Livingstone and Victoria Falls

After an unnecessarily long nine-hour bus ride back to Lusaka from Chipata, we enjoyed a few of the pleasantries of the city – we treated ourselves to a movie (New Moon – we’d be ashamed if we weren’t simply lucky to see a movie at all) and a dinner out and made arrangements for our bus to Livingstone. The next morning we set out on an equally unnecessarily long seven-hour bus ride from Lusaka to Livingstone.
We arrived in Livingstone and found our way to the “Jollyboys” hostel – which had come highly recommended from Gavin, our main-man from the Safari. We checked in and found ourselves in hostel-heaven. The place is really lively and beautiful with eclectic people from around the world, networks with all the Vic Falls attractions, a small pool, bar, limited restaurant and a ton of pillowed areas under thatched roofs for lounging. Jenny was thrilled to be living the ‘hostel-life’ in true form, especially since we’d be there for a few days and might actually have a chance to meet a few fellow travelers. Jollyboys has turned out to be the best starting point we could imagine for our Vic Falls adventures, and beyond – the staff here are so knowledgeable and helpful with any travel you want to do around southern Africa.

Livingstone is known to be the adventure capital of southern Africa, and we’ve definitely taken advantage! Our first afternoon here was pretty relaxed, with a visit to one of the best markets we’ve seen since we got to Africa, and generally organizing the rest of our stay in this town. The next day, we set off on our first excursion: A trip by boat to Livingstone Island, which is right in the middle and on the edge of Vic Falls. This was our first view of the Falls, and it was like nothing you can imagine. It’s low-water season right now, so the Falls is really a series of pretty impressive waterfalls, but at its height, it’s a 1.7-kilometre-wide unbroken fall of water. Just imagine that for a second. While some people might say we came here in the wrong season, we definitely think we lucked out. We would never have been able to experience the Falls from the edge otherwise, and… get ready for this… we had the opportunity to take a SWIM right on the edge!! There is a spot called the Devil’s Pool where a submerged rock wall rises just before the water spills over, so you can jump in, look right over the edge, and not worry about falling over. It is like nothing else we’ll ever experience in our lives. After our swim on the edge of the world’s largest waterfall, we had a lovely breakfast on Livingstone Island (where Livingstone first viewed the falls – the first non-African ever to be taken there). That afternoon, we decided to take advantage of being close to the falls and did a walk around the Vic Falls Park. While walking from our drop-off point (from the island) to the park entrance, we encountered three giraffe which we were able to approach within 30 feet – it was incredible. After yet another breathtaking moment we continued on the path until we found ourselves surrounded by frolicking baby monkeys who were very curious about us and a small herd of Zebra – again which we were able to get exceptionally close to. It was fantastic. From there we toured the park around the falls. The views were incredible and the walk was invigorating, if hot. We saw someone bungee from the legendary bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe and saw the falls from a number of wider angles – many photos followed =). Later in the afternoon we decided we needed another swim, so we began an ambiguous and ambitious quest across the top of Vic falls to find a place called ‘the angel’s armchair’ – another location on the edge of the falls that you can swim in. We tried to avoid the local people unofficially acting as guides (for a tip), but were lost without them. Our quiet and somewhat grumpy guide Collins lead us across rocks and streams and fast-moving currents of the rushing river until, finally, we reached a breathtaking pool of water. Unlike the devil’s pool, this one still had rock visible between it and the edge and water wasn’t quickly flowing through, but it was a much bigger pool and we had an incredible swim – taking some breaks to gaze over the edge of the vast canyons beyond us. By the time we got back to shore our feet were raw from the two hours of journeying barefoot across rocks and through currents. We decided to wrap up our epic first day and tucked in at ‘Jollys’ for the night.

Next adventure: White-water rafting on the Zambezi River, known to be one of the best in the world… and did it ever live up to its reputation! The trip began just below the falls and continued on through several Class V rapids – the toughest that can be navigated in a raft. We had a fantastic international crew in our boat as well as Sven, our intrepid guide! While 3 of the 5 boats on the trip flipped in the first rapid (great start to the day!), our crew successfully navigated through the first several major challenges… that is, until Jenny, who was in the front of the boat, went for an unintentional swim in the first Class V rapid! After a moment of panic for Jimi, the crew rallied and quickly rescued Jenny and the other man overboard, and we continued on, undaunted. As Sven learned that we were up for some excitement, he began providing more of it. He would give us several options for routes and tell us the likelihood of our boat flipping in each one – knowing full well, we’re sure, that we would always choose the option likeliest to acquaint us more intimately with the river, and greatly enjoying that. Sure enough, we flipped our boat in the next big rapid, and most of us rode through it on the bottom of the boat! So we definitely got a full taste of everything the Zambezi has to offer! Another fun highlight was the opportunity to swim through a smaller rapid, and we got spun around in a number of small whirlpools… awesome! The half-day trip ended with an epic hike straight up the gorge wall in the noon heat… nobody told us that if we did the full day, we could have taken a cable car to the top!! It was Jimi’s first rafting experience and he smiled throughout (except maybe the moment the wave took Jenny away). All in all a blast was had and Jimi is extremely excited for the next opportunity he’ll have to do rafting.

We got a really great deal on the rafting plus a sunset cruise later that evening, and it was the perfect way to relax after such an action-packed day. The Zambezi river above the Falls winds slowly through a small national park, so we spotted plenty of wildlife as we drifted lazily along. Great company, a nice dinner, and a beautiful sunset. We returned to Jollyboys around 7 PM and promptly (and unintentionally!) passed out for the night!

All of that adventure brings us to today, which has been a pretty relaxing day. We’re working on our next travel arrangements, which, if all goes according to plan, should take us to Mafia Island, Tanzania, in a few days. But, as we’ve seen before, when does everything ever go according to plan? We’ve hit a few roadblocks in our arrangements so far. We were really excited for the Tazara Train – a train running from Lusaka, Zambia to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania – but the more we learn about it the more it seems like it won’t be suitable for our itinerary (or pocketbooks or maybe even safety). So we’re adjusting and we’re confident we can work everything out and do some fantastic scuba diving (and see some whale sharks!!!) before we head home in about 9 days! While we’ll be sad to leave Africa, we’re also so excited to get home and see all of you, and especially to share the holidays with both of our families together!!

Much love,
- Jimi and Jenny