Zimbabwe

First off, the Zambia/Zimbabwe border has to be the best border crossing in the world. It happens on a bridge built half a kilometer from Victoria Falls. If you don't know what Victoria Falls looks like, google it right now.
My first night at the hostel I met a guy from Zimbabwe who leads rafting parties on the Zambezi river. After convincing him that I couldn't afford to raft he suggested that he'd show me around. We made an unofficial deal that he would take me out if I paid for his beer.
He met be in morning and we walked north along the Zambezi. He grew up in the area and recounted stories of how he and his friends used to used to sneak beers into the park, make a fire, party all the while keeping a close eye out for hippos (the second most deadly animal in Africa after Mosquitos).
Along the way up the river, he talked to a couple vendors then turned to me to say, "they said some elephants went that way, let's see if we can track them." So off we went into the bush.
We walked for about half an hour as he judged footprints and droppings. I began to wonder if he could really track elephants when he suddenly stopped and threw his hand up to signal me to stop. He pointed through the bush ahead. At first I couldn't see anything until I realized I was looking too low. Elephants are big.
Within fifty meters were two feeding off the trees. We slowly (and quietly) walked around to get a better look at one and he explained that it was a bull (male) thus we needed to be cautious. After a few minutes it slowly turned around to face us.
"He heard us, we should go"
"What do we do he charges?"
"Run"
"Any strategy? Swerve? Head towards the river?"
"No, just run."
Fortunately, we didn't need to run.
Afterwards, we headed a little out of the tourist center to the local villages. At a butcher we bought a cut of beef and walked to a local bar with a pool table. In the back we popped the meat on an metal grate sitting on top of two burning branches and bought some beer.
Once the meat was good and cooked he sliced it up, chopped up some tomatoes and onions and covered it in salt. That was my lunch (since I'm telling the story you know I didn't get food poisoning).
I spent the next couple of hours drinking with regulars at the bar as he challenged any takers to pool.
Overall, good time in Zimbabwe. Friendly people with a good sense of humor. Surprisingly expensive though. Because of sanctions everything is imported. The economy collapsed in 2008 (inflation was around sixteen trillion percent) so they use dollars. FYI though, if you go to Zimbabwe no one ever has change for a dollar.