Place: Livingstone
Tunes: The sound of a million litres of water falling down a cliff every second
The smoke that thunders.
The health and safety briefing.
The falls.
More falls.
The only way forward is down.
We managed to find a flat spot.
First you do take the rubber boat thing and then you climb. Worn out soles on your shoes are not recommended.
Nice scenery. You can only come here during the dry season.
Not a bad place for a swim.
Some damage during today's excercise was fixed with this beautiful pirate plaster.
At eight in the morning we were to have breakfast. This was the only information we had about today’s program. At the breakfast table we were told that at 10:15 we were to go somewhere and do some sightseeing of the waterfalls. Ok, no worries. Pack light and bring the big camera I have used twice on this trip before today.
The mystery tour started with loading this strange looking vehicle with all sorts of kit, but we did not ask or care about any of it. If you know where you are going it is not an adventure. Next, a safety briefing was given where we were explained that the organiser essentially takes zero responsibility of anything that might happen.
We started off by hiking on some very rocky ground to take pictures of the (very dry) waterfalls. This is where all four batteries for the big camera stopped working and no pictures with that anymore. No problems, I enjoy hauling it around.
After this easy bit we continued to hike up and down some cliffs, some of which were quite steep. The soles of my five year old trainers have worn out quite thoroughly and this made the climbing a tiny bit challenging. Helmets and life jackets all around and cameras etc to dry bags (so much for pictures of the falls) and off we go to climb some rocks. If you fall, you go to the hospital was the theme and it was “interesting” to say the least. After the climb we jumped on to some boats and started paddling straight towards the falls. Our rowing was perfectly synchronised and we could have easily climbed up the rapids with this boat.
We ended up swimming where the water from the falls ”falls” after dropping for more than 100 meters. This is the dry season, so you can go there. The water is usually 18 meters higher than it was now. Pretty spectacular and definitely not the kind of mass tourist thing to do.
You could actually stand under the waterfall and take a shower.
The falls themselves were not as spectacular as you can see from the pictures when there's more water of course, but we heard the thunder and saw the smoke. After the main event we went back the same way, except uphill and with wet and slippery trainers. It was not a place for packet holiday goers, I can guarantee you. If you take some distance and think of doing something as special as this at home, you realise how unique experience this has been. It has been a great day and it's only the afternoon.
After this little excursion, the rest of the day consisted of mostly chilling out in the bar. Sorting out tomorrow’s program and sipping GT’s. It seems that there are no more gravel roads in front of us. Everything is tarmac. This information was from a South African motorist who just showed up at the hotel. For half of the group there was much rejoice and the other half looks disappointed. I am sure this will pass and we will think of something to make it more interesting.
Tunes: The sound of a million litres of water falling down a cliff every second
The smoke that thunders.
The health and safety briefing.
The falls. 
More falls.
The only way forward is down. 
We managed to find a flat spot.
First you do take the rubber boat thing and then you climb. Worn out soles on your shoes are not recommended.
Nice scenery. You can only come here during the dry season.
Not a bad place for a swim. 
Some damage during today's excercise was fixed with this beautiful pirate plaster.At eight in the morning we were to have breakfast. This was the only information we had about today’s program. At the breakfast table we were told that at 10:15 we were to go somewhere and do some sightseeing of the waterfalls. Ok, no worries. Pack light and bring the big camera I have used twice on this trip before today.
The mystery tour started with loading this strange looking vehicle with all sorts of kit, but we did not ask or care about any of it. If you know where you are going it is not an adventure. Next, a safety briefing was given where we were explained that the organiser essentially takes zero responsibility of anything that might happen.
We started off by hiking on some very rocky ground to take pictures of the (very dry) waterfalls. This is where all four batteries for the big camera stopped working and no pictures with that anymore. No problems, I enjoy hauling it around.
After this easy bit we continued to hike up and down some cliffs, some of which were quite steep. The soles of my five year old trainers have worn out quite thoroughly and this made the climbing a tiny bit challenging. Helmets and life jackets all around and cameras etc to dry bags (so much for pictures of the falls) and off we go to climb some rocks. If you fall, you go to the hospital was the theme and it was “interesting” to say the least. After the climb we jumped on to some boats and started paddling straight towards the falls. Our rowing was perfectly synchronised and we could have easily climbed up the rapids with this boat.
We ended up swimming where the water from the falls ”falls” after dropping for more than 100 meters. This is the dry season, so you can go there. The water is usually 18 meters higher than it was now. Pretty spectacular and definitely not the kind of mass tourist thing to do.
You could actually stand under the waterfall and take a shower.
The falls themselves were not as spectacular as you can see from the pictures when there's more water of course, but we heard the thunder and saw the smoke. After the main event we went back the same way, except uphill and with wet and slippery trainers. It was not a place for packet holiday goers, I can guarantee you. If you take some distance and think of doing something as special as this at home, you realise how unique experience this has been. It has been a great day and it's only the afternoon.
After this little excursion, the rest of the day consisted of mostly chilling out in the bar. Sorting out tomorrow’s program and sipping GT’s. It seems that there are no more gravel roads in front of us. Everything is tarmac. This information was from a South African motorist who just showed up at the hotel. For half of the group there was much rejoice and the other half looks disappointed. I am sure this will pass and we will think of something to make it more interesting.
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