Monday, September 10th
Our flight to Kasane was not until 11:30. Thank goodness, as it allowed us a little extra sleep in the morning. We met at the restaurant about 8:30 and enjoyed the breakfast buffet. Two eggs “over easy” with bacon, sausage, potatoes, toast and lots and lots of coffee had me feeling human again in no time. Lucky was there at the appointed time and escorted us to the Airlink (the South African Airways regional carrier) and stayed with us through the check-in process (I just can’t say enough good things about Gracy Travel) before bidding us farewell. To make a short story long, I need to explain a dilemma about our checked baggage. When we read the fine print on the Airlink website, we became concerned over the baggage restrictions, particularly with the carry-on bags. “IF” there was weight available, you could pay extra for the bags (no one with the airline would say what happened if there was not weight available) or you could upgrade to business class. When we figured out the upgrade was less than $200 round trip, we had decided to go for it. We figured it was cheap insurance to make sure all our bags arrived in Kasane at the same time we did. Like most insurance, it turned out to be unnecessary as none of the bags were counted or weighed. At least we got to board first, sit in the front of the plane in larger seats and had fancy lunches.
Touched down at the appointed 1:30 in Kasane and was most pleased to see the good folks from Wild Horizons waiting for us with my Botswana firearms paperwork. With it in hand, I went to claim my rifles. The agent and the police officer seemed unsure what to do, so the three of put our heads together and figured it out. Botswana banned most hunting some years back and I don’t guess too many hunters came to Botswana as a result. The paperwork was eventually completed and my rifles were off to their temporary home while I was touring, and we were off to Victoria Falls.
We were very lucky at the Zim border. We were the first in line for our Visas. The whole thing only took about 15 minutes, opposed to the two hours it took Janice in 2014. The quick turnaround at the border allowed us to get to Victoria Falls at about 3:30. We dropped off our luggage in our rooms and tried not to be distracted by the hotel’s opulence as we made our way to the falls. We knew that night would be on us in a few hours and we wanted to try and get some sunset pictures at the falls. The water volume coming over the falls was up and the mist it created left little doubt where the name “Smoke that Thunders” came from. The roar of the water going over the falls was loud enough to require shouting to be heard over its din, and the mist obscured the view as would a cloud of smoke. All the water vapor set the backdrop for some spectacular rainbows. Double and sometimes triple rainbows were visible. Victoria Falls is truly deserves its place in the “Seven Natural Wonders of the World”. With index fingers tired from releasing camera shutters, we headed back to the hotel.
Smoke That Thunders is another name for Victoria Falls. The smoke part is obvious, the thunder comes from the water going over the edge.
Vic Falls Rainbow
