We had a last leisurely breakfast at The Green Tree Lodge and Andrew and Vickie drove us the short (approximately 10 minute) distance to our next part of the adventure. We’re meeting our overland expedition group at the Zambezi Waterfront Campsites (http://www.thezambeziwaterfront.com/index.html).

They dropped us off at the reception area and we said our farewells. As it turns out, the Zambezi Waterfront is not only a campsite; it also has chalets, a lodge, an activities centre (for booking just about any kind of adventure you can imagine), and a restaurant/bar area. The complex is quite large and is located right on the shore of the Zambezi River. One of the staff was kind enough to lead us to our camping area. It was quite a sight, to turn a corner and finally see “Malaika”; our Africa in Focus (http://www.africa-in-focus.com/) overland truck. We have been looking at pictures of her and her older sibling for more and a year… and here we were standing in front of her.

Malaika

We came around the side of the truck and ran into Brett (our tour leader) and William (our driver). Introductions were made and Brett showed us around Malaika. Apparently, Ebron (our cook) was visiting relatives in Zimbabwe and would be returning this afternoon. During the tour of Malaika, another two members of our group showed up: Mel and Amit. They’re an Aussie couple but they had just spent the last two years living and working in Toronto. The other two people in our group (Peter and Anna) had already overlanded with Africa-in-Focus from Capetown to Livingston and were out exploring.

After the introductions, we went about loading our stuff into Malaika. We then all met on the restaurant’s deck for lunch and a general briefing.

The rest of the afternoon was spent setting things up in our tent and getting to know Malaika.

At 3:45 PM we all met at the Zambezi Waterfront’s dock for a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River. It was your typical all-you-can-drink booze cruise with a light dinner included but IT WAS ON THE ZAMBEZI! The scenery was as exotic as I had imagined and during parts of the cruise, you could see both the Zambian and Zimbabwean shores. We also got our first photos of Hippos, Giraffes, and a glorious sunset. Man, does the sun ever set fast here!

That’s not smoke, it’s Vic Falls mist!

Zambezi sunset cruise.

Our first Giraffe!

Our first Hippos!

Hippo yawn.

Sunset over the Zambezi.

Tangerine dusk over the Zambezi.

Finally, the Zambezi Waterfront has WiFi that actually works… YIPPEE!!!! And that’s why a week’s worth of postings have just been uploaded 😉 Goodnight everyone… up early tomorrow morning – we’re going to Victoria Falls!