R&R at another Wonder of the World
Beerlympics was actually really good fun. There were three teams of five:
1. Jenna, Steph, David, Mo and I
2, Staff: Tallis, Harriet, Andy, Sophie, Jordan
3, Marty, Craig, Dillon, Sophia and Alistair
We were all drinking different poisons. I had gone for gin and sparkling water, Tallis had whisky, David had Kahula and coffee, others had beer and cider. It was a really good laugh. The highlight was Dizzy Bat in which you down your drink, spin around a bike pump 5 times and then run to the other end of this arena thing we found, and back again; tag your team mate and then they go.
First team in wins. Only problem is drinking, spinning and running is a disaster! Steph collided with a table, Sophie dislocated her toe, I crumpled to the floor without being able to run.
We probably played for about 2.5hours in all - thats all four of the games.
By that point I was pretty tired and had developed a worse headache than before we started, so I retired. About half stayed up and kept playing, half retired around the same time.
I was awake at about 7.15....for round two of clothes washing. I have so many clothes to wash that I don't have enough space on the washing line to do them all at once! I also don't have the patience to do the all at once either. Washing round 2 complete, I joined Steph and Tom on the deck over the Zambezi for breakfast. It really feels luxurious, and I am so lucky to be here. Last night we saw the sunset over the river, this morning we are enjoying toast (yes, toast...not bread...luxury all right) and cereal, and filter coffee (the others are having the full cooked breakfast) while planning our day.
The shuttle to the falls left at 9,30. We had drummed up a bit of a party so Marty, Don, Steph, David, Tom, Craig,Allain, Richard and I boarded the bus and trekked down to the Victoria Falls bridge. It maybe took 10mins by bus. The bridge crosses the Zambezi river just below the falls, it also joins Zimbabwe and Zambia.
It is low key, and not what I was expecting. On the right you can see the falls.
It felt quite humbling to be seeing something which I had, once again -like the pyramids, learnt about at school. It had captured my imagination and now I was witnessing the reality.
Being the end of the wet season, the river has a huge amount of water in it, and correspondingly the falls do too. While neither the tallest nor the widest waterfall in the world, Victoria Falls is the largest falling 'sheet of falling water' in that the combined height and width produces the largest cross sectional area of any waterfall in the world. According to wikipedia, the spray from the falls typically rises to a height of over 400 metres, and is visible from up to 48 km away. During the flood season, it is impossible to see the foot of the falls and most of its face, and the walks along the cliff opposite it are in a constant shower and shrouded in mist. At the bridge, and on the walk down to the bridge, despite their being a cloudless sky and bright sunshine, we were still party to a continuous drizzle from the falls. Despite the face being over 1km away. I took a raincoat, but the others were pretty wet.
Don, Marty and I took the opportunity to do our various activities.
They both did the zipline, canyon wing and bungee jump. The zipline crossed the gorge, just downstream from the bridge. It was a cool experience, and you got a nice view however I wouldn't say it was worth 50USD...as a prize in a draw it was worthwhile.
I have great respect for Don - 68 and still jumping 111m off a bridge...and attempting to cycle Africa (albeit from the dog box, and calling at us as he passes).
After the spectator events, the others went into the National Park and down to the falls themselves. David and I went into town and located an Italian Ice cream shop, and whiled away a few hours eating ice cream, drinking coffee and generally chatting. I may go down to the falls on day three, apparently the spray is something you have to experience to understand. It is torrential downpour like nothing you have ever experienced, yet bright and sunny. I am not a fan of rain....despite being a big fan of water - swimming and having a shower being two of my all-time favourite activities - I hate rain. David got so wet his phone has stopped working, and Richard has had a camera malfunction.
We got back from town just in time for me to do my penultimate batch of hand washing and have a shower. We left at 4.30 for a dinner sunset river cruise.
There was an open bar, but after last night's escapades alcohol was very far down my list of desirables. We had a pleasant evening floating down the river, however conversation was a bit more engrossing than the view...and i had to keep reminding myself to look around!
Tomorrow we are planning a day trip to the Zimbabwe side of the falls...on our bikes...with afternoon tea at the Victoria Falls hotel. May also look at a microlight flight over the falls. Comingin the wet season, whitewater rafting and Devil's pool are closed. The spray also limits the view of the falls, I am hoping a microlight flight will give an overall perspective of their size and immensity.
