Victoria Falls, ZW Day 6
Victoria Falls, ZW
Day 06 – Wednesday October 7, 2009 - Monde Village Tour/Zambezi Cruise
Gennie woke up early to work on her classes. The UOP servers seem to be having an overload problem, so with the time difference, she was able to get her work done!
After our showers and getting organized for the day we had breakfast. This is one of the best breakfasts – food is great here. We have to be careful not to take advantage or we will be on diets until the holidays when we get home.
At 9:10 we met in the lobby for our visit to Village Monde, home to about 250-300 homesteads, or dwelling for extended families. Fortune, our driver told us about the family life in the tribes including the price for arranged marriages.
Monde is an authentic working village and we were welcomed by the chief, Mr. Kompisi. He spoke to us for a long time about those families who use the totem of animals as their sacred symbols. His is the hyena and the elephant.
We were welcomed into his family of 16 and saw their sleeping quarters, their food storage area, and the most important room of the compound, the kitchen.
Our time at this village was truly an authentic Learning and Discovery. Our next stop was the Monde Primary School.
Francis Nawenya, the principal and upper grade teacher met us to explain about their school. There are 348 pupils and only 8 teachers. Many of the teachers have fled to Botswana or neighboring countries.
The first graders welcomed us to their classroom. There were 40 of them with one teacher in one room. The children sang a welcome song for us and we were able to look at their tablets.
The next class was a fourth grade group. The teacher told us of the many challenges. Almost half of his class of 40 are orphans whose parents died in the AIDS epidemic.
Francis then took us into his office. We had brought a few school supplies, but knowing the challenges these teachers face, we realized how plentiful our resources are at home.
At noon we went back to Reason’s village, Mkhosana. We stopped at the grocery store to buy a few things for his family. Gennie picked out some basic things like flour, sugar, rice, beans, and Corn Flakes for them. Beth also purchased a can of peanut butter, crackers, cookies, sweets, soap, and toothpaste for the family.
Ascent, Reason’s wife welcomed us to their home. They have running water, electricity, satellite TV reception, and a very cozy 2 bedroom home. Ascent was thrilled with the boxes we brought.
Reason had told us that he met his wife at the Presbyterian Church choir. We asked them to sing for us and the whole family sang several Gospel songs. We thanked them for their hospitality and then drove back to the hotel for lunch.
After lunch we had 90 minutes to refresh and go through pictures and our notes from the morning. Gennie organized the few purchases she made during our trip and we started to think about packing for the long flights back to the USA and Colorado.
At 3:50 Reason took us to the local ice cream shop and then to the
Sunset Cruise on the Zambezi River. Our craft was a large 18 passenger pontoon boat.
Elias, our captain gave us a safety briefing and then Luke, our bar tender told us that all soft drinks and alcoholic beverages were included in the package.
We motored downstream towards Victoria Falls and then about an hour down the main stream. The cruise lasted about 2 hours.
At 5:45 I checked the temperature and it was 93º with 32% humidity. Most people on board had an alcoholic drink or two but because it was so hot, water and Schweppes Lemon/Lime were the drink of choice today!
We saw many birds we had seen on other parts of the trip and also hippo, crocodile, spotted bush buck, and elephants were also along the banks or in the water.
The cruise ended with one of the most spectacular sunsets we have seen. Our captain maneuvered the boat around so everyone had the best possible views.
It was 6:30 by the time we reached the hotel, just enough time to take a shower and be back for our last discussion with Reason at 7:30. He gave us more information about Zimbabwe.
Dinner was served on the patio again; it was still very warm with the forecast predicting even warmer temperatures tomorrow. As we packed our bags we talked about going home to cold weather in Colorado.
We will be traveling for the next 48 hours to reach home. This will be the last journal until we are back in Colorado.
Accommodations: Ilala Lodge - - - Meal: B, L, D
Please see our Trip Evaluation -- Click Here -- A Complete Review of Overseas Adventure Travel's -- Post-Trip: Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
If you wish to travel with OAT Click Here.
To receive $50 per person off your first reservation with OAT, mention the following information when reserving your Overseas Adventure Travel Trip: Mr. Victor Garcia Customer #673062
Comments
Monde Primary School (0:28)
Ilana Hotel
Chief Kompisi
School Children at Monde Primary
Reason Outside His Home
Sunset on the Zambezi River
Featured Journal
Day 13: Azores & Madeira: Portugal's Unspoiled Archipelagos
Day 13 - Saturday, April 22, 2022 - Depart for U.S.
The hotel prepared a box breakfast for us as we had to be in the lobby way before the breakfast room was open.
Last night we found out that our departure flight back to...
