Africa Galleries:
Lion Encounter/Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
Elephants: Kruger National Park, Karongwe Private Game Reserve, Elephant Adventure, Crossing Zambezi River and Botswana's Chobe National Park
Some of the Safari Animals We Saw on Safari Outings
Some of the Safari Animals We Saw on Safari Outings Continued

Bill and I went to Zimbabwe on an extended tour and then into Botswana for a day to do safari and Zambezi River cruise in the early evening. Some people from Botswana told us that this cruise was often referred to as the "Booze Cruise". It was a lovely thing to do and I would suggest it if you have the opportunity. The people of Zimbabwe were warm and helpful. We wanted to see Victoria Falls while on this trip. While it is neither the highest nor the widest waterfall in the world, Victoria Falls is classified as the largest, based on its combined width of 1,708 metres (5,604 ft) and height of 108 metres (354 ft), resulting in the world's largest sheet of falling water. Victoria Falls is roughly twice the height of North America's Niagara Falls and well over twice the width of its Horseshoe Falls. In height and width Victoria Falls is rivalled only by Argentina and Brazil's Iguazu Falls. Bill and I also zip lined across the gorge at Victoria Falls. That was good fun but over too quickly.

Another adventure we had in Zimbabwe was the Walk with the Lions. I must say that was something we will remember for the rest of our lives. It was one hour of treasured moments with two lions a brother and sister. There were only 6 of us when we did this so we were really close and personal with these lions. Don't miss this if you make it to Zimbabwe! Walk With the Lions.

Zimbabwe also has a number of really interesting stones that the sculptors carve. We purchased a butter jade sculpture that was a carving of a traditional Zimbabwe women. It will be a wonderful reminder in our home of our amazing experiences in this country.

Zimbabwe...officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in southern Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the west and southwest, Zambia to the northwest, and Mozambique to the east and northeast. Although it does not border Namibia, less than 200 metres of the Zambezi River separates it from that country. The capital and largest city is Harare. A country of roughly 13 million people, Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, with English, Shona, and Ndebele the most commonly used.

Since the 11th century, present-day Zimbabwe has been the site of several organised states and kingdoms as well as a major route for migration and trade. The British South Africa Company of Cecil Rhodes first demarcated the present territory during the 1890s; it became the self-governing British colony of Southern Rhodesia in 1923. In 1965, the conservative white minority government unilaterally declared independence as Rhodesia. The state endured international isolation and a 15-year guerrilla war with black nationalist forces; this culminated in a peace agreement that established universal enfranchisement and de jure sovereignty in April 1980. Zimbabwe then joined the Commonwealth of Nations - which it withdrew from in December 2003. It is a member of the United Nations, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU), and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).

Robert Mugabe became Prime Minister of Zimbabwe in 1980, when his ZANU-PF party won the elections following the end of white minority rule; he has been the president of Zimbabwe since 1987. Under Mugabe's authoritarian regime, the state security apparatus has dominated the country and been responsible for widespread human rights violations. Mugabe has maintained the revolutionary socialist rhetoric from the Cold War era, blaming Zimbabwe's economic woes on conspiring North American capitalist countries, while still executing conservative policies. Burnished by his anti-imperialist credentials, contemporary African political leaders have been reluctant to criticise Mugabe, though Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called him 'a cartoon figure of an archetypal African dictator'. ..."

To read the rest of this Wikipedia Article please follow this link: Zimbabwe.