Dr. Livingstone...I presume

The young local guys are all crowded around me. They are laughing and joking and asking me "Are you really going to jump...Aren't you scared?". Scared, no, nervous yes, excited..big time. Where am I and what am I doing. Well, for that, you have to go back a bit.

Remember Grade 7 geography and the sections on Africa. Explorers tramping about and 'discovering' all sorts of things about the big continent. The story of Dr. Livingstone and the Zambesi River always struck me as very exotic. I have about 10 places in the world that strike me like that (Constantinople, Baghdad, Timbuktu, Agra, Edo, Tanganyika, Lake Titicaca, Victoria Falls, Giza).

So I am visiting my good buddy Dave in Botswana and it is only a hop, skip and jump of about 700 kms up to Victoria Falls. The draw is like a magnet. I just can't ignore it. I take off about 5:30 Friday morning and hitch-hike into Maun and hop on a local bus to Nata, about 300 kms east.

Now this little excursion can give you a good look into just who I am. I like getting going early. I like hitch-hiking. Love going to new places, enjoy hostels as much now as when I was a kid. I enjoy not really knowing what is going to happen. Let serendipity lead the day. The ride (Alex) knows my host and works at the same hospital. He passes the hospital and drives 4-5 kms out of his way to help me get the early bus. I have this kind of luck the entire trip. Is it luck or just the result of opening your brain and letting the day take shape? Who knows.

In Nata, the first bus is stuffed full, so I start looking around and see a guy ready to jump into a safari vehicle with gear, but no people. Likely a re-positioning trip. I ask him if he is going north and it is the start of a new friendship. My buddy is Thula and from Zimbabwe ... and going to Victoria Falls. I was planning to stay in Kisani, Botswana and try and book a day trip to Vic Falls, thus saving the $75 visa for Zimbabwe, but hey! Thula is going where I want to go.

In Vic Falls town, I get booked into Shoestring Backpackers, definitely a hard-party hostel. I am in a great mood. My roomies are Americans doing 4 months in Africa, a Vietnamese guy doing a 3 month trip and a Korean guy doing the same. I enjoy the pool, buy some hand bracelets from Elijah and drink a fair amount of beer.

Saturday morning, Thula drops me at the bridge over the Zambesi. It is also the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. The local hustlers are all over me like a dirty shirt. Even more aggressive thatn the Vic Falls guys.. and that is saying something. No big deal, I am in a really good mood, most of the guys can handle a bit of humour, and I am actually buying some small things, as this is the end of a long trip and I won't have to slag this stuff around much longer.

From the bridge, I get my first glimpse of Victoria Falls. But that is not why I am here. Sure, I'd come just for the Falls, buy hey! They have a 100 meter bungy jump here. I can't pass that up.

So I walk over into Zambia, get all registered and gussied up in shackles and webbing and come back to have the 15 or so loc al kids all gfawking at me and trying to shake my hand. I had asked Isaiah the manager if they ever offered freebies to these kids, as the cost to them would be astronomical. He said yes, but there were never any takers. The locals think the tourists are complete loco to jump off a good bridge.

My only other bungy was in Vancouver Island and it was a mere 50 meters. Pffft! Barley worth jumping off you say. Well, in Nanaimo, I suffered from something called jelly-knees. You have the nerve to jump off, but your knees go all soft as you stare into that hole and the jump is more like a flop.

I was determined to fly out strong on this jump, especially now that I had a big contingent of locals cheering me on. Most people figure that bungy jumping hurts. No, not in any way. There is only one hard part, and that is the full second it takes to commit, bend and leap off the bridge. And make no mistake about it, 110 meters is bigger than 50 meters. That one second took it's toll. I jumped well, the knees held and the drop went quickly. But that one second was terrifying. After Nanaimo, I was extremely keen to go right back up and jump again. After Vic Falls, I was finished. That was a BIG hole to jump into. Whew!

OK. Now I am done, as high as a kite and the day stretches ahead of me. I wander over to actually look at the Falls. The site is beautiful, stunning. I am as happy as one hombre can get in one days. The trip, the friends I am making, the locals I am talking to, the scenery, the getting to an exotic place on the earth, the bungy. Oh My! What a day!

Later, I end up at the Victoria Falls Hotel. Old style elegance, with a view of the bridge and Falls. I also meet up with Thula and we work on his safari website for an hour or so, have a beer and agree to meet on Sunday to start me back to Botswana. I will be doing web-based stuff for him from Canada when I get back.

On Sunday, I take a car, then gypsy cab, hitch-hike, bus, bus, combi and macorro canoe to get back to Maun. It has been one hell of a weekend. I am quite pleased with myself.

View from Hotel



Victoria Falls - The Bungy Jump




Victoria Falls - The Tour