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Published: August 8th 2007
PICTURES ANOTHER TIME, SORRY
In the afternoon in Chobe we went on a sunset cruise. We were able to see elephants, crocodiles and hippos amongst others. The cruise was very peaceful and we were able to meet some of the new people who we would share the second half of the Acacia trip with.
The next day we drove into Livingstone where we would be staying for the next few days. Before we arrived at the campsite we visited Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world. It was truly stunning - while we only saw one third of the falls, it was enormous. We walked along the opposite side of the gorge and were soaked from the spray 200m below. When we arrived back at the campsite we booked the activities which racked up a whopping $375!
Our first morning we set off for white water rafting on the Zambezi river. After an initial walk down to the river along somewhat precarious 'steps' the river itself looked somewhat tame, but as the route winded around, the water became more rapid and turbulent. Fast forward 6 rapids and we flipped our boatinto the water
which was rather chily to say the least. After being rescued by one of the safety canoers, we resumed our course which lasted 2 hours in total. The gorge itself was very scenic - Zambia on one side, Zimbabwe on the other. In the afternoon we went on a 'booze cruise' of free drinks on a two decker boat along the river, though somewhat further down. Our group we had from Cape Town dispersed into those going down back to South Africa, finishing in Johannesburg and those staying on to Nairobi. Only 9 remained, so it was sad to see our original group part ways.
Having enjoyed quad biking in Swakopmund so much, we had booked ourselves in for a session in Livingstone. The route winded through villages, dirt tracks and bushland along the Zambezi gorge where we were rafting the previous day. The view from above was equally impressive. We made stops at the villages to talk to the people as well, and finished with a stop at a curio (souvenir) market. The biking was more intense, with large rocks in our path in many areas and the group much smaller (3 bikers and one guide) and was
very enjoyable. In the evening I played my first game of golf which was really enjoyable despite my rather dismal performance! (roughly doubling par on every hole!) We met our new group proper after the golf.
The next day we went on an abseiling day which comprised 4 activities: abseiling (descending a rock face on a rope), rap jumping (same as before, but running down face first), ziplining across a gorge, and the main highlight - the gorge swing. All the three first activites were really fun and I got in one of each before the gorge swing. The gorge swing consists of standing at the edge of a cliff, stepping off, freefalling (falling without aid) for 3.5 seconds (longer than many bungee jumps which begin resisting after maybe 2.5 seconds) and then the rope catches you at about a 60 degree angle, swinging you right across the gorge. While very scary, it was thoroughly enjoyable, and despite the unassisted walk to the top, I did it three times: once backwards, once tied together with Matt, and once forward. I have a DVD of all the activities which I hope to upload somehow, though I expect only when I get home. We went out for a really good indian meal in the evening which deserves a mention because it was so good. We leave Livingstone tomorrow.
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Miggie
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Abseiling and even rap jumping I can just about deal with - but the gorge swing !!%!** Thanks for not telling us about it until afterwards :-) Can't wait to see the DVD! Mum x