Fortunately, the closest I’ve gotten to a croc is the cooked crocodile burger in front of me, but this was a very interesting story. On a safari game drive, our driver shared a story from his youth. He was wading across the river with his friends (holding hands to act as an impenetrable wall because crocodiles try to spot the weak link) and they made it safely to the other side. But one of his friends wanted to go back in and went by himself. All of a sudden, his friend yelled out and said something had bitten his leg. The driver originally thought it was a joke, but seeing the tears, he knew it was real. He and his friends jumped into action. Some of them helped his friend by grabbing him and creating a larger wall, while he jumped behind the croc and lifted its tail, effectively saving his friend Since crocodiles rely so much on the tail for balance and for swimming (since crocodiles drown their prey and only attack in water), lifting the tail is a power move. Plus, the crocodile only has one mouth and will not release its prey just to go after another one. Main lesson I learned: African children are incredibly brave. Had this happened in America, I probably would have screamed and ran away. But, now that I’ve got you here (and I do apologize for the clickbait), let me tell you all about Victoria Falls, so that one day when you go, you’ll know exactly what to do (skip the reading for tips at the bottom). After an EXTREMELY hot and bumpy (trust me, Zambian speed bumps and roads are nothing like you’ve seen before) 9-hour ride, Drew and I arrived in Livingstone, the town right next to Victoria Falls, the largest waterfall in the world and one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World. Immediately upon arrival, taxi drivers and vendors approached us, asking if we needed a ride. Although we politely said no, one or two would walk beside us to continue peddling by introducing himself, asking for our names, and asking lots of questions (this is very common for many Zambians as to make us feel more welcome). After shaking them by continuing to walk and curt responses, we travelled to Jollyboys Backpackers, a backpacker’s lodge and a hostel of sorts. Once I shared the location with Spencer and my mom, they both told me that I should go and make friends (makes it sound like I need to be pushed to make friends?) Well, the first night we kept to ourselves headed to Victoria Falls at night. We had come at an opportune time because a few days before and after the full moon, a lunar rainbow or “moonbow” can be seen through the mist. Similar to a rainbow, a moonbow is formed by the light from the full moon as it refracts across the water particles in the mist. Unfortunately, both our phones were unable to capture this natural phenomenon, so here’s a professional picture for you: We went to bed rather early, as we always do (for some reason, being in Zambia has changed our sleep schedule to sleeping at 9:00-10:00 PM and waking up at 7:00 AM). Waking up in the morning, we quickly made it to the 8:00 bus that would take us to the rest of our day’s activities. On this bus, we met two Americans students who worked in the health sector and two Germans who worked in agriculture. In a somewhat unlikely friendship, we banded together, and though they went white-water rafting, we reconvened at the sunset cruise. Instead, Drew and I started with a 7-mile morning canoe trip down the Zambezi River, Africa’s 4th largest river (after the Nile, the Congo, and the Niger), spotting a few hippos and birds. Then, we had a quick lunch followed by a game drive through the Mosi-oa-Tunya park. It had no big cats or predators, but we did get to see elephants, giraffes, zebras, kuru, and a few crocodiles Now, sunset cruises truly solidify friendships. As we ate good food and sat on the top deck, we talked about our days, found out more about each other, and ended up spending the rest of the night together, just learning more about what everyone was doing in Zambia and how they had gotten there Anyways, the last day involved some wild activities. Since Livingstone is known as the adventure capital of the world, we decided to embark on adrenaline-inducing activities, with Drew going bungee jumping and me skydiving. We also took this opportunity to visit Victoria Falls during the day, making another friend there. All of us didn’t want to buy ponchos, so we ended up soaking wet by the mist (word of advice: either go in the dry season or dress accordingly for the weather). At night, we went to Café Zambezi and watched the soccer match between Belgium and Japan, ending the trip with a good meal and an incredible comeback. LIVINGSTONE TRAVEL TIPS
FUn facts:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
ALL PICTURES ARE PROPERTY OF SANTA CLARA university unless otherwise notedArchivesCategories
All
|