On Friday we went to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. It was around a 1/2 hour drive from Kasane. After a stop at both the Botswana boarder post and the Zimbabwe boarder post we were on our way.
The first activity that I did was the lion walk. It was this incredible experience where you could pet the lions and walk with them for a ways. However, you are constantly reminded that they're not tame; your not allowed to pet above the neck. It was so cool to be in such close contact to the "king of the jungle". The lions we walked with were around 8 months old and they were already so big. We took a lot of pictures with them. They really did their own thing and we couldn't make them walk where or when they didn't want to. But this was perfectly fine with me, because I was just in awe to be so close to them.
On the right is a picture of the two lions we walked with. One is a boy and the other a girl. They are not siblings.
This the group of us who wanted to do the lion walk. By doing this activity we kind of isolated ourselves from the rest of the group and just ended up doing the rest of the activities together. I almost thought it more fun with a smaller group than a bigger one.
The last stop on the walk was a little river where the lions stopped for a drink. As for the stick in my hand, we were all given one before the walk. It is not to beat the lions with or to poke them. If a lion came up to you and wanted to play and you didn't want them to you would tap the ground with the stick and say "no" in a loud firm voice.
The next activity was the Gorge Swing. The picture on the left is off the gorge which is towards the end of the falls. The Gorge Swing is kind of like Bungee Jumping except you are attached at your waist instead of your feet. Also once you reach the length of the rope after a free fall you begin to do a tarzan swing across the gorge. The drop is 120 meters, and this was one of the most terrifying and awesome things I've ever done. The group of us that did were talking when I suddenly noticed the guy hooking me up the a rope connected to the ledge. I had become the first one to jump. Once on the ledge and after the guy gave the safety briefing he asked me to walk towards the edge. I said no constantly but continued to walk. Once at the edge he said "5,4,3,2,1" and that was it, I was off. I opened my mouth to scream but nothing came out. There was no belly in your throat feeling like with a roller coaster, it was just the ongoing sensation of falling. Once at the bottom I swung across the gorge and was able to fully enjoy the incredible view.
On the right is a picture of me all geared up and ready to go. I had been slightly terrified from the second I decided to do this, which was 2 weeks before we left for this trip.
This is me about to jump into the gorge.
After the gorge swing we went on a tour of Victoria Falls. We decided to get the wet part over with. Now, when we went it was at the beginning of the high water season and at some parts the mist was so thick you couldn't actually see the Falls. The wet part, was very very very wet. By the time we were done with the wet part we were all drenched. With each step I took bubbles emerged from my sneakers. Victoria Falls is one of the 7 World Wonders and is the widest waterfall in the world. It is considered one of the great among Niagara Falls and another one I can't remember.
This is a picture of me in front of the falls after the wet part. Clearly you can see that I am drenched.
Victoria Falls was breath taking. You could see a rainbow almost where ever you viewed it, and the view was stunning. I've never seen something that came close to its beauty.
Victoria Falls had multiple falls to it all connected together. Among the Falls there were the main falls, the devils cataract, the danger point, and a bunch other that I forgot. All together they make up Victoria Falls. Zimbabwe and Zambia each have a claim on Victoria Falls and while you can walk more of the distance on the Zimbabwe side, Zambia can claim more of the actual falls.
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