ZIMBABWE (Again)!!!

After our very wet visit to the Vic Falls on the Zambian side, we headed to the border to cross into Zimbabwe. For entertainment purposes, we left two of our passengers behind at the craft market side (and no, not my Katie as this was one of the first markets she did not look in – WTF?) and made them run almost to the Zim border. Actually it was punishment for completely neglecting the time limit we had been given on the Zambian side causing the remaining 25 of us to have to wait in the bus in the plus 35 degree heat which was, as you can imagine, very unpleasant.


Once we had regrouped we forked over the 75 dollars (second most expensive visa is for Canadians – what did we do to piss of the Zimbabwe people I wonder???). We arrived at the campsite at a pretty decent time and were immediately subjected to a slide show presentation of all the activities that we were going to be able to do. There were so many to choose from but we had narrowed our choices down to the microlite, lion walk, adrenalin day, booze cruise and the horseback safari. The one thing we had remembered from our first trip to Zimbabwe, despite its struggling economy, was that everything was very very expensive and this was definitely the case for the activities. All of the items we had highlighted as interesting were going to cost us nearly $1000 US for the two of us and that was if we somehow circumvented paying for a second visa when entering back into Zimbabwe. We were originally told by Absolute Africa that we would not be entering Zimbabwe but rather doing all of our activities from the Zambian side. However, because previous sanctions against Zim had just begun to be removed, Absolute Africa made its return back to Zim because the activities would be 2/3 the price. Unfortunately, this was not explained to us in any great detail before the trip started and before entering we were told that if we wished to do any activities on the Zambian side, we could easily go but would have to pay for a $20 day visa. Although, this was true we had not been informed that once leaving on the day visa you would have to pay the full amount to re-enter Zim. There was not even an option for Canadians to buy a multiple entry visa, whereas most of the entries could and could do so cheaply. Again, we must have really pissed them off!!!


So being that it was going to be $95 USD extra to do the microlite from the Zambian side and that there was not going to be any package discount (although we were going to be doing so many extra activities) we decided that we would stick with the Adrenalin Day, the Lion Walk and the Booze Cruise with the group. We would start the Adrenalin day bright and early at six the next morning.


Later that evening we were treated to traditional Zulu dancing by a local group of musicians. The show was great but what made it better was that they dragged about a third of our group (Melissa, Christine and Jemma were our highlights) into the audience to join in. The one great thing about the bus is that we get to see a lot of things and do a lot of things we would not get to see on our own. For example, there are many sample gigs/dances and presentations like the ones we had here that were put on because our group is so large. We have met a lot of overlander trucks on this part of our tour but none have been as big as ours with some only having seven people in total for the entire trip. So...everywhere we go there is always enough of us to draw attention from local business.


I was really surprised when both barmen recognized me from our previous stay. None of us could remember each other's name but everyone definitely remembered each other. It was nice to be remembered and it was definitely not to do with my drinking habits during my previous stay because I had resorted to drinking only cokes during the day and sleeping at night. It reinforced our love of the Zimbabwean people and their friendly and caring nature.


It was good that we had went to bed early the previous night because I needed to be up before Katie so I could rip to town to put together her birthday present. I had decided the night before that I was going to get a photo from Legzira transformed into a painting by one of the local artists. I could not find a good picture of the two of us and it was obvious as to why. We had been the only two on the beach so who was going to take it? It wasn't hard to find some pictures I liked – in fact, I had great difficulty in selecting just one and picked six of my favorites. The next difficult part was to to find an internet shop that was open early enough to do my printing. After that I would just have to drop off the picture and hope that the artist was there so I could explain the details. I was pretty sure I had figured out the logistics but TIA and things can go wrong. Luckily one of the other guys on the trip had hoped to get a surfing picture of his grandfather made into a painting as well so I had company. Everything turned out even better than expected. The internet shop not only had a printer (as they had told me the day earlier) but they had an awesome photo printer and it only took about ten minutes to print off my six pics and Brendan's pic. The only snag was that the painter was not there but after ten minutes of waiting another of his colleagues showed up and so we gave him the instructions and kept our fingers crossed.


We managed to have everything wrapped up with extra time before we were to be picked up to go on our Adrenalin day (Day 47). Katie had been a bit reluctant the previous day about the Adrenalin package but despite her feelings, she had still signed up. When I got back in the morning, she was bouncing with energy and was so excited for what lay ahead. To give the words 'Adrenalin Day' a little more explanation, it is essentially a day jammed with activities over the gorge just downstream of the Vic Falls. I think most of these activities would be a little less exciting had you not been doing them over a 110m drop to the water front that looked like it could quite possibly rip a body in half (the water levels were so high that the river rafting was closed until the water level receded). The activities that we could do included abseiling/rap jumping down a 45m cliff, flying fox (flying over the gorge while suspended to a series of cables – look maa no hands!) over the gorge, ziplining down from the top of the gorge at 160 km/hour (haven't worked out the math, that is just what we were told) and last but definitely not least, the gorge swing (a vertical jump from a cantilevered platform where after 75m of free fall you begin to swing 170m across the gorge ).


We had to split into groups to minimize the time on each event and our group (Rhesa, Tom, Janelle, Fysh, Katie and I) chose the abseiling first so we could get it out of the way. We figured the gorge swing looked like it was going to be the scariest/funnest of all and so we wanted to have it for last. We started with rap jumping and somehow Katie got put as the first person who would repel down the cliff head first. It was surreal watching her hang over an extremely high drop for the second time in the last 4 months but this time she seemed a little more confident (okay...this drop was nothing compared to the one we had faced at Tsitsikama with the bungee jump). The abseiling was not what anyone pictured and was more painful than fun. To top this off, we had to carefully walk along a narrow (and unconstrained path) path before climbing on very sketchy ladders to the top. When this was all said and done,the majority of the group had had enough but Tom and I decided to go one more time...but this time, we repelled down the cliff with our face to the wall and feet first. Although it was not nearly as painful, it was pretty lame as we were unable to control our speed on the descent.


From the abseiling we worked our way over to the highwire (flying fox). The scariest/funnest (depends on who you are) part of the thing is running as fast as you can (not very fast when all strapped and dragging a huge pulley) and jumping off the edge of the platform. Fysh had the best pose with his impression of superman and he managed to hold it for the entire rip across the gorge, continuing it on the way back as well.


The zip line took much less time than the rock climbing and although we were all hungry, we were eager to get the zipline out of the way so we could be left only with that gorge swing for the entire afternoon. Yup we were being a bit greedy but after watching the others jump off it all day, we were pretty excited, even if some of them had screamed the entire way down (the winner is definitely Christine, who started her blood retching scream even before her feet left the platform (while crouched down in the foetal position) – lol...the funniest pics ever!).


We couldn't have been any luckier because there was no groups left to do either of them and because the zipline and the gorge swing were side by side, we were going to get to do them at once. Katie didn't seem to keen on doing the gorge swing first so Fysh and Janelle went first while we did the ziplne. The only two rides you can do tandem are the zipline and the gorge swing so the couples set out to out do each together. Fysh and Janelle bravely stepped up to the platform and after a quick countdown launched off and plummeted quickly out of our view. The look on their faces was priceless and it was funny that Fysh was the screamer...Janelle said her voice was caught in her throat. After they had gone we headed down the zipline. It started pretty exciting because we were tricked into thinking he wasn't going to let us go until we had reached the bottom platform but well before we were into place he just let us go and we started ripping down. It was a lot of fun but was over too soon and then the pain of hanging from a harness across your crotch kicked in and Katie (??) especially was saying stuff you can't say in Canada – haha...this is an inside joke!


Tom was the next in line and he decided to go backwards (Katie thought he was nuts!) – well after his fall, he was still shaking from the experience. Rhesa was next in line to jump and she bravely jumped off facing forwards – Katie was pretty impressed with her especially since she was going solo.


Again we got great reports from Rhesa and so somehow with the help of the tour operators I managed to convince Katie that for our first jump should be done backwards. She was a little upset at first and I was not sure if she would seriously consider it because she honestly looked scared shitless. But with no real pushing from me (the remainder of the push came from the staff – they said it would be brave and cool) Katie decided to go for it. After getting strapped in and getting helped to the edge of the platform we turned backwards. When the countdown came Katie didn't have much time to doubt her decision because once the countdown was finished she had me and a very heavy rope pulling her over the edge. It was a surreal feeling because after arching backwards over the edge we were immediately tumbling uncontrollably end over end...and from our perspective, it looked as if we would crash amongst the rocks. At one point I caught a glimpse of Katie's face and I could swear through the hair strewn across her face I could see tears. The fall lasted only maybe three seconds and when we started to swing (the best part) I found that my eyes had not deceived me...Katie was crying. She told me that her breathe was completely taken away from the fall and so the only other natural thing she thought she could do was cry, so cry she did. She had actually only cried for about ten seconds and then suddenly snapped out of it and was super excited and ready to do it again (but definitely not backwards). Rhesa had said that she knew Katie was crying despite how far away we were. She had been able to tell because of the they way I was comforting Katie (we have it on video!) as we waited to be pulled up.


We pounded down our lunch so that we could be the first ones back to the platform for another gorge swing. After completing everything once we were allowed to repeat any ride as many times as we wanted...hence the name 'Adrenalin Day'. We had been told that the record for the gorge swing was 17 times but we thought why would anyone want to do it 17 times...but that was before we jumped. After we jumped, everyone was keen on the same ride...the gorge swing! We all realized that there was no way the record could ever be matched unless we had been individuals and had spent the entire day jumping. Not everyone wanted a second jump - actually, I think it was only Christine who was still shaking from her experience and decided to watch from the side. Everyone alternated between starting forwards, backwards and in a handstand position. Unfortunately, Katie and I were only able to go twice (limited time) but managed to try a solo handstand in addition to our tandem backwards jump. Surprisingly, the handstand was not really scary at all but maybe that was because you could see everything before you launched off the edge and maybe because they kind of tossed you over the edge after lifting up your feet. The workers decided to play some jokes for the second round as they knew we had the courage to come back for more and so they had to play with our minds. When they held Katie in her handstand position, instead of immediately counting down from 3, they held her there for 30 seconds encouraging her to push off herself...but, knowing my Katie, she would not move. Finally, while upside down, she screamed at them to let her go, which after hearing her voice, they did. When Rhesa was next in line (jumping backwards), they started to let her fall only to hold her back at the last minute. For those of you who have done any kind of bungee jumping, you can understand that this is the cruellest part because it is only the actual jump itself that is the scariest, once that is over the feeling of falling through the air is absolutely 100% amazing. We ended the day an hour later than was originally planned and with eight gigs of jump pictures between all of our cameras.


When Katie and I had been to Zimbabwe three months prior, we had been lucky enough to hear about this neat restaurant called 'The Boma'. We had liked it so much that we thought it would be a great restaurant for the group (didn't hurt that I would be getting out of my cooking duties and Katie getting out of her washing up duties for the night...jk). Even with the group treating our guides (Moses and Robert) to their meal, we managed to get the meal at a better price than we had on our last visit – another perk of having a large group. The evening was great and everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves. With the exception of the vegetarians (Becky and Niguel) everyone feasted on the different types of wild game meat (Bilsey skipped the appetizers, soups and salads and went straight for the very delicious warthog – a smart man). They would fill up one plate with meat and when it ran out they would go and refill it. The warthog was a favourite just as it had been for us and people still were talking about it days afterward. Everyone liked the place so much that at one point, one of our newer recruits (' English Katie'...and not 'Tom-Katie' who also happens to be English) decided that she would do a hip hip hooray for Katie and I for planning it. She was quickly shut up because we were in a public place, but despite her distance from us, we got the gist of what she was trying to do. I don't think we have ever mentioned that we have THREE Katie's on this trip...which drives my Katie crazy because she never knows when she is being called. She encouraged everyone to call her by her nickname, K-Diggity Dawg, but only Bilsey and Christine seemed to catch on. Jemma, our 'GEM' of the group, calls my Katie 'Canada' which she also quite likes, I think it is because it gives her distinction from 'Katie' . We finished off the supper experience with drumming and dancing which was really good, as expected. Before leaving, we made sure that everyone in our group had dessert, which consisted of the Boma Worm! Jeremy, Fysh and Max went around handing out the worms...complete with the pre filled out certificates of achievement – lol!


After dinner there wasn't much of a party back at the campsite because everyone was so full that they just went straight to bed (again with the exception of the 'youngins' who stayed up and partied all night long).


The next morning (Day 48) was our Lion Walk Experience. It was a bit confusing trying to get everyone together on time to hit up the bus. There was so many people talking and so much shit going on that I missed the conversation about not wearing sandals to go for a walk with the lions (not too sure where Katie was either). I guess my better judgement should have made me change my shoes but I did not. When we got to the lion park there were three of us wearing sandals. I guess I was the only one that was worried. Katie didn't seem the least bit worried but I thought it would be better to be safe than sorry (I like my toes) and so I tried to cover my toes with kleenex (Katie laughed the entire time). In my attempt to erase my stupid actions, I managed to just make them worse because the guide said that having kleenex covered toes would be just more of a distraction and would increase my chances that lions would eat my toes.


We split into two groups and headed out to meet our lions (Note: All of these programs use the money they raise from entree fees to pay for the resources needed to raise the number of lions and help to re-introduce them into the wild – It is not just a money making scheme). The group of lions we were to walk with were both 7 months old and were sister and brother. They were chilling out on a rock nearby the camp when we found them. We had already been given the do's and the dont's prior to seeing the lions but while we were with them, a little reminder/refresher would have been nice. Mairie was told to go up and pet the lions and this is where that reminder would have been good. She forgot to put her stick to the side of the lions head and immediately he turned towards her while she was posing for a picture. Fearing her safety the guide quickly shouted to distract the lion and gave Mairie just enough time to get her stick back in place. I don't think the lion would have meant any harm but one swing from these creatures and you would be reeling backwards with a huge open gash – they are after all lions.


I think they feared that some people were worried about the lions and how to approach them when they were sitting down. Imagine approaching your cat when they are laying down. They want to roll over and play with your hand as you try to pet them. Well...now times the size and strength of your cat by ten and then imagine playing with it – it was pretty crazy. So we started to walk with the lions instead. It was quite surreal walking along side the lions occasionally petting their backs. We each took turns leading (well following really) the lions, stopping occasionally to take pictures either when the lions would head into a tree or would stop and pose for a picture. Although these animals are somewhat trained, you still have to watch out for them because they are still wild animals...with real and potentially dangerous teeth and claws! Katie found this out when she ran around a small bush to catch a picture of me with the lions. When she rounded the bush she was startled to see the male lion there half ready to pounce her. The lion had anticipated what she was going to do and he was ready to play but luckily the guide had seen what was happening as well and jumped in just in time (Katie's reaction was priceless). After spending an hour with our group of lions we swapped with the other group who had been placed with two lions that were about 13 months old. It was hard to imagine that in only 6 months they could have nearly doubled in size. After a short walk and some pictures with this new group we were disappointed that the lion walk was over. It was a neat experience to walk with the lions and would have been great to be one of the volunteers who spends the entire day with the lions helping to prepare them for the wild. An added benefit was that I ended the tour with my toes - haha.


We arrived back at the campsite and just spent the remainder of the day relaxing. In the evening a couple of local guys decided to put on another good show for us. Two of the guys came out with kerosene balls on fire and started spinning them over their head to the beat of the drums. It got very intense and you could see that all their practice during the days (we always seen them doing something around the camp) was paying off big time. By the time the show was done most people had already went to bed but there was a couple of people that been drinking pretty hard and were ready to go to the town bar. I decided after a couple of drinks and closing down the camp bar, that I would follow them to town and see what the night life here was like. We headed to a new club called Blue Zulu. It was a pretty hopping and luxurious club and was a lot of fun. What made it more interesting was that Nickhel (one of our group) was pretty smashed and was getting us all into the dancing. Nickhel had never drank alcohol before this trip, so, naturally, he denied he was even the slightest bit drunk. It turned out to be quite a late night and I was glad that I was going to be able to have a sleep in the morning.


Well I though I was going to be able to have a sleep in but Katie had slept early the night before and was ready to shop at 7:30 am (Day 49). I didn't like the look she was giving me when I said I wasn't ready to get up quite yet so I thought how bad could it be if I just got up and went shopping for a little bit. How wrong was I? We ended up shopping for nearly 4 hours at one small market. We had taken a bunch of our belongings that we no longer needed because the local people in Zim are always looking to swap t-shirts, shoes or whatever for their hand crafted souvenirs. Worst part is that everyone there really wants the sale so they don't want to let you move on to the next market so you take a bit of an emotional beating having to say no about ten thousand times to the same person. After four hours I thought I was going to die but we managed to swap out everything we had taken with us and end up with three times as much volume in souvenirs. Even on the way back we managed to make more sales.


I know that in our Malawi post Katie mentioned that I am quite the shopper. Well this much is true. BUT! Katie has been appointed by our group as the number one shopper on the trip and I thought it was definitely worth noting. Not that this is a bad thing because it has sparked many others on the bus, myself included, to do more shopping. Therefore, no one will regret not buying that “one special” carving when they get home and is helping to spur the local business.


I could barely think straight after shopping because I was running on only four hours of sleep and the sun was pounding down on us. It was hard to imagine that we were going to be going on a booze cruise in the evening on the Zambezi river because I sure didn't feel like it and from the looks on the faces of the people who had went out the night before, they didn't either. Nevertheless we went and crazy did it turn. The booze cruise or “Sunset Cruise” as it is supposed to be called is essentially a trip down the river where we get to see animals (if lucky), have snacks and drink as much booze as you can in two hours. By the end of the trip we were being threatened to be taken back to the pier because of noise and people were falling all over the place. On the way back to the campsite Tom had a great idea to strip naked and run up and down the bus aisles. I am not sure how the couple of seats at the front didn't realize what was going on. When we arrived at the campsite I went looking for Katie's shoes on the bus and ran into a pile of puke!


That was just the beginning. Before we had dinner two of the girls had puked and passed completely out. Tom had streaked through the camp site grounds. Mairie was nearly out cold sitting down and her camera was found in the bowl of the mens washrooms – WTF??? Luckily one of the local guys had been honest enough to ask around if it was anyone's camera. After swapping the memory card (camera was dead at this point) into a different camera we knew it was Mairie's...but the question still remains - how did it end up in the Men's washroom? My Katie was doing quite well in comparison and was helping the sick ones out by encouraging them to drink copious amounts of water. We both (with the help of others) carried Mairie to her tent and put her to bed and set up shifts to watch her.


Katie then retired to the dance floor where she played match maker with her backgammon buddy Christine and...I think his name was Chris (from SA). Either way, I think Katie was even more excited when they were kissing. They danced all night and Jemma and Katie kept taking video and pictures (stalkers maybe???). They joked with Christine that the night ended with just a kiss because Christine, for some apparent reason kept flashing people her white kiwi bum which scared Chris off - WTF???


Next up was Nickhel (again). Although, he would again later deny that he had gotten drunk, he tried to superman onto a concrete walkway (or something like that) and messed up his shoulder. This made it real difficult when twenty minutes later we had to carry him, passed out, to the tent. We decided that we would put him with Mairie so we could watch them both. By the end of the night there was five people puking with many more seeming close to it. Despite all the drama and the fact that the real party was done by 10:30 pm (most were too drunk and passed out) it was an awesome night and a good way to end for those of the group who were leaving.


In the morning everyone looked like death but we had a lot to do. Those that were leaving had to take out their stuff from the truck and get a ride arranged. We also had to figure out who puked on Anna's gear in her tent. We had put Nickhel in there with Mairie but no one could confirm if it was him who had puked on her gear. Some people even went as far as to examine the puke to determine if there was meat in it or nor (after all, Nickhel is a Vegetarian). Who knows, maybe he even did it on purpose...jk...not!


It was a very sentimental morning (Day 50) as we were saying goodbye to part of the group who had been with us pretty much from the beginning of the trip. There is always a few who you don't mind leaving behind but almost all of them would be certainly missed for the last three weeks of the trip. It is hard because you get to know someone and when you say goodbye, although there is a chance you may see them again, it is likely the last time you will ever see them. I think we may definitely have to head to Australia at some point because we have met so many awesome people (Bilsey and Laura who are the coolest and as Katie would say, “the cutest couple we have ever met') from the 'Land Down Under'.


We left the gates of the campsite singing our favourite theme song, 'JAMBO' and waved goodbye to our Absolute African Friends!