Happy new year everyone!
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t really feeling the hype with the new year this time. At the start of 2022, I stayed up to watch all the fireworks before grabbing my brand new diary and jotting down all the different things I wanted to do and goals I wanted to achieve. This time around, I was in bed well before midnight, no goals set, and I was rolling my eyes all the way to the back of my head every time I heard another “new year, new me” message.
A lot of things happened in the last few months of 2022 that triggered my anxiety, and it sucked all the enthusiasm out of me. However, in the spirit of trying to look at the bright side of things and staying true to the inspiration behind the name of my blog, this blog post is dedicated to the short, amazing holiday I took towards the end of December. It was a beautiful experience that helped take my mind off things and made me realise that there’s so much more to life than all the chaos that goes on in my head.
The first day was spent exploring Great Zimbabwe. It has stone ruins of an ancient city built between the 11th and 15th centuries. We arrived pretty late, so there was only time for a quick tour with a friendly tour guide who took pictures of us and shared some interesting information about the place. Fun fact, it also served as a royal palace for a king who had approximately 200 wives.
Since we didn’t get to see a lot that evening, we were up at the crack of dawn the following day to hike and explore the place some more while enjoying a picturesque sunrise and a cool breeze. There’s also a museum that we got to explore, though we weren’t allowed to take any pictures inside.
After hiking and working up an appetite, we had breakfast at the Great Enclosure restaurant. There was a wide selection of mouthwatering food to choose from and every bite was just as good as the next. For anyone who has Great Zimbabwe on their bucket list, Great Zimbabwe hotel is a great establishment with super friendly staff and really good facilities to ensure you have a pleasant stay. They also offer free car washes for guests. Although there are other accommodation options in the area, the hotel is the closest to the Great Zimbabwe monument and is also the nearest to a small, colourful market that sells souvenirs. We were also lucky enough to arrive at a time when they were offering a flat rate for all the rooms.
After that, we set off for Victoria Falls. It was my first time there, and I didn’t know that Victoria Falls is also a city in Zimbabwe. Fortunately, I got to explore it from both the Zimbabwean and Zambian side, which was exciting because it was my first time in Zambia. Both sides have scenic views of the falls, and there’s a lot of walking in nature to do. Although both sides were packed, with it being peak season, the Zimbabwean side had the most tourists, along with a stunning souvenir store and a cafe. There are also tons of activities, like bungee jumping and zip lining. There’s also a lovely small train that goes around the city in the evening and stops somewhere for refreshments.
Despite it being a very short holiday, I had a lot of fun and it was the first time I felt truly alive and carefree in awhile. It made me really appreciate the value of investing in travel and experiences. Hopefully 2023 brings more of those.
A Brighter Picture 