Hi all,

Apologies for the delay - will try and write a couple today. We have a spare, chilling day which we don't often have, so will take advantage!

Following on from my last blog at Antelope Park, we watched lion feeding which was pretty amusing. We were behind a wire mesh fence with dead animals and guts a metre in front of us. Then male adult lions were let into the enclosure and sprinted towards the food. Even though the fence was in front of us, we all still jumped back, especially when the lions launched at us (they really don't like cameras!). In the evening, we then went on a night encounter, where we were in safari vehicles following two adolescent males learning how to stalk and kill game. It was really interesting going out for a game drive in the pitch black - the lions did chase after a gazelle, but unfortunately (or fortunately depending on the different perspectives!) the gazelle was too smart for the poor lions. It was quite amusing though, as one of the horses had escaped the paddock and gone for a walk in the game park, so our guides all sprinted out of the vehicles to protect the horse from the lions. Brave men!!

Altogether, Antelope Park was really cool and a great experience - if you ever make it to Zim, definitely go there! From here we drove to Bulowayo and visited Mutombo National Park. We went for a drive to stalk game and see rhinos. Even though we were told we had a 90% chance of seeing rhinos, we didn't see any at all which was really disappointing. It was fun though, as the guide was so enthusiastic whilst we were tracking and trying to stalk animals. It was one of the most disappointing days of the trip, but never mind!

Our next stop was Vic Falls for an adventurous few days...our first night a couple of us just randomly got drunk, went out for a drunken meal, then carried on getting drunk sitting on the back of the truck - it was such a random night, but lots of fun. I refused to join the others in the bungi jumps, opting to be the official photographer instead, but decided to do the gorge swing, flying fox and zipline the next day instead. The flying fox and zipline were fun, as they weren't scary, whereas the gorge swing was terrifying. You launched yourself off the cliff, free fall for 100m and then go out into a swing. I actually thought I was going to die during the first couple of seconds of free fall, but then the swing part was fine. My second go doing a tandem one was better as I had someone to grab onto, but I'm glad I proved I'm still hardcore at the grand old age of 29!! I think there are some photos on facebook if you want to see them.

We ended off our stay at Vic Falls going to view the Falls from the Zim side, and having cocktails at a posh, colonial hotel. With viewing the Falls from both sides, I prefer the views from the Zambian side, but the Zim side is probably more fun, as you get drenched and get really close to the Falls. We also had a close encounter with warthogs that randomly decided to walk through a car park which was funny and very random!

I really enjoyed Zim - the people were so friendly and grateful that you were there, as tourism has really suffered. The only downside was that it rained loads, so I'm starting to get fed up of camping and always being damp, but not much longer :)