0800. Tuesday May, 24th. Kasane. Botswana.
I break my fast and then we head out to go see Victoria Falls and its many attractions. To get there, we are going to travel into the neighboring country of Zimbabwe. We go through Botswana immigration to get out of the country. Then we head to Zimbabwe immigration, where a full mile of trucks stood in line, waiting to get their cargo into the country. It was a busy place. We had to pay 30 USD for a visa the size of one of the passport pages to get into the country. I come to find out that Zimbabwe faced hyper inflation and that their dollars are worth nothing. They've been using US dollars for quite some time now. After they didn't let Donna in because she's a Philippine national and most countries besides the US, EU and Commonwealth nations need to apply for a visa ahead of time, which was unknown to us. She went back to the lodge with our TA, Katie, which was only 10 minutes away from the border. While we waited we saw warthogs crossing the road outside the fence, near the welcome to Zimbabwe sign. We investigated and took pictures next to the sign, along with the German couple who shared the van ride over with us. The husband looked very much alike a certain Mr. Wright, father to fellow high school classmate, TJ Wright. That aside, I struck up conversation with them, and found out that they love to travel and were on a tour of Africa at the moment with Vic Falls on the menu next. After a long drive through more land similar to Chobe National Park, part of Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park, and passing animals like baboons, more warthogs and snakes who were crossing the road, we finally made it to Victoria Falls and the tourist town that has cropped up around it. Practically everyone had decided to get the package at the bridge company store that included bungee jumping, swinging and zip lining off the bridge. Like a domino I fell too, thinking that I'll never get this opportunity again. So I paid for all three and set off for the falls. Our driver took us as far as the immigration station at the start of the dirt road leading to the bridge which crosses the river and into Zambia. Getting out was easy, immigration just waved us through. We walked down the dirt road, the huge mist cloud of the falls clearly visible beyond the wall of jungle that formed the northern wall. Then the bridge came in sight, and as we crossed we were swarmed with peddlers trying to sell us copper trinkets, literally trillions of Zimbabwe dollars, and other assorted odds and ends. These guys were persistent but you had to ignore them. Even the reason of not having your wallet on you since we were diving didn't deter them. They said that I could trade my watch. My one friend said one guy said he could trade his shorts for what he was selling. His shorts. Too funny. We crossed the bridge onto the Zambia side to the little covered restaurant where we signed up for all of the three events. We left our stuff, money, cameras, passports, under the supervision of Dr. Lacks who would be taking photos off us taking the plunge. I got to the covered platform in the middle of the bridge and saw classmate after classmate suit up, and jump. It looked exhilarating and frightening at the same time. Then I was called. I timidly made my way through the gate onto the plat. I sat down as they video taped me so that they could sell me the DVD of me jumping afterwards at the restaurant. It felt like a race, stomach turned to stone, my breathing the only conscious thing I was doing. Then he had me stand up. I slowly made my way to the edge, where there's a gap in the railing. Never had I been more mindful of my balance while I teetered there. Then, the handler started counting 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, bungee! With a little push and what I thought was a good leap for having my feet bounded together (turns out I did little more than fall off the edge) I flew into the gorge, flying toward the rushing river below. It was such a crazy feeling. Arms outstretched. My voice on the wind. Weightlessness. Free falling. Then as I reached the bottom of the fall, I felt all the G's and the pressure of all my blood on my head. Then I stretched back up, recoiling back and forth. Like a doll. As my bobbing came to a rest, I was grabbed by a handler lowered in a harness to pull me up. Once I got to the service causeway under the launch plat, I unharnessed and climb back up to express my thrill to my waiting compatriots. Next event, swing from the bridge. There's a cable suspended across the bridge which would act as the swinging point, and we would be the pendulum. A small road bump arose in the form of a power outage for the bungee and swing, which used electric winches to help get the jumpers back up to bridge level. During this time, I chatted up with this blonde Norwegian girl who was just raving about the swing, which I was about to do. After our friendly exchange, I got suited up with Tim, another Case kid, who was to do the swing in tandem with me. The instructions for take off was too look at the horizon and take a synchronized step forward, and off the platform. I had one arm wrapped around Tim's back and his around mine. Whereas, bungee jumping was almost like flying or diving, swinging was just a really scary drop. As you fell, you saw the gorge's walls growing taller and taller with every passing moment, knowing that the rushing rapids below were about to break your landing. But then the rope taunted and we swung up from our presumed doom and swung back, just like on the playground, only now we swung from a hundred meter bridge. We hung there for a while taking in the gorgeous sights. I saw a full circular rainbow in the gorge. It was really magnificent and calming after that sheer fall. After climbing back up, we were running out of time, it was nearly 3 and we still had yet to visit the Falls, which some of it was visible from the bridge. So we packed up and began the long hike back to immigration, the entrance to the Falls park was on the Zimbabwe side. Getting in was almost as difficult the first time, and it was much hotter this time of day. Tempers were definitely shorter. We found out in a rather funny way. One of the things you should never do at a border crossing is whip out a camera to take pictures, of their flag, of their signs or ANYTHING. An officer came up to Corey as she had her camera out and just berated her, giving her an earful about how did she know whether or not her camera was beaming images of this secure, controlled facility to Moscow or North Korea. Really kinda funny to watch unfold. After ten or so minutes he left, leaving Corey visibly a little shaken but by the time we reached the Falls, it was all erased off her face. Another 30 USD later, (I actually got them to take my 1983 series fifty dollar bill, which was refused at the border crossing) we got into the park and the portion that was visible from the bridge through that little opening of a gorge was nothing.
Victoria Falls spanned 10 times that visible length. They were magnificent. Huge cascades billowed over like running stallions into the gorge below. Then came its plumes of mist that confirmed that they expended their work going down. Massive rainbows highlighted the Falls with their prismatic colors. Towards the middle, the mist became rain. It poured on us in there. There were selling ponchos and stuff outside, but it was so hot that we ignored their banter and thought that the water would be enough to cool us down in this African heat. We didn't just cool off, we got drenched. So drenched that we worried for our cameras and passports. Danger Point was a torrential downpour, and its path was a broken bone hazard. On my way out, I air dried and came across four vervet monkeys not 3 meters from the path. One was grooming and cleaning one that was asleep. Looked relaxing. Another was in the trees above me. My camera still worked so I caught some great shots. We loaded the vans, picked up the German couple, and made the long and uncomfortably trip back to the lodge in Botswana. Along the way we glimpse more animals. The most elusive had to be the leopard we saw in the tall grass. I could hardly make it out. The cameras had no chance in the dusk light. Only by chance did one camera flash at the right time and caught the great cat looking at us, its wide orbs full of the reflected light were just looming in the tall grass of the camera's picture. It was incredible. My game drive guide the next day would name leopards as one of the four of the Big Five Animals that could be found in Chobe: lions, leopards, elephants and buffalo. The other are rhino, but they aren't in Chobe. I felt so great that I got that sweep. Coming around a turn in the road, we almost ran into elephants just grazing. They didn't like our cameras' flashes since it was well past 6 and dark. We sped off before angering them further. We checked back out of Zimbabwe, wiped our shoes off which chemicals to prevent bringing in Hand, Foot and Mouth disease into Botswana and made it through Botswana immigration for the final time. I turned in soon after arriving back at the lodge after eating some dinner.
Victoria Falls spanned 10 times that visible length. They were magnificent. Huge cascades billowed over like running stallions into the gorge below. Then came its plumes of mist that confirmed that they expended their work going down. Massive rainbows highlighted the Falls with their prismatic colors. Towards the middle, the mist became rain. It poured on us in there. There were selling ponchos and stuff outside, but it was so hot that we ignored their banter and thought that the water would be enough to cool us down in this African heat. We didn't just cool off, we got drenched. So drenched that we worried for our cameras and passports. Danger Point was a torrential downpour, and its path was a broken bone hazard. On my way out, I air dried and came across four vervet monkeys not 3 meters from the path. One was grooming and cleaning one that was asleep. Looked relaxing. Another was in the trees above me. My camera still worked so I caught some great shots. We loaded the vans, picked up the German couple, and made the long and uncomfortably trip back to the lodge in Botswana. Along the way we glimpse more animals. The most elusive had to be the leopard we saw in the tall grass. I could hardly make it out. The cameras had no chance in the dusk light. Only by chance did one camera flash at the right time and caught the great cat looking at us, its wide orbs full of the reflected light were just looming in the tall grass of the camera's picture. It was incredible. My game drive guide the next day would name leopards as one of the four of the Big Five Animals that could be found in Chobe: lions, leopards, elephants and buffalo. The other are rhino, but they aren't in Chobe. I felt so great that I got that sweep. Coming around a turn in the road, we almost ran into elephants just grazing. They didn't like our cameras' flashes since it was well past 6 and dark. We sped off before angering them further. We checked back out of Zimbabwe, wiped our shoes off which chemicals to prevent bringing in Hand, Foot and Mouth disease into Botswana and made it through Botswana immigration for the final time. I turned in soon after arriving back at the lodge after eating some dinner.
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