Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
We were all super excited about getting into Zimbabwe, mainly because we were only the 2nd overland truck to enter in about 5 years or so. The border was less painful than I expected although it did cost USD55 to get in (USD75 for the Canadians so I don't know what they've done to upset Uncle Bob!). Our first stop was Victoria Falls, considered to be one of the seven natural wonders of the world. This is a site I've heard so much about and been itching to see, especially since I've now seen Iguassu and Angel Falls which fall into the same category. Kian had been here a few weeks prior so knew the route to take and the best viewpoints so off we went to get absolutely soaked (and when I say soaked, I mean just stepped out of a bath soaked). It was an amazing site but there was so much water that the spray was huge and we couldn't see a lot of the falls. It's an unusual feature as it sits in a kind of a narrow chasm. Its official name is actually Mosi-o-Tunya which means 'the smoke that thunders. It sits on the border of Zim and Zambia on the Zambezi River and, whilst neither the highest nor the widest waterfall in the world, it is claimed to be the largest. This claim is based on a width of 1,708m and a height of 108m which makes it the largest sheet of falling water in the world.
Anyway, we got back to the truck about half an hour late and were immediately reprimanded, not by the tour leader but by 2 people on the truck we had grown to despise anyway. We readily admitted we were late and apologised but were welcomed by a barrage of abuse and told our apologies were insincere. Nobody else cared and it was just such a stupid situation to get worked up about. Anyway, we got to the campsite where it started to rain so myself, Helen, Kian and Kyle upgraded to a lodge which was definitely a good call. As we were rushing back to the truck (we didn't want to be late again or the 2nd time in one day!), the truck drove past us - with all of our money, waterproofs, you name it. We were not happy bunnies! We were soon distracted when we got to the adventure centre and started booking our activities for the next couple of days. More on that later.
To console ourselves, we went for cocktails at the Victoria Falls Hotel, a beautiful colonial (and posh!) hotel and turned up late (again!) for dinner - oops! After watching a pretty good group of tribal dancers and singers (I bought the CD!), we headed out for a rather drunken group night out. It was the last night f the tour for Andy and Jeroen and Andy got very emotional, bless him, and started crying. The emotion was soon overtaken by more drunkenness and he started doing a striptease, gyrating around the room and lots more but, as you know, what goes on tour stays on tour. Got home at what ended up being quite an unearthly hour which wasn't very sensible as we had to get up at stupid o'clock for rafting!
So, the drama of rafting in Zim. As you know, I did my first rafting back in NZ and also did a bit in Venezuela, both of which were exciting but nothing major took place and no flipping. This was to be a day I would never forget.
Apparently the Zambezi River has the most dangerous rapids in the world. The water was 90 metres deep in some places which is a scary thought to start with! They had already closed 10 rapids due to high water, dangerous whirlpools etc. The rest of the rapids were supposed to stay open for another 2-3 weeks but after our experience (read on!), they decided to close the whole thing the following day. On our course there were a number of grade 5 rapids (the biggest rapids you can commercially raft down) and one of them was a grade 6 and was far too dangerous to raft so we had to get out of the raft and walk on land through all the rocks (including swimming across a pool!). We actually found out afterwards that we had been in Zambia!
Our guide, Simon Moyo, was excellent and is actually in the Olympic rafting team and will be in London 2012 - how cool is that?! Anyway, all was going well and we were having lots of fun until we hit Terminator 1, a grade 5 rapid. The raft flipped vertically so, being at the back, I watched Kian and Brendan get catapulted through the air over my head and the next thing I was under water. I clung onto the raft for dear life and, as promised by Simon, I popped up above water. Glad that nothing bad had happened, I grabbed a breath and then started getting sucked under the raft. The 2nd time I popped out I wasn't so relaxed and when I felt myself being sucked underneath again, I let go of the raft. That was possibly one of the worst decisions I have ever made as I got swept, quicker than you can imagine, down the river. What actually happened was that after flipping in Terminator 1, we 'swam' through Terminator 2, another grade 5 rapid. Unless this has happened to you, you have no idea of the severity of the water, the speed of the current and the terrifying ordeal we were about to experience.
Whirlpools kept sucking me down underwater - I just can't describe to you how I felt - I seriously thought I was a goner and was going to drown - every time the life jacket popped me back up - I now totally appreciate the value of them! I'm a waterbaby and always have been but this was petrifying. I would gasp for air but swallow a whole load of water and was just being carried down the river at huge speeds. I have never felt so helpless and so out of control. I couldn't even turn myself around or even attempt to swim and all I could see when I looked up was huge waves coming down on me and when I tried to cry out, an awful rasping noise came out before I swallowed more water. I was desperately trying to shout for help but couldn't muster up the strength and I also thought that nobody could see me as nobody seemed to be coming to help me. That was one of the scariest moments. I kept getting a glimpse of Helen who was in the same rapid flow as me and she looked petrified. She said afterwards that she could just see the terror and fear on my face and just wanted to help me but had to help herself first. Everything she was feeling she could see on my face. Horrendous. I'm pretty sure I almost blacked out during this process too - I went very dizzy - probably due to having no air in my lungs and I couldn't move. I almost felt like giving up. It all sounds very dramatic I know but we really were that close to drowning. Finally I saw a kayak close to me and Helen was clinging onto it. The guy was yelling at me to swim but I was just numb with fear and couldn't get my brain to communicate with my limbs. He was getting angrier and angrier and yelling at me but I just kept saying 'I can't'. Simon finally shouted at me and he was close by on the raft. He threw me a rope and told me to swim to it but I just couldn't move. Pathetic really. I finally grabbed hold of it and he pulled me onto the raft where I just collapsed into a heap. Helen then got on and we just hugged eachother. I have never been so terrified in my life and I never want to experience those emotions ever again. That would be a horrendous way to go as you just feel so helpless and you give up fighting. That's actually what scared me the most as I always thought I would put up a fight but I just felt so useless. I was in shock and shivering but Simon kept shouting at me to sit up and pull myself together so I recovered fairly quickly. Helen took a lot longer and was a mess - shivering and getting hysterical about not wanting to go any further. Of course, once you're on the raft and on the rapids, there's no getting off and there's no way of walking back to base either as the cliffs are so high on either side of the river. Simon kept trying to pull her round but she wasn't having any of it and her lips started to go blue. Daniela is actually a nurse and was going to slap Helen but in the end she came round of her own accord and started paddling again. The remainder of the rover was stressful as we tried to negotiate ourselves carefully over the next few rapids. Luckily we all managed to stay in good spirits and, most importantly, in the raft.
After such a stressful day, we decided we deserved a decent dinner so we spent the rest of the afternoon and the evening in the Victoria Falls hotel which was lovely - we even got dressed up for it - well, as much as you can get dressed up from a backpack!!
The next day was one of the best I've had in a long time and I was on a high and buzzing all evening - everyone was commenting on how happy and glowing I looked. In the morning I had booked a 12 minute helicopter ride over the falls. What a fantastic experience. We circled the falls several times and the view from above was just stunning. As usual, the photos just don't do it justice. Early afternoon I went with Kian for the lion encounter. We had only booked the cub encounter which was theoretically spending time with 2 8-month old lion cubs. It ended up that it was only the 2 of us there and we had an awesome time! We walked with 2 cubs and were able to pet them and then went into their enclosure. The guide then said he would give us a bonus and we could see the adults so we walked with a pair of twins, one male, one female. They were huge! We weren't allowed anywhere near the male's head but to be honest I didn't want to get much closer than I did and I nervously patted the female. It was fantastic to be so close to these huge beasts and we were both on such a high afterwards, particularly as others in the group had gone earlier and paid double the price for the same experience!
As if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, we had booked the tandem gorge swing for the afternoon. I thought it would have been like the swing I did in NZ where they lower you of the edge and then just drop you without any notice. I was wrong, much to Kian's horror as we had to physically launch ourselves off the platform. Kian is scared of heights and started stressing saying he hated me. We got to the platform and were tied together in a harness at which point Kian announced he 'needed a s***' - nice. Quote of the day was then "If I pee on you today, it's not my fault". Hmmm. Mr usually cool Kian then had a total freak out on the platform and kept saying he couldn't go through with it. I was trying to calm him down but I did think at one point that he was really going to back out. By this time I was nervous too but knew that I would have to go through it alone if he backed out. The guy kept encouraging him to step forward but Kian kept getting really scared and yelling "Don't f***ing push me!". Anyway, after some encouraging words of how quick it would all be over and how great the view would be, we launched ourselves off the cliff. We ended up tumbling over headfirst with me on top of Kian and when we hit the end of the rope, Kian's face was a picture. I wish we'd had a video. I gave him a hug and then we just started giggling and enjoyed the swing. Getting back up was the most difficult part as we had to try and walk up the rocks but kept swinging and bumping into eachother and stealing eachother's space. We got back to the bar area and Kian downed a Savanna cider while admitting that whilst he no longer hated me, he felt he'd been duped into doing it! What a fab day though which culminated in a delicious BBQ back at camp.
- comments
jan Hi linda I am having a heart attack reading your blog and am looking forward to seeing the photos. We are near the end of our trip which seems mild compared to yours. Currently in hanoi waiting for train to go to sapa as per your recommendation. Take care love Jan x
Mum Well, as your mother, this was a scary tale for me. I thought your daring times were finished but obviously not. Thank goodness I didn;t know about the danger before you went. Thank God you are safe and sound xx