Because I have cabin fever and the opportunity presented itself, mom and I went on a three day trip to Zimbabwe to see the legendary Victoria Falls. We availed ourselves of one of them special package deals, pay for two stay for three nights, all inclusive blah blah blah. We thought we were going into a country that is merely an extension of South Africa. I was naive, I now realise. Yes I have heard reports about how bad their economy is and that luxury items like butter, soap, Coca Cola, chocolate etc are hard to come by but honestly I thought the media was once again blowing this out of proportion, as they did during our "state of emergency" in the 1980's. Well.................. was I ever so wrong. We arrived at our luxury hotel, no electricity and no running water in our room. The electricity came back on but not the running water. I reported it on four different occasions and eventually kicked up a major stink with the hotel general manager. They fixed it. Everything was massively expensive. Lunch which consisted of two salads and two sodas set us back USD45! One tourist paid USD6 for a Coke at the airport. They ran out of soda water at my hotel so I couldn't have a Rock Shandy. As for diet Coke or Tab, forget it. Butter and jam was served very sparingly - and if you wanted more, it wasn't a problem, it just took forever to be served to you because clearly it is locked up and "issued" upon request in the kitchen. It's like this everywhere and the staff were telling us how they make do by planting vegetable gardens to keep themselves going and doing anything legal for money. Oi, what an eye opener.

BUT! The Victoria Falls were spectacular. Mom and I decided to rough it and not use umbrellas or raincoats. We got soaked, drenched. The water dripped off the sides of our peak caps and our eyelashes. The locals call the falls "Mosi au tunya" which means "the smoke that thunders". Dam right, they are loud and proud. When you stand next to them, you simply must believe in God, it is such a spectacular sight. They are the biggest falls in the world in their depth and width. Twice the size of Niagara and narrower but deeper than the Angel falls in South America. The Vic Falls are 1.7km wide and fall a depth of 107m. In the dry season (which is now) 500million litres of water spills over the edge per minute and this increases to 750million litres of water in the wet season. Quite a strong shower!

The Zambesi river (4th biggest in Africa) also teams with game. We went on a river cruise and saw crocodile, hippos and elephants. The waters are tranquil and calm but they belie what lies beneath. You don't see swans, ducks or geese on this water - nope - too many crocodiles.

The highlight of my trip - I treated myself to a helicopter flip over the falls. It lasted all of 15 minutes and it was an Oh wow experience. First time in a helicopter too.

I'm glad I went, I'm freaked out by the dreadful conditions imposed on these beautiful people, I wish I could help. I'd like to go back in ten years time, to see if there is any improvement. I pray there will be.