what can we say about our trip into zimbabwe? it was brief... and we travelled only to vic falls, which is so driven by tourism, that it is not much like the rest of the country. we hope to be able to return one day to see more of the country...the political situation is rather unstable there at the moment, and many many people are suffering. inflation is so outrageous, that the bank notes have expiration dates! the bank rate is 250 zim dollars to the us dollar, but the black market will yield 7,500 zim dollars to the us dollar! the situation is so bad that you cannot pay for most services w/ zim dollars! they won't even take their own currency! people are required to present bank receipts for their zim dollars, which of course are not available if one has changed money on the street (which is highly illegal)! it is mind boggling to be charged 40,000zim for a $5.00 taxi ride, then go into a 4-star hotel and be offered a 90% discount for using foriegn currency! (in the hotel a 40,000zim cheeseburger would actually be $100.00 if it weren't offered at the 90% discount!)
economic issues aside, the people we met were lovely, and the falls are magnificent! we spent an afternoon getting drenched in the spray! it was a blast! and surreal to get drenched in a downpour on a bright sunny day! the water from the falls is so powerful, and the spray is so high that it can be seen from kilometers away! incredible! it was the last 2 days of our tour, so we drew out our goodbyes & went to dinner as a group & out for a little dancing...we held mac to his promise that he would dance with us at the end of the trip.
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