Livingstone and the mighty Victoria Falls

Firstly, nothing I say in this post will live up to my time spent in Livingstone. Secondly, it is for this reason alone that you should go and see Victoria Falls for yourself. Thirdly, if that doesn't tempt you, this picture should;

That's me just chilling on Victoria falls during dry season. When it rains there'll be 500 million litres of water pouring over that very spot every minute. And you could look far more attractive if you wanted to than the current model with her eyes closed and slicked back hair.

Starting from leaving Kasanka, we all (including the peacecore troops) left the park early in the morning to try and hitch hike to Lusaka. One of our team managed it, the other 6 were stuck. Luckily the peacecorers had ordered some taxis so we sqeeeeezed all of us and our luggage in a 4/5seater and drove to the nearest bus station, about 30km away. I'm pretty sure this is the only taxi I picked up during my time in Africa and it could be that this journey put me off for life. An uncomfortable hour of sitting half on a seat half on the taxi floor with my legs, arms and butt crushed. Luckily I was not alone in my pain as I was sharing my personal space with Tess who was in exactly the same predicament! I'm pretty sure everyone in that taxi was excited to get out of it as soon as they got in!

We then paid an extortionate amount for a minibus heading to Lusaka and when we finally got there (after stopping just about everywhere, including the roadside to pick up some rather exotic looking mushrooms) we were still taken to the wrong bus station. A kind local with a bus took pity on us and gave us a lift to our destination where we fought tooth and nail to get overnight bus tickets to Livingstone without paying the ridiculous (and entirely made-up-out-of-thin-air

tourist fee) bag charge. An hour later, WE WERE ON OUR WAY! It was a hastle of a day, 19hours of journeying and a suspension free bus journey BUT so worth it to rock up to Livingstone around 3am and have a kip on the bus before heading to a hostel.


We stayed at Livingstone Backpackers over the more popular Jollyboys. I think it was a bit cheaper. Both are lovely but we had a blast at Livingstone with its beach-esque bar, open plan kitchen, swimming pool and funky decor. The town again was more western than anything in Malawi but more African than Lusaka; the perfect mix for an easy backpacking life. The towns 9km away from the Zambia-Zimbabwe border and Vic Falls so you have to get a minibus for about 5 minutes before walking a few hundred yards to the main attraction. For some reason we didn't do this on our very first day! I'm pretty sure we were exhausted and wanted to see what we could do and get for our money. The backpackers all offer trips, guides, activities etc but they are expensive and you can go to a local for a better price! So our first

trip to the Falls was via The Royal Livingstone Hotel where we sat like kings and queens on the terrace overlooking the mighty Zambezi river in all its Hippo ridden glory, drinking cocktails and staring at Zebras until the sun started to set. Safe to say, this hotel is gorgeous. It has Zebras in the grounds for gods sake! Absolute love!!

A short walk along the river and we were at the Falls entrance. Could not see a thing. It's obviously built that way so you have to pay the entrance fee.I'm not entirely sure what that is as we didn't go in that day and when we did it was with a guide who managed to sneak us past the pay desk (entirely possible if you use local guides and kick up a fuss about the price. Both you and they know it's ridiculously extortionate). Instead we walked across the border from Zambia-Zimbabwe. The border is a bridge over The Zambezi River where the bungee jump is. That looked terrifyingly unsafe. Needless to say, I did not rise up the challenge. My friend Zoe did though and she said it was AMAZING. The bridge gave crazy beautiful views of the gorge where people white water

raft and you are constantly surrounded by baboons! These monkeys are NOT afraid of you, they are terrifyingly big and will not hesitate to jump you for some food! In my diary I start by saying how "super cute" the baboons are with "tiny baby baboons riding on the backs of the bigger ones, and these monkeys were HUGE, mighty things! So much monkey love today!". By the end of my stay in Livingstone I'm writing "oh. my. god. Them sodding monkeys! They so big and scary! I couldn't take food across the border due to pure FEAR!! So I let Chris do it instead.".

After a quick Go Pro parachute test over the bridge (a Chris invention to get the best footage at Devils Pool when he throws the camera off Vic Falls) and we were back in the backpackers where I found fellow Malawi friends from Nkhata Bay! One of the best things about travelling Africa; there is a solid backpacking route which everyone follows, but 'everyone' still isn't that many people! Tourists are not in abundance but friends throughout your trip are <3

walking over the river

Jumping over rocks

The next few days are more than incredible. They are quite definitely in my lifes top 10 of  incredibleness. Outside the Victoria Falls entrance and thousands of curio shops my American friends and I searched for a local guide who would take us to Devils Pool for a discount. Before I go any further, read about what Devils Pool is here; because it's awesome (the pool, NOT the video on that website. That's crap).

swimming across the river!

We found Herald who took us on a riverbed walk alongside the falls to Livingstone Island (Zambians are extremely inventive when it comes to naming things). We were actually walking ON, OVER AND IN the Zambezi! After this short jaunt just chilling on rocks with our legs dangling over the falls, we arrived at the tiny island where we were instructed to get in our swimming gear so we could swim the short distance to the Main Waterfall and pool. So we stripped off and jumped INTO the Zambezi for a swim. No biggy,
just swimming in this massive river RIGHT NEXT TO the biggest waterfall in the world. Scrambling up some rocks we had a small sit before Herald jumped right on into the pool, roughly a metre away from the edge of the falls. We all followed a little more cautiously sliding into this incredible pool before sitting on a ledge just half a metre or so away from the waterfall. Words aren't doing this any justice.

Sliding into the pool

Sitting in the pool

Just chillin over the largest waterfall in the world.

We was told to lean over the edge of the falls whilst a guide held our ankles. It doesn't look like much in that photo but MY GOD. My entire torso was over the waterfall and I did indeed scream like a girl, proudly. We all did this twice. And would've stayed for longer if a family of about 30 weren't starting to queue behind us.

A walk back along the riverbed (still can't quite believe how cool that is) and we were left to wander the park at our own leisure. We saw the falls in all their full rain glory (in photo form) and were able to walk over bridges and onto plinths to see the different waterfalls that make up the larger falls (I believe there are 10-12 in all...).

The next day came as something of a surprise. I decided to jump on board (literally) with a few of our group going white water rafting. They'd all done it before, I hadn't, I was cacking my pants (literally) and it was awesome. Note to everyone, prices can be cut by serious bargaining (excellent work Tess and Gonzalo). It's a full day thing so we were in the water by 8:30am after the shortest safety briefing EVER where we were told to paddle and hold on when told. Safety procedures and Africa just don't mix. Thats what makes it so much more exciting! After a quick swim in a large pool under Vic Falls, next to the first rapid 25m away, we got in the raft to kick some ass. I had NO IDEA what I was doing and paddled far too little but held on a lot. I cannot stress how much fun this was! I've described the experience as being "1) awesome, 2.) painful, 3.) incredible, 4.) dangerous. I've not laughed so hard in a long time". We all fell out and overturned our raft twice, once I got a nosebleed and at one point we had to evacuate the river as a rapid was too extreme! Lunch and snacks are included and the general experience was incredible. We jumped off rocks, swam through rapids, got sucked under the water, drifted along the at times serene river, and all the time were filmed by a crew. We paid extra for these photos and film. It was just too good. More than once we saw crocs/allies in the river that we were SWIMMING IN! The guides paid absolutely no attention and just didn't see any danger, it was fabulous!

Our guides legs, falling in, the only one at first!

Overturning raft!!

TEAM!

The moment our anchor let us down...!

These were by far the FUNNIEST photos! This guy knew where those cameras would be!

Just tried to upload the video but it says I can't.... ALL THE SAME, amazing. Thank you Livingstone, thank you Victoria Falls. I wont be forgetting you anytime soon. Ever.