We got a wake-up call at 6:15 and were down for breakfast at 7. It was one of the best breakfast buffets I have seen. It was multi-ethnic with sushi, tacos, fat British sausages and baked beans, scrambled eggs, mushrooms, bacon, fruit, cereal, a parfait of muesli on the bottom, then yogurt, and topped with a fruit coulis, 12, yes, 12 different kinds of rolls, croissants, sweet breads. From the table one could order omelets, fried eggs, and pancakes. We ate with Linda and Bill Branch.
We left the hotel at 8 on a van with Aston as our driver and drove 10 minutes to the entrance to Victoria Falls. We parked in the ‘local market’ parking area and headed out walking. Bill and Astin provided information as we walked. The falls were lower than normal, but that made for some interesting viewing. When the falls are going full blast, one can’t see anything through the mist and rain. There were vervet monkeys and lovely birds along the walk. It was fairly cool and not too crowded since it was early. We saw the David Livingstone statue, the bridge over the gorge to Zimbabwe. We stopped for a group photo which a bunch of Japanese tourists thoroughly enjoyed. There were idiots on the other side of the gorge walking to Livingstone Island that were walking way too close to the edge. We saw a Heuglin’s robin.
We made it back to the market area at 10 and spent a half hour being hassled by males selling all kinds of stuff. I made a few purchases, and Bill got a small guinea fowl, his one souvenir of Africa. We took the bus back to the hotel and rested for an hour.
At 12:15 we walked back to the market. It is right next to the Zambezi Sun, the sister hotel to the Royal Livingstone and a little more down-scale and family oriented. Along the walk which was lovely, there were life-sized metal statues of various African animals. I especially liked the huge giraffe. I bought a few more trinkets, and Bill bought Joy a bowl. We stopped at the Zambezi Sun to have lunch. We saw John and Lindsay with Jerome and Giselle, so we sat with them. Bill had a burger, and I got the Nibbler Plate with chicken strips, ribs, samosa, egg roll, and fries. It was much cheaper than the Royal Livingstone. A marimba band was playing, and it was all quite festive.
We took the shuttle back to the Royal Livingstone, rested, cooled off, showered. We met in the lobby at 5 to take a bus the short distance to the train station. We were met with a red carpet and non-alcoholic tequila sunrises. The train was just amazing. The locomotive is an old steam engine with 5 air-conditioned cars. There were two lounge cars at the end of the train with beautiful wood and wonderful lounge chairs and sofas. The last carriage had a bar and an observation platform at the end. There were two beautiful dining cars that will hold 98 people. Amazingly, there were only the 12 of us plus another couple on the train this night. The night before there were 90 people, so we essentially had the whole train to ourselves. We had drinks and hors d’ouvres, and then pulled out of the station. As we traveled out of Livingstone, we passed a fairly poor section of town, but people swarmed out of their homes to wave at us. The kids could not have been more fun, yelling and waving at us. The train stopped to unlock the gate into a game preserve. Many kids ran down the tracks to the end of our train and gazed at us. I asked them how old they were and many responded. The train went through, and the gate was locked behind us.
We sat and chatted and had a lot of fun. We turned out to be quite a congenial group. At 6:30 dinner was served. We sat with John and Lindsay. First up was an amuse bouche of Andulusian gazpacho with basil and a blue poppy seed straw. Then a starter of blue cheese and pear composition – pear, shallot, biscotti and nuts, apple ring, blue cheese pate, and lettuce in a celery ring. The middle course was wild mushroom risotto served with a pea veloute. The main course was lamb, but I had chicken with a potato lyonaise with baby carrots and balsamic jus. Dessert was a green apple tart with Granny Smith ice cream and a lemon reduction. It was all quite good.
John kept getting up from the table, and I was afraid he was ill, but he had been going up to check on the locomotive which was now at the observation car end of the train. He was so excited about it. For most of the trip he had been very blasé about everything. The train really rang his chimes. After dinner we all went back to the lounge and watched John and Jerome watching the locomotive. When they stopped to unlock the park gate, the two of them got on the locomotive. John was in heaven.
We arrived back at the hotel at 9:45. Bill went to bed. I went to check email and then packed.
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