A dinner at The Victoria Falls Hotel, Zimbabwe, that I shall never forget.

How would you have coped with this?

I am in the Victoria Falls Hotel, a grande dame of the Southern Africa hotel business.  I have been there several times and have come to make sure our group, arriving the next day, will have a seamless visit.

The hotel has two restaurants, so I elect to have dinner in Jungle Junction, which is the more informal of the two, set in the gardens, with the sound of the Falls reverberating 24 hours a day.

I am greeted by the maître d’, who recognizes me and is happy to see another group return.  “Just you?”, he asks, as I had not realized a woman was standing behind me.  At which point, she speaks up.  “If you are having dinner on my own, as am I, could we share a table?”  I looked at her.  Pleasant, 50’s, British woman, smiling, so why not?

We were seated together and I thought as I was more on home turf, I introduced myself and gave a her a very short precis as to why I was here.  She was most interested, as she knew nothing about this style of luxury travel.  She told me she was accompanying her husband to a conference in Johannesburg and this was as close as she would ever be to the Falls, which were something she had yearned to see since childhood.  She had just flown in and would return tomorrow afternoon.  Then, out of the blue, came the clincher.

“You see, it has to be now or never, as I have been diagnosed with lung cancer and have only six months to live”.

That’s a great conversation stopper for sure.  I had absolutely no idea what to say, but your brain does have to work fast, under any circumstances.  Of course, I mumbled some kind of inane reply, but realized that she was there to enjoy the moment and not to be morbid.  So, I suggested we splurge on a really good South African wine, which she said would be perfect and we drank the whole thing, plus an extra half bottle, had a great meal and some cognac to finish.  Of course, when she produced a pack of cigarettes, my eyes must have done a swivel, but she told me “It won’t make any difference now.”

We walked back up to the main building.  There was a big moon overhead and just the amazing sound of what the locals call “The Smoke that Thunders”.  We came to the parting of the ways, as she was in this wing and I in that.  She thanked me profusely for my company and said everything had been perfect. I wished her good luck.  It seemed so trite, but what was there to say?    I wondered if I would see her next day, but I did not.

Let me know …. What would you have said?  I am curious to see how others would have coped with that line.