Loving Livingstone

So we just arrived back to Lusaka after our weekend adventure in Livingstone. We flew in on Friday on Proflight, a local airline carrier. Initially we were planning on flying Zambian Airways but our travel agent recommended that we not travel with them because they have been cancelling a lot of flights lately. Proflight was on time and convenient (and even served snacks on a 1 hr flight!) even if it was like flying on a large, loud, hot bus. It was also better than the bus, which apparently is a 7-hour ride on bumpy, potholed roads. So we arrived in town and checked into our bed and breakfast, called Zigzag. Not bad, the rooms were clean enough and it had a comfortable common area (with wi-fi, which we wish we would have known, since none of us brought laptops).

We immediately headed to Victoria Falls, and it was quite a sight to see. We started out by walking down the steep trail to the “Boiling Point,” where you can get a glimpse of the Falls to the right, and straight ahead can see the bridge to Zimbabwe. It is only open for part of the year, because in a few weeks, the water will be too high and it will be entirely flooded. Interestingly enough, the Falls only a month and a half ago were a mere trickle, since it was only the beginning of the rainy season, so we’re glad that we were able to enjoy them at the right time of the year!After a “hike” through the woods (Note: You should definitely bring more than flip flops. Ron and I were having some difficulty maneuvering the slippery rocks and at one point Ron almost lost a flip flop), we reached the bottom and observed the beautiful serenity of the landscape. Along the way, we also noticed a huge iguana (that was about 3 feet long) and several ginormous wild baboons (they had to be 80 pounds) who seemed to mind their own business and we stayed to our own side of the path. One of the Americans we met mentioned that he also saw a Mambo, which is one of the deadliest snakes in the world, but luckily we did not see any of those.

After a few minutes of repose, we headed back up to the cliff walk, which takes you in front of the falls to enjoy some breathtaking views. We didn’t even mind that we were getting sprayed with the water from the falls, since it was quite hot outside! We took many photos of the sights, and promise to upload them when we get back to the States. (By the way, I know that many of you are wondering why we haven’t uploaded any pics yet – the internet connection here is as slow as molasses, and we can barely send e-mails, let alone view or upload pics).

After our excursion, we enjoyed a lovely Zambian meal at a local restaurant, which included roasted chicken, pumpkin leaves with pine nuts, and the local staple, nshima, and then headed back to Zigzag. Upon returning, I attempted to lock my door, and as I turned the key in the lock, the key broke off into the lock. After freaking out, I called Beth and had to share a room with her (luckily, her single room had 3 beds, so this was quite convenient). The next day they somehow managed to jury-rig a locking system (apparently the local hardware stores are missing some key tools) and the new lock includes a “pirate key” as Beth calls it. No such thing as a sophisticated security system!

We decided that as part of our time in Livingstone, we wanted to go white water rafting on the “mighty Zambezi” river, so we woke up early on Saturday and ventured out with one of the local touring companies. After getting our safety briefing we climbed down the path to the river, directly south of the Boiling Point. We formed our team, which included our foursome and in addition Tim, from Holland, and Sophie from London. (Ironically, Boyd kept saying, “let’s go teeeem” which sounded much like “let’s go Tim” so for the first hour or so we thought he was talking only to Tim.) We started at Rapid 8, with our guide Boyd who seemed mildly psychotic but seemed to know what he was doing. Of course, we started to second-guess his abilities when we flipped on the first rapid. Several of us got stuck under the boat and I began to completely panic. After the initial shock wore off and my wobbly legs carried me from the boat to shore on the Zimbabwe side of the river, we walked past rapid 9. Boyd explained that this was a class 6 rapid, and that it was “not good for business” (not sure if that’s because he’s lost clients in the rapid, or what…) Anyways, we proceeded to rapid 10 (which had parts A-D, with D having the name of Suicide Slope or something awful like that) and proceeded to immediately flip over on part A. We have a great photo that was taken of Ron, Sophie and I dangling from the boat as it flipped over us. Poor Beth and Fernando were swept down the river and proceeded to bob their way down the other 3 rapids and finally were delivered into one of the rescue boats. (Above pictured, from left to right, are Sophie, Heather, Ron, all holding on for dear life) After that rapid, Boyd took pity on the ladies on our boat (Sophie, Beth and I were giving the guys nasty looks, and were adamant that we didn’t want to flip again) and promised that we would not flip over again. Somehow, we still spent most of the time in the Zambezi River (which Sophie assured us does not have cholera, and we are all hoping that’s true considering how much water we inhaled when we flipped over). After we made our way to dry ground, care of the cable ride back up the mountain (which allowed our hearts to beat normally again) we all decided to rest for awhile in our rooms.

Before dinner, we noticed how each of us had gotten quite sunburned, largely due to the fact that Beth was trying to look out for us by carrying the sunscreen in her lifejacket. At Rapid 10 she lost the sunscreen, actually she said that it was either the sunscreen or her paddle and she now regrets having chosen the paddle. All of us received burns on our arms and legs, except for Ron, who claims that he is “nearly brown” although when the locals hear this they laugh hysterically and say that he is still “m’zungu” just like the rest of us, which means “white people” in their native Nyanja language.

Last night we headed to a South African restaurant chain with locations in Zambia, South Africa and Ghana. I am pleased to say that we enjoyed some delicious food (we agreed the best that we’ve had since we’ve arrived!)

So now we’re back in Lusaka, mostly unscathed (aside from a few upset stomachs, not sure if that’s from the Zambezi River or from some mysterious food) and thoroughly exhausted from our adventures. We are back to work tomorrow, and will post more later in the week.
Other things that we’ve learned here in Lusaka:
The phone plans are all pay-as-you-go. The main carriers are MTN and Zain (Zain being more prevalent in this area). There are Zain “top ups” everywhere, which means that you can add minutes to your phone by purchasing a card and programming the number into your mobile. It is quite hilarious, because these “top up” stations are everywhere, including yesterday as we were in our rickety bus travelling back from the falls and all we saw was thatched roof huts, and yet there were still Zain top up stations around.