My Cape Town Adventures: "Dr. Livingstone, I Presume?"

Our second day of Vic Falls, I fell in love with an African male named Detema. He was the cutest fourteen-year-old elephant, orphaned as a baby and taken in by trainers to become slightly domesticated. Dad, Jess and I awoke early to catch a sunrise and bus for a ride to a game reserve to ride elephants! It was an incredible experience; it felt very similar to riding a horse and afterwards, we got the chance to pose with our elephant seated on his knee, feed him and pet him – I also sneaked in a kiss!

We grabbed a refreshing pick-me-up lemonade at the hotel bar and then continued our afternoon with a guided walking tour of the falls. They were really quite breathtaking – twice as high as Niagra Falls and painted with the most vibrant rainbows I’ve ever seen. As we got farther along the pathway, we donned ponchos and got completely showered by the overpoweringly refreshing mist. We eventually reached the bridge connecting Zimbabwe and Zambia (now infamous for the devastating bungee jump accident of the young Australian woman) and watched a couple bungee jumpers take the plunge over the Zambezi river. Don’t worry, Mom – I have absolutely no interest in bungee jumping!

We returned back to our hotel in just enough time to catch another bus for a tour of the village in Victoria Falls, the rural area where most of the local Africans live. The quality of lifestyle reminded me a bit of the townships in Cape Town, but it was far less dense. We were introduced to a large family, comprising of an older couple with several sons, who were very welcoming. They are an incredibly hardworking, endearing group of people and we found ourselves wondering why they were handed such a difficult hand in life while we spent the past two weeks living in luxury.

After building up an appetite throughout the day, we were excited for our boma dinner. The boma we attended at Mala Mala was far smaller than the extravagant setting we stepped into that night. We were greeted by people who draped traditional African garb around our bodies and painted our cheeks with customary boma marks – two dots for women and two lines for men. There was an overabundance of food and more courses than I could imagine. A talented group of musicians performed songs and dances periodically throughout our meal and the same a cappella group from the previous night serenaded us once again. The best part of the night was when we each received a bongo drum and participated in the music playing ourselves! The night ended with a huge dance party amid our fellow diners of all ages. It was a wonderful way of celebrating our last night of vacation. Oh, and I received a certificate for eating a cooked worm. ;)

Our last adventure of our vacation was doing the Flight of the Angels the morning we left, a fantastic helicopter ride above the falls. The views were breathtaking and it was the perfect way of bidding goodbye to Zimbabwe. We were all slightly depressed as we boarded the plane heading for our layover in Jo’burg. It was here that my family and I had to head our separate ways; I was leaving from the domestic terminal while they were taking off internationally for London. I won’t lie – as much as I love Cape Town, it was hard to say goodbye to Dad and Jess, knowing they were heading home.

I can’t tell you how appreciative I am to have had the opportunity to experience these past couple weeks. I’ve had some of the best moments of my entire life and I was able to share them with two of my favorite people. Now it’s back to my life as a quasi-Capetonian. Let’s see if I can continue with more exciting stories!

xo Em

On the back of Detema