Extreme Sports In Uncle Bob's Zimbabwe

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Day 24 - Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) - 22/8/09

Woke up relatively early to go white water rafting. The transfer to the falls came at 0745. We finally arrived, filling in waivers so in the case of our death our relatives could not sue the company. We went though all the different rapids, they all had names to put the fear of god in you; The Devil's Toilet Bowl and The Gnashing Jaws of Death, just to name a few. Jumping back into the truck BK was our guide on the Zambezi, we all introduced ourselves and we ask BK why he was called BK, he told us that it was to do with the fact that his first name had 38 letters in it and nobody could say it. We got to the spot where the descent to the gorge started, changed into our wetsuits and lifejackets and we made our way down with our oars. Our team of Pascal, Danielle, Tom, Duncan, Cat, Gemma and me had called our team, Team Hippo, after my nickname of Hippo. The journey down for me was the worse bit of it all being scared of heights; ladders attached to the rock face, wobbling handrails and one ladder at 45 degrees with no handrail! I totally freaked out when I reached that ladder, I wanted to go back but a German fellow behind me ask me if I was all right and could he take my oar. I gave it to him and sat of my ass and slowly climbed down the ladder.

Eventually we reached the mighty Zambezi River. Team Hippo boarded the raft and we set off learning the basics from BK before being let loose on the rapids. The first one; The Melting Pot, battered the raft, sending it in all kinds of directions, waves crashing over us, soaking us but we all managed to survive it. There were 21 rapids in total ranging from Grade 2 to Grade 6 (we weren’t allowed to do the Grade 6 rapid; Commercial Suicide), we paddled though all the still parts admiring all the stunning scenery that was all around. It must have been rapid 2 or 3 when we lost our first person. I was holding on to the safety rope on the side when a wave came and hit me, I lost my grip and BAMN! I was off, my hands grabbed anything they could; later on I found out that something was Tom, who came off with me. The Zambezi seemed to swallow me up like a monster, spinning me around and round, I struggled to catch my breath as the lifejacket was so tight. Eventually I did manage to force myself up to the surface and managed to adopt the sitting position as referred to in the safety briefing but all of a sudden I was engulfed by another wave; dragging my back under. All of a sudden the raft was there and I reached up and grabbed an oar and was dragged in; Tom got hold of my lifejacket, dunked me underwater and pulled me up like a sack of potatoes. We managed not to have anymore spillages until rapid 6, which was a Grade 5 rapid. We went straight into a wave that was double the size of me and then we flipped over. Bodies and limbs went flying; I managed to land quite away from the raft but managed to swim back. Apparently Cat and Gemma ended up under the raft. That was the end of the morning action as we landed onto a little beach to relax for 30 minutes and have lunch.

The afternoon rafting was more sedate with the bigger rapids having gone in the morning. The highlight was the 4 rapids in quick succession called the 3 ugly sisters and the mother. The ugly sisters were grade 3 rapids and the mother was a grade 4. We got over the ugly sisters with ease and prepared to face the mother; however she wasn’t having any of our cockyness. She tipped the raft onto its side so that my head was touching the water but somehow, don’t know how, we managed to get it back the right way up. There was lots of celebrations, then, looking back we realised we were missing BK, our guide! Suddenly, a pair of hands appeared, holding on for dear life, we pulled him in and then starting ripping the piss out of him. The second highlight was when BK let us jump into the river and muck about and swim. Apparently, even though the Zambezi does have a crocodile population there are areas in which you can swim and be safe. Tom had a waterproof camera so we were messing around taking pictures. Overall, it was an awesome day apart from the climb down and the climb back up. Oh my word was so tired by the end of the day. My thighs are killing me! The rest of the day was spent relaxing, recovering, munching on a mega sized pizza. We walked over to the Shoestring backpackers where they were showing the video of the day which was for sale for $30US. We spotted the Team Hippo raft but nobody brought it in the end.

Day 25 - Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) - 23/8/09

Yesterday was the white water rafting and today was the Bungee Jump. Considering I’m scared of heights, I was pretty relaxed about throwing myself of a bridge 110m in the air. Woke up early as I was evicted from the tent I had been using for the last three weeks. Still relaxed, me, Harry, Maria, James and Michael slowly walked up to the boarder and no man's land. Everybody was all ready there and some had thought that they had missed me jump. I walked up to a little lodge where they weighed me (90kgs) and wrote it on my arm with a number 15 (still no idea what that meant.) Walked back down to the bridge and climbed onto the platform, they sat me down and started to strap me up, wrapping thick towels round my ankles. The company’s video camera came out and started to ask me question, before I knew it I was being led to the edge. Was I nervous? Hell yes! The nerves had started to kick in then all of a sudden 5 .. 4 .. 3 .. 2 .. 1 .. BUNGEE!!! I went to jump but my legs just gave way; I fell like a lead balloon. I grabbed my harness and closed my eyes, before I knew it the cord had tightened and because I had my arms crossed against my chest I started to spin in a corkscrew fashion. I had opened my eyes by this point and that's how I knew I was spinning. The man came to help me up and it was at that point that I properly freaked out as the stupid thing I had just done hit me. Honestly, the worse part of it was when I was on a little platform with a safety harness overlooking the Zambezi; I was under the road at this point and was so glad to get to the end of the bridge! Anna showed me her video and my Bungee Jump should be entitled 'How not to Bungee Jump!'

Some people from there crossed into Zambia to go to Devil's Pool, which is a still pool of water overlooking the edge of Victoria Falls. Me, Duncan and Anna went to look at Vic Falls from the Zimbabwean side, paying double that on the Zambian side and were greeted with even better views! As we were leaving we actually saw the guys on the Zambian side; we waved then left.

We headed to the Victoria Falls Hotel for afternoon tea. The hotel is an old colonial building from the days of the British Empire. When walking though we realised just how grand it was; huge columns supporting the roof, zebra skins and antelopes heads on the walls. We sat down and was greeted by the butler who insisted on 4 to a table, it was a bit of a pain in the ass but was worth it for the views overlooking Victoria Falls.

That evening we all went out to the Shoestring backpackers for 'The Last Supper.' It was our last night together as a group and was quite a loud one. We took our own vodka and were drinking that with lots of beers. Harry randomly jumped into the pool, whilst some white Zimbabweans were drawing smiley faces on people’s hands claiming to be spreading some love and peace. After getting a smiling face on my hand, a local band appeared and we got them to play Wonderwall and we did the vocals. All I can say is sorry Noel and Liam!

The night ended and we were told about an after party at Hunters; just down the road. Anna and Juliette wanted to go and Steve said he would go if it didn’t cost anything. I went along to make sure things didn’t get out of hand but first of all we walked Eva back to the campsite. Juliette went on some guys’ motorcycle and when we were outside the campsite we were informed that it was closed. Juliette pulled up on the motorcycle and alongside was a white car telling us about a house party. The guys in the car were pissed and we were considering it, until they stalled or something, hitting a lamppost. Decision made. We retired to the campsite pool, with Zimbabwean whiskey (which isn’t nice) then two Aussie's appeared naked, jumped into the pool, got out and ran off. Intresting evening!

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Photos

White Water Rafting
Team Hippo .....

Bungee Jumping
90 kgs My Weights and 15? Who Knows

Victoria Falls
Zinbabwe Side

Livingstone
Founder Of Vic Falls; Named After Queen Victoria

Afternoon Tea Anybody?
With Cat In The Victoria Falls Hotels

Thanks To My Sponsor ...
Zambezi Beer