Zanzibar to Vic Falls

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It is time for another update...

In Zanzibar we stayed in two separate places. The first place was Stonetown where a major slave trade used to be held, and the other place was Northbeach. In Stonetown all the females had to cover up to down below their knees and their shoulders (Yet they still sold bikinis there?!) We didn't do that much there, we walked around the spice, fish, meat and vegie markets, and ate at one of the night markets where the main dish was some form of seafood.

The following day we went on a spice tour on our way up to Northbeach. We were taken through the spice groves and given some plant/berry/bark and told to guess what it was. None of us did a really good job of that. We were then treated to a bit of a show. "Butterfly" climbed a coconut tree whilst singing (and at times humping the tree) and threw us down some coconuts before again, singing and making his way down the tree. It was a sight to see. The locals there were also making us little things out of the coconut leaves. Clinton was given a hat, and I was made a bag, frog, and bracelet. Following that we were treated to some weird and in my personal opinion, disgusting fruits (including Custard Apple which Clinton loved.) Our guide then took us all to his friends place who had a traditional meal cooked up for us which was delicious.
We were then driven to Northbeach where we could spend our days in a beach resort which would have received maybe a one star rating! (if it was lucky!)

We spent most of our days there just relaxing. We did get to go snorkelling which was great. Saw heaps of Dory fish, and some other colourful fishies. We were snorkelling just off this picture perfect island and a group from our boat swam to the shore and had a rude telling off by a rich South African, and were told to get off the island as it was private. Security guards came up to our boat after that and had a word to the crew - We wouldn't want to tarnish their little island! We treated ourselves to a nice soothing deep tissue massage - needless to say, it more hurt than anything, but it felt good in the end.

After Northbeach we went back to Stonetown for a night before we were to take the ferry back to Dar Es Salaam. On our way there I was wearing shorts as I had forgotten to change. I walked past two little girls who suddenly started laughing hysterically and pointing at my knees. It was quite bizaar, and just so funny - I made sure to change into Jeans when I got to the hotel!
We stayed a night in Dar and then made our way South to Milawi. Clinton and I were a little apprehensive about this border crossing as it was the only place that Bec (our tour leader) said we would probably need our Yellow Fever Vaccination certificates. Thankfully we weren't asked and we were on our way. In Milawi we went to a traditional village and saw witch doctor. It was a strange experience. We were told not to take it as a joke as they put so much belief behind it, but some things were just odd. Firstly, he was dressed in what looked like a nurses outfit that you'd pick up from a $2 shop, and secondly, whilst dancing they eat a red hot, smouldering bit of wood, and thirdly they speak to the spirits using a 'spirit phone' which is like a little pouch kept around the neck. Only five of us went to see him, and he got us up to dance individually with some kind of dancing stick to swirl around - it was really hard not to laugh at each other! After the 'ceremony' we individually prophesised for us which had amusing results. He pretty much gave general information and said the same things to people - It was all in good humour (to us anyways.)

That night our group had a quiz night. We were put into 6 groups and were told to pick a name and an animal sound for our buzzer. The winners got to instruct the losers to do their duties for one day. My group had Shae, Cameron and Nicole in it, and Clinton had Nil, Jess and Amy. My group was called The White Masai (after Shae) and we chose the sound of a wart hog (pretty much snorting.) This, however, could not be heard over the elephant, rooster or cow sounds the other groups had so it turned (thanks to Shae) into "Oink Oink, Fucken Oink!!!!" as we were constantly ignored with our snorting. We tied with two other groups but didn't lose, and we definitely didn't win. Because we tied, we had to then run around the truck acting like the animal noise se chose - which was very amusing. Thankfully one of the groups we tied with was Clinton's so he had to run around like a Cow!

After that we went to a place called Kande in Milawi. On the first day we hired out a canoe and unfortunately found out that combined we were too heavy and it kept filling with water and then us toppling over. This happened about a dozen times before we ended up getting a separate canoe each. The point of doing this was to canoe besides Chris who decided to swim over to the island. Nat and Rachael went canoeing alongside him too, so he did have some support whilst we were back at the shore trying to get going! When we were on the island we had lunch (though one snap lock bag didn't keep the rolls dry so they went to waste) and explored and went for a few jumps off some rocks into the water. (In preparation for the bungi jumping at Vic Falls) It took me quite a while to get the guts up to leap off the rocks, but I did it in the end and survived! The following day we went on a fishing boat over to the island and rock fished with traditional fishing lines. Both Clinton and I caught nothing, and Amy and Chris caught a few with everyone else doing dismally. On the way back to the camp, Clinton, Chris, Joel and Amy decided to swim. Tom, Cam and I (the smart ones) stayed on the boat. They all slowly made it back, with Clinton later accusing me of leaving him to drown!! (Though saying that, the day before we arrived, some guy off another truck was swept away by the current and did unfortunately drown - Clinton and the others had Nat and Rachael as the safety canoe again though, so it was fine)

After Kande we were on our way to Zambia. Once we arrived in Zambia we organised all of our activities for the next 5 days. We couldn't choose between them, so we decided to do all the ones we wanted to.

First day we went White Water Rafting down the Zambezi. There were two boats with Clinton and I sharing with Shae, Karen, Cam, Sharon, Jeff and Chris (who was also riverboarding some of it) We started off ok on the first rapid (which was grade 5) and easily got through the next two rapids. Rapid 4 our raft flipped, Shae and I were swept down the next three rapids half drowning. We were picked up by one of the safety kyakers and then put onto the safety boat. Shae had whacked her head on something during the flip and had a huge bump the size of an egg on her head. When we got back to the raft, we saw that Sharon had somehow bent her foot back on itself and had strained it. Because of this, both Sharon and Cam got off our raft leaving 6 people. Then came rapid 7 where some of us were thrown out and this time Shae was thrown into rocks and fractured her leg. (She was taken to hospital afterwards) So Shae left us for the safety raft as well. The only way out was to get to the end where there was a cable car to get us out of the gorge at rapid 25. We luckily didn't have anymore injuries, and the rest of the trip was pretty serene. I came out 4 times in total - one time I have no idea how (I was the only one) but I think the best part is flipping the raft and/or falling out, so it was all good! After Shae's bad injury Karen in our raft was so funny. She would be getting down and holding onto the raft if she saw a ripple in the water! - and would be screaming at the slightest movement!

The following day we went gorge swinging and bungi jumping. The gorge swing was one of the most scariest things I've done before and will most likely never do it again! The first time around I was going to jump forwards off the platform, but stupidly looked down and freaked out. I then chose to do the "death drop" where they tie your feet together, you lean on an angle backwards off the platform and they let you go into the drop. I successfully completed that with a minor bit of whiplash due to me letting go with one hand. The second jump was much much worse! I decided to jump forward as to prepare myself for bunji jumping (otherwise I wasn't going to go) I got to the platform, didn't look down, and then took a step off! With one HUGE jerk of the rope when it became taught, both my hands let go and I was thrown backwards and saw stars! My neck hasn't been the same since! Clinton's jumps were a much better. His first jump was forwards, and his second jump he took a backwards step off - very brave.

After that we went to the bridge to do a bungi jump. First Chris, then Clinton, then Karen, and unfortunately me! I was so nervous. They strapped me up and I jumped to the edge. They put my arms up and counted 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and then I leapt off - 111 metres high. It was an absolutely amazing experience which I really loved. The free fall felt like forever but it wasn't at all scary. Clinton loved it too. He spun heaps and thought he was going to throw up - but thankfully didn't, the kyakers would have gotten a nice surprise if he did!

I might leave it at this - there is so much more to write though. My next update will start off with a booze cruise and hideous clothing! (I'm dreading to see the photos!!)

Love Flip And Clinton

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