Zambezi River Cruise

I rode the truck with 21 others this morning from Lusaka to Livingstone, Zambia to finish off the last section of the overland Gap tour. Elbie mentioned that the last 60 kilometers would be the most bumpy, poorly maintined road of any of the African roads that we had traveled on. After a full two hour, spine-rattling ride on the pothole infested pavement we finally arrived in Livingstone.

Livingstone is the tourism capital of Zambia and the adreneline sports capital of Africa. Victoria Falls crashes over the edge of the Zambezi river only a few miles from the city and hoards of travelers come to Livingstone to go hangliding over the falls, bungee jump over the falls, sky-dive above the falls, river-raft below the falls, or do any one of the infinite activities available involving the falls. Shortly after arriving at the top-notch Zambezi Waterfront Campground an employee briefed us on the activities available for booking through the campground. After considering my options I booked a helicopter ride over the falls for tomorrow and a “Gorge Swing” for the next day, which apparently involves a 350-foot freefall drop down a gorge near Victoria Falls. Originally I wanted to bungee jump over the falls but I decided it really doesn't make sense. The gorge swing is something different and original and it also involves a pretty significant drop. Besides that, the bungee jump I went on in Nepal last year was almost 200 feet higher than the one offered here.

As a semi-conclusion to the 21-day Gap tour, myself and the others in the tour group booked a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River aboard the luxurious “Lady Livingstone” three-story yacht. This afternoon we took a short bus ride to a lavish 500-dollar-a-night hotel where the Lady Livingstone was docked and relaxed on the deck to begin the three-hour sunset cruise. Several of the people on board ordered coke with rum or exotic cocktails from the open bar. My new friends from the Gap tour chatted and sipped their alcohol as I sipped my Fanta with a slice of orange. I stared down the Zambezi and enjoyed the view as the sky turned a deep red and the sun lowered below the trees on the edges of the river.While floating along the banks on the way back upstream we spotted a hippo who looked unusually excited. The animal jumped, rolled, and frollicked in the river and even let out a wide-mouthed, enthusiastic snort. His freinds laid around in the water nearby and weren't nearly as animated. I wondered to myself if there is any sort of social order among hippos, and if so, what the ramifications of frollicking in the Zambezi might be. With any luck that hippo will still have freinds tomorrow morning.