By: Berkley Scharmann, Weber State University
Our group was lucky enough to get the opportunity to travel to Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world, for our program “vacation”. We started off the journey by crossing the border from Botswana to Zambia in our car then accidentally walking back into Botswana (oops) and then back into Zambia.
After realizing our mistake, we got back on the right track, heading now the correct way into Zambia. Victoria Falls, the town that we headed to, is busier and has more to offer than Maun in terms of buying from local vendors and more street dancer performers. Everyone was trying to get our attention to buy something, calling out or the dancers wanting us to come take photos with them. This was the first time during the whole trip I actually felt like a tourist.
Entering the park was being transported somewhere else. The Victoria Falls Park has one path that leads to different viewpoints of the Falls themselves. When walking around the humidity got thicker and it seemed as if it was drizzling. The water was hitting so strongly at the bottom of the canyon that it came back up, creating the illusion that it was raining. Getting a little bit “rained’ on did make the day much nicer as the sun was out (as always).
Seeing one of the seven wonders of the world is nothing short of an experience. Everyone was taking selfies, taking photos for each other or just capturing Victoria Falls itself. However, the falls offered even more things to look at: tons of birds! Our local group of bird experts saw tons of different birds ranging from Sunbirds, Turaco’s, Bulbul’s, Kingfishers and Firefinches. I don’t know the specific name of the birds, but our bird experts definitely knew as they took photos of every single one… probably taking more photos of the birds than of Victoria Falls.
Having filled our camera and phones with every angle of the Falls and birds, our group headed out to fill our stomachs at Baines Restaurant. The restaurant overlooked one of the rivers that went into the falls, allowing for more bird watching as we ate. The most popular item that we ordered and had to try was a kudu, crocodile and warthog slider. They came out on mini burger buns, ready to be eaten. My evaluation of them is this: Kudu tastes like any other beef, so it’s not really memorable. Crocodile tastes like fish, which is delicious but nothing new. Now the warthog was more gamey and less dry than the kudu. So out of the three, I would want warthog for a special occasion and kudu everyday, but could pass on the crocodile. I would not recommend this meal for vegetarians.
Indulging in the local markets afterwards, there should be a warning that all items will be more expensive than anything in Maun combined. Being a tourist area, the prices will be $20-80 dollars for anything nice. I did indulge a little bit though, buying a small helmeted guinea fowl character (my favorite bird) and a chess set. The chess set is unique in that it features the big five animals: Elephant carvings decorating the board, cape buffalo as pawns, leopards as queens, lion as kings and rhino as bishops. There are two other animals for rook and knight. The seller, Rejoice, was the sweetest lady ever. She just wanted to talk and talk, even saying that’s why she is so intelligent because she talks to everyone and learns everything. Getting to know Rejoice was very joyous and really made buying the chess set even better.
We headed back across the border (for the second time) with new treasures and memories. As is common here, the soles of our shoes had to be cleaned along with the car’s tires. Most fences or borders we cross have some form of washing to stop foot and mouth disease from spreading. For people, there is a small block with a wet mat that you wipe your shoes on then walk off it. For the cars there was a sloped basin filled with water that was driven through.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to visit such an amazing place. Extra thanks to Dix and SB for planning the vacation and making sure everyone had an amazing time on a tight budget. They are the best guides and make this study abroad more magical.
