R&R Zambia

Last week I went to Livingstone, Zambia, to do the whole tourist thing at Victoria Falls and it was great! I had been considering this trip for a while but only recently did it work out. Thierry, a logistician who works for MSF, decided to make the trip and it just so worked out that 4 of us were able to match R&R dates. The others were Mai Anh and Katy, a doctor and nurse from MSF.

On Sunday Thierry and I flew down to Lusaka and immediately took a 7 hour bus ride to Livingstone to meet Katy who preceded us by a couple days. I was once again reminded of how nice proper civilization can be. How can two bordering countries be so different? The roads are amazing, the people are friendly, everybody speaks English, and everything is much less complicated.

We stayed at a backpacker’s hostile called Jollyboy’s. It was great! I have done very little backpacking in my life, but according to everyone I met, this is one of the best in the world. We met tons of people who were touring the world and Victoria Falls was just one stop along the way. What a life. It must be a European thing because I ran into very few Americans. But the one American group I did run into was a brother and sister duo from Wilmington, DE! They had just graduated from college and their mother financed a trip around the world for them. They had been traveling for 8 months and they had another two months to go. They had been everywhere!

Monday morning was dedicated to touring the falls. Who would have thought that water could be so wet? I don’t think I’ve ever been so wet in all my life. Because the area is nearing the end of rainy season, the river is at it’s peak and falls are incredibly large. Although I was right next to them, I could see very little of the actual falls because there was so much mist. Did I mention that is was wet? I was completely and utterly soaked! Next time I visit the falls, I want to visit in dry season because they say you can see much more of the actual falls.

We also ventured down to the bottom of the falls to a place that is called the “Boiling Point.” That is at the base of the falls and provides and excellent view of gorge and Zambia-Zimbabwe bridge, and also provides a scenic hike down to the base.

That evening we signed up for sunset cruise (better known as the “Booze Cruise”) on the upper Zambezi. We set out a couple hours before dark on a boat that was more of a floating bar. It was great because we got to see African wildlife on the river, eat a great meal, socialize with people from all over the world, and watch an incredible sunset over the Zambezi.

Tuesday we spent the day canoeing the upper Zambezi – 27 km prior to the falls. We had originally intended to go rafting on the lower Zambezi but were unable to because the water was too high. Just too dangerous. Instead we settled for the canoe trip. Not much to speak about on the trip except for a croc attack. The canoe that Thierry and I were in was attacked by a rather large crocodile. I felt water splash up into the boat and something hit my paddle. At first I thought it was Thierry fooling around but then I saw a gigantic crocodile head make a swipe at my paddle. We both realized it was a croc and got quite excited. When we tried to tell the others they thought we were just joking. The guide had even told us that it was rare for a croc to attack a boat. A few seconds later we felt a thump on the underside of our boat and realized that we were really under attack. Needless to say, we both picked up the pace…a lot! The others really didn’t believe us until later on another boat came by looking for a paddle that had been lost to the same crocodile. Their guide had got a good look at it and figured it to be 3-4 meters in length. I guess the incident wasn’t all that dangerous, but it felt quite serious in a tiny little inflatable canoe, with my hands just inches above the water. Crazy stuff!

Wednesday we took the day off to relax and chill at Jollyboys. Even then we had good fun. I got to beat Thierry in a couple 3 hour games of chess.

Thursday we went on a walking Safari where we found the only white rhino in Zambia. Our guide was incredible. He tracked that rhino for about 45 minutes until we eventually found it. He used everything from footprints, to scattered grass, to dung and urine. I was impressed.

Friday was the big day – zip-line, gorge swing, and bungee jump. The funny thing is that I was not scared in the least, that is until I was standing on a bridge that was better than 370 feet high. I still can’t believe I was able to force myself off that bridge. You see, we are supposed to do the zip-line across the gorge first to build yourself up for the jumps, but Thierry was bound and determined to begin with the jumps. He the bungee, and me the gorge swing. The problem with the gorge swing is that because I was the first one, I hadn’t got the chance to watch how it was done. I was standing what felt like miles above the water and they wanted me to jump off a bridge holding onto only a rope that went straight down! Lucky for me it was attacked to a cable in the middle of the gorge, but that didn’t make any less scary. As you can see from the pic, I was a little less than confident about my decision to jump. It was actually scarier than it looks. I actually think the gorge swing was the scarier of the two. The bungee at least made sense, but the gorge swing scared the tar out of me with the slack rope. I just always thought that swings were supposed to have tension. In the end, I survived and had a good time. The jury is still out as to whether I would ever do it again…

So that is the story of the week. There are lots of other thing that I left out, but that is the gist of it. Check out the picture linked on the right hand side of this blog.