Blogs from Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Africa - page 21

Today's activity was a spot of whitewater rafting on the mighty Zambezi. The setting was great, with the river winding its course along a 200m deep gorge of very black basalt rock. The rafting itself was fun, but nothing like as much fun as a few months ago in Ecuador in large part down to a boring guide. We'd ask him to steer a slightly rougher course through the rapids and he'd refuse, saying we might fall out (which is really the whole point of whitewater rafting). In some parts we were happy with his advice not to fall out as there were crocodiles lurking around. We had a go on the internet which worked for a while before the place we were in permanently lost their connection. Very annoying. For dinner we tried to use ... read more

After doing a bit of research I decided that I wanted to see the Falls from both the Zim and Zam side so I could get both perspectives. I really glad I did because they are sooooo different. I decided on Zam first because there has been alot of rain since I got here. Funny that? It happens alot to me : ) The extra rain has meant a larger volume of water flowing making for a very impressive sight. Viewing from the Zam side meant walking through the Zim and Zam border controls and across the Vic Falls Bridge, a journey that takes about 30 mins. There are heaps of taxis if you're feeling lazy. Whilst seeing the Falls I meet my first friend, Jody, who is an AIDS counsellor volunteer from Canada. It was ... read more

Tuesday began with a leisurely breakfast on the houseboat. A few of the 'Naked Cagers' decided on a naked roof jump, which was hilarious, but happened so fast the photographic evidence is unfortunately just a blur. I can't imagine what the houseboat crew must think of us crazy Mzungu's (white people), they just sat up in the control room watching naked people wander past to redress. Most of us ended up jumping from the roof, but only about half of the group went naked, probably because nobody had been drinking & it was broad daylight. I jumped after a brief panic about the height & it was good except doing a pindrop meant I went underwater quite deep & it popped my ears, which were really sore for the rest of the day. We ate lunch ... read more

Zimbabwe isn't faring too well in the press of late. Family and friends reacted with surprise when we told them we were going to Zimbabwe. Most felt Zambia would be the safer option however we felt safe and would recommend it to others. (One of the) problems in Zimbabwe is their local currency is spiralling out of control. They set the official exchange rate at 250 zim to the us dollar, however most people will trade you around 2,000 zim for one us dollar. Therefore if you were to get cash out or use your credit card in Zimbabwe you would be paying about 10 times too much for everything. A beer would go from being US$1 to about US$12.50, and a few would prove a real headache (financially of course). Following 24 hours of flying ... read more

... ist Staub, Schweiss, Sunblock und Antimueckenspray. Ja, wir sind laengst in den tropischen Gebieten Afrikas angekommen. Hier, wo Malaria noch heimisch ist. Und so wird sofort nach der abendlichen Dusche der ganze Koerper mit dieser ekligen Substanz eingeschmiert. Man moechte ja kein Malaria kriegen. Besonders, da ich die Tabletten inzwischen abgesetzt habe. Zuletzt habe ich von komischen Traeumen berichtet. Das war ja ganz ok und lustig. Aber was soll ich sagen, Malariatabletten koennen im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes beschissene und verkotzte Nebenwirkungen haben. Und das ist bei 40 Grad nicht lustig. Da alle, die schon mehrfach hier waren, die Tabletten eh nicht nehmen, habe ich jetzt aufgehoert. Ausserdem gibts hier Tonic Water mit 67 Prozent Chinin. Bei uns ist das verboten, hier ist das normal. Und Chinin ist ja ein natuerlicher Schutz vor Malaria. Was ... read more