November 17, 2005

  • Every Desert Has An Oasis

    November 15, 2005

     

     

    “Every Desert Has An Oasis”

     

     

    We celebrated my 50th birthday at the Zambezi Sun Hotel in Victoria Falls.  It was a lovely getaway in an air-conditioned room.  Dinner at poolside with a live band playing dinner music created a very nice ambiance. Paved parking areas and cement sidewalks made one forget the dusty dirt roads of Livingstone and the rocky paths on the farm.  Everything pointed to a great escape until…..stepping out onto the balcony of our hotel room brought reality right back in.  There in the yard before us were baboons!!!  There were a whole group of them playing including a mother and her baby.  Most of us are use to looking out over the balcony in a hotel and maybe seeing the ocean waves but here we are in Africa seeing baboons!  Shaking our heads and realizing we were not going to be able to forget about where we are, we decided to take a walk on one of the paved sidewalks.  The road to the right led to the “Boma” and the road to the left led to Victoria Falls.  Having previously seen the Falls and being curious about what a Boma is, we went to the right.  Along the way we ran into a group of zebras!!  Now I want you to realize that these animals are not in cages…not in a protected area….but right out there!!!   I have pictures to prove it! A little further on, we came to the Boma.  It is an outdoor barbeque site where they have a buffet dinner and tribal dances.  They were preparing for a real PIG-PICKIN’…..the whole pig was skewered on a large spit turning over and over.  After talking to one of the workers, we found out that Boma stands for “British Occupation Management Association” referring back to when the British occupied Zambia.  Why they still call it that I don’t know….I was a little disappointed that it didn’t stand for something more exciting.  Walking a little further we came to the Zambezi River and a sign that said “Beware of Crocodiles!” Again another reminder of just where we are.  Continuing on in our walk, we came to the Royal Livingstone Hotel where rooms are over $600.00 per night…but you get a private balcony overlooking the Zambezi River and the Falls and….your own private butler!!  This is where Julia Roberts and Arnold Schwarzenegger have stayed.  You can get a massage right outside overlooking the Zambezi!!!  Outdoor dining overlooking the Falls…very nice.

     

    All in all it was a nice way to turn 50!!!