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Published: October 26th 2006
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So I'm finally getting around to finishing with the October escapades...
Considering we were fully expecting to spend 9 hours at a gas station on the edge of a highway waiting for our bus to Zambia- the bunch of us going to Victoria Falls really lucked out. Three of the girls in our group were staying a night in the town we got dropped off in, so we were able to dump our stuff at their B&B and spend the afternoon checking email, relaxing and getting a nice big dinner before getting on a bus for 17 hours- which wasn't actually that bad- it was a double decker occassionally air conditioned bus, and they even had Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants playing which fulfilled my desire to completely veg out.
So in your visual map of using my hand as Namibia, Zambia would be on top of the thumb nail. Victoria Falls is between Zambia and Zimbabwe, and is one of the 7 wonders of the world, so how could we pass that up for Fall Break. About 8 of us stayed at an amazing hostel in Livingstone, Zambia for the week- after all that time on the bus
the pool complete with a little waterfall was amazing. Plus for $25 US we got two nights, our Zambian visas, two dinners and a drink...so the price was right.
We spent the first afternoon and evening relaxing by the pool, getting our free meal and planning the rest of the week...although I don't think we could have ever planned a lot of what ended up happening.
Sunday morning all 8 of us set off to raft the Zambezi. The Zambezi is ranked the #3 best river in the world for rafting, and almost all the rapids we did were Class 4 or 5. A definite benefit of the dry season is that we were there at prime rafting time. It was quite a day of rafting, we started at 7:30, got back home around 6 and rafted rapids number 1-23. The fun part of rafting big rapids was that basically for any of the really big ones our guide would yell out GET DOWN and you grab on the the rope on the edge of the boat- which is so appropriately titled the Oh Shit Line- and just hope that you stay in or don't impaled with someone
else's paddle. For any of you who know my history with rafting, those are two really key elements to my survival...yet inevitably I find my way out of the raft. The first big rapid had a 12 meter drop...that is more than a 3 story building. While I would like to maintain that I really am that hardcore-it didn't look or feel that big at all, but was still incredibly fun. Basically the small rapids that the guides would barely have you paddle on would be the big rapid of the day at any rafting trip. After 22 straight days of rafting Utah, I think maybe one rapid of the entire time was as big as the small rapids on the Zambezi. The neat part of rafting the Zambezi is the entire way down the river everything on the right side is Zimbabwe and everything on the left is Zambia. Our raft flipped twice- once was pretty rough, it was hard to stay above the water and catch your breath, but they have kayaks and other rafts further down the river that picked us up as we were being washed away. I didn't really realize quite how scared I still
was of rafting until that swim...but I didn't get stuck under the raft! On another rapid I fell out while the boat stayed upright, which was pretty typical though. I was not so happy with the situation though- especially as a broken paddle floated by and I envisioned my leg. So for the last big rapid which we were pretty much guarenteed to flip since the guides like to flip that one I was slightly dreading it. But it ended up being fine and a fun swim. So despite those few incidents, and even because of them, it was a really fun day! It was another one of those days that we all had to sit back and think "Are we really doing this?!" and laugh about how that was our class. Such a good use of our money-especially since they fed us 3 meals, and we know I'll do most anything for a "free" meal.
Monday we explored the Victoria Falls park, which since it is dry season the falls is mostly non existent from the Zambia side. So instead of paying $55 to get into Zimbabwe where you can see the main falls, we decided to explore on
top of the falls where the water would typically be and then take a tour to swim at on the top. I expected that we'd be swimming in a little pool of water near the falls...but you literally swim right on the edge! It was amazing- they held our feet while you hung over the edge. So I'd say we pretty much got the best view of the falls there is. They told us that no tourist has ever gone over the edge, which I found hard to believe...but luckily I didn't change that fact. After swimming we had "high tea" which was amusing in itself since we had to try and schmooze with rich old 60 year olds, when really all we wanted was to load our bags with the delicious chicken salad sandwiches, scones and make the most of the free drinks.
Tuesday morning after essentially befriending the rafting guys...and a few other insignificant details...we rafted the first 10 rapids again, for free! It was lots of fun and we felt far superior to all the people on commercial groups, since we were of course. That evening we took a booze/sunset cruise depending on whether you pretend that
it's classy or not. Basically you get dinner and unlimited alcohol while cruising down the Zambezi watching the sunset and the hippos, elephants and crocodiles. So essentially there is nothing not to like about that arrangement. We all had way too much fun but consider it to be quite an accomplishment that nobody ended up falling off the boat and getting eaten by a hippo...which are by the way, unbelievably brutal and not quite the large cute animal disney would like you to believe.
The rest of the week consisted of taking it easy by the pool and doing as much of nothing as possible. It was an excellent way to end the week. We made friends with a couple of people from Scotland that were also on the cruise so spent some evenings with them and the rafting guides...who all congregated at our hostel each night.
The bus ride home was a funfilled 20 hour event since our bus broke down in the Caprivi Strip ( the thumb part of Namibia). There is very little in the Caprivi strip other than elephants, so who knows what would have happened if they hadn't remedied the problem, but we had nothing
to worry about since we got to watch Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants again...in case we missed any of the complex details the first time around.
Now it's back to real life which is slightly disapointing after such a great break. After not having gone to class in 3 weeks, our first 4 hour class on Tuesday was unbearable. And now we actually have to do work. We only have 5 weeks left in Namibia- which is impossible to believe. We then go to Cape Town for a bit, then I am home, which I'm sure will happen before I know it. Where did the month of October go?
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Erica
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Just Be Glad I'm a Procrastinator
Erin!!! I know this has absolutely nothing to do with Africa, but I became so excited that I had to tell you immediately. I have found your perfect people on facebook in the group for you, "Spandex is a Privilege, Not a Right." I know you want to join immediately, but be warned, the picture is a little graphic.