Farewell, Zimbabwe, farewell...

It is with sadness that I note my time in Zimbabwe has come to an end and this will be my last post on the beautiful country.  In honor of the wonderful experience I've had living in Harare, this post is a collection of my favorite photos from my time wandering Harare and beyond.

Curious what my favorite photographs from living in Senegal were? Go here!

Curious what my favorite animal photographs were? Go here!!

In no particular order, my favorite photographs of Zimbabwe, chosen from well over 10,000 photographs (wow!):

Hwange National Park in the rainy season - Adios, Hwange!

A hippopotamus yawns at sunset over the Zambezi River in Mana Pools National Park - A Mana Pools Smorgasbord

As dusk approaches over Lake Kariba, fishermen take to the water - Sunset over a drowned forest

Victoria Falls at Christmas time, the height of the rainy season - A Victoria Falls Christmas (Part Deux)

Sunset in Hwange National Park - The Return to Hwange

I originally captioned this photo: "After seeing this view in Chimanimani, I knew I had fallen in love with Zimbabwe." - Au Revoir, Chimanimani, I will return...

Harare's jacarandas in bloom at sunrise - Harare in the bloom of the jacarandas

An elephant at sunset, Lake Kariba - Take my breath away: Drowned forest sunset

Sunrise over the pan in Hwange National Park - The Hwange smorgasbord

Victoria Falls at sunrise. Beyond amazing. - Take my breath away: The Victoria Falls sunrise and lunar rainbow edition

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Take My Breath Away: Drowned Forest Sunset

While visiting Lake Kariba, we watched a stunning sunset from a boat in the middle of the lake.

It reminded me of this absolutely take-my-breath-away sunset in Senegal.

An elephant at sunset.

The tease of the sunset, the wake of our houseboat welcoming it.

Oh! Be still my heart, Zimbabwe, you have once more delivered amazing.

Hello, elephant!  Hello, sunset!

The sun creeping down for the night.

Africa's sun is always so amazingly large, so bright, and so just...perfect.

Remnants of the drowned forest at sunset.

I love sunset, it may be my favorite time of the day.

The start of our sunset houseboat adventure, leaving harbor.

One of Lake Kariba's harbors, the houseboats moored.

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Sunset over a drowned forrest

As dusk approaches over Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe, fishermen take to the water.

Lake Kariba's breathtakingly ethereal drowned forest as sunset approaches.

Wow, wow, just wow.  Africa, you've pulled out the stops with this sunset.

The sun's reflection through the submerged forest.

Lake Kariba is the world's largest artificial lake; when the Zambezi River was dammed, it flooded the forests in its path.

And it resulted in these amazing petrified forests.

Lake Kariba forms the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Oh, Zimbabwe, be still my heart, you wowed me on this one.

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The Victoria Falls Hotel & Bridge

The Victoria Falls Bridge, Zimbabwe

This post is a bit delayed, but at the end of the dry season, I visited Victoria Falls for the first time.

This was my first glimpse of one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World.

I loved the image of this man reading outside the Victoria Falls Hotel.

Oh, Cape Town, how far off you are!

Although closer than Egypt!

(How far my photos have come..the Egypt link was basically my first post ever!)

The Falls.

The Victoria Falls Hotel.

This is the bridge people bungee jump into the gorge from...um, no thank you!

Especially after this into the crocodile infested Zambezi River!!

Eerily, I forgot it happened last New Year's Eve.

....Happy New Year's Eve, hopefully it will be better this year for that Australian tourist.

The hotel was built in 1904 to accommodate passengers coming to see the Falls on the Cape to Cairo railway.

More to come on the Falls itself!!

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Snapshots from the River: Pontoon Safari Style

Hippos chilling at sunset in the Zambezi River in Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe.

Hello, hippo!

An African Fish Eagle, the national bird of Zimbabwe, on the Zambezi.

The beautiful sunset from the middle the Zambezi River.

Love, love, love the roots on this tree.  Made me think of this awesome tree in Senegal.

Our sweet ride: the pontoon.

On the return to Ruckomechi Safari Lodge, we did a night time safari.

They shine the light on the animals, searching for a reflection of eyes, resulting in a strange psychedelic effect like on this impala.

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Reading and minding my own business....

During a visit to Ruckomechi Safari Camp in Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe, I was minding my own business,

soaking up the warmth of the sun at my tent and enjoying some reading.

When who should visit me?  This beautiful elephant. 

At first, he stayed away, eating near the beautiful Zambezi River.

Then he came closer and sauntered past.

I never thought I'd say an elephant's tush is my favorite photo in a post..but this is.

And he stopped to eat some more and I realized quickly he was so much more interesting than my book.

And then perfectly across the river, a hippo yawned.

I felt incredibly blessed to find such solitude and such beauty around me.

That's my tent on the left, as seen from the Zambezi, where I was minding my own business.

A vulture!  This really has nothing to do with the post, I just thought it was a cool photo from my walking safari....

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