Zambia: Days 18-24

Victoria Falls from Livingston Island
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Livingston, Victoria Falls

The border for Zambia and Botswana is the Zambezi river, which is where 4 countries meet: Namibia, Angola, Zambia, and Botswana.  We crossed between Botswana and Zambia via a border ferry, a small truck/car ferry.  The people walk on, without the truck and go through customs at the other side.  They really need a bridge, it's a very short distance.

Victoria Falls: 7kms wide of rushing water.

Our first stop was Victoria Falls National Park where we got to see one side of the falls, as it is 7 kms wide.  From the Zambia side you can see about 3 kms of the fall; while the best view is said to be from the Zimbabwe side (which requires another border crossing as well as a $35 visa purchase- for brits it's $100).  The park is very lush with jungle-like trees and plants along the 130 meter drop.  Though it was "dry" season (in the next few months more water comes with the rains and the falls are a 7 kms water fall, rather than smaller waterfalls along the rim.  It still looked like a lot of water!  We had spray falling on us at he top, but they say in the "wet" season the mist is so thick you can't see to the other side. There are class 5 rapids at the bottom, as well as a 120 meter bungy drop off the Zib/Zam border bridge.

We had 4 days at The Waterfront Campsite on the Zambezi river, the biggest campsite we'd seen yet, and the activities available were extremely expensive, like $130 elephant rides to $95 for 15-minute helicoptor ride.  So we made our own activites, like early (6am) morning jogging along the dirt road and laying by the pool. [By the way, all this jogging is in preporation for Mt. KIlimanjaro].  It was a nice change from the hectic packing up the tents everyday and riding for hours in the truck.  Livingston also acts like Acacia's hub for changing tours.  Some of our group were ending their trip in Livingston, some were switching trucks Jo'burg, and some were joining our truck from another tour.   This meant that there were 4 Acacia trucks at one campsite, additionally there must be only 1 tent maker in Africa, cause all the tents are the same, even other overland groups.  By the end of the "Sunset Cruise" which was all you can drink/eat, it became a bit difficult to find your tent or even your group.

The cruise made a great start to the night, which ended in half the group jumping in the pool and the others dancing to "YMCA." It turned into a techno bar-mitvah.   The next day was sad as some of our group flew away, followed by losing the rest of the group to another truck.  After 19 days of spending every moment and every joke together, we had become close, really close.  Even the other groups remarked on how close we were. You can imagine how heart-wrenching it was to see them go (ie, there were tears- not me/Tovah, but other people).   Though we now have an open invitation to Cork, Ireland--definitely cashing in on that, especially now cause we know everything about everyone there.  Sounds like A LOT of fun!  Plus we got to meet our new companions, who are great so far.

I opted to do one activity (and you know how I like Activities) on our last day, which was a trip to Livingston Island--not to be confused with Fantasy Island. It's not exactly an island, but it's a piece of land in the center, top cliff before the drop, which doesn't get flowed over with water.  So in the high season the island is about half the size as it is now.  What's so special about it is that's it's edge is the falls drop and you get 2 views of Victoria Falls, 3kms to each view.  I went in the morning to the Royal Livingston Hotel which was SWANKY, marbel entry ways with atriums and fountains, a big cresent shaped bright blue clean pool and linen table cloths in the dinning room.  After 3 weeks of camping, you can imagine how my eyes lit up.  I went with the guide on a motor boat 3 miniutes to Livingston Island, where I was greeted by a cold local drink (at 8am), and led to the edge.  From one side the view was as if you were floating on top of the drop off. From the other, was the wider falls, 2 rainbows and little pools you can swim in.  In fact, I swam out over the edge (while a guide held my legs--of course), and got to feel the water rush around me and over and down.  You can even see how far it goes.  It's exhilerating, all the while I was thinking about how they would never let you do that in the states.  This was followed by being handed a nice fluffy dry towel and led to my breakfast in a proper ourdoor dinning room, covered by a cloth tent.  I sat at the table viewing the falls and mist, with placemats, porcelain dishes, a cloth napkin while being searved tea and cakes.  It was a highlight, and definately worth the $49!

Next we head north to Lusaka, then into Malawi.