Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
We got up and after the usual pack up and breakfast routine we were on our way. There were no stops (except to use the 'bush' toilet) which meant we got to camp at about 2pm. After pitching our tent again we did some washing and then spent the afternoon chilling out.
Some of the others went on a booze cruise along the Zambezi River while the ones left behind got together for dinner. We had lots of fun watching them all stumble off the boat a little worse for wear at the end of the cruise! All the girls were rather giggly but Vernon and Mike were by far the most drunk having taken part in a drinking contest. This continued long into the night (well about 9pm which is like midnight for us now!) and was funny to watch unfold. Eventually it was decided that Mike had had enough, Vernon had already taken himself off to bed, so after some gentle persuasion (Neil rugby tackling him twice) he finally agreed to go to bed. Louise and I guided him to his tent which he fell into and then fell fast asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Vernon was later found asleep on the steps to the truck - seems like there were no winners in this contest, just 2 losers! Neil and I then went to bed laughing at the antics of the others.
We woke up and enjoyed a huge breakfast at the camp site restaurant - I was so excited to have bacon! It was also fun seeing Vernon very ashamed of himself and Mike turn up still drunk.
A little later we got a taxi to Victoria Falls. It was a little disappointing as they were very dry but were still impressive. We spent a couple of hours wandering around, feeling the spray and taking some photos. Huge thanks to Corrina and Tim for the wedding contribution - it really was an incredible memory to make!
We headed back just after lunch time and spent the afternoon by the pool. I re-did my toe nails and enjoyed treating Francis to a new colour too. After this I had a fairly rubbish shower before meeting the others for our last meal as a group. It was a nice relaxed affair and we all got a nice early night.
After breakfast at Zambezi (our truck with Vernon and Piet) for the last time, we hung around until about 11am to wave the first lot off. It was very sad to say goodbye to Hannah, Louise and Domhal but most of all Martina who I had grown close to during our trip.
We spent the rest of the morning sat by the pool with some of the others before changing tents into our new one - a new home for the next 3 weeks. After getting comfortable we spent some more time at the pool before showering and meeting our new group for the first time. It was happy hour at the bar so most of us turned up with two beers swiftly drank on an empty stomach which made for a jovial meeting. Our guide and driver seem really nice, as do the new group, so I am looking forward to getting to know everyone better.
After our meeting we went for dinner with Keith and Barbara but the table ended up expanding and there were a few more of us in the end which was cool. After a fun evening with new and a little less new friends we retired to bed.
We got up bright and early for a cuppa at the old truck before it left. It was a really emotional farewell to Nina, Sean, Mike, Francis and John. Little Nina ended up crying which set the rest of the girls off so there was a lot of tears shed in the end! We also said goodbye to Piet and Vernon - it was a sad morning as we waved Zambezi (the truck) off and we were thankful that little Nina had eventually agreed to get in!
The ones of us left then headed over to the camp site restaurant for another delicious buffet breakfast but annoyingly I could only manage one plate. After another horrible farewell, this time to Keith and Barbara, we got ready to go into Livingstone.
We got the shuttle bus from the campsite with Fabia, Rebecca and Lee which was driven by Victor, a real friendly African man. After a mooch around a little curio market we walked down the main street towards the big supermarket. As we walked along a pick-up truck drove past with lots of people in the back singing gospel songs, it was lovely to see and hear. The town itself was nothing special so we picked up some bits at the supermarket and then tried to change some money into Pula ready for Botswana. Rather strangely we were unable to get any Pula so ended up changing all our money (and Tony's, Nicole's, Fabia's and Rebecca's) into Dollars.
We got a taxi back to camp and then spent the afternoon by the pool. After showering and getting ready we went out with the new group to a café in Livingstone for tea. We had the pleasure of trying caterpillars and crocodile as well as our delicious normal meal of pizza and masala chicken - yum! The new group seem lovely so I went to bed looking forward to the next part of our trip.
It was a fairly relaxed morning as we packed our tents and had breakfast before setting off for the Zambia/Botswana border.
Hope you are all still enjoying reading our adventures xxx
- comments