Saturday, December 15, 2007

Victoria Falls and the kwacha (email from Amy)

Hey everyone,

I'm doing well. I saw Vic Falls yesterday. I have decided not to go see the Zimbabwean side because the visas are just too expensive and Ifigure that it probably looks pretty much the same as this side.Victoria Falls is a very large waterfall. I don't know how else to describe it. Even if I sent pictures they'd be the same pictures everyone takes (Google "Victoria Falls" and save me some internet time.) First we went to a place called the "Boiling pot" basically it's the very bottom of the Falls. This sounds nice and easy, but the Zambezi river is a bit high right now, so once we got to the bottom of a large staircase we had to wade knee deep through the river in the middle of a tropical rain forest. Luckily, nothing and no one fell in. Today I went to the Livingstone museum. I'm still getting used to the currency. The exchange rate is high here (the local currency is kwacha and 3400 kwacha= US$1) so everything looks expensive. It's a bit strange buying a loaf of bread advertised at "only" 2000k. Plus, they don't have coins, everything is notes, and the smallest note is 50 kwacha (about 1.5 US cents) so you carry around these big wads of money.) I meet the tour that takes me to Nairobi tomorrow. I
don't know how regularly I will be able to send email, but I'll try to keep you all updated as I continue on this crazy trip.

Currently Reading: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Much Love.

Peace,
Amy

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