Zimbabwe

I crossed into Zimbabwe just near the Victoria Falls (photo 1). The falls are spectacular, about a mile wide, the result of the slow moving upper Zambezi river dropping a hundred metres into a narrow gorge. From that point on the river is much faster moving, being one of the world's premier white water rafting locations. As many of the adventurous activities were either unappealing or very expensive I decided just to do a combined game flight and flight over the falls in a little Piper Cub. This was interesting as one could see huge herds of elephants and Rhinos. It was also a good opportunity to take aerial photographs of the falls (photo 2). As I was walking back from the falls I also saw a bushbuck, a shy antelope (photo 3).

Near Bulawayo I visited a lion breeding farm where it was possible to take some of the younger lions for a walk. Bernie who was only four months (photo 1-3) old at the time was very cute and enjoyed having her stomach rubbed (photo 3) and was very playful.

I also visited the Rhodes Matopo national park, where there are some interesting rock formations such as the Mother and Child rocks (photo 1). There is also a big White Rhino population (photo 2 & 3) there and I was lucky enough to see a ten week old baby rhino (photo 2). There was also some other interesting wildlife such as a Warthog (photo 3).

Towards the end of my time in Zimbabwe I spent a few days on a boat on Lake Kariba. The lake, which was created by damming, is very attractive as it has the skeletons of trees still sticking through the water which are particularly ethereal at dusk (photo 1) and sunset (photo 2). It is also a good place to observe wildlife, particularly birdlife. I also saw several lions (photo 3), including a female with a fresh kill.