WEEK SIX 

So we had 3 full days to ourselves in Livingstone and there were plenty of optional activities to choose from - rafting, lion encounters, elephant walks, canoeing, helicopter flights, guided walks through Vic falls and micro light flights. Because I had done several game drives and still have several more to do, I chose against any animal encounters. I booked in to do a guided walk through Vic falls over to Devils Pools and a micro light flight. So on the Monday four of us were at the Victoria falls entrance at 6am for a 630 walk. We met our guide and started the 1km walk over to the devils pools (check it out on you tube!)The side where the pools are located are only accessible with a registered guide as there is no fence or anything to protect you from falling off the cliff! Although it was a relatively short distance, the walk took us a bit over half an hour because it was so rocky and such uneven ground; we even had to trek through water several times. Thankfully we opted to start so early because even by 7am we were working up a sweat! We reached the furthest point we could hike to before the pools. We dropped off all our stuff and stripped down to our bathers and hiking boots (a great look!) and started the swim over. We had to swim up current, diagonally and then let the current push you over to the other end. The noise of the falls was phenomenal and even at the top of the beginning of the falls we had splash back and could feel the mist. 
So we arrived at the rocks surrounding the devils pools and every one of us was freaking out, but excited at the same time. The guide gave us a safety briefing but we could barely hear him over the noise of the falls.  We had the option to climb in or jump in, and I was sure I would be climbing in; until the guide and Dave both jumped straight in and swam to the edge of the falls with no problems! I was a little hesitant at first, but it was so much fun and really got your heart pumping from the adrenaline! After we were all in and sitting on the edge, we then got to hang RIGHT over the very edge of the falls. The photos on Facebook make it look a lot more dangerous than it actually was; we were lying on a huge rock and the guide had a good grip to our ankles. But it was an AMAZING feeling and so liberating! 
We were lucky enough to get to do 2 jumps because we were the first there for the day - any later and you're usually waiting in line to get across. 
From here, we swam back to our belongings and walked back to where we started via the cliff edge; we had some amazing views. We said good bye to our guide at about 930 and decided that because we had paid the park entry of about $20 (locals pay $1.50!!) that we would stay and walk along the opposite side of the falls to where we were. On this side is the 'Boiling Pot' - a decent walk down to the base of the falls. It was a steep walk down with uneven stairs, which wasn't too hard.. The walk back up was another story - this was in the prime of the day, so it was absolutely stinking hot and climbing up the stairs was not much fun! But again, great views from the bottom. 
We finished at the falls shortly after midday and had our micro light flights booked for 3pm. Dave and I had bought a 30 min flight, while Anne and Ed had bought 15 mins. So they went up first and when they landed they had these huge grins on their faces! So Dave and I jumped on in to our micro lights ( you sit directly behind the pilot - there is no cabin, just a seat and a waist belt!). So we took off and headed towards the falls but within 5 mins we were back on the ground as it got too windy =( the takeoff and landing (the best part of any flight) was awesome though! The engine of these things are as big as a C172 yet it only weighs 450kgs, so you can imagine how short the takeoff distance was. The landing was also surprisingly perfectly smooth.. We were coming in and the wind was pushing us all over the runway, yet I couldn't feel the landing. 
So we were given the option to hang around and wait to see if the weather cleared or to come back another day - we decided to try for our last day in Livingstone, in the morning. 

Day two in Livingstone was spent doing not very much. Lounging by the pool and a short visit into town.

On our last day Dave and I went over for our second attempt at the micro light flight. This time we had no problems weather wise! I mentioned to the pilot I was with that I had my commercial license and he was very excited by this! We took off and headed for the falls which was stunning from 1500 ft. Because it was still early and a little cold on the ground (even colder in shorts and a jumper at 1500 ft!) it was a 30 min flight that took me over both the Zambia and Zimbabwe sides of the falls. My pilot even took me through a cloud formed from the mist of splash back from the falls and you could feel the water going through it; it was amazing. From the falls, we then went over a game park and spotted zebra, crocodile and elephant. Then when we were in the middle of nowhere, he let me take over from behind and control the wings - it was difficult! If you wanted to roll left, you had to push the pole right, and to turn rig you had to push the pole left. Then to control speed, it was just through pushing the nose up or down. We did a stall and a spin, it was so much fun! My guide said she had never heard of anyone being allowed to take control, so I felt very special! 
In the afternoon, 4 of us decided to head back to the Vic falls but to visit the bridge that connects the Zambia side to the zimbabwe side. Here you can cross the border without paying the ridiculous visa fees, however you can only get a few hundred metres into Zimbabwe. So we crossed the bridge, stood in 'no mans land' and them watched two guys bungee jump off the 110m high bridge. This is the same bungee bridge that the Aussie girl jumped off late last year and the rope snapped! We spent about an hour and half here before heading back to camp and hanging by the pool playing cards. 

Thursday we had an early start to cross the Zambia-botswana border where we would be spending 6 nights. This was an interesting crossing, involving ferrying the truck across the Zambezi river. We also had to carry a spare pair of shoes with us! This is because the country had a huge foot and mouth disease outbreak and officials believe if people are visibly carrying an extra pair of shoes with them that they have nothing to hide! As we entered Botswana we had to walk over a disinfectant mat and also put our spare shoes over it as well. We have to carry our spare pair of shoes throughout the whole of Botswana. 
We arrived into our camp in kasane, over the chobe river just after midday, and at 3pm we all did an optional boat cruise along the chobe river which separates Namibia and Botswana. It was a 3 hour cruise and we saw elephant, hippos, impala, crocodile and buffalo. 

On Saturday we left early to get to Maun by 9am. At midday we packed 2 speed boats with everything we were going to need for 2 nights of real bush camping in the beautiful delta - tents, chairs, Eskies, crates of food, tables, sleeping bags, mattresses etc etc. We jumped on board for a 45 min ride to the mokoro dock - canoe like boats that are guided by 'polers', which are just locals with a really long pole. Again, we had to unpack the speed boats and watch the locals repack it all into these mokoros, which was fascinating - these narrow boats carrying absolutely everything! 
There were two to a mokoro as well as a poler, so we set off in the boiling hot for a 2 hour cruise. About half an hour into it, we got caught in amongst a thunder storm and it poured extremely heavily. We were absolutely saturated , as well as all our belongings - was not much fun! 
By the time we arrived to our make-shift camp site, it was boiling hot again so our stuff dried pretty quickly. We set up camp,then at 530 we went for a sunset game walk through the Okavango Delta. We came across elephant, zebra, Wilderbeast, and warthog. As usual, we were also treated to a stunning sunset. 

Sunday we left our camp for another game walk. We were told it would take anywhere between 3 to 4 hours. Even at 630, it was bloody hot and by 7 we were all dripping with sweat. The walk was not difficult at all, the sun was just so hot. Unfortunately, we were a little disappointed by the end of the walk as we only saw zebra, Wilderbeast and buffalo. Considering how long we were walking for and how b*****ed we were by the end of it, we had really hoped to see more. 
We spent the afternoon trying our hand at poling (I failed big time!) and swimming in the beautiful crystal clear waters of the delta. 
That evening the Polers put on a little song and dance for us which was really nice - around the Bon fire they were singing traditional tribe songs. We then had to return the favour, which turned out to be a bit of a laugh! 

Xx