Somehow, the original post was deleted so this one appears out of order. However, I wanted to recapture the day.
When we had noticed a Catholic church, our driver told us that we would be most welcome at either of the Masses. We arranged for him to pick us up at 7:45 for the 8:00 a.m. service.
The church is modest in US standards but had been newly painted on the inside. An older white gentleman came over to talk to us. He had been a member of the parish since its founding in 1970s. He said that the parish supported all the people in Victoria Falls. However, looking around at the congregation, it was 95% Black.
Many of the women were dressed in a Catholic Women's Association uniform. I felt a little funny taking pictures of people in church, but here is a picture I found from a parish in Malawi where the women are dressed quite similarly.
Most of the readings and Mass parts were done in English, however, the singing was mostly in their native language. The most impressive things were the harmonies and the joyfulness. Sometimes people swayed, sometimes people danced; they all seemed totally uplifted by the singing and the service.
Another impressive thing was during the offertory, the women who are dressed in the Catholic Women's Association uniform followed the normal Offertory, each carrying a gift, ketchup, toilet paper, dish soap, etc. Etc. These gifts are offered to the parish priest to help offset his living expenses since his salary is so meager. We found out from the driver that different groups in the parish are assigned different weeks. This week, it was the women. Last week, it had been a men's group. Children get involved in offering gifts to the priest as well. It's amazing how these people with so little, can give so much, and be so happy.
Following Mass, we got to meet Temba's wife and two children. The 7 year old daughter seemed as excited to meet someone from America as we were to meet her.
We tried to find an ATM machine that would accept our card. We haven't had trouble using our card in other countries and didn't anticipate any problems. We did anticipate having to look at the extra fees that are charged. We know that often the bank will “sneak in” additional charges. They tell you about them, but sometimes it's a little unclear. We were prepared for that but not prepared for the fact that we would be unsuccessful at getting cash. We were completely out.
We had lunch reservations and had planned to use this time to walk across the bridge. I have bought a double entry Visa in case we decided to leave the country and come back so we were prepared. However, it was also getting pretty close to 100° and the thought of being out in the sun, in the heat was not appealing. So, we went back to the Airbnb and hung out instead. Even though there was no air conditioning, there was shade and the breeze from the fans.
Lunch was at the Lookout Cafe, my friend, Joyce, had told me she and her husband had really enjoyed eating lunch there. I had made reservations months ago telling them that I had grown up near Niagara Falls and Victoria Falls has been on my bucket list since I was child. I would appreciate a table by the window. The reservation was for 12:30. It was 12:25 and the driver had not yet shown up. I looked for a way to contact the restaurant to let them know we would be late but I was unable to find the contact info. I was absolutely convinced we would lose our coveted table. However, when we arrived our table was waiting for us!
The view is quite beautiful, and on the right day, you can watch people Bungee jump into the gorge. We felt ourselves pretty lucky to see two. It was hot even for the thrill seekers.
Denis ordered crocodile. It was nicely marinated and grilled. And actually was quite tender and tasted quite good. When it came time for the bill I thought since we had our credit card we have this covered… once again, the bill came without a pen and when they asked for a pen to put the tip on, I was told that they absolutely preferred tips in cash. Tips that were added to the credit card often didn't make it to the server and if it did, it was up to a month later. I tried to explain that I had no cash, but still, no pen arrived.
We have no cell or internet service so it was impossible to call the driver to pick us up. They asked if the restaurant would phone him. They came back and told me that it was impossible to reach him and offered to have one of their drivers take us back. I asked if the driver took only cash. Of course. I explained that I had no cash and I would therefore not be able to use one of their drivers. The thought of walking the long, lonely, and very dusty road back into town was not appealing, especially in the 102° weather, but it was beginning to look like that was our only choice. Finally, the server came back and told us that they were able to reach the driver and that he would be there in 10 minutes. We were welcome to continue sitting at our table, they would let us know when he arrived.
During lunch, we had tried to figure out how we had used up all of our American cash. We decided to check one last place when we got back to the house and found that we still had enough money hidden away to pay the driver at the end of the night!
We hung around the Airbnb again. We got to spend some time talking with our host. She opened up the Airbnb 7 years ago. Her family is Australian but they had come to Zimbabwe many years ago to farm. She has three children who are all in school in England. Their father also lives there. Since she has lived in Victoria Falls for so many years, she knows many of the people and lots of the stories.
Sandi had made reservations for us at Dusty Road. It is a traditional African food restaurant located in the township. Sandi's children and Mama Sarah's children had grown up together. When you walk into Dusty Road, one of the young girls teaches you all about the local foods and ingredients that were used in making your dinner. Then, you're given a tour of the restaurant and the grounds. Sarah hires and trains only people who live in the township and Dusty Road very proudly displays the number of local charities they help support. They also help support children. Sometime during the meal, 10 local children came to sing and dance for us. I think the idea was that they would explain their education system and we would be offered the chance to help support them. But they came in and left which felt a little weird.
When it came time to pay, we were once again told that cash was preferred. I explained we had no cash. The server told us to see what we could do. I try to explain that we had no cash. I was taken into the back office where I once again explained my situation. The office manager was able to take our payment, including tip, using her cell phone. They were also able to phone the driver to pick us up. We were told to sit and wait. I kind of wandered up towards the front and noticed that it was quite dark out there and that there were security people standing at the entrance. The security is normal. The darkness was caused by a power outage. The restaurant has generators so we had hardly noticed them switching over when it happened.
Load shedding happens when the power grid is stressed. In South Africa, people are notified through an app when load shedding will affect their area. Each of the places we stayed in in South Africa had power outage supplies, flashlights that were plugged into the wall and a supply of candles and matches in case the power went out. Larger restaurants and hotels often have powered generators so their customers are not inconvenienced.
We found out that in Zimbabwe load shedding happens without warning. In Victoria Falls, the center of town where many of the tourists stay, is spared. But the township, where Black people live, and the outskirts of the city where our Airbnb was, are not.
The township in Victoria Falls is unlike the townships we saw in South Africa. In South Africa, townships were a result of apartheid. Many people live in corrugated steel or even cardboard structures. In Zimbabwe, the white folks in power built fences around the black neighborhoods so that they could monitor their coming and going. The gates were locked at 6:00 p.m. Anyone caught on the outside was quickly arrested. During the reign of Robert Mugabe, he had soldiers go in at 4:00 a.m. and raze the structures many people were living in. Our driver told us that many people did not survive. Over the years, small brick structures, oftentimes with no windows, thatched roofs, and many people living in them, sprang up. Our driver was ambivalent about what Mugabe had done, at least today they had better houses.
We were able to pay Temba, our driver, but now we really were out of American cash. We would have to rely on South African Rand to tip the people in Botswana. We weren't anxious to use the ATM there since we knew the money would be dispensed in local currency and we would only be there for 24 hours.
