My First Helicopter Ride (Monday 12Nov12)

So a month from now I will be on my way home. I will have some fantastic memories to take with me but I think that today will be a day that will always stick in my head. Two reasons. The first being that I took my first ever helicopter ride today, and to make it even more special it was over the Victoria Falls. The second being that on the Sunset Cruise tonight I took the most amazing pictures of an elephant swimming in the Zambezi River with the sunset as a back drop. It was one of those moments when I was reminded as to why I had always wanted to come to Africa.

So the day went as follows. I had a bit of a lay in and headed down to breakfast. After the Victoria Falls Hotel 5 star feast I was in for a bit of a let down, and after receiving two cups of tea with floating bits in it I gave up and headed back to my room to get my things. I had a very important date. This morning I was going to take my very first chopper ride over the falls. I got chatting to a guy named Trevor in the taxi ride to the helipad. It was really interesting to get chatting to him as he had been born in Zimbabwe and at the age of nine his parents had moved to South Africa. After living in New Zealand for quite some time he had finally come back to South Africa to see his family, and further more done a trip up to Zimbabwe. We talked about the problems facing the two countries, but he was much more positive about Zim than South Africa. There is a general consensus speaking to locals and ex-patriots here that corruption in government is the cause of so many of the issues. I must admit I have really enjoyed, the sometimes, quite deep conversations about politics over here. There are a lot of us in the UK that really don't have much to say on the subject, maybe that just shows we have it too easy. Anyway, the "flight of angels" as they call it was absolutely stunning. I am so glad I did it. The best way for me to describe it is in the pictures that I have taken but it was breath taking and I have to admit that I ended up buying the photo's that the company had taken of my flight. For $15 I decided that it was worth it.

The first thing I did when I got back to the hotel was to have a sprite at the pool bar. I debated a dip in the pool but when I get into my room I ended up playing around on the internet and before I knew it it was time to get ready and pop down to The Victoria Falls Hotel for high tea. Well, it had to be done, and I had an hour before my bus picked me up to take me on the sunset cruise.

I met a gay couple and their parents on the bus. It turned out that they were from London and had done a trip down through Africa. Their next stop was a wine tour in Cape Town. It was good to chat to a few Londoners, especially as the majority of people on holiday were from the US, South Africa or Australia. Once I got on the boat the Wild Horizon guys ushered me onto a table with two older couples. It turned out that the two men were cousins, one couple living in South Africa and one living in the US. They were really sweet to me and again really friendly. I found out that Belinda, who lives in Johannesburg, had had her car hijacked twice and had also experienced three failed attempts. However, she was really quick to say that she wasn't the norm and that South Africa is a wonderful country. Although, I got quizzed a lot by her husband as to why I was travelling alone. The bar on the cruise was well stocked and I settled on vodka and sprite as my tipple of choice for the evening. It seems to be my choice of drink out here, and by the time I got back to the hotel I have to admit that I was a bit tipsy.

The crew were great and we spotted lots of different birds, crocodile and hippo, but the best spot was the elephant on the shore about to take a swim across the river. I managed get seated on the end of the boat with a clear view ahead of me. I was clicking away when I realised that I was getting some of the best pictures so far in my trip. I caught the sunset behind the elephant who was going in and out of the water. I put the camera down for a bit to take in the moment. This is why I had always wanted to come to Africa.

The Helicopter Ride



Here it comes!

That's the safety men walking away.

Elephant Hills Hotel and the Zambezi River behind it.

The Zambezi.

Me in the helicopter.

A picture of Trevor who looked after me.

Bye bye helicopter.

High Tea at The Victoria Hotel

And no I didn't manage to eat it all.

The Sunset Cruise

 

A crocodile.

And another crocodile on the bank of the Zambezi.

Our next spot was Hippo.

Some kind of bird.

An African Open-Billed Stork.

Egyptian Geese, these guys seem to get everywhere.

The best spot of all...

An elephant crossing the Zambezi River at sunset.

 

 

 

These are the lovely people I spent the evening with.