We decided to head off to Victoria Falls for the weekend to see our son Dayne (the Chef) which I am delighted to say, ended up being a "gastronomic" food fest and one I just have to write about ... endlessly ... good and bad !!
Our first night was out at Gorges Lodge. If you haven't been there, its set on the very edge of the Zambezi Gorge, balancing 250m in the air. Pretty amazing views and definately not the place to go if you are looking for an argument or have an issue with your partner - far too close to the edge for comfort! But honestly, the view can take your breath away.
Eating at Gorges is not going to set the "foodies" ablaze with excitement but if you are wanting a really good home cooked meal, satisfying portions, whilst sipping a fairly decent wine in an exceptional setting, then its worth sitting at their table. A definate plus was their outstanding choice of coffee - proper filter coffee of a high quality and actually quite a surprise!
We had a really pleasant evening. The beds are amazingly comfortable with decent pillows and lovely linen. Just hope like hell you dont sleep-walk..
Every now and then something completely random comes along that absolutely catches your imagination and for me this has to be "the one". I had the pleasure of arranging a transfer for the Zimbabwe Music Academy staff on a recent Jolly up to Hwange and Vic Falls after the Music Festival - which went spectacularly "wrong" !!
I had to leopard crawl into Michael Bullivants office this morning to eat crow and apologise profusely and I have to say he was an absolute gentleman about the whole thing which made me feel even worse.. In the course of the conversation there was mention of Bruce, the local train, buffalo and Petroc?
After a period of total confusion (these people talk their own language) Michael explained - Petroc, who is famous, (none of us had heard of him) went with Bruce (who is not) on the local train (no one could explain why) and whilst en-route to Hwange, the train ran into a herd of buffalo - how the hell do you do that? One buffalo is huge so a herd is enormous !! As a result the train was derailed and 7 buffalo were killed. Naturally the train came to a grinding halt and always on the look out for a good deal, the lovely people on the train got out, cut up the buffalo and had an impromptu "braai".
Petroc said that it was a little too rare for his taste and could have been hung for a bit longer. I suppose they could have strung it up around the trees for a few days !! Just in case you think I am talking a load of buffalo's, it was in the London Evening Standard on the 31st May !
I am now going to google "Petroc"
