Zimbabwe: Ilala Lodge
My mother and I spent another night in Johannesburg before an international flight to Zimbabwe. I do want to say it was a chill night of drinking and passing out early watching a movie I do not remember. The next morning, we go back into this airport from hell, O R Tambo International Airport, but now I exaggerate. This time went as smooth as I could have asked for. We got through security, got to the terminal and gate, and waited for maybe an hour. The worst part about this was having to wear masks on the flight, which is something I can surely deal with, and the flight was only a little over an hour itself.
We landed and got through immigration in Zimbabwe way faster and smoother, thankfully, and after a 20-minute car ride we were in the town of Victoria Falls. A small town that is primarily the host of Victoria Falls, the park, and a sort of through-route to other surrounding towns. There were a few restaurants and stores and a brewery that I just had to hit while I was there with a bunch of different lodges scattered throughout the landscape. I know this because I saw it from the sky in a helicopter, but more on that later. My mother and I got dropped off at Ilala Lodge which was not really a lodge but more of a hotel, a really REALLY nice hotel. We had adjoining rooms again like the last time and were on the ground floor, so we had sliding glass doors that lead out onto a lawn where non-dangerous animals, such as warthogs and impala roamed around.
We settled in, and then walked to the Overlook Café which was absolutely amazing. Getting there was an experience. The hawkers and peddlers will bother and harass you incessantly to buy their wares. They do not take no for an answer and will literally try to sell you, their money. Covid made their economy collapse and their currency is so bad that they have literal 100 billion Zimbabwean dollar bills. Some do have wooden utensils which can be cool, unless you think a 100-billion-dollar bill is cool then have at it. These peddlers are desperate for any money and are not shy about approaching a group of tourists they think they can sell something to. That being said, if you go to Victoria Falls, US dollars are the preferred currency as opposed to South Africa which has Rand. Rand is accepted but it would just be easier if you used American cash and carried smaller bills.
A relatively large establishment for a café, The Overlook Café resides on the side of a cliff overhanging the Zambezi River. It was one of the best places to have a drink and (if you are like me) zone out watching the current of the river that I have ever experienced. After some time and before it got dark, we moseyed on back through brush to the town, getting harassed by peddlers on the way, and returned to the lodge
