Chobe National Park: Best game viewing so far! We went on a river boat safari down the Chobe River and saw a ton of elephants, hippos, monkeys, kudu, kingfishers, beeeaters, and a lone buffalo. We hadn't really seen a close up of elephants, hippos, or buffalo so it was very exciting! It was BYOB on the boat and though we were repeatedly told that it was not a booze cruise, some people turned animal sightings into a drinking game. For example: Animal sighting - one drink; hippo burps or animal sex - finish your drink.
Entering Zimbabwe: Anyone who wanted to cross into Zambia for a day had to obtain a double entry visa for Zimbabwe. It was nice for U.S., European, and Australian citizens in only costing us $45. Poor Canadians, however: Their visa cost $75 for single entry and they were not given the option of obtaining a double entry visa at the border. No Zambia for them.
On Zambia: I had a very short day in Zambia but it was wonderful! I opted for the "adrenaline day" where you can partake in a full day of adventure activities. Our first activity was abseiling down a 111 meter cliff. It's what you do in rock climbing after you've scaled the wall... only the drop is much, much higher. Regular abseiling was fine, face-first abseiling was a little more adventurous :) Next came the flying fox: You are put into a harness...then you take off running on a concrete platform and dive superman style over the edge of a cliff. This wasn't so scary, really. But the gorge swing, on the other hand, was one of the scariest things I've ever done! (Definitely scarier than jumping of the then-highest bungy in the world!) For the gorge swing, you are put into a harness and then made to stand on the edge of a platform overlooking the gorge. You are instructed to take one giant step forward into the abyss. It goes against every self-preservation instinct you have in your body but you really have to just take that one extra step into nothingness. You fall for about three seconds, but it's a long, terrifying fall that made even the toughest of us shout expletives. Really amazing experience! I spent the remainder of the day in Livingstone just to send postcards and collect the Zambian Kwacha equivalent of a dollar. People there were lovely - really friendly and helpful and made me wish I had had more than a day to spend in Zambia.
On Animals: We were based in the town of Victoria Falls for three nights. The town is small and a bit odd. Nowhere else have I been in the world where you can go for an afternoon run and come across warthogs, elephants, and monkeys at very close range. It was cool, but also a little scary especially because we had all heard that while we were in town, a woman was rammed from behind by a buffalo and, facing paralysis, had to get emergency airlifted to Johanessburg. Wild animals, who knew!? There were also baboons running amock, some even leering at us as we exited the immigration office. I Did get to see a baby hanging from its mother's chest as she walked up and down the road - very cool.
Victoria Falls: Having now seen Niagara, Iguacu, and Vic Falls, I'd say Iguacu wins! At Vic Falls, water levels were very high and you could see massive amounts of water flowing. But because water levels were too high, rafting activities were suspended and the mist was so annoyingly strong that you could hardly see the falls. On parts of the pathway, if it didn't feel like it was pouring rain, it felt like a wave of water would just rush over you. Silly us, we refused to buy the $1 ponchos from the street vendors.
African Drumming: I was able to partake in some surprisingly fun African drumming while in town (Victoria Falls). I've never done any kind of drumming before and being able to make and feel the bass-treble beats felt really good. It requires a bit more coordination than I would have thought: It's hard to switch from using the heel of my palm to using my fingertips and having different hands do different beats! They tried to make the girls ululate (when African girls flap their tongues while screaming "oohlulululululu"), but Heather and I failed. As we'd sneak sideglances at each other, the lead drummer said "You just do it, you don't need to look at each other to make the sounds." :) The boys were much better at the warrior grunting they were tasked with.
Victoria Falls was our first stop in Zimbabwe and now it's on to Bulawayo and Harare!
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