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Our week started exploring the beautiful Victoria Falls that borders Zimbabwe and Zambia (one of the world's seven natural wonders). The Falls are created by the mighty Zambezi river (Africa's 4th longest) and the power of the water pouring over its edge was evident as we got soaked from its mist! Even in the campsite, which was a couple of kilometers away, the constant drum of the Falls could be heard.
Having previously whitewater rafted in Iceland and New Zealand (Donal) we were very excited to tackle the Zambezi river. It is renowned for its Grade 5 rapids...... "extremely difficult, long and violent rapids, steep gradients, big drops and pressure areas". Not concerned we signed up but after our first Grade 5 rapid we were ready to go home! Completely overturned, fighting against the subsequent rapids, and utterly powerless against the current, it turned out to be a frightening experience. After about 10 minutes we were back on the raft broken both physically and mentally but glad the ordeal was behind us. Thankfully we navigated the remaining rapids without any major incidents and the 750m hike up the gorge at the end gave some spectacular views of the wild river
below. In the end, it was a memorable day with breathtaking views of the gorge, a near death encounter and a fabulous lunch with chilled beers on the gorge's summit.
After Victoria Falls we crossed the border into country number 5 - Zambia. Zambia gained its independence from Britain in 1964. The higher population of 16 million was notable straight away with significantly more houses and villages visible along the drive. The poverty became much more evident with the increase in population. It truly felt like we had entered "real Africa".
In Zambia, we stayed in South Luangwa at a game management area by the Luangwa river in a campsite called "wildlife campsite". It well and truly lived up to its name. Breakfasts were spent hiding food from the monkeys and baboons (a monkey had his hand in Donal's cornflakes when he went for milk!). Showers were spent with geckos and frogs. Night time was spent in fear of the loud hippos in the river running beside the campsite for fear they had decided to venture out of the water for food. But the highlight had to be the elephants that walked through the campsite stopping briefly right
beside our tent to dine on a tree's leaves....although Mau was planning her escape route to either the toilets or our Lando if one should get too close for comfort!!
Next stop - Milawe!
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