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Our final stop on this adventure was the border town of Victoria Falls. Due to poor signage we traversed the whole of Joberg airport to find British Airways in the domestic area. Gareth became very frustrated at the incompetence of the check-in staff but was mollified when we received an exit row seat. Walking back to the International departures section we rushed through security thinking our boarding time was very soon but waited for 30 minutes at our gate due to departure delays. Luckily the seats had a lot more room than our previous sardine can and we arrived at Victoria Falls airport. We have since discovered the Zimbabwean immigration staff are surly, slow and fastidious. This was the first time we have had to line up outside the terminal in the sweltering sun before finally joining another line inside the airport to get our visa. There was much confusion regarding a double-entry visa which we had requested. Finally escaping the labyrinth, we were transferred to our hotel, the closest to Victoria Falls National Park.
After dropping our bags, we walked to the park and were delighted by the magnificence of the falls. Gemma had found it hard to comprehend how wide the falls are stretching for almost two kilometres and was very brave sitting near the edge of the 108m drop for some photos. It was our first real experience of walking in the African heat and it was very refreshing walking under the mist of the falls. Returning to our hotel we had a nice swim to cool down before dining alone in an Italian restaurant, narrowly escaping the buffet dinner our hotel served up.
The following day we had two aims. To go on a helicopter ride over the falls and enter the devil's pool on the edge of the waterfall. The helicopter ride was easy to organise at our hotel but we were informed that the devil's pool was booked out. Gareth was extremely disappointed and took Gemma on a mission into the town to find another way to the pool. We were rebuffed twice more at different tour companies as Gareth got more frustrated that he hadn't booked it earlier. Walking dejectedly back to our hotel, Gareth saw a sign advertising 'unlimited Devil's Pool'. Going inside, Gareth's prayers were answered when we were told that we could walk to the pool and all the other agencies had been trying to get us on the boat for a larger commission. This lead to a return of Gemma's anxiety as she had believed she had escaped this death-defying adventure.
We returned in time to our hotel for our helicopter pick up and were driven ten minutes out of town to the helipad. After a very brief safety discussion and awkward video message topped off by having to weigh ourselves we were ushered to a six-seater helicopter. After a quick redistribution of people to balance the helicopter (much to Gemma's appreciation) we were both amazed at how smooth the ride was and the view above the falls added another dimension to its grandeur but it did not help Gemma's stress levels about the afternoon activities. After the quick flight we dodged buying the expensive video and photo package and returned to our hotel to prepare for devil's pool adventure. The next few hours were possibly the worst of the trip with Gareth trying to distract himself and Gemma which was not successful. So high was the anxiety, that we did not eat lunch. Gemma communicated with Bronwyn and Amber her concerns using the very dodgy internet until the time came to go.
We then experienced our fastest border crossings ever with our driver expediting the process and jumping the queues. Before we realised it we were in Zambia as part of a group of eight walking to the pool. The walk to the pool was somewhat horrific, combining the challenges of extreme African sun, tricky balancing on rocks and our regrettable decision not to eat or have enough fluids. By the time we reached Livingstone island Gemma dived for one of the few seats and was pulsating with a bright red shade to her face. We spent a few minutes recovering and changing into our swimmers before attempting the final leg of our adventure. We had to swim across a twenty metre channel with a reasonably strong current and if we weren't good Australian swimmers it was definitely possible to be swept over the edge. Some ropes had been placed to catch abysmal swimmers. While our African guide had moved very quickly over the rocks, we were much stronger swimmers and Gemma nearly swam over him in her excitement to get to the other side. Reaching the devil's pool the guide let each group go in separately. The pool was roughly circular and we were told 4 metres deep. On the falls edge off the pool there was a 50cm ledge which had very little water running over it. Photos were taken on this ledge with the falls over our shoulder. This experience has created such strong memories as it is the scariest thing either of us has ever done. Surprisingly the exit wasn't too difficult and our group was abuzz with excitement as we started the journey back. Halfway along the 1.5km return leg it started thundering and raining. While this cooled the temperature significantly it made the rocks much more slippery to traverse. As some of our group stopped to take photos our guide got further and further ahead and we had to work our own way back. It was with a sigh of relief we returned to flat ground and were then ushered back through the borders.
That night we had dinner at the Victoria Falls Hotel looking over the Zambezi bridge and river. This hotel had strong memories for Gareth as it was a return to civilisation on his previous African journey. The food was amazing, the mocktails artistically creative and the dessert outstanding. It was an enjoyable meal for the final evening of our trip.
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