Day Eight - Zimbabwe & Big Cave Campsite
A 4:00am wakeup signaled the beginning of our safari trek south. We packed up our tents and boarded the truck and were soon at the Zimbabwe border. They collected our passports, a short form, and $30 cash each and after about 30 minutes were on our way. It was a very smooth process.
Just outside the immigration office, a family of warthogs were hanging out and feeding, as well as two very curious baboons. Unfortunately, cameras are not allowed anywhere near the border crossing zone.
When were in Livingstone, there was a constant debate amongst various travelers and residents regarding which part of Victoria Falls was better, Zambia or Zimbabwe? Today, we'd get to compare them as our first stop was to see the falls from Zimbabwe side.
The falls were wider and very impressive on this side, however it was very overcast and rainy and that somewhat diminished the experience. It was still very impressive and we spent about an hour walking around and getting various viewpoints.
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(Click to Enlarge)
(Click to Enlarge)Back on the road, we drove about 5 hours until we reached Matobo Hills and the Big Cave Camp. Big Cave resides on a massive sheet of granite and is full of enormous boulders. It is very beautiful and scenic. It's a place I could see coming back to and spending more time at in the future.
We set up camp, explored a bit, finding several Rock Hyrax running around the boulders. These mammals are the closest living relative of the elephant. They are known to post sentries that stand on guard as a lookout and warn the other when danger approaches. For this reason, it took me a while to be able to photograph one before they all fled.
As it became dark, we headed back to camp for dinner and then and then enjoyed a few drinks around the campfire on a cool, rainy night.
