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Sunday 7th January
We leave Bulawayo on the overnight sleeper train to Victoria Falls. It's just like the ones you get at home, although those in economy have to sit up all night. We spend the night playing cards and eating cheese and biscuits.
The only thing that's different about the train is that the doors at the end of each carriage where you get on and off are wide open - one wrong move and you could be flung out. Strange. But nothing happens - so we head to the bar which is full of men drinking. They sleep where they fall. It's only early and already how the mighty have fallen!
Monday 8th January
We arrive at Victoria Falls around 9.30am - only 2.5 hours late. Africa time - gotta love it. It's a gloriously sunny morning as we walk to the campsite. I book myself on an Adrenalin Day - yippee.
Also got myself some nasty bites from the ants I think.
Tuesday 9th January
Bring on the adrenalin! I head over to Zambia by myself as everyone else is doing the adrenalin stuff the next day but Kate and I fly out to Cape Town tomorrow so this is my only chance to fling myself off cliffs, etc....
There's just me and an older couple in their late 50's doing the activities. We started with the high wire which was like a flying fox - you just run and launch yourself off the top of this gorge which was just around the corner from the Falls and fly like superman. Then they wheel you back in and you do it again.
You can do it sitting in the harness but what would be the point in that! I decided to buy the DVD so I can watch it at a later date but unfortunately no photo's from this day.
Next I abseiled down into the gorge which was around 100metre drop. The cliff face drops away from you so they give you gardening gloves so you can just freefall pretty much and let yourself go. Weeeeeeeeeeeee. What fun.
The walk up from the gorge was spectacular too.
Next was the rap jump - basically you abseil forwards. Very scary in the first few steps and I don't think I'm the most graceful or co-ordinated abseiler ever but it was great fun.
And finally the piece de resistance - the gorge swing. It's pretty much like doing a bungee jump but you are just attached to a rope. You step off the cliff and literally swing across towards the other side. 3 seconds of freefall at 120mph before the rope snaps taught and you swing back and forth. Just terrifying. I think my screams could be heard all the way down to Victoria Falls!
We stopped for lunch and the bites on my legs have blistered - the couple I'm with are Australian and suggest it may have been spider bites rather than ants - they said there are spiders here that will bite you and they will cause the skin to die around the bite and you end up with a big scar unless you get them treated. Hmm - so at that I take myself back over to Zimbabwe and duly pay 50 US dollars to be told by the doctor that I've been bitten by blister beetles and not to worry. Typical.
Wednesday 10th January
Kate and I went to see the Falls today. They are just magnificent. We got soaked from the spray but it was so hot on the way back that we dried off in no time.
This is our last truck day today so we say goodbye to everyone and head off to the airport to fly to Cape Town.
We manage to get on an earlier connection from Johannesburg which was great.
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