Animals, Dancing, and Food

We got up early this morning and left the ruins of Great Zimbabwe (since our hotel was on the grounds!).  We stopped at a marketplace so that the ladies could shop for some craft items.  This was a smaller market and had fabric, some jewelry, and soapstone carvings which were beautiful. Then we set off for our four hour drive to our next destination Bulawayo (city of the Kings). We made a surprise stop at an animal orphanage.  They take in animals that have been injured, orphaned, or even those  that were kept as pets and then became dangerous as they grew.  It was a great experience....it was interesting to see how the animals (no matter what kind) responded to the keepers and in most cases even their names! We stopped in the city for food and went to a Zimbabwean-Portuguese restaurant that had some of the most amazing food.  Ellen and I got a bit excited as they had veggie burgers with a brilliant hot sauce on them...a nice change from eating salads, sides, and Sadza. We finally arrived at our new hotel the Cresta Churchill and stayed just long enough to relax for a few minutes, get dressed, and head right back out to a local Zimbabwean club called "From Cape to Cairo"...the name had me a bit upset because of its honoring of Rhodes, BUT the environment was great.  I believe it was a sports bar, but they set out a scrumptious buffet for us with Sadza, peanut butter rice, chicken, Peanut butter greens, pumpkin, and a wickedly hot chutney. We took over the dance floor and Jasmine even took over the DJ booth and we danced the night away! I was so proud of all the ladies as everyone let their guard down and just had a great time!! This was one of the best experiences of the trip, as everyone was smiling, laughing, and dancing! I still cannot get pictures to post...but I am trying to keep up with at least the words!