Finishing in style and travel back to Lusaka
on Kev in Tanzania (Tanzania), 18/Sep/2009 09:06, 34 days ago
A relaxing last few days at Vic FallsWednesday 9th SeptemberAfter such an active day yesterday we decided to have a lie in and explore the falls. We had a nice cooked breakfast at Jolly Boys. I went to the ATM and then we caught the free bus to the falls. There were Elephants on the way which made Jo excited and once we got to the falls you could that the water level was a little lower.It was still gorgeous and great to see the falls, I don’t think I will ever tire of watching the water cascade down the falls. It would be great to see the falls when fuller too - maybe one day…Once again we walked along the top of the falls and due to there being less water we were able to get further along the top and very close to the edge in places! We even swam at the top of the falls and it was beautiful.On the way back we stopped at the traders again, Jo wanted to buy some things and they were asking me to trade my shoes! I bought a ring for me and Liz to wear when I stay with her on Pemba and haggled the guy from 200,000 kwacha to 50,000 kwacha ($10 dollars) the rings are only twisted copper but they will do for now.We caught a taxi back to Jolly Boys and saw a herd of Elephants up close, I managed to get some good pictures. The cab driver was nervous though, an Elephant could trample the car!We chill out from 4pm at Jolly Boys, drank beers and I excelled at being rubbish at pool (the Aussies have rubbish rules mind you!) I would recommend Zambia and Livingstone to anyone interested in visiting. Jo was chatted up by a drunk Zambian and she told him she was married– he then called her Mary all evening (I guess you only hear what you want to hear…).Thursday 10th SeptemberWe were going to finish our last morning in style today with breakfast on Livingstone Island on top of the falls. We caught a cab at 8am and went to the Royal Livingstone, a very posh hotel on the bank of the Zambezi. It was good to see the monkeys harassing the posh tourists and stealing their breakfast. We saw an albino monkey we nick named Beano. It was here on the water front near the hippos that Jo took some photos of Liz and I with the rings so when I go to Pemba we can say we are married and stay together without causing too much of a stir. We caught a little motorboat over to Livingstone Island and were greeted by a man with glasses of fresh orange juice– very posh!We walked along to the edge of the island and were asked if we wanted to swim to devils pool– a pool of water on the edge of the main falls which you can sit in. We agreed and part of the journey included swimming across the top of the falls with just a rope near the edge in case you get beaten by the current! (the guide was a rubbish swimmer though and I was not worried). Once one the other side we had to negotiate some rock (I was regretting having soft feet then!) and then jump into devils pool.It was scarier than the rafting as we were so close to the edge and it did not look deep enough to jump into, the guide jumped, then Liz, then I went for it! It was a buzz and the view from the edge and sitting in the pool was fantastic! The guide had our cameras and took plenty of photos. There was a constant rainbow and even a double rainbow in places it was beautiful– I don’t think my descriptions or photos quite do it justice.We swam back and then had a lovely breakfast, muffins and eggs Benedict. We were joined by grumpy German couple and smoking Spanish family (cigarettes and looks!) the motorboat back took us past some Elephants on the bank just to top it all off.At 1pm we left Jolly Boys, it was sad to leave and then caught the bus to Lusaka. Bus ride was fine, Jo sat with Liz and I sat with a Zambia lady. There was a rubbish film for entertainment called Water Beast– it was really bad but after 4 hours of Michael Jackson it was a nice break!At Lusaka we were mobbed by touts and cab drivers (not like last time but that was 5am) Jo was feeling anxious as this is new to her. I got all of our bags and we caught a blue (official) cab to Cha Cha Cha backpackers. It was a nicer room this time as we had the room to ourselves. We had some beers and snacks and were entertained by an annoying British guy (not me!) flirting with some Japanese tourists. We had an early night as wanted to get to Kapiri Mposhi tomorrow and catch the train at midday.That’s the end of the Victoria Falls adventure and last update for today – the next entries will be the train journey back to Dar!Take care