It really never ends. It’s actually become quite comical. The wrath of QANTAS Beijing is still upon us. One of the changes we made was adding return flights to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe from Johannesburg. Again, after much confusion, we believed that these flights were confirmed.
Much to our delight and surprise, we were upgraded to Business Class on the flight to VF, but we had less luck on the return flight to Jo-burg. In fact, we arrived at the airport only to learn that we were not booked on the flight at all. This isn’t good when the flight is fully booked for the next week. I guess our paper tickets were for some mystery flight. We’re still not clear. After some insisting and digging in our heels, we made our way onto the flight without a seat to spare. It really does help to have a paper ticket to wave in front of their faces. It seems to add just a little more legitimacy.
We suspect that we may not have been on the flight to VF, but that the airport staff passed the buck until we got to the gate and they realized that there were already people in our seats so they just quickly bumped us to solve the problem. That’s my kind of solution!
So now we’ll be calling ahead for every flight just to make sure (1) there is a flight and (2) that we’re on it. Sometimes those basic details are really important.
Who doesn’t want to be a millionaire? Well, if you travel to Zimbabwe your dreams can come true with less than $10. The problem is that you can’t legally change money at the “real” rate and when you do become a Zim millionaire, there’s very little left on the shelves to purchase.
You may have heard about some troubles in Zim. They’ve been brewing for several years now, but seem to be taking a serious turn for the worse. Inflation is nearing 5000%. That may seem a little abstract to really grasp so let me give you an example of how things were working during our brief visit.
Thanks to the wonderful people at our hostel we were able to exchange money at close to the “real” rate which for us was 140,000Zim$ to 1US$. So when we paid 1US$ for a bottle of water at the hostel, we were paying the equivalent of 140,000Zim$ for it. If we had exchanged money at the official rate of 250Zim$ to the 1US$, the same bottle of water would have cost the equivalent of 560US$. I am not making this up. If you don’t have the good fortune to be able to change money illegally (and safely), then you’re forced to pay in US$ – which means less value for the dollar but of course is still better than using the official exchange rate. Using an ATM or a credit card is absolute insanity as the official rate is used.
Once you have the money you may have a hard time finding something to spend it on. It’s quite common to walk into a restaurant and have them tell you there’s no more food left (at 2pm), or no pizza since they’re out of flour, or sorry no more bottled water. The shortage of food and fuel is largely a result of President Mugabe’s mandatory call to cut prices in half. Merchants are losing their shirts, and recently many that have closed shop or broken price controls because they can’t make ends meet are being jailed. The owner of our hostel figures he earns up to 32 years of jail time a day with all the laws he’s breaking to keep his business running.
You’d think that in a country where the economic situation is beyond desperate, crime would be an issue. This was not our experience in Victoria Falls – a town that once boomed with tourism. The people we met on the streets were friendly towards us and simply wanted to trade their carvings and curios for our shoes or even our leftovers. It’s really a sad situation, and it’s soon going to be a regional dilemma as refugees pour into neighboring countries. We can’t speak to the safety of other places in Zimbabwe at this time, but we can recommend giving Vic Falls and the surrounding area a chance. They’re really glad to have you!
We are so glad to be leaving Johannesburg that the thought of going anywhere else is appealing. Even a departure to Zimbabwe – yes, that Zimbabwe, land of 7000% inflation, of dictatorial rule (Our first dictator, yes!), and shortages of everything – sounded good. So we happily boarded our flight out of Jo’berg and didn’t look back, even though we’ll head back in a week.
To add to our delight somehow, magically, we ended up being bumped up to first class, providence was rewarding us for leaving Jo’berg, it’s the only explanation that makes sense. I’ve never had the privilege before, but I hope it happens again.
Flying into Vic Falls is like stepping into a movie about Africa. It looks exactly like it should – dry, flat and dusty. There’s little vegetation beyond low scrub and Acacia trees, and the locals are suitably colorful. When we checked into our rooms we asked the owner about security issues – we were coming from Jo’berg and the economy here is wrecked and far beyond anything we’ve ever experienced – she replied that you shouldn’t be out on the streets after dark because there had been reports of a male Bull Elephant prowling the area of late. We asked her again, expecting to be warned about well, you know, the locals. She dispelled any fears we had, explaining that the local population were not the type to get into that sort of trouble, and I have to say she was spot on. But Zimbabwe and it’s people, economy and government are a whole other blog entry. Let’s talk about Victoria Falls.
Victoria Falls are like Niagara Falls in that they are both huge waterfalls that divide two countries. You can view the falls from both the Zimbabwe and Zambian sides. If you come here you owe it to yourself to view them from both the Zim and Zam sides. In my opinion Zim has the better part of the falls, but the Zam side is more impressive. You can get closer, and the most dramatic views are on that side. The best view is probably from the bridge downstream on the Zambezi. The bridge is in the “No Mans Land” between Zim and Zam, which is another plus.
Vic Falls is also probably a contender for “Adrenaline Capitol” of Africa. You can do a stupid amount of stupid stuff here: Bungie Jump, Gorge Slide, Parasailing, Rafting, Parachuting, pretty much everything you can do that will get you in the hospital. In addition, if those things don’t do you in, you can go on Safari and see a bunch of animals that can put you in the hospital too.
Vic Falls should be high on your list of things to see if you’re planning to come to this side of the world. Were a bit worried we’d have trouble filling a full week here, but it wasn’t a issue at all, the Falls are a place that shouldn’t be rushed. But if you’re looking for a rush, they can provide that too.
