Not having sand in my shoes or having to worry about using up all the solar-heated hot water is nice, but I miss elephant trumpets and the occasional lion roar in the night.
We’re here at Shearwaters Explorers Village Hotel in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe for the next two nights. We walked the trial along the falls this afternoon, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Dr. Livingstone, the Scottish explorer, named the falls to honor Queen Victoria, but the Zimbabweans call it Mosi-Oa-Tunya, which means “smoke that thunders.” Thunder it does; I wore a raincoat and still got pretty wet.
The travel company arranged for us to eat with a host family for dinner (which means they compensated them well for their trouble). The six of us went by to the home of Felistas and Charles, where they live with their extended family of children, grandchildren and cousins. We had baobob juice and orange juice mixed together to drink and mopani worms and peanuts for an appetizer, followed by polenta, rice with peanut butter, hake, chicken, and beets for the main course. For dessert, we had ice cream with a fruit pudding (I need to find out the name – I forgot).
They were so warm and welcoming, and we talked about health care, education, marriage and dating customs. Maxine and Edwin helped serve the food with the other teens and after dinner joined in for a few dances with Tanya, Method, Sandra, and little Rulula. Felistas told us the story of how she literally fled on foot from the war in the 1970’s, 100 km from her town to Victoria Falls, where her aunt took in her and her siblings, as well as a boy who had no family here.
Its strangely quiet here without any wild animal sounds.
My Corner of the Village 