Grasshoppers are strange. But, they appear alone and, well, they hop. That could be cute.

Locusts, on the other hand, are like suspiciously over-muscled versions of the grasshopper. Regardless of what they look like in pictures, anything that flies in a skittering, clattering way, undoubtedly aiming for your head, is always scary.


I remember the locusts.

They never came in the millions. They didn't even come in the thousands. We might at one time have seen hundreds. Still, these weren't the little dwarf suckers you see on plague documentaries on TV. These were the big AFRICAN locusts. Where one was scary, a dozen seemed like an alien invasion.

Funny thing; I remember the smell of locusts.

I remembered the road by the river bank near Victoria Falls that led to the massive Baobab tree. We always saw that rogue elephant walking about and making a u-turn as soon as we spotted him. He was scary and huge.

I loved the Booze Cruise along the Zambezi River at sunset going past Monkey Island where hundreds of monkeys lived. Also the crocodiles and hippos along the river banks.

We visited the Crocodile Farm and there was some construction work going on.  The worker's were putting up a wire fence and we happened to notice a  lion cub escaping from a gap in the fence. One of us grabbed it and we got the picture of a lifetime. He was just so cute. Pity we couldn't keep him. (At least I think it was a he).

Victoria Falls was always a special place to visit. I was born in Livingstone, Zambia and the Falls was just a short distance away. The Locals call it "Mosi O Tunya", which means 'Smoke That Thunders'.

Vic Falls is one of the largest in the world. It is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. At full moon a "moonbow' can be seen in the spray instead of the usual daylight rainbow.

During the annual flood the spray can be seen from 30 miles. It can rise over 1,300 feet and if you walk through the rain forest at that time of the period you would need a raincoat.

One can  never get tired of going to see this magnificent sight.

My last memories of Zimbabwe were not so good. I remember the shortages of most basic food like bread, sugar, salt and rice. I remember the shopping trips to Francis Town and the anxiety on the return trip and going through Customs. What an ordeal that was.
Driving on the city streets was quite a feat, trying to miss the pothole and not always succeeding. Somebody called them bathholes and not potholes. Well from what I hear the basic foods are now available but, at what cost? You have to pay in either in S.A. rands or U.S. dollars.
Power outages are more frequent now. Can you imagine living in a high rise building and have to walk up those stairs after a hard days work?
My brother-in-law needed to renew his Car Licence but the Post Office had run out of the licences for that particular month period and was told to check every 3 days or so.
Makes me love being here in the U.S.A.

I remember my trips to the Hwange (Wankie) Safari Lodge. Sitting at the Water Pan and listening to my favorite bird, the fish eagle, and the roar of the lions in the distance.

Late evenings were a good time to sit out and relax with a cold glass of beer and to see animals like the zebras, timid deers, impalas, elephants, the mischievous monkeys and other animals come to quench their thirst after being out resting under the shade of  the Acacia or other indigenous trees. The giraffe, my favorite animal, was always amusing to watch when it stretched out it's front legs and long neck to bend down for a drink of water... it looked so ungainly in that position but so graceful when it is out walking in the forest.

We're visiting with our son and daughter-in-law in Florida to get away from the cold winter days in the Midwest.

We sometimes sit around the dining table talking about life in Zimbabwe... working from 8am to 5pm, then sitting out and enjoying the warm, balmy evenings after dinner and gazing up at the sky. We had wide open skies and very little bright lights and I don't think you can see so much  stars anywhere else.

Week-ends were always fun. Visiting family or friends and having tea in the garden by the pool, or if it's late in the evening, having a Castle lager or Zambesi Beer. Speaking of the latter, available in those green bottles, my daughter managed to get some a while ago but they had either gone flat or bad as there were some things floating around in the bottles.

I remember with special fondness the yummy mutton kebabs grilled on a braai with chutney. (Does anyone know if it's possible to get those special skewer's we used, here in the States?)

Find a better place for Ice-cream that good? I don't think so.