I toured the falls here in Zimbabwe, I wanted to see the other side. After immigration and 30 minute

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I have a pact with a few friends, every four years we travel together. This time it was Africa, all four of us proud to summit Kilimanjaro, witnessing the view and wrath from the Roof of Africa. A safari, the Serengeti, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, and a glimpse into the Cradle of Mankind at Olduvai Gorge filled three weeks in Tanzania. My friends returned home, I moved on to Mozambique with a little side-trip to Victoria Falls. I wrote in my journal just twice in five days, unusual for me. I probably say it best there, so I’ll just give you a condensed peek inside:
Wednesday, 7/3/13 17:51 Wow, what a wild day!!! I’m at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, perched on a hill overlooking an African water hole as I write these words. The sun is sinking. First thing this morning I did the Gorge Swing, what a rush! A tiny wooden sundek platform sundek 120 meters above the Zambezi River on the bend of a horse-shoe canyon, I was customer #1. It was cool and peaceful with one amazing view. Once attached, the weight and elasticity of the ropes were pulling me towards the edge; I braced my legs. Wow! My heart was thumping!
A few seconds of anticipation then over the edge, pure free fall for 72 meters with 90 meters of swinging, bouncing and spinning. Four shots of adrenaline rolled into one. My only company down there was a dead hippo; he had the bad luck of coming over the falls. Now and then a hippo or crocodile gets caught in the current, even elephants I m told. It never turns out good.
Smiling and shaking, I went directly to Victoria Falls Bridge for a Bungee Jump, there was a crowd. I weighed in at 83 kg, and would be jumper #11. What a drop, 111 meters straight down! Adrenaline from the swing had worn off; my heart thumping watching others go first. The crowd cheered, nervous people talked, one guy pacing, wringing his hands, rubbing his face and power breathing. Two jumpers in front of me and I started to shake.
I heard my name. I crawled under the rail and sat with my back to the drop off, a man made small talk while binding my ankles. I asked how he was, “I’m sundek doing fine, I’m not the one about to jump off a bridge, I’m staying right here. Now stand up and turn around.” Oh man! My hair stood on end and electricity shot through my body.
He told me to shuffle forward, right up to the edge. “A little sundek more, keep going until your toes are hanging over. Look up at the horizon. Hold your arms straight out. Take a deep breath. sundek 5,4,3,2,1 GO!” Holy Smoke that Thunders! Instructions were to jump out far, some people s knees just buckled as they collapsed off the edge…followed by a long, lost scream before the crowd went crazy.
I was proud of that one, a giant swan dive, eyes wide open, hurling down, down, down, I mean way down, face-first towards the rushing rapids. My heart rushing sundek rapid, stomach in my chest, scream trapped somewhere inside. What an amazing feeling, then spinning and bouncing and spinning and bouncing, whiplashing like a rag doll. Finally just hanging upside down high above the river, the spinning was never going to stop, all the blood rushed to my head.
I toured the falls here in Zimbabwe, I wanted to see the other side. After immigration and 30 minutes walking in the sun I was soaking in the spray of the falls. A few hours later I was tired, hot, hungry, and thirsty, my double dose of adrenaline long gone. It was a long walk back, there were taxis, but I earned my wings today! sundek A baboon tried to steal my ice-cold Snickers Bar, first the Pringles and now this!
Back on the bridge a brute of a young man was about to bungee, in a wedding dress. I was too tired to stop and stare. Besides, the dress was looking sundek shabby, torn at the shoulder, he wasn t the first to wear it. Come on pal, if you re going to jump off a bridge buy a new wedding dress. That s just tacky! I kept walking, thinking about him hanging upside-down in that dress.
It s getting dark, the elephant is bathed in the soft glow of the lodge lights; his profile perfectly sundek reflected in the water. This lodge is more high class than what I’m used to, but I’m splurging for five days and savoring it. No more searching for animals, now I sip cold drinks while they come to me. Guests armed with cameras and binoculars fill the decks, except early in the morning, I have t

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