September 27, 2025

September 27, 2025

Last night we went to the rooftop bar for cocktails before having a group dinner. From the city night lights it is easy to see that Jo’burg is the richest city in Africa. I ordered the Savannah hard cider and it was surprisingly good.

Cecil Rhodes was a key figure in early South African history. We know him from the Rhodes Scholarship he set up at Oxford. Shortly after diamonds were discovered just west of here in Kimberley, he made his fortune using Rothschild money to buy up all the mines cornering the market. His company was called De Beers, after the Dutch owners of the farmland. Not satisfied, he went north looking to find new opportunities. He formed the British colony of Rhodesia. After independence it was divided into the modern countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe.

We intend to follow in Rhodes’ footsteps, so we checked out of our hotel, and took a flight from Jo’burg to Victoria Falls. Our flight took us over the mostly barren Kalahari Desert. I was intrigued by some parallel lines I saw crossing Hwange National Park. An internet search suggests these are the shorelines of a prehistoric lake.

In Victoria Falls we are greeted by warm weather. Aimee and I are now desert rats and we welcome the change. We checked into our Safari Lodge. Our room has a terrace overlooking a watering hole on the edge of Zambezi National Park. It is empty. After resting for an hour, Aimee looks up and notices two elephants. We watch them drink water and then throw dirt on themselves for sun protection. Shortly after a herd of Warthogs, Helmeted Guineafowl and Cape Buffalo join them. We love it.

In the early evening we shuttled to the Zambezi River for a sunset cruise. It was a nice relaxing boat ride with cocktails and lots of light snacks. We all tried the local Zambezi Beer. Our cruise took us across the river and into Zambian waters so we can now cross it off our country list.

We saw a few crocodiles, hippos, and elephants but we are pretty jaded now. A little later though we were wowed. Two elephants on the river island decided to enter the water and after a couple minutes made the leap and swam to the opposite shore. I didn't know elephants were such good swimmers. They made pretty good time going up and down in the water. They were often fully submerged. I guess it is handy to have a built-in snorkel.

Sadly we also saw a dead elephant rotting on the shoreline. The carcass was being fed on by crocodiles.

After watching the sun set in a blaze of red, we made our way back to the lodge. The staff has lowered the mosquito netting on our bed. It is probably not necessary but a good precaution. We purposely came here in the dry season and are taking malaria pills for added protection.