HLW2000

12:52 On Wednesday I met up with some relatives for my last day in Africa. My 2nd cousin’s travelling up from Cape Town to Zambia for a job interview and I thought it would be nice of us to meet up. She and her brother met me at a Restaurant in Livingstone. The food was a lot nicer here than Ghana food! The food is mainly out of rice, maize and wheat sort of stuff with meat and sauce but it was very nice. I said goodbye to them and then spent a few hours wondering around the town buying souvenirs of this last stop. I enjoyed trying to negotiate prices with the market men, but don’t think I was very good at it because they were always smiling as I handed over my money (in ... read more

21:31 Wow…that was the best day of my trip by far. Victoria Falls is incredible. Once you are in the Mosi-oa-Tunya park you have to wade your way through a path hidden by vegetation and growth. When you get to the Knife Edge point you are greeted with a spectacular view of the falls. Unfortunately that is only when the water and the winds are low so, being this time of the year, I got drenched in spray from the falls. At that point, soaked to the skin and freezing, I wished I had come in the summer. I carried on and walked down a steep track to see the huge whirlpool called the “boiling pot”. I finished the day with a short walk around the Falls Museum which was very interesting.... read more

14:25 Slept in late today after all the excitement of yesterday’s activities. After some lunch I’m going to be heading to Victoria Falls. I’m going to the Victoria Falls area of the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park. When it is not the wet season most visitors would choose to go swimming in the Devil’s Swimming pool. The Devil’s Swimming Pool is the end of the Zambezi River where there is a natural rock pool with a ledge which stops you from falling the 420 feet down the waterfall. You can swim right down to the edge of the rocks and look down the Victoria Falls on to the view below. The next best thing is to visit the national park. Mosi-oa-Tunya means Smoke that Thunders. The water falls at a rate of 3,000 tonnes per second and can ... read more

19:17 Canoeing was really fun! It was a just like when I went canoeing on Lake Volta but this time with different, people, sights, sounds, smells, animals. The water was quite rough but I had an excellent guide who paddled very well. In the water we saw Hippos, Crocodiles, Bull Sharks and lots and lots of fish, big and small. In the sky birds were everywhere; Herons, Pelicans, Egrets and African fish Eagles all in large groups together. Along the river banks there were Giraffes, Buffalos, Elephants and my favourite: Zebras! You were looking left, right, left, right trying not to miss anything. As we travelled down the 4th longest river in Africa we experienced something amazing! I found out all about the Zambezi River. It flows through 5 different countries (6 because it flows through ... read more

20:39 This morning i arrived at Lusaka at 11 o’clock and then got a bus to Livingstone at 12:30. There’s so much to do here. Already I was tempted just on the drive through town but mainly I want to concentrate on Victoria Falls Waterfall and Livingstone. The city Livingstone was named after David Livingstone as he was founder of Victoria Falls. He also had something to do with African Slavery but if you want to find out more I suggest you research him! He was very famous. Tomorrow I’m going to pause my research and have a fun!!! I’m going Bungee Jumping in the morning and in the afternoon Canoeing! I’m bungee jumping of the Zambezi Bridge, which is one of the highest bridges in the world. When I go canoeing I’m taking a route ... read more

22:23 Today was sooooooo sad. I had to say goodbye to everyone and the family I stayed with. I couldn’t bear to see their faces. I gave the family the last few bottles of safe water I had and the leftover food in my backpack. They said I should take the food but I wanted them to keep it! It was painful and a trip I will never forget. I hope the family survive and that their crops grow again. At the moment I am in the car with my driver on the way back to Addis Ababa. I will arrive sometime in the morning and then I will sleep, catch my plane to Lusaka and then the bus to Livingstone!... read more

11:51 This morning we got up and dressed and helped out in the refugee camp. I helped…well played with some of the children in the camp, There were some adults but mostly children that only had a few days left. It was heartbreaking watching those mothers watch their children slowly get weaker and weaker, skinnier and skinnier and ever so far away from survival. Most people were from Somalia who had travelled up here across the border to find help. This afternoon, we (Me and the family) are going to look after and feed the crops because yesterday the few cattle left died, leaving us with only the crops as food. They still aren’t ready from when we last checked them but we are very hungry so we might pick them anyway and cook them for ... read more

15:41 I was sickened by the sight of how desperate these people are. Some were so skinny that you could have mistaken them for a skeleton…it was appalling. Suddenly I was angry and I didn’t understand why people didn’t take it seriously and why Countries, other than the U.K aren’t giving as much they can. I tried to help them but I’m no medical advisor. They really need help. They live in tatty, graffiti covered, old, mouldy and worn out houses. On their last legs they try and survive but millions are dying every day. Only 1 in 8 people have access to safe clean water. The population in Somalia has gone down as many are traveling to Dolo to try and get into the refugee camp but they can only take care of so many ... read more