A 6 o' clock alarm on a 'fresh' Zambian morning meant that I think we all regretted booking the 7am slot for a trip to Livingstone Island. Joined by an Australian couple, we took a boat ride across the Zambezi to the Island that was situated on the lip of the falls. Almost immediately upon arrival our guide told us to strip down to our trunks in preparation for our swim in Angel Pool - our main reason for going on the trip. After a short tour of the Island, during which our feet whet numb and contracted frostbite, we were shown to Angel Pool - a small pool of water a metre away from the edge of the Falls. Barney jumped in first and from his facial expressions you would think he was struggling with constipation. Dan and Luke followed before Harvey jumped in and showed off his muscles through a Mr Universe style tensing routine - apparently 'as a joke'. A breakfast of eggs benedict overlooking the falls followed which gave us an opportunity to talk with our Australian companions - nice people although all I remember is the husbands fondness of YouTube videos featuring Australian athletes in bikinis.

Our activity packed day continued by getting picked up for White Water Rafting at 10.30. After Dan tried to employ Jedi-esk negotiations skills and convince the photographer that only Harvey wanted photos we jumped into the raft. The crew: Stan The Man (our guide) steered from the back of the raft. Luke and Denise (a dull American lady whose inability to grasp sarcasm made me consider pushing her overboard whilst going through a Grade 5 rapid) sat in the engine room. Dan and Joss looked pretty in the middle. And Harvey and Barney dictated strokes from the front. There calls of 'one, two. one, two' to keep rhythm soon changed to what Stan claimed was the equivalent in Zambian 'comi, tom-bile. comi, tom-bile' however the chuckles coming from Potato (the other boats guide) and the rest of the rafting team probably meant that we were calling ourselves c**ts. 

A highlight of the trip was the opportunity to swim through the smaller rapids - Stan assured us that he knew the areas along the route where the crocs lived so it came as a bit of surprise when we all floated past a metre long beast at the side of the river. Panic set in and companionship went out the window as we scrambled back to the boat - at the time I was chuffed to see Barney get caught in a current and float downstream as I thought chances are they'd target him. We haven't seen him since!

Replacing our caps and shorts with chinos and shirts, we arrived at the Royal Livingstone dressed more appropriately than the night before to watch the sunset and have dinner. During dinner, a trip to the toilet made me think that either my steak was gone-off or the waiter had been slipping LSD into my drink as the urinals had been piled high with ice. The group assurred me that I wasn't going mad and it turns out that pissing through blocks of ice is even more fun that targeting a spider crawling around the toilet bowl. After dinner we headed to the bar-lounge for drinks - a raging log fire, a selection of expensive whiskeys and a pianist on a grand piano playing 2pac 'Changes' followed by Lion King hits - a perfect way to end our stay in Livingstone and prepare ourselves for our 12 hour drive to Kapisha.