Day 6: Kings Pool (Bostwana) to Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe)

Day 6:  Kings Pool (Bostwana) to Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe):

Even though we didn't have a wake up call until 7 AM, I still woke up at 5:30 AM.  I went to the bathroom and then got back into bed and fell asleep for about an hour more.  When I finally got out of bed to start the day, I heard strange noises coming from under our cabin.  I walked out to the back deck and all of sudden I saw a big Warthog come running out from under the deck.  It was quite startlingly.  I then took a nice hot shower and then went back to the deck and saw another Warthog come running out from under the deck.  I assume there was a family sleeping there and for all I know they come there every night.  We then finished packing and went over to the main area for breakfast.  I had fruit, yogurt, OJ, tea, scrambled eggs with cheese and tomato.  We said our goodbyes and loaded up onto the jeep to our drive to Chobe airport.  Along the way we saw a bunch of Elephants cross the road and other animals in the bush.  We arrived at the air field around 9 AM and waited about 15 minutes for our 12 seat propeller to arrive.  We said goodbye to Bobby (our driver) and loaded up for our 1 hour flight to Kasane International Airport (Bostwana).  When we landed at 10:15 AM we had to go thru passport control before we crossed the border to Zimbabwe.  We waited about 15 minutes before our next flight in another small propeller plan.  The flight to Zimbabwe was about 30 minutes.  The Captain flew us right over Victoria Falls and provided us great views of the Falls.  We landed at the Victoria Falls Airport around 12 PM and took a 20 min private van ride to the Victoria Falls Hotel which was built in 1904.  We checked in and got to our room around 1 PM.  We dropped off our things in the room and went downstairs for lunch on the terrace.  For lunch I had a cheeseburger with fries.  We finished up lunch and went back to the room around 2 PM.  I laid down and took a little nap for an hour and got up at 3 PM.  We all met in the lobby at 3:30 PM to take a shuttle bus for our sunset cruise on the Zambezi river.  It was a very nice mellow ride with an open bar and passed our Hor D'eours.  Since the drinks were included, I decided to try some drinks.  I ended up having an Old Fashion (OK) and a Pimms One (very good).  While we were hanging out on the top deck we started talking to four guys who ended up being from LA.  One of the guys actually worked with Lee (my brother in law) at William Morris Agency (such a small world).  Along the cruise we saw a bunch of Hippos hanging out in the river and some elephants on the shore line.  There was a beautiful sunset as we neared the end of our 2 hour cruise.  When we docked, we walked up to the parking lot and our Van was waiting for us and drove us back to the hotel.  We got back to the room around 6:30 PM and changed for dinner before heading back out at 7 PM to meet at the restaurant in the hotel (Stanley's Room).  A jacket was required and Zack had to borrow one from the restaurant since they were adamant about wearing one.  For dinner, I had Ostrich carpaccio as an appetizer and I split a Tilapia and butternut ravioli with Hannah.  Near the end of the meal, the four guys we met on the cruise from LA ended up sitting right next to us.  We finished dinner and went to the reception desk to find out more about getting to Victoria Falls tomorrow.  We then face-timed with Grandpa Stu and then went to the room around 9:45 PM to get ready for bed.