Cataract Island

The flight to Zimbabwe was short (<1.5 hrs), the weather a scorching 103 degrees when we arrived (40 for our Celsius friends). We stayed a brief two days near the famed Victoria Falls, the world’s largest waterfall. And even though we saw it during dry season (its lowest water level), it inspired an awe that few things in this world could. The falls were spectacular – a giant gorge with a sheet of water falling for 1.7 km (1.1 miles for our American audience *wink*). The weather was unbearable, even for the locals, so no one walked on the street – it felt eerily silent after the bustle of Johannesburg. The small town was a classic tourist trap with lots of touts trying to sell us stuff; we decided to cross to the Zambian side of the falls.

At this particular land border crossing we had to walk across a bridge connecting Zimbabwe to Zambia – which doesn’t seem like a big deal (just walk across a bridge?), but it was 103 and we spent two hours carrying our full backpacks between border crossing posts. We stood in long, hot, crowded queues of people eager to cross the border, just hoping we wouldn’t pass out. Our clothes were completely drenched with sweat and we had signs of heat stroke.

We ended up at the best backpacker lodge (packed with international kayakers) and spent the afternoon in the hotel pool trying to recover from the bridge crossing, staying cool drinking way too many Fantas and beers. Ken met up with a crew of professional kayakers who informed us that the Zambezi River was a world’s Top 5 river rafting site. He couldn’t refuse the adventure – the boat flipped twice, a fellow rafter tried drowning him whilst trying to stayafloat, he saved a different fellow rafter from drowning, and the hike out the gorge (1,000 vertical feet straight up) nearly broke him, but he loved every minute!

We moved to a second hotel in Livingstone because the backpacker lodge was full (and honestly, we wanted AC). Ken and Everett ventured on a clandestine mission (I’m sworn to secrecy here) to visit Devil’s Pool, a swimming hole at the top of the waterfall. I thought it a death trap to get a pic for the blog; they assured me, yes, it was, but they would still go. It was the highlight of the trip thus far – can you imagine a local guide (at the TOP of the WORLD’S LARGEST WATERFALL) telling you to jump into the water, far enough to get over the rocks but not too far to be swept over the ledge… and then he held you by your ankles and told you to lean over the edge?!?!? Nothing could compare to that adrenaline high!

We said goodbye to the mighty Zambezi and boarded a 10-hour bus ride to Lusaka, the capital city. We feared the worst (we’ve been on many an African bus), but it was shockingly comfortable – AC, comfy seats and an on-time departure – basically a luxury Greyhound. Our arrival at the bus station in Lusaka, on the other hand, was a classic chaotic and overwhelming scene - a mob of touts trying to grab at our luggage, yelling to get us a taxi, and stalking us through the confusing labyrinth of wooden vendor stalls.

We got out as quickly as possible and landed at a lovely AirBnB apartment near the University of Zambia. We downloaded Zambia’s version of Uber and made our way to a nearby mall. Sidenote: the stores were promoting Black Friday deals, but there was no Thanksgiving… so… American-influenced-worldwide-consumerism at its finest? No sooner had we made it back to our AirBnB then a storm blew through (a humid-Hawaiian-tropical-downpour) and now we are sitting in the dark with no power plotting next week’s adventures.

Zambia, you are totally underrated and proving to be an unforeseen treasure!Read more