It's alright, we survived

Now, before we get into what we did today let me just assure Mum and Dad (both lots) that we did check out the situation first. We talked to people who had been there and done that, we looked it over from the microlight and we stuck our heads over the border when we were at Vic Falls the other day... and just to make sure we had asked Penny (who is staying at the same place as us) to call the embassy if we didn't come back... but on to what we did.

Waking up at 5:30am (it was still dark!) we got in a taxi heading to the Zambian/Zimbabwean border post. When we got there, it hadn't opened yet so we spent 15 minutes watching the baboons attempt to break into the various trucks that were waiting to cross the border. At 6:30am we were stamped out of Zambia and crossed the border to a waiting minibus that took us the couple of kms to the Zimbabwean customs. We paid the $30 for the Zimbabwean visa and proceeded to drive through Victoria Falls town. The town is beautiful, and much better laid out than Livingstone. Despite the troubles it still seems cleaner with more structured manicured gardens. The shops were however decidedly empty and there was a horde of people waiting outside the bank even at that time of the morning.

But, we weren't actually here just so we could say we'd been to Zimbabwe, the real reason was so we could take some Lions for a walk. There were two lions Echo and Etosha and they were 12 month old brothers. We were each given a stick and informed that if they look like the want to play with you (by chewing on your leg or arm or some such) then you should try and get them interested in the stick instead. Other than that just stay out of their way and avoid being near the head area. At first they seemed a bit reluctant to go for a walk choosing to rub up against us and collapse on our legs whenever possible. Until one of the guides (George) decided to tease and get them to chase him. This was the best game ever and by the time we made it to the river the two lions were having a fabulous time running around, chasing buffalo dung balls and pouncing on each other (and George). It was definitely a unique experience, getting to touch and feel the muscles moving in a lion as it walks along. Lots of fun and we made it safely out of Zimbabwe without difficulty.