Posted by: Jonathan
Our first couple days in Zambia were spent driving long hours. Luckily our early morning departures (5 A.M.) allowed us to arrive at the campsites in time to set up the tent and enjoy the pools and nearby wildlife.
Our first couple days in Zambia were spent driving long hours. Luckily our early morning departures (5 A.M.) allowed us to arrive at the campsites in time to set up the tent and enjoy the pools and nearby wildlife.
One campsite in particular had a plethora of animals. In just an hour walk around the campsite I saw Zebras, Gazzels, Impalas, and Water Bucks.
Later that night between three and four A.M. I was woken up by a loud noise and cracked the tent door to find six to seven zebras about thirty feet away who had knocked over the pot drying stand.
After another long day of driving, we arrived at the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe where we reached our next big stop, Victoria Falls. Vic Falls is ranked in the top three waterfalls in the world, along with Niagra Falls and Iguacu Falls (which Jenn and I visited earlier on the trip). The falls have different activities on both the Zambian and Zimbabwe side, however our truck only planned to stop at the Zimbabwe side. This was a problem since there was something that I saw photos of on the internet years ago and vowed that if I ever went to Vic Falls I would do it and that was a visit to Devil's Pools. I asked our tour guide about it but she wouldn't give me any information and announced to the group that she was highly agaist anyone visiting the Devil's Pools due to the obvious danger. Being that I have had my heart set on it for years I pressed on undaunted and visited an internet cafe to look up all the neccessary information. That night (the last night in Zambia) at dinner I announced to the group that I was not going to get on the truck the following morning as it crossed the border into Zimbabwe and instead I was going to visit the Devil's Pools. Then later that day I would make my way on my own via local buses across the border and catch up with the truck at the next campsite. I said I was going either way but wanted to know if anyone else was interested. Alejandro immediately spoke up in his broken English saying "If he go and no live I no sleep in that tent alone so I think I must go, right Jon?" Luckily our truck was full of people who "actually enjoy life" and nine of the fourteen passengers pulled their bags and waved bye to the truck the next morning.
Now, figuring you have no idea what the devil the Devil's Pools are, let me paint a picture.
Now, figuring you have no idea what the devil the Devil's Pools are, let me paint a picture.
How does one end up in such a precarious position you might ask? You take a boat out to Livingston Island on the Zambezi river just above Victoria Falls. You make your way across the rocks, swimming over deep sections, being careful not to get swept over the falls. T.I.A (this is africa) there are no throw bags, safetly lines, safety breifings, or anything related to words such as safe or rescue.
Using the above photo as a reference, you get dropped off at "A", swim and climb on rocks at "B", jump into the pool and enjoy yourself at "C", but be sure to not go past "D" as you will surely never be seen again.
Finally, you arrive at the edge of the falls where a natural rock ledge creates a pool of slow flowing water. The pool isn't contained as water does flow over the edge and the right hand side of the pool is gaping open with water charging over the falls.
To enter the pool you leap off a rock towards the center of the pool, swim to the edge and hang on. If you jump too short then you hit shallow rocks and if you jump too far to the right you will get swept out of the opening of the pool and over the falls (330 foot drop with a 100% fatality rate for those who have unfortunately gotten sucked over). The guide who took us chose me to jump first, probably because I was doing baby stalls on every rock near the edge of the falls as we made our way to the pools and he figured I wouldn't hesitate - bingo. Our guide said to do exactly as he did and then he jumped in the pool in the most awkward fashion, so I did my best to follow.
Once all nine of us were sitting on the ledge, we posed for a few photos.
Leaning over the edge of the falls was scensory overload; water rushing all around you, spray hitting your face, a rainbow rises overhead in the mist, and you can barely hear one another over the deafening roar of the falls. It was incredible, currently the highlight of Africa (thus far) and easily working its way into the top ten best experiences of my life.
After eating our included breakfast we made our way back to shore and then crossed into Zimbabwe and continued on to catch up with our truck.
The next couple days most others on the truck did activities such as elephant riding, whitewater rafting, helicopter flights, bungee jumping, and gorge swinging. Since money is tight and I have done all of these activities before, I relaxed poolside most days and fended off wild wart hogs from out truck during the evenings.
I did spend one day exploring Vic Falls from the Zimbabwe side which is opposite the falls along a narrow gorge.
The way the trip works is that there is a group who started in Capetown and ends in Nairobi who we meet half way at Vic Falls and we switch trucks (including crew). So our last night in Vic Falls we had a farewell dinner for our beloved truck and crew.
The next morning we loaded our things into the new truck, met the new crew, and entered a new country, Botswana.