Handstands: Zambia and Zimbabwe (Victoria Falls)

Our last few memorable days have been spent in Livingstone, Zambia and Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe which is separated by "The Smoke That Thunders", better known as Victoria Falls (or Vic Falls). The first few nights were spent camping on the Zambian side, next to the seemingly calm Zambezi River. The last few nights we crossed the border on our own, leaving our lovely truck-mates behind and staying on the thundering falls side. The days were jam-packed with fun and sad goodbyes. As there were way too many things going on, I'll just briefly summarize my thoughts on each country as well as our activities. Feel free to skim, jump ahead, or just glance at the pictures. I realize this is a monster post, but well, I just couldn't be bothered to separate them.

Zambia:

A general overview
We found Zambia to be friendly, welcoming, and generally less stressful and pushy than the rest of the countries we have visited. The Zambian Kwacha is used, but USD is also widely accepted. People of all ages were happy to smile and wave and say hello. This was in direct contrast with Tanzania, where people glared at you and occasionally made rude gestures. Through several of our boring tasks, we were driven around by a helpful taxi driver who was happy to wait while we tried to send our goods at the post office (after visiting a grocery store to find a box and coming back, and packing, and wrapping it up, and then finding out they don't accept card payment or USD, and all the ATMs in the area had run out of money and having to finally exchange money...). Prices were decently affordable and the views were spectacular. I'd go back to Zambia in a heartbeat!

Sunset Cruise

So what did we do in Zambia? Well besides the game drives and walks, we took a sunset cruise with our truck-mates and staff from our overland trip. This was an open-bar, dinner-served, perfect way to end our trip with our newly made friends. We all took a plethora of pictures and admired the blazing red/pink sun sink below the horizon. We reminisced about all the different places and crazy adventures we lived through, and thoroughly forgot any of our former complaints. Looking back it is always rosier, right?

Microlight

The next day after packing up our things for the last time, Paul and I both took a microlight over the falls. For those of you that don't know what this is, it is a glider with two seats and a small engine. You sit behind the driver with a loosely buckled seat belt on a tiny seat that would hardly fit a child and hold on for dear life. The driver expertly takes off and zooms above the falls. A view from the top is really the only way to see how magnificent it is. I've got pictures of me up in the glider, but they are stupidly on a disk and my little computer has no CD/DVD drive. Ah well. After a short 15 minute flight of looping above the falls, you sail back down and say your prayers as you come in for a bumpy landing. Although it was terrifying, it is absolutely worth it! Paul was shaking for hours afterwards but has admitted that he too is glad we took a flight above the falls.

Border Crossing into Zim

After the flight, Paul and I picked up our gear from the campsite in Zambia and hopped in our taxi and we were off! That taxi drove us to the Zambian border where we had to get exit stamps. Another taxi drove us through "No Man's Land" over a bridge overlooking Vic Falls and to the Zimbabwe entrance. Then we entered Zimbabwe and took yet another cab to our hotel. Phew! We had arrived!

Zimbabwe:

General thoughts and the ATM Debacle
On arriving in Zimbabwe, we found the people were just as friendly and helpful as they had been on the Zambian side. If someone tried to sell you something on the street (a very common occurrence) and you said no they left you alone. It was a nice rest after being constantly pestered throughout Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi.

Our first concern was to get to the ATM to get out some local currency. My newly updated XE.com app on my phone had told me that we would be withdrawing Zimbabwean Dollars at a rate of 621=1 USD. We got the the ATM and were presented with the following withdrawal options (numbers only):
20, 50, 100, 200, 500 (and up to 2,500). Well, this was confusing, and we'd managed to forget the name of the local currency to boot. If 621 Zim currency = 1 US Dollar, then taking out 500 would mean less than 1 USD? Surely this wasn't correct. A bit panicked, Paul went to ask the security guard if he happened to know the exchange rate between US currency and the Zim Kwacha. The guard didn't seem to understand. Paul asked if he gave the guard 1 USD, what would he get back in Zim Kwacha? Then I said maybe the name of the currency was shilling. The guard still didn't know and was beginning to look really confused. Out of desperation I typed in 2000 to be withdrawn from the beeping, impatient ATM , thinking that would maybe be enough but having no real idea if that was reasonable. Then, luckily, right at the last moment a local man walked up to use the ATM next to me. He overheard our conversation and explained that Zimbabwe used the US Dollar! I quickly cancelled that transaction and this time took out only enough money to pay for my rafting trip. It was quite surreal to be in the middle of Africa and see USD appearing from an ATM. After reading up on all the countries I was visiting in Africa, I have no idea how I overlooked this.

After this extremely confusing incident, we headed to a nice dinner to reward ourselves. What was on the menu? Kudu (a type of grazing animal like deer), warthog, and crocodile! We tried lots of lovely dishes and we absolutely enjoyed our quiet candlelit dinner together. The service was impeccable and with full stomachs and tired bodies we called a cab home.

Rafting the Mighty Zambezi

The next day would be quite full on, as we planned rafting in the morning for me and a visit to the falls in the afternoon together. Paul had no interest in rafting and after the microlight terror, was ready for a restful recovery morning. I woke up bright and early at 6:15 to eat a bit of breakfast and get outside to be picked up in time. When my pick-up arrived, I jumped in, bouncing with excitement. If you know me, you know that I've never met a stranger. The nice family sitting behind me were from Scotland: my almost-countrymen! We stuck together the whole morning, through the tea, safety talk, bumpy ride to the gorge, the gorge decent, and finally into the same boat. With 5 of them (mom, dad, 3 boys of college age), me and another young guy from London, we had an awesome boat. I sat in the back near our guide. We practiced all the safety procedures before we set off - our guide also explained that on the river, the companies worked together to keep everyone safe. There were kayakers (who were first-aid and paramedic trained) following the boats just in case. We started paddling down the reasonably calm river. Little did I know what was coming for me (dun...dun...DUHN!)

We started on Rapid 11, also known as the Overland Truck Eater. It was a class 3+, and relatively easy and fun. Definitely a good start...

Then came the Three Ugly Sisters (3 rapids in a row) and the Mother. Our guide tells us it's a 4+ and as an excited and energetic boat, we say.... GO FOR IT! Within moments of entering the first of the 4 rapids, we flip. Looking at the pictures afterwards, I am the first to fly off the back of the boat. I am underneath swirling, rushing, smashing waves and can't find the surface. Eventually I just hold onto my life vest and let myself bob up. My helmet hit something... The inside of the raft (still flipped over). I reach around for the safety line (also known as the O.S. line.... can you guess why?) and I feel myself being pulled out by the guide. More water smashing and whirling and gulping for air and wondering if I'm going to drown before the guide has flipped the raft after rapidly pulling people in. Before I know it, it's my turn and I'm back in the boat, holding on for dear life. At that point we are just finishing The Mother, and have swam 4 rapids. Our guide later admits that the first rapid was a class 5, but he didn't want us to chicken out. Well, that explains things! None of the other boats tried it, so no one else flipped but a few people were ejected out. We rescue someone swimming near us and drop them back in our boat. My brush with death is over... for now. But we still have 10 more rapids!

Most of the other rapids are easy 3+/4s, and they are exhilarating without being panic-inducing. Many of the rapids are gigantic waves towering 10 feet above your head and only the skillful navigation of our guide keeps us upright. Before one of the rapids, another boat teases us for being the only ones to flip over. Karma gets them in the end though, as they flip on the first of a series of 2 rapids called the Terminators 1 and 2. We're running safety behind them, and instead of following directions, the participants on the boat are clinging onto the safety line on the wrong side of the boat. Their guide can't flip them over, and the rope eventually breaks. I know they're in trouble when my guide starts murmuring a string of expletives under his breath. He knows they need to get back in the boat before the next rapid and it doesn't look good. With the help of several kayakers, he avoids the dangerous rocks next to the boat, and the poor participants swim the next rapid as well. I know how that feels! We fly ahead to try to rescue as many participants as we can, and pull three people into our boat. Everyone is a bit shaken, but alive.

Then we get to The Washing Machine, the last class 5 rapid on the river. Half our boat wants to do it, the other half doesn't (I'm in the "thanks but no thanks camp"). So we switch some people out of the boat and take on some other who also don't want to be flipped again. Our boat paddles hard to avoid the rapid that flips 99.9% of all boats. We turn back to watch the other boat try it... and they miss the rapid! So no one flips and we continue on towards Morning Shower (rapid 24 and our last). Our guide smiles mischievously and tells us to leave our paddles in the front and huddle together in the back. With one hand we hold the safety line and with the other we hold onto another life vest. Our boat soars towards a series of gigantic waves. The first wave we hit, the 3 boys to my right tumble off into the water. The next wave, the three people to my left go, pulling me head first with them. I swirl around underwater for a bit, coming up of of the water quite a ways from the boat. Immediately there is a kayak waiting for me and I hold on in the rescue position. Within seconds we are out of the rapid and into calm water.

Phew! It was a tense ride, but a day I will never, ever forget. What do you think, would you like to ride the Zambezi? I could think of a few of my old AGE teachers who might love to kayak the crazy, raft-eating waves.

Victoria Falls

After an exciting morning all I wanted was a good long nap. Unfortunately, it was our only real day in Zimbabwe so we had planned to see the falls. I cleaned up and we headed out...

The falls on the Zim side have a series of 16 different viewpoints where you can stop and admire the view and take pictures. Although it was crowded, it was easy enough to find a quiet place just to stop and stare and take in the immense falls. From the deep throated thunder of the Devil's Cataract, which is surrounded by so much mist you can barely see it, to Rainbow Falls (no surprise why it's called that), we spent nearly two hours wandering, snapping pictures and enjoying the view. If you can make it here, I would recommend it!

I think for this experience, pictures speak louder than words.