We stayed in Livingstone to experience Victoria Falls and all the activities there. It’s an easy place to spend a lot of money, because there are so many cool things to choose from! Helicopter and micro light flights, elephant safaris, a lion walk....I did a mirco light flight, went rafting, visited Devil’s Pool, and as a very last minute decision, went for the bungee jump and swing.
Micro light flights are amazing. The micro light plane reminded me of a motorized hang glider, with a couple of seats hanging under the wings. They sat me down in a seat behind the pilot, gave me a headset and helmet, and did up my seat belt, which as just an ordinary airplane belt. Cameras aren’t allowed in case you drop them, but there was a camera attached to one of the wings. We did a loop down the dirt runway before lifting off. Taking off and being able to feel the wind rushing past me was amazing. My flight was only 15 minutes, and we flew over the Falls and surrounding area. My pilot pointed things out as we went and I saw the bungee/swing bridge, Devil’s Pool, hippos, elephants and giraffes.The views were spectacular. Since its low season, the lower water level meant that the Falls weren’t crazy and overflowing. The upside to this is that it’s only possible to visit Devil’s Pool during low season, and the rafting is at its peak.
Devil’s Pool is a small, natural rock enclosed pool at the edge of the Falls. I’d like to know who first decided to go for a swim right at the edge of the Falls. We went out with a guide, and the first thing we had to do was swim over a small section to get to the rocks near the pool edge. The first guy from our group got in and started swimming, but the rest of us stayed on the edge, because there was a hippo in the water about 50ft away from us. After everything I’ve heard about how dangerous hippos are, I didn’t really want to go swimming with one. Our guide was all “A hippo? No worries, just get in there and swim” So we did. And we all made it out alive. Apparently a few hippos and elephants go over the edge every year.
Jumping into the pool was scary and awesome at the same time. It’s not very big, and the rock edge is submerged under a few inches of water so it looks like you’ll just go over the edge. In the pool the current pushed us all right to the ledge, that’s a few feet wide. We weren’t allowed to sit up on it, because they don’t want tourists slipping and going. I heard that a guide died last year saving a tourist. I’d still definitely recommend going to the Pool if you’re ever in Zambia.
I did the bungee jump and swing as a last minute decision, A few people from my group were going, but I’d already spent so much money on other activities I figured I should skip it. The morning of though, I decided what the hell, let’s go for it. The Vic Falls bungee is the 3rd highest in the world at 111m, and the location is stunning. The highest bungee is in South Africa, and it’s over 100m higher!!. The only reason I did the swing as well as the bungee is because they offer a good deal that includes a zip line, bungee and the swing for pretty cheap. We all started off on the zip line, that took us from the Zambian side of the Falls to the Zimbabwean side. From there I did bungee first, and the swing second.
The guys working there put everyone though pretty quick; this was kind of nice because it didn’t leave much time to get freaked out. They got me out on the platform, sat me down and harnessed me in, and gave me my instructions. Then it was hop hop hop over to the edge. I looked down for a second and just thought “shit what am I doing?” They told me to look out to the horizon, counted down “5,4’3’2’1 bungee!!!!” and off I jumped. I thought the bungee was absolutely terrifying! Way, way scarier than sky diving. The fall felt really long even though it was only few seconds, and I felt like I was bouncing around for a while. My first bounce up I was flipped up so I was upright, before falling back down.
The swing was even scarier than the bungee. On the platform they harnessed me in, but since it’s a swing, the ropes ropes are set up to hang low, so it felt like I was being pulled downwards from the platform. On this one, instead of diving off head first, we were told to walk to the edge and put our toes over, and then step off to fall feet first. .Such a scary feeling to step off and free fall feet first! Again the free fall felt super long. Once the swing caught it was actually really nice to just swing back and forth above the water.
After doing all this, I think bungee jumping is more of a once is enough type of activity.
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