To the Edge

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After a quiet night in at the hostel (what could we have done to top an elephant ride!) we woke on our last morning in Livingstone. For a final fling before we left we were going to Livingstone Island for breakfast. Livingstone Island is located at the centre of the Zambezi river, right on the edge of the gorge that the falls plummet into. We caught an early taxi to the Royal Livingstone hotel, which is right on the banks of the river, out of Livingstone town and close to the Falls themselves. This hotel has to be seen to be believed. It is 5 star and is completely luxurious. Even the small glimpse we got on as we passed through was incredible. We were ushered across the manicured lawns, past the gamboling zebras and energetic Vervet monkeys to the riverside decking before proceeding down to the beach and into the small outboard powered boat for the short trip to the island. We successfully negotiated the small rapids and soon alighted on the sandy beach on the upriver end of the island. We were greeted by a waiter with a tray of drinks for us, and then escorted along a path to the dining pavillion: a pristine white marquee on a wooden platform with a view of the falls. However, to work up our appetite we were going to go swimming first!

Our guide led us to the waters edge and we got read top dive in. He took our cameras across first over a series of stepping stones, then we swam across to a rock outcrop that extended to the edge of the gorge. He took us to within 4 metres of the gorge edge, on the edge of the roaring, gushing tide. Then he showed us the pool that we would swim in before jumping him! Well, it was incredible. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking, but trust me when I say that I've never done anything like it. We were right on the edge of a 100m water fall, hearing the roar of the water in our ears and swimming right there. We were directly across from the viewing areas on the Zimbabwe side and there were a few amazed expressions on the faces of the people there!

After our little dip, and the guide taking out cameras and dancing all over the edge and taking photos from all the angles, we proceeded out and had a look at a few other vantage points before going back to the dining pavilion for breakfast. The food was good but we weren't really concentrating after what we had just done.

The boat soon took us back to the Royal Livingstone where we made use of the pristine toilets before heading back to town. We finished packing, checked out of Fawlty Towers and headed to the bus station to start the next leg of our adventure - on to Lusaka.

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Comments

[MUM!]

Oh my goodness!!!!
You thought a bungee jump was dangerous?!!

[Mum]

But wait theres more.
My first comment was after just seeing the pictures then i read the text and I have to endores your comments about the Royal Livingstone Hotle and its pristine toliets that sanctuary I had for just one hour in July was marvellous!!

[Dad/Andrew]

My prayers do not cover you when you are this close to the edge.

[Flora C]

W-O-W
Wow, those pictures are amazing, are you sure they are not cut and pasted? Glad you are enjoying the holiday sooo much.