When I proposed the idea of going to Victoria Falls before our exams, Arianna was totally in. My view of commitment is different than hers, so when my Nanni had already booked the tickets and Arianna decided that she didn't want to go, things were a little bit awkward…. Luckily for both of us, Arianna decided to join me in the end and we had the most incredible trip this past week. We spent five days traveling around Livingstone, Zambia and made day trips to Chobe National Park in Botswana and Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. The people in Zambia could not have been nicer. Everyone was pleasant and I think I felt safer there than I do here in Cape Town. We engaged in conversation with so many unique people, and got a sense of a different part of Africa, which has similarities to South Africa but much of the complexities of this post-apartheid nation don't exist there. They have lots of their own issues, but for the most part Zambia is known as a politically stable country, and is home to the testing of many aid projects because they people are so friendly and English is their national language. Arianna and I met Peace Corps volunteers, NGO workers, tons of men and women who have moved from remote villages to the city of Livingstone, ex-pats from all over the world, and locals who work in everything from tourism to selling eggs at markets.
We got to Livingstone on Tuesday afternoon, and as we walked off of the plane, Arianna likened the temperature outside to the feeling of blowing a hair dryer on yourself. I don't think either of us had ever experienced such intense heat. The Jollyboys Backpackers picked us up, and after checking in we spent the afternoon walking around the town. The people in the town could not have been nicer. Everyone waved and said hello, and the sights of Livingstone were fruit being sold on the side of the road, women carrying babies on their backs and goods on top of their heads. After a walk around the town looking for a converter, we made our way back to the hostel where we called it an early night.
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| woman who bought my shoes |
The next day, we got up early for a drive to Botswana where we were going to Chobe National Park. The morning was spent getting into Botswana, a border that is made by a river that we crossed by boat. After getting through immigration in Botswana, we spent the morning on a riverboat safari on the Chobe river. All of the animals were hanging out on the river since the temperature was around 105 degrees (Fahrenheit). Chobe is home to 120,000 elephants. They are the most incredible animals and I was mesmerized by them the entire day. In the afternoon, we went on a game drive through the park. It was so hot and so dry that I found it hard to breathe. After a long drive back and another trip through the immigration offices, we made our way back to Livingstone.
Thursday was Victoria Falls day. Arianna and I got up early and met our guide at the entrance of the Zambian side of the falls. He led us on a walk through the top of the falls. This activity is only possible to do during dry season, as during the rainy season the river beds are filled with water. We got to Livingstone Island, the sight where David Livingstone saw the falls for the first time, put on our bathing suits, and went to jump into Devil's Pool. This is a small pool naturally formed at the top of the falls. After we jumped in, we hung over the edge and looked down the falls. It was UNBELIEVABLE and at one point I felt like I was going to fall over. The guide asked if we wanted to go into another pool that most tourists don't go into, but I figured we shouldn't push our luck. If most people don't go in, there was probably a reason for that. That afternoon, we rode on elephants through the Zambezi river - the river that feeds Victoria Falls. It was so lush, which was interesting given the desert that was only a few hundred meters away. Again, the elephants proved to be incredible animals. After we were done riding them, we got to feed them. Their trunks are so funny, and mine (his name was Danny) kept trying to suck up my face with it. If I could have fit Danny into my small suitcase, he would have made the trip back to Cape Town with me.
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| field trip i joined in zimbabwe |
For dinner on Thursday night, we decided we should take a break from the grilled cheese at the Jollyboys restaurant. We went to an Indian restaurant not far from Jollyboys. After ordering the vast majority of items on the menu, we were sitting there in complete and utter bliss. It had been such an amazing, unique day. As we sat there in amazement at the fact that we were in the middle of Zambia, the only people in the restaurant, the power went out. Of course I was convinced that we were going to be killed, but a few minutes later the waiter came out with a flashlight for our table. Apparently this usually only happens on Sundays, but it is a typical occurrence in Zambia. The power outage only added to Thursday's fun.
Friday Arianna and I decided that we were going to try and see the falls from the other side, after we spent the morning in the market where I sold about $400.00 worth of clothing that I wanted to get rid of for a whopping $9.00. After this super fun experience at the market, we went down to the bridge that separates Zambia from Zimbabwe over a gorge. Once we arrived, we realized that we were unable to see the falls from the bridge. At this point, I decided that I wanted to see the falls. We needed cash in order to buy visas to cross the border so we took a cab to town where the first ATM we went to was broken. After finding a working ATM, we headed back to the border. Arianna decided that she didn't want to spend the money to cross into Zimbabwe, so I decided to go alone even though she was a little nervous about this as I did not have a phone or any means of communication. I figured that after the Spring break dance with disaster, this would be nothing in comparison. So I left the cab and headed to the border. After exiting Zambia, I walked to the other side. When I arrived at the Zimbabwe immigration post, I tried to convince them that I was only going into their country for two hours so it seemed silly that I had to pay the exorbitant fees for the visa. At some point, the male immigration officers realized that I was alone and started laughing and speaking in Shona about me. They asked me if I was nervous about being alone, to which I replied, "I wasn't…should I be?" They got a good laugh out of that, and replied, "No, no, no….Zimbabwe is safer than heaven" [insert cackles].
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| victoria falls |
While in the rainforest, so many people asked to take pictures of me. I felt like a celebrity but couldn't understand why. After leaving the park I found Stanley again (he also owns a taxi company in Zimbabwe) and he told me that they are fascinated by white people, hence all the picture taking. Confused, Stanley took me on a quick tour of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe (that's the name of the town on the Zimbabwe side) and then I went to an open air market with lots of African souvenirs (all of which, I am still convinced, are made in a central location in India). After spending all the money I had on me, Stanley drove me back to the border, where I became friends with a woman who I spent the rest of the ride with back to Livingstone. The most interesting lesson I learned from this interaction was how much the Zambians rip tourists off. It cost me and Arianna 50,000 Kwacha to take a taxi from the border to Livingstone. With the Zambian woman, it cost 6,000.
I arrived back at the hostel around 3:40 pm and Arianna had been really worried, as she knew I usually don't cut things that close (except for morning activities and waking up). She had been planning how she was going to find me, and was about to call the U.S. State department when I showed up dripping with sweat, hair in a rat's nest on top of my head, and lots of African booty in hand. Before I could even shower, we had to leave to go on a sunset boat cruise. Of course while we were on the boat, the first rain of the season started and the water was coming down in buckets. I just laughed, as this was, of course, our luck. When we arrived back to Jollyboys, the power had gone out (again). We spoke with Stella the concierge for almost two hours about everything from the HIV/AIDS crisis in Zambia to her boarding school upbringing. As we nodded off to sleep around 9:00 pm, we were met with the terrible surprise of the fan not working because, again, the power was out. It could not have been hotter, Arianna and I both slept naked, and I woke up periodically throughout the night trying to figure out how I could get to a place with air conditioning. Oh and to top it all off, the water wasn't working so I was unable to shower until we arrived back in Cape Town….poor Arianna who had to sleep next to me.
Saturday morning I went to walk with the lions, which was an incredible experience. They are really cool animals and it was fun watching them interact with people while still having the natural instincts of chasing after impalas. After this great activity, I went back to the hotel, met Arianna, had my 75th grilled cheese of the week, and we headed to the airport (still no shower).
We spent the rest of Saturday traveling and found ourselves in the first class lounge in the airport in Johannesburg. I had spent a good 30 minutes trying to convince them to let us on an earlier flight, but the conversation ended in me screaming "Africa is STUPID!" at the airline employee at the check-in counter. Fortunately for us, my tickets had been booked in first class, so for the last few hours of our journey, we were treated to all the amenities of the glamorous life, an adjective I didn't think I would have ever used to describe any part of this trip!
ENJOY THE PICTURES BELOW!
