I Heart Zambia

Yay, Zambia!

As disappointing as Botswana was, Zambia far exceeded expectations. I am sad I didn't spend more time here since the people are really friendly and helpful and the whole country has a really nice vibe.

After a very interesting border crossing via ferry, we arrived at Livingstone, site of Victoria Falls- one of the 7 Wonders of the World.

First a group of us went to the Falls and got absolutely soaked. Again, since we are in peak water flow, the entire span was not visible, but we were able to walk through the equivalent of a torrential rain storm, over a bridge, with upside down rain. At times it seemed like a death trap walking on mildewy paths with no guardrails preventing us from plummeting into the falls (people do die each year, usually walking across the top during low flow). It was so wet, loud and pretty- a great time that left us dripping wet, laughing and thanking Ziploc for protecting our cameras.

We also walked 687 yds down steps to the Boiling Pot where the water from the Zambia and Zimbabwe sides met into a treacherous whirlpool. It was also a great view of the bridge we would be jumping off bright and early the next morning.

"The Big Falls Experience" seemed like a great idea the night before--- the opportunity to bungee, swing and zipline across the falls. I did all three, with 7 other crazy people (Billy, Sandi, and Sophie (Belguim), Val and Mark (Canada) and Andy and Ben(UK)), and will say it is a once in a lifetime experience, at least for me.

The bungee is 110 meters with a 4 second freefall, the 3rd largest in the world. I was shockingly calm about jumping off a perfectly good bridge, but that drop was pretty terrifying after the initial dive. Even more unsettling- the 2nd bounce which is way higher than you expect.

The swing, while sounding gentle, was perhaps equally scary since you fall for what seems like an eternity before swinging back and forth like a pendulum.

Still can't really decide if it was fun, but at least I no longer have the sensation of falling.

To celebrate we embarked on a booze cruise and a long night of silliness since it was also our farewell after 10 days of being trapped on an overland truck together.

I am now in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, after a 7 hour bus ride to catch a flight to Zanzibar tomorrow. The bus ride was actually very pleasant as I sat next to a woman working on a HIV/AIDS project in a fishing village with an 80% infection rate (amazingly sad!) and a high school history teacher who filled me in on all things Zambia and invited me back for visit. I just may take him up on it since I leave feeling as if I missed out on a lot more Zambian hospitality.

The Wild Coast

Sorry, it's been almost a week since I last updated you, but I've spend the last week in what is referred to as "The Wild Coast." (As you may guess, the Wild Coast and Internet do not go hand in hand.) I can't tell you how many times in the first two weeks I said "wow, this doesn't feel like Africa!"

Well, welcome to Africa!!! The Wild Coast or Transkei, as it was known in Apartheid times, is comprised of a lot of undeveloped land, with more beautiful vistas, dotted with Xhosa settlements and an occasional town.

After a one night stopover in Port Elizabeth (where I didn't seem to miss anything), I spend a night in Cintsa, where I had a lovely beach nearly to myself and met a lot of really fun people (one of whom was trying to convince me my next career move was Safari Ranger).

Although I saw no need to leave paradise, everyone highly recommended Coffee Bay--- a part of the Wild Coast that is much LESS developed. Yes, I was thinking LESS developed than this????

They were not lying! After leaving at noon, we finally arrived around 6pm- a distance not so far, but including an occasional animal in the way and 100km of potholes to dodge (see picture) that would really have you thinking fondly of US potholes.

I arrived at Coffee Shack, something close to camp, where I stayed in a traditional round African hut (like the one in the above picture). They had a ton of organized activities including: surfing again, beach volleyball for the first time (afraid I may have let down my team, but I did dive for a few balls towards the end), a trip to a bat cave (yes, hundred of bats flying around our heads--- it was horrible and if I had known that is what was happening I never would have followed that leader!!!) and cliff jumping.

The cliff jumping was great!!! After climbing some rocks, and getting a little cut up, we leaped off 10m cliffs into both the ocean and rivers and it was a blast!

Plus, good training for the upcoming bungee jump in Victoria Falls.

Surfs Up

A few hours further up the Eastern Cape brings me to Jeffrey's Bay, home of Supertubes, one of the world's best waves and once described as 'the most perfect wave in the world'. It's a laid back beach town where surfing is everything.

So when in Rome... I spent the last 2 days attempting to learn how to surf in pretty big waves for a beginner--- 4-5 feet. It was quite a workout just getting out to catch the wave, only to fall down almost immediately, but Andrew at Wavecrest Surf School was great as I was his only pupil yesterday.

Day 2 fared much better as I was able to stand for a few more seconds and on a handful of occasions made it to the beach (like twice). I plan to surf a few more days up north where I won't need a wetsuit and hopefully the waves are a little more gentle (and my shoulder stops aching!).

For comparison, after trying myself, I spent some time watching the guys surf Supertubes---- pretty amazing since that wave is huge and apparently was even bigger yesterday (they were very excited). Some pretty spectacular wipeouts too, which was equally entertaining. One day maybe you'll catch me out there (okay, realistically that may require more than 1 year off to get that good).

The other nice thing about Jeffrey's Bay is the dolphins playing in the ocean while we eat breakfast on the patio--- this really doesn't suck!

One note about my fellow travelers- so far I have met lots of people, mostly from Belgium and Netherlands oddly enough. My one big observation- women travel alone much, much more than men--- guess woman are more adventurous! ;-)