Botswana - 15Jump to page: Index PageBotswana 1 Botswana 2 Botswana 3 Botswana 4 Botswana 5 Botswana 6 Botswana 7 Botswana 8 Botswana 9 Botswana 10 Botswana 11 Botswana 12 Botswana 13 Botswana 14 Botswana 15 Botswana 16 Botswana 17 Botswana 18 Vermont 1 Vermont 2 Vermont 3 Vermont 4 Botswana 2 - 19 Botswana 2 - 20 Botswana 2 - 21 Botswana 2 - 22 Botswana 2 - 23 Botswana 2 - 24 Botswana 2 - 25 10/27/03 - Ok.. so here goes the story of the Vic Falls weekend... (Best for adrenaline junkies!) Christine (the resident from DC who is here this month) and I left on Thursday morning. Wait... let me back up a little bit. I'm trying to get all my residency shit together. The bureaucracy in the developing world is utterly utterly infuriating. I spent weeks trying to call the embassy in the US before I came out here, to no avail. I got here, and I'm allowed 90 days in the country without a visa of some sort (or a residency permit). As of a few weeks ago (right around the time I came back from the Delta) that 90 days ran out. So since then I've been trying to get all my shit together and make them give me my papers. Turns out - we'd sent in the wrong labor exemption. So we went back and got the new request turned in. The paperwork came through two weeks later (last Monday). Then, we go into immigration, hand her my papers, and she says "come back tomorrow afternoon and your waiver will be all ready." (I'm simplifying a bit - that whole process required five different lines, and about two hours). So.. We come back on Wednesday afternoon. And sit there. And sit there. And sit there. For three and a half hours (from 1:00 to 4:30). At 4:30 - the woman who has been telling us to wait has disappeared. And the woman we talk to - tells us that they lost my paperwork and we'll have to come back the next day to reapply. They can't do it immediately - and why not? Because it's closing time. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! So - here I am, close to tears, convinced I'm not going to be allowed back into Botswana (because dammit, I'm going on my trip anyway!), and I guess the supervisor must have seen and took pity on us. She said: "Come back at 7:30 tomorrow and we'll get it finished before you have to be at the airport." Sure enough - that's how it worked out. But I couldn't sleep that night for fear something would go wrong (after all.. if they lose my paperwork, and then tell me about it just when it's too late to do anything... then why on earth should they be able to process a new set of paperwork in less than half an hour?). So - I got on the plane to Kasane at 9:30 the next morning. Unfortunately - I believe our pilot was being taught how to fly. Bounce bounce bounce... My stomach was upset by the end of it - and that's saying quite a bit. We got in to the airport, and took a taxi to the Kazungula border crossing. This crossing is unreal - it's a ferry - that is falling apart at the seams. And there are hippos in the water all around it. There is this huge line of semis waiting to get on (going to Zambia, the DRC, and even farther north), and a few foot passengers. When a semi gets on this ferry.. it looks like it's going to fall off. The damn truck is larger than the boat!!!! But - we made it safely across. Into Zambia - and then realized that Zambia is REALLY AFRICA. Botswana - is not. In Zam - we were swarmed immediately upon getting off the ferry. "Change money?" "Need taxi?" "Buy this bracelet?" "Buy that?" "Come look at my store." "You are American? I like Americans - because they are very kind to poor Zambians." All at once. Whew! But - we found our taxi to take us the 70km to Livingstone. In Livingstone - we checked in to Fawlty Towers, and took a cab over to the Falls. The Falls are spectacular! It's really an amazing thing to see. The locals call them "Mosi-a-tunya" (trans: the smoke that thunders), which is extremely apt. This is the driest that they get - I can only imagine what a wall of white it must be during the wet season. I'd love to go back and check it out! However - in the wet season you can only raft half of the rapids - whereas we could do them all. But that's getting ahead of myself. We went to the falls, walked around, enjoyed the spray and all the rainbows that were around, briefly considered trying to cross the border to Zimbabwe to see the Falls from that side, but decided that it wasn't worth the $30 visa fee. Headed back - and got picked up by this guide who wanted to take us across the water to this place called "the devil's armchair" - which is apparently a very calm pool of water (great for swimming) that's right at the top of the falls. We didn't go - I probably would have, but Chris was nervous about it. Back to the hostel, and an early bed time because we were leaving to go white water rafting at 8am the next day. That was an experience I will never forget. We rafted from Rapid #1 to Rapid #23, skipping #9 because it's a class 6 (the hardest survivable type of rapid). The other rapids had names like: Oblivion, Star Trekking, Gnashing Jaws of Death, Stairway to Heaven (or Highway to Hell, depending on how you do)etc. etc. The group that took us is Safari Par Excellence. They were great. There were four boats - six to seven people and one guide in each boat. Our boat was: me and Chris, a pair of Norwegian backpackers, and three Australian overlanders. We were the youngest group - and we managed to only flip the raft once (on Oblivion)! So.. don't know if that means we're good, or what. But it was unbelievable! Really fun, very strenuous (exhausting...), and we were all bruised and battered by the time we finished. Then.. we had to hike out of the gorge. OUCH! OUCH! OUCH! But - there was cold beer and soda at the top. We only had to carry our lifejackets/helmets/paddles. The locals came down to meet us to carry the boats out. This one ten year old kid who passed us (going down as we were going up) reached the top at the same time we did, carrying a full-sized kayak. I was impressed. Anyway - I don't have any pictures of this, because there's no way to take your camera with you. I bought two prints that they did for us ($10 for two!!! arrgh!) but not the video tape ($50!) and I'll try to scan them in once I get home and put them up. But I highly recommend going to the website for SafPar and seeing the information on the Batoka Rapids. Supposedly this is the absolute best time of year to go - the water's at a level that we can do 23 rapids. Fortunately we had two safety kayakers along with us (although I don't think anyone actually needed them) and we ended the day with only two fewer paddles than we started. It was great! I can't even describe the rapids.. but I highly recommend that given the opportunity you do this. Apparently these rapids and the ones on the Nile (in Uganda) are the safest for novices because the water is very deep, so if you fall overboard or tip the raft, it's not a big deal (no bashing against rocks). So they let us do Class 5s! All right.. Next day... Woke up early, profoundly sore from the day of rafting. Got a cab and went to the bridge between Zam/Zim. To... the bungee jump! Apparently until recently it was the longest commercial bungee jump in the world (111 meters). Chris got more nervous than I did... But I definitely got nervous getting prepped. It was expensive - and they brand you (write your weight on your arm in permanent marker!). But it was worth it. I got the lecture.. "this is what you do to get the best photos" but everything went in one ear and out the other, because my head and stomach were both churning! It's unbelievably awkward - hopping around on the deck with your ankles tied together. The padding is a pair of towels on each ankle... eep... You go to the edge, and.. wow.... wow.... wow.... They count down for you - 5,4,3,2,1, BUNGEE! and then you had better jump or they're going to help you do so. I jumped... And now have this physical memory that I will never forget. The closest analogy that I can draw is getting a tattoo - the first moment, when you realize there's no going back, you're stuck with this forever and you can't change your mind now. Adrenaline rush... Well, imagine that while you're falling (9.8 meters per second squared...). Forget that there's a rope between your ankles, forget everything except the feeling of your heart in your throat, the rapids of the Zambezi (ones that I had rafted over just 24 hours earlier) floating towards you... Thinking "what the hell did I just do?" Terrifying. Sheer, utter, unimaginable panic. This goes on for a long time (split second). Then the cord catches your weight, and you shoot back upward (under the bridge) and realize it's okay... That you're not going to hit the water. And then it becomes the greatest roller coaster in the whole world. But believe me - I will never forget that one moment of terror. And I appreciate it! So - back to the station, where they show me the pics and the video they took of me. I get the whole floppy disc of pictures for $10... and then, if I buy the video... I get a second jump for free. And they put both jumps on the video (the sound track to which was "Free Falling"). Taking any guesses on whether I jumped again? Hell yeah! So I have the video tape... And chances are I'm going to insist on showing it to people because it's so satisfying for me to watch! Went back home, still on an adrenaline high, and went shopping. Very African market place... "I haven't eaten in three days, can't you buy something from me just so I can have lunch..." but I got some really pretty things (heavy though! Ebony and stone carvings). Got home, ate lunch, and went for a swim. Our last Zambezi activity was the "Booze Cruise" - more officially known as the "Sunset Cruise." Three hours on the water, watching the sun set (although all the clouds rolled in while we went) and the animals along the banks of the river. All the liquor was free (thus the name). Met a woman who is working for the Peace Corps in Maun - spent most of our time just chatting. Very mellow.. Definitely necessary following the activities of the previous few days! Came home the same way we left... Taxi to ferry to taxi to airplane (for an even bumpier ride coming back). And I have now found myself become slightly sick (too much swallowed Zambezi water, I'm sure). I'm headed back to Mosetlha on Friday, and then I'm coming home on Wednesday! It all seems so sudden... Anyway - great weekend. Great photos... Great rush!
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Prep
This is the moment you start really regretting all the decisions you've made in the past twenty minutes... |
Flying!
This is that one moment... actually, this is from the second jump because I was so tucked up in the first one (terror!) that the picture didn't come out as well... |
Bouncing around at the bottom
Mmmm.... lots of blood in your face, none in your feet. |
