African Overland Holiday...Part I

First stop Zambia:

My holiday started off with free hiking to Rundu, in the rain (not recommended). I didn’t have horrible luck but I also didn’t have great luck. The worst part was the odd second-degree sunburn on my shins that would result from sitting in the back of a baaki during a rainstorm (those 10 minutes of sun apparently were killer). Those 10 minutes of being uncovered from the tarp I was laying under would apparently haunt me for weeks.

The next morning at 3:45am, my friends and I walked over to the Engen station in Rundu to catch the Intercape to Zambia. The Intercape is known for being reliable and accommodating. The fact that ours was an hour late and so stuffy from the lack of air circulation on a packed bus in the rain should have led us to assume our vacation would not be easy or go as planned.

After arriving to Livingstone two hours late we got off the bus and tried to ignore every taxi driver hounding us for a lift to our accommodation. The small quite guy just approached us saying “Jolly Boys, Jolly Boys, I will take you there.” This was where we were staying but we did not need anyone to take us there and we certainly would not be paying. We kept trying to get rid of the guy saying we had no money and didn’t need his help but he was sure persistent. At one point Beads turned to him and said, “Nothing’s for free,” this would not be the last time we would be wrong. The small man followed us and attempted to “walk” us there even though I was trying my hardest to walk fast enough that he would eventually give up. When we arrived at Jolly Boys it was to our surprise that indeed the man worked there and waited for us since 11am. We felt sorry and foolish and set up our tents right before the rain came. It would be raining most of our time in Zambia.

The next day Beads, Coll and I set out to go bungee jumping and what not off the bridge that connects Zimbabwe and Zambia. Juice came for moral support and photographer, which would turn out to be priceless. Beads and I signed up for the combo, bungee, bridge swing and zip line, while Coll did the swing. She went first and it was one of the funniest things to watch. It’s the dumbest thing I think a person can do. You just walk on the bridge with a rope connected to a harness at your belly button. You fall until the rope catches and only then do you being to swing. There is no elastic part of this; it’s all or nothing. I like to tell people it’s like jumping into a pool off a high dive but the pool never shows up. Normally halfway through a person freaks out and starts peddling their feet as if they can run back to the bridge (I didn’t do this out of pure shock I think). It’s super scary. For some reason that seemed like a much bigger deal than the bungee.

Beads and I did the bungee right after Coll did the swing. I had no fear I just dove right off that bridge as if I wasn’t 110m above a shallow river. My mind went blank and after a few seconds I just thought “what am I doing?” then the rope snapped up and I began my horrific bouncing. First I had watched a Utube video of a man who went bungee jumping and as he bounced up the rope wrapped around his neck and he hung him self (don’t watch this if you intend to ever go bungee jumping). On the first bounce the rope went around my arms and I started freaking out like I was going to hang my self and just started flailing to get the rope away from me. For the rest of the bounces I kept my arms above my head (streamline position) so that if the rope wrapped around me it would only get my arms and not my neck and head (irrational at the time). Little did I know that when you bungee you should put your arms out (T position) because it slows you down and stops you from spinning. Instead I just spun, I had no doubt I was going to vomit all over myself. When the worker lowered himself to get me he asked how I was doing and I yelled, “God, how do I make it stop spinning, I’m going to be sick.” He laughed and told me to put my arms out, shocking, I stopped. When I no longer thought I was going to vomit all over myself I began to freak out about the fact that the harnesses around my feet were extremely loose, I survived only to slip out of the harness and plummet into the river, awesome. When I got back on the bridge I had a horrible case of vertigo, which did not go away for four hours, I was miserable.

Luckily the rain began so the workers took an extra long break for lunch and the rain to stop. Unfortunately that meant Beads and I would be the first off the bridge as soon as they started up again. The long break allowed my vertigo to eventually go away but as I sat there thinking about the swing I started getting really scared. I’ve done a lot of crazy things in my short life. I’m all about the adrenaline rushes, sky diving, bungee jumping, roller coasters, rafting…I’m all about it and I honestly have never gotten scared, ever. So as I sat there waiting to do the swing and this fear grew inside of me I think I began to get even more worried because if I was finally thinking something was scary maybe that was for a reason.

Hours later Beads goes off the bridge for the second time. I just look down thinking, we are SO stupid. I tell the workers that they will have to push me off, I really want to do this but I’m not going to be stepping off this bridge (the video of me attempting this is hilarious, trying to rationalize with the workers about silliness, ugh). The thing about the swing is that when they connect the rope to you, you are pulled forward off the bridge (luckily you are still hooked up to the bridge). Gravity and the weight of the ropes and the tension…everything is pulling you to the river (my death). I get to the edge and think, oh I’m going to die. As promised the workers push me off and I scream (I don’t scream, ever). The entire way down I think, “This is by far the dumbest thing I’ve EVER done!” As promised the rope catches and I begin to swing. As soon as the rope catches I start laughing uncontrollably and put my arms out and lean back. Scared? Me? No, never. It was totally worth it. It was beautiful, so beautiful swinging in that gorge. Also because I wasn’t upside down there was no sickness or vertigo that followed. I still can’t believe how scared I was. This is a month ago and I still freak out when I think about the swing, something about it terrifies me but it’s that thing that’s drawing me back to it for round two (someday). We concluded the day with the zip line, which goes by too fast to enjoy, and really it’s like the cool down after a workout, needed but you can easily skip it.

Day two of exploring Victoria Falls took us to the Zambezi River, rafting rapids 1-10. So, some of the members in our group were terrified (is there a stronger word I can use?). And the fear of this was kinda haunting each of us, you couldn’t help but get infected because it’s all people talked about, dying on this trip, it’s funny looking back. So during our safety talk they go over what happens if you get trapped under the raft, half of our groups faces when pale white, their fears were now a reality. After settling some trouble we had with our assigned guide (we had heard some bad reviews) we get a new one and become team Obama…yeah we’re American.

We walk down to the boiling pot at the base of the falls to begin our trip. Rapid one, get across the roller coaster rapids at the boiling pot. Our first attempt, haha, we didn’t even get anywhere close to the rapid. Second attempt, we are going strong and I look up to Juice because he is setting the rowing pace on my side since he’s in the front and oops, in goes Juice. I hear high left which means I have to jump to the other side of the raft and oops, in goes JNaw. We get across the rapid and due to where the others fell out Juice joins us on the correct side of the rapids but JNaw went under or behind the raft and ends up first against the rocks and then back at the beginning. As someone who was already a little nervous about this she decides not to return to the river and the five of us push on to rapid number two. For rapids two and three Juice goes in each time. I think it’s something about being at the front of the rapid or a California waterpolo player drawn to water…anyways I was thinking this is going to suck if I’m the only one here to paddle on my side. Coll went in at rapid two and three and I think that got her fears out and she was ready for the rest.

Rapid four is a level five rapid and so naturally we were all super scared but we got through it and not only did we not flip but we didn’t lose anyone, we’re champs. See the thing about these rapids is that the first seven were not just one rapid. We would successfully do one and then the guide is like this is 4.25, 4.5, 4.75….what?!? I remember rapid five being super long and rapid six being hard but by the time we even got to seven we thought we had successfully went through 10 or more. Rapid seven, the longest rapid on the Zambezi was nicer to us than it was to other boats and once again we didn’t flip or loose anyone. The trip was beautiful, the gorge is amazing and we got to see crocodiles (I now DID NOT want to get in that water). Right as I’m thinking about the crocs the head guy on the kayak comes up to me asks if I’ve gone in yet and I say no, proudly, he points out an eagle and before I can see what he’s pointing at I’m in the water, WHAT THE HECK? Nice joke, but seriously get me out of the croc water.

At rapid eight we have an option to do an easy route or do a hard one, we all (not Coll) choose to “go big or go home!” Rapid eight had our number. We are completely vertical on the left side. I was already underwater and figured we were going to flip so I somersaulted into the water so I would be ready to climb back in. We didn’t flip. In one of the pictures you see all of us underwater, the raft on its side and Mach hanging from the rope on the left side. She was the only one to not go in the water. When I lift my head out of the water I realize, oh no flip and I look up the river and see Coll, she looks like she’s going to die, (she was in no real danger but going to kill herself out of fear). I yell out, “Someone get Coll,” but the guide is a step ahead of me. We all get back into the raft and realize…THAT WAS AWESOME! Wait, not all of us. Coll says, “I wanted to go small, not big, I wanted to go small.” Good times, haha. Rapid nine is too dangerous so all rafts have to walk around it. I promise to take care of Mach as I’m in sturdy Chacos and she is barefoot on slippery rocks. I realize I’m walking to fast and turn around and just see her feet come out from under her. Her scraps and bruises from that day would not be from actual rafting but walking. I stay at her side the rest of the time; I don’t want to be a bad friend twice. We get through the tenth rapid and realize that this trip was the best-spent money probably any of us have ever spent. The trip up the gorge was killer, seriously not fun. If I ever did this again, which I would totally want to do, I would opt for the full day just because the last rapids are easier and you don’t have to climb out of the gorge, you take a tram to the top…worth it, trust me. JNaw was waiting for us at the top and we got to enjoy a cool drink and watch the hilarious video of us on a few of the rapids. Team “no-flip”!

Our last day in Livingstone was spent enjoying the falls from a distance as we just walked around the Zambia side of the falls. That evening we did the sunset booze cruise. The highlight of this for me would be realizing my meat wasn’t cooked all the way and forgetting two minutes later and offering it to Beads. We would both have food poisoning the next day, awesome!

The next day started early, 5:30am packing up our stuff and the tents (in the rain). Getting on the bus at 7am and actually departing Livingstone at 7:01am, weird. The bus ride was hard. Not only are we all probably a little hung over but it’s also dirt road and not a good dirt road. It was raining so the windows had to stay up and well there is nothing I like more than being trapped in a hot tin container full of great African smells and body odors. I have no idea how I survived the eight hours on that bus (our shortest bus ride really). I arrived in Lusaka ill, really ill. After walking (mistake) to our accommodation I help JNaw put up the tent and eat a bite of soup and knock myself out. I wake in the middle of the night (7:30pm honestly), my fever is breaking and I’m miserable. This is when Beads and I figure out what happened as we are both spending quality time with the toilets, it’s hard to imagine that we are getting on another bus at 6am.

Once again in the rain at 4:30am, JNaw and I pack up the tent and our stuff, which now smells like mold (yummy). We get to the bus and stupidly think it will leave like ours the day before, four hours later after boarding the bus we depart to Chipata, at this point all of us have upset stomachs. We arrive in Chipata at 11:30pm and find a kind taxi driver who not only found the Peace Corps transit house but agrees to drive us to the Malawi border the next morning. I take the opportunity of being at a Peace Corps transit house to treat my now infect shins. You see the second degree burn I once had got ripped off from the raft a few days before and the rubbing of my jeans and the back of bus seats now have turned my wounds and uncomfortable color. Luckily, Chipata PC house has plenty of dressings to protect my poor legs.

At 7am, as promised our taxi driver is there ready to take us to the border. Problem free we cross the border, now entering phase two of our trip, Malawi.