April 11:
We arrived at the Victoria Falls hotel at 1 PM after a 1 hour 40 minute flight from Johannesburg. We were traveling north and moved 800 miles closer to the equator so the temperature moved up to 85 and the humidity moved up to 80%. The hotel is a beautiful old building about 100 years old. The above photos show the front entrance, the back entrance and the view towards the Victoria Falls bridge. The hotel is a classic in every sense of the word with 10’ tall oil paintings hanging in the hallways, formal pools, 80’ tall shade trees in the middle of expansive St. Augustine grass lawns and the staff dressed up in suits and ties.
There are some unusual things about this hotel, however. They have a full time gunman employed to scare away the baboons to keep them from steeling the food from the outdoor restaurant. They have a family of warthogs that roam freely around the grounds. Monkeys are in the trees eating the seed pods and African dancers entertain the guests while they eat dinner in an outdoor restaurant.
The food is a bit unusual – here are samples from the menu:
Braised Oxtail
Ratatouille
Chicken Curry
Chutney
Roast Sirloin
Fried Crocodile
Zambezi Dream
Chargrilled Butternut
Sadza
Above are more photos of the grounds of the Victoria Falls Hotel.
My daughter, Corrie
My son, Tyler
My daughter-in-law, Corrine
Corrie’s boyfriend, Glenn
Next: Victoria Falls