My sister, two brothers and I lost our dad 11 months ago.  He was a great man.  He was my friend, my inspiration, my motivation, my mentor, and my hero.  Amongst many things, he was passionate about radio communications and travel.  It saddens me that he is not here to share our African Odyssey with us.

We were just metres above the helipad and dad was with me!  It took me by surprise and was such a strong feeling that it was hard to control.  Luckily for me, I was seated in the front seat of the helicopter next to the pilot, with no means to communicate with anyone.  It didn’t take long before we had the mighty Zambezi River directly in front and as we took a gentle right hand sweep, in clear view was the mist and tumbling white water about to spill over the edge of the Victoria Falls.  A rainbow appeared through the mist and as we moved, it moved.  It swiftly skirted the edge of the falls, as if beckoning us to follow.

The chopper pilot skilfully took us along the length of the falls, back over the top of the Zambezi River, then around again.  Then did a reverse couple of spins so all five passengers had equal opportunity of experiencing the magnitude of this natural wonder. Dad was with us the whole way.  He must have travelled towards the planet a little, and we were just that little bit closer to Heaven…

We had chosen the afternoon light for our chopper flight, so after returning to terra firma we collected a gate pass to walk across the Victoria Bridge Falls to the Zambia side.  The “Pride of Africa” is a luxury train and is billed as the "World's Most Luxurious Train".  It travels through South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Tanzania.  Dress code is smart casual during the day, with formal attire required for evenings.  It just happened to be parked, with its carriages more than spanning the length of the bridge, as we walked across the bridge.  What a beautiful piece of machinery – I’m starting to sound like my husband!  

We needed to cross the rail track to get to the Bridge Information Centre and to the classic afternoon photo vantage spots.  This was proving to be a tricky manoeuvre until we asked a guard, complete with an AK47, how to get across.  He permitted a couple of local lads to scramble across the track under a carriage.  He looked at us and we indicated our preference for climbing the steps, walking through the carriage and down the steps on the other side.  A much more fitting crossing given we were in the presence of “the Pride”.  Mr AK47 agreed to let us do just that.

After taking in the majestic sight of the “Pride of Africa” slowly continue its journey to Dar es Salaam across the Victoria Falls Bridge with the Victoria Falls cascading behind the bridge, we tore ourselves away to return to Zimbabwe.

A short walk and we were at the Lookout Café perched on the edge of the gorge.  We both supped a pretty good Margarita just as the full and fiery moon appeared directly in view.  Our Atlantic salmon meal was delicious; as was the second round of Margaritas!  Our luck was just streaming in buckets this evening, as come time to go home, the waiter said “each full moon, we offer a complimentary ride home”.

What a sublime afternoon and evening spent with my best friend and hubby…and my dad…