Together with our British friends who drove us all the way from Bulawayo, we went to the best and apparently only place in the entire area to watch the sunset.
There is this incredible safari lodge, built on what is probably the only hill in kilometers, right in the National Park (so NO neighbors! for now and for ever) and has an amazing terrace facing the entire savanna! You can see kilometers away! And right in front of it, a little waterhole !
I honestly think that it has been dug by the lodge, it would be too much of a luck to have this perfect pond right in front of this perfect hill, right in the middle of this perfect savanna, at 5 minutes drive from the Victoria Falls, there is too much incidental perfection behind this!
So we ended up there and it was just magical. The sun was lazily going down, crossed by lines of orange clouds, overlooking the lush green savanna. It was the perfect “African sunset”. We were lucky enough to spot a crocodile swimming in the pond, a hyena, and even a group of buffaloes came drinking soon after the sun disappeared. It was supposed to be our last night in Zimbabwe, and it would have been an amazing last night, but I kind of felt that I fell too much in love with this place to leave so soon.
When we left, I stopped at the reception, told them that I sent them an email about our project a couple of days ago before arriving to town, (which is true, I sent emails to every possible existing accommodation, big or small, cheap or expensive, campings, homestay and lodges, everyone! to ask for help) and I was very surprised not to have received any answer, positive or negative. The receptionist got a bit confused, he called the manager on duty who said that he would pass the message to his superior first thing in the morning, I gave him the details of the project, trying to sound as cute and French as I possibly could…
The day after, I had the manager on the phone, I told him about the project, he asked me how long we wanted to stay, I said one night (stuuuuupiiiid meeeeeee! I should have said 10!!!! But well we needed to start moving on to Zambia soon), and that was booked. We jumped in a shuttle and were officially welcomed in paradise. We stayed in a room that was overlooking the bush, the view was as stunning as the night before and we were simply waiting to see the impalas and other cute animals walking by, hoping to spot bigger ones. And finally we had free internet (which is really really rare in Victoria Falls) and could get a lot of work done.
We fell asleep with the door open. I do not remember having ever enjoyed falling asleep that much. I was listening to the wind blowing in the leaves, the sounds of the savanna, trying to concentrate on ever single one of them, one after the other, and wondering if it was coming from a bird, an insect a frog or any other animals that had waited for the night to fall before starting their little noisy activities. Then I remembered the time I was living anywhere in the developed world. I was falling asleep with the sound of the tramway, the cars, the scooters, the aircon, the fan or the heater, water going in the pumps, phones ringing, steps from above and below, noise from the street and the neighbors, people talking, clocks ticking, doors closing and opening, planes, helicopters, damn birds (not nice sounding birds, annoying sounding birds, like seagulls or ravens), dogs barking and cats meowing. I realized the value of unspoiled nature, to reconnect with yourself and the world around you (I must sound like a monk living in the Himalayan mountains right now…). It was a much deserved rest knowing the tough moments that await us…
Anyway, it was memorable. Next, Zambia!