 1:50 .
We got to the airport about 7:30 as the traffic wasn’t as bad as Johannes had thought it was going to be. Check in was pretty smooth as was going through security and immigration. We are now on the very small Embraer 145 (rows are made up of three seats in a 1/2 configuration. We have just had our inflight snack a chicken mayo sandwich and a box with a chocolate, juice and little protein chips. I am watching Professor Brian Cox’s Planets (which I have downloaded onto my iPad) while I am typing this trying to get ahead of my blog today.
Today is the second last day of our G Adventures/National Geographic tour and on Friday we transfer to Botswana to tour Chobe National Park. We are down to 10 people today with Jenn and Dave off to Namibia and Carolyn and Karen heading back home to the Netherlands and USA.
When we arrived in Victoria Falls we met our guide Princess who dropped us off at the Shearwater Explorers Village which is in the heart of Victoria Fall. The resort is beautiful and will be a great place to have as a base for the next couple of days.
After a couple of hours relax, we had our last welcome meeting before being introduced to two groups of people being supported by Planeterra G’s foundation. Princess explained what a woman’s future is like when their husband dies and the work Planeterra is doing to empower women and support Zimbabweans to start their own businesses sustainably. As well as these women who do needlework and laundry, there was a young man who makes T-shirt’s that celebrate you journey in Africa.
After we had met the two groups we were transferred to our boat on the Zambezi River to have a sunset cruise. The cruise was very peaceful and serene. We saw lots of Hippos as well as three elephants (1 male and 2 females), the male was very amorous and was having his way with one of the females in the river. The water makes the male lighter which means the female is more likely to tolerate his advances.
After the cruise we visited a small market and another lady, who is a widow, who has cooked a lovely dinner for us. We learnt how to pound corn into flour before starting our meal.
Our hostess washed our hands before dinner, she asked for the men to come first which is the traditional place of men in the household then she washed the other women’s hands. Men also got to get their food first to symbolise the way a meal would normally be served in a Zimbabwean house. It was very confronting for us as Australian, as she explained that the women could actually miss out on the meal as the men can take what they want. If there is no food left, her room is the kitchen and she could forage for food in there if she is hungry. She also explained that if people arrived at your door (even unannounced) during a meal then they would also get food before the women, and if the meal had been served the woman’s plate and if required the children’s plate would go to the guests regardless of whether or not they were invited.
The picture of me pounding the corn is after they all told me I had no rhythm and that I needed to pound the corn in time to the song – I have no rhythm.
davstuholidays 