Safari - Part II: Livingstone

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January 31, 2006

We got up early this morning and got the truck packed so that we could get on the road early and get to Livingstone before lunch. We arrived in Livingstone around 11, and headed straight to the falls. We had an hour to walk around the falls, which was incredible. We were probably slightly more skeptical, having seen Niagara Falls so many times (some people had never seen a waterfall before), but Victoria Falls was amazing. We walked along the length of the falls, getting completely soaked from the mist. We opted to leave our camera in the truck, because we didn’t want it to get ruined by the water, so we don’t have any pictures from the walk, that will have to wait for the helicopter ride! The falls themselves are almost 2km wide, and the water flows at 900,000,000 litres per second. The falls can be seen from several kilometers away…the mist mushrooming up into the sky. We were really lucky that it’s the rainy season, because during the dry season, there’s hardly any water falling at all. It was one of the highlights of the trip so far.

We had a chance to walk through a craft market before heading to the campsite. There were a lot of interesting crafts, but we decided to wait for a smaller, less touristy place to buy some more souvenirs. The campsite here is quite nice, with a couple of bars and a restaurant. The toilets and showers are pretty nice, so despite all the rain, we’re quite happy. Our tents have survived the rain so far…so we’re pretty confident in them. After setting up camp and hitting the showers, we headed off for our ‘sunset cruise’ (aka ‘the booze cruise’). We had dinner and drinks on board, and cruised for three hours, seeing some more hippos and some birds. Afterwards we headed over to the auditorium at the site, where John showed off some of his dance moves. He was quite the social butterfly…and everyone kept telling me how glad they were that he was really coming out of his shell. We had a great night with everyone, and were happy to be able to sleep in the next day!


February 1, 2006 - Helicopter Ride over the falls

This morning we had a bit of a sleep-in (7am is now a sleep-in!!!). We headed off at 10am for our helicopter ride over the falls! There were 8 of us going, so we were divided into two helicopters. It was 15 minutes long...which I was worried would be too short, but it was perfect! We took off and flew over the national park, and the Zambezi river before getting to the falls. We flew over the source of the falls, and the gorge where the falls empty into. The falls were flowing well, and there was lots of mist coming off of them. The flight was amazing, and the views were perfect. It had been raining and was still drizzling while we were up there, but it didn't make a difference. There were a few clouds, but because we circled around a couple of times from both directions, we still got great views. It was my first helicopter ride, and it was great!!

In the afternoon we headed into town, to get some snacks from the grocery store and look around. We called a taxi to take us in, because we were told not to walk around the area because of the elephants and buffalo. As soon as we got out of the taxi, it started pouring, and continued to do so the entire time we were in town. We got some groceries and were intending to head down to the craft market, but it was too wet to go. We got a good idea of what the town of Livingstone looks like, but are hoping to look around some more when we head in again on Friday.

We spent the night saying our goodbyes to those who are leaving to head to Cape Town, and organizing our stuff to move trucks the next day. Luckily, the ground had dried up a bit, and the tents weren’t wet…so we weren’t too uncomfortable sleeping. After seeing how much water was on the ground (some tents were submerged), we couldn’t believe that they were all fine to sleep in by nighttime. We’re just hoping for a little bit of sun so we can do some laundry and actually have it dry out before we have to leave! We’re pretty relaxed about it though, and if we have to live in dirty clothes for the next three weeks…so be it!


February 2, 2006 - Elephant Walk

We've been on the tour for a week now, and are just doing our change-iver betweeen trucks today. Some of the people on our tour are heading south through Botswana and Namibia to Cape Town, while the rest of us are meeting up with the rest of the group going up to Nairobi. We're back on a real overland truck...one that runs and doesn't leak! We've got lockers and stufff again, so living out of a tent and a truck will be a little nicer! We've still got a few days in Livingstone before we leave for Malawi, and we're taking advantage by doing some relaxing by the pool.

This morning we were supposed to be up at 5 to go for the elephant walk. John's alarm didn't go off, so at 5:55 we were frantically taking down the tent and getting dressed. The car was coming at 6am, but luckily for us, the driver was on 'African time', and didn't arrive until 6:30. We picked up a few other people from different hotels before starting the walk. We arrived to a beautiful lodge, where a Canadian woman greeted us. We had a talk and signed the 'if the elephant kills me, it's not our fault' form, and headed off. There were enough elephants that John and I both got our own, along with the guide. There were two elephants that were 31 years old, and were enormous. They weighed over 5 tonnes, and were almost 5 metres tall! Nicola and Daniel were on one of those. John and I were only 19 year olds, and mine was rebellious. My guide told me that I would be doing a 'double ride', because I'd be going back and forth as much as forward. I quickly found out what he was talking about. He kept going off to eat, and shaking me and the guide back and forth. I was holding on for dear life, while also trying to take pictures of John on his elephant. My ride was probably the most exciting of them all! We walked through the national park, and saw a few animals...a hippo, impala, lots of birds and tons of baboons. When we first arrived there were three dogs around, that the owners keep to chase the monkeys away (or else they take everything...chairs, clothes, whatever). There were a few baboons on the lawn, and the dogs took off, barking and chasing them. As soon as they got close to the baboons, we heard them quickly turn around and start running back yelping. Apparently the dogs are much more scared of the baboons than the monkeys! They have to be really careful, because there's apparently also a 15 foot crocodile that stalks them at night, also!

Anyway, we rode the elephants for an hour, through the park, and after gettting off and gingerly walking away, we were allowed to feed them and pet them. We had treats to give them. They ate out of our hands with their trunks, and we threw the food right into their mouths. The elephants were really well-trained and knew many commands, like "road" (to go back to the trail when walking), "lift trunk" (so we could throw food into their mouths), "sit", and "salute" (where they lifted their trunks and their front foot to say goodbye). The cutest thing was a brand new baby elephant, that had been born in November. She followed us the whole time on the walk, and she was adorable. She looked really tiny compared to the others, but was 80kg when she was born! She tried to charge some of the guides while we walked...but they just laugh and pushed her away. She loved the treats and really tried to sneek some extras! After the other elephants were taken away and had their harnesses removed (they are allowed to roam like other elephants the rest of the day), the baby had stayed close to us on the other side of the field, eating the treats. When she finally realized that the rest had left, so quickly hustled over to the pen to meet her mom and aunt. The aunt elephant trumpted loudly at her, and gave her a push into the pen...gave her a real talking to. It was so funny to watch them interact that way. The woman who ran the lodge said that they have real personalities because they've been around humans all their lives. The guides go with them wherever they go, so they don't get attacked by other wild elephants. The mother of the baby was actually taken away by wild elephants awhile ago, and returned 10 months later, pregnant! They're trying to avoid that now, so the guides follow the elephants while they graze. They often go across the river to the island, and the guides ride the elephants over, then let them eat. The elephants have a good sense of time, and will cross the river when it's time to return to the pen, leaving the guides on the island, stranded! They have to call back to the lodge and get someone to send the elephants back, so they can get a ride over.

After feeding the elephants, and a thorough hand washing, we had a great breakfast at the lodge. We then headed back to our campsite, and have been relaxing by the pool since. We don't have much else planned for today, or the rest of our time in Livingstone. There is about eight of us who are going to head over to a local school tomorrow, to play with the kids and help out. Otherwise, we're all hoping to leave Livingstone a day early, and add a day to our time in Zanzibar. It's beautiful here at the falls, but the activities are really expensive, and we've done as much as we can afford to do! Plus, being the rainy season here...we'd like to move out to the drier areas asap!

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Comments

[matt beswick]

old johny the social butterfly aye? showing off the dance moves, will have to let the fellas have a laugh about this one!!! your travels sound so impressive, makes anything we have to tell seem so boring, keep up the good work and the tales coming through matt