5-4-3-2-1 Bungee!

I’ve been gone for a while, but I am finally back in Bloem. Here’s where I’ve been for the last month: Zambia, Tanzania, and the incredibly unreal island of Zanzibar. Along the way, I had some wonderful – and some very shady – moments, but now that I’m back, I’m happy to report that I have had a proper shower, have gotten the sand out of my pack, and am back to drinking clean water. It was a long, incredible and exhausting, and for the first time in my life, I actually kept a journal, to keep track of it all, the good and the bad.

I started off in Livingstone, Zambia, at Victoria Falls. One of the natural wonders of the world, it is truly incredibly to see. But, I didn’t go to Livingstone – the adrenaline capital of Africa – just to look at Vic Falls; in three days, I leaned over its edge, got tossed in its rapids, and jumped over it. I was on the Zambian side, offering a clear view of the main waterfall over a steep edge. A thick mist rises over the edge, called Mosi-Oa-Tunya (The Smoke That Thunders), which can apparently be seen from 30 kilometers away. Immediately after getting off a hot and cramped bus from Lusaka, I headed to Livingstone Island, a world heritage site that stands on top of the main waterfall. The island leads into the Devil’s Armchair, a rock pool with one of its main walls forming the edge of Victoria Falls. We swam toward a rocky ledge and jumped off into the pools, with the water pushing me up against the wall that forms the main waterfall. And then, I did probably the most incredible, and stupidest, thing I’ve done to date – I literally hung over Victoria Falls, with water gushing past me and over the edge. As I leaned over the edge, face first, and then backwards, the only thing keeping me from literally plummeting over was our guide, who was holding onto my legs as I screamed “just take the picture!” I honestly cannot believe the guides are allowed to do this…and as I sit here, I’m realizing that it’s impossible to explain the feeling of being outstretched, looking down and out over Victoria Falls.

The next day, somewhat recovered from the rush of hanging over the Falls, Bri and I went white water rafting on the Zambezi River. I had never been rafting, had no idea what I was doing, and no idea what to expect – I especially didn’t expect to be rafting through 23 rapids, many of which ranked Grade 5, “extremely difficult, long and violent rapids, steep gradients, big drops and pressure areas.” Our guide, Enoch, taught us how to paddle, and “get down!” when a rapid was too major to paddle through. We barely got any practice because the first rapid was major, directly into a rock wall, and of course, we flipped. It's really terrifying at first - you get tossed under a major rapid, don't know where you are, and think you'll never emerge to the surface, because the waves are continuously crashing down. Our boat started with six people, and by lunch, three had abandoned ship, leaving myself, Bri, and a cute British girl named Jenny. Once the guides realized that we were having a great time flipping and panicking and recovering, they started leading our raft directly into the rapids – so, of course, we flipped four times. I felt fairly safe, most of the time, but the second time we flipped, I got caught in the air pocket of our capsized boat, took a wooden oar straight across the face (nearly broke my nose), and finally got pulled out. By the end of the day, we were all bruised, sun burnt and partially bleeding, but running with more adrenaline than I have ever felt.

I had been waiting for my final day in Livingstone since I learned several months ago that you could bungee jump off of Victoria Falls. And I did just that – I jumped off the bridge that connects Zambia and Zimbabwe, and looms over 111 meters above the rapids that had beaten me up the day before. To my surprise, I was never quite nervous or hesitant, probably because there was no question about it; I knew that I had to do it, and that I was going to do it. And I did it. Everyone says “don’t look down!” but as I approached the edge, it was too beautiful not to look down, out and up over Victoria Falls. Then, it was a quick 5-4-3-2-1 BUNGEE! and I was over the edge. There are really no words to describe the feeling, so I won’t even try. Suffice it to say, I will do it again. To my mother’s dismay, this only provoked my desire to jump off of high things; now I can’t wait to bungee again, and to skydive, hopefully in Namibia this Spring.