October 24th

Another lie in and an opportunity to take advantage of the swimming pool in the African sun was not to be sniffed at. We needed several hours of sun bathing to prepare for our border crossing into Zambia - the $140 price tag was stressful enough but what can be a difficult crossing actually went without a hitch, just another dodgy currency changer man! 150km later and we hit our next campsite in Mamarula- the quality of the showers is definitely getting better the further south we go! This place even had grass... and Sky TV! Apparently the world is still a depressing place (football wise an economically) so we turned that off and concentrated on a new set of beers, this time Zambian. Several bottles of Mosi later and we all hit the sack for the beginning of our next set of early starts.

October 25th

Alarm goes off at 5am - b*****. 580km of driving ahead of us we've finally managed to perfect the art of sleeping through what seems like some of the bumpiest roads the world has to offer, not to mention more poverty and wealth imbalances. It's funny how you become immune to the African world passing by the windows of the truck. What were millions of photo opportunities at the beginning of the trip is now just everyday life, but we were told not to take photos of the beautiful river crossing as apparently it was military land and we didn't want a repeat experience of Dar! We stopped off at an out of town shopping centre in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia and bought some junk food to accompany the very healthy diet we have been privileged to have. The supermarket was strange... there aren't many places in the world where people walk around pushing their trolley with an AK47 slung over their shoulder - it's usually a hand bag!... TIA! Then we went to what was probably the best ice cream parlour we've ever seen! We re-boarded the truck feeling very sick and crawled into our next stop off before Livingstone, in Eureka campsite, just outside of Lusaka. Warned to walk in pairs upon arrival this place had wild game walking through. Spotting the wilder beast and zebra only metres from our tents was another reminder that This Is Africa my friend! The bar was really cool and aloud some more sit back and reflect moments. Of course accompanied by a local tipple... Mosi!

October 26th

Everyone was chomping at the bit to get to Livingstone - land of the hot shower and proper infrastructure, so the early start annoyed nobody. Arriving at the hallowed land was almost biblical in experience... showers with no sand in the bottom and electricity that worked! We had our briefing on all , activities we could do in this tranquil place, from the elaborate to the strange and the motor head orientated (needless to say power boating and helicopter rides were slightly out of budget if we are to last a year) And it was all aboard the sunset wildlife cruise... which is locally, and Lonely Planet, referred to as the booze cruise as the wildlife is scarce and the bar is "all you can drink". Having been told by our feisty host that we will board as guests (on foot) and disembark as cargo (carried off by the crew) we set about eating and drinking as much as we could whilst getting even more sunset photos - don't groan, they're different this time, honest - sunsets look different on the Zambezi river!! We all got off the boat absolutely hammered having seen plenty of hippos to justify the 'wildlife' tag and got the local club opened just for us... we danced for what seemed ages and when someone finally looked at their watch we realised it was still only 9pm! It was an early night... from what I can remember!

October 27th

Well the hangover was not expected but the view of the Zambezi at breakfast (all you can eat!) did help it along. That day we were to be very busy - the list consisted of the swimming pool and a quick walk around Victoria Falls (via a curio shop obviously). The pool was great but Vic Falls is at its lowest so rather than get absolutely soaked on the bridge everyone crosses, we saw breathtaking views of where most of the water usually flows and of course the water flow in the distance. That wonder of the world ticked off the list we headed out for a 'last supper' as half the remaining group was leaving shortly.

October 28th

All you can eat breakfast by the river was becoming a tour highlight - sharing horrible sausages with the local cats also eased our karmas. Today was devils pool day - because Vic Falls' flow is so low it means you are allowed to swim in a sheltered pool at the top of the falls half a metre from the actual drop - describing it wont do how close you are justice really so I'll stop there. A gruelling walk in the heat of the day across where the river usually flows meant the swim across part of the river that is still flowing was very welcome. When we got to the pool we realised we didn't care our previous day's walk was so tame. Jumping in the pool was like jumping over the edge - silly and heart stopping! The guides took all the necessary photos of us sitting on the edge, Vic Falls Rainbow etc but didn't take one of us hanging over the edge held only by our ankles as apparently the local tourist office get upset when these are published online! Photos all done we enjoyed an ice cold beer on the way home whilst Del and I debated the ups and downs of Scottish and English Premiership football. And so to The big game!... Arsenal vs. Spurs… realising the only channel that the bar did not have was the only channel showing Premiership footy was a trip low... getting the text updates minute by minute was a trip highlight... Arsenal 4 Tottenham 4 - another wonder of the world!

October 29th

Having said farewell to Brian, Tanya, Ben, Del and Kim we set off for our one splash of the tour - an afternoon with African elephants... having picked up some other from very posh hotels where their daily chat was based around the formation of the rose petals the maid had left on the bed that afternoon) we arrived at the elephant sanctuary. We were told stories of how one of the female elephants was taken away in the night by a local wild tribe of male elephants. She returned 10 months later pregnant (slut). The owners were really happy because 1. it menant they had new blood line within their tame tribe, and 2. they obviously treat the well for her to want to come back. Other elephants in the tame tribe were rescued from a local cull, so not feeling guilty about the captivity of the elephants we mounted the massive beasts... Nikki chose the 17 year old Manshu with her guide Alex and I was plonked on to of Matinda a 20 year old, 3.5 tonne bull with a very healthy appetite as I was about to fid out! We went for a walk in the bush, crossed river and all sorts of terrain stopping for photos etc in a nice line... all except for Matinda who liked the food on offer usually in the opposite direction we were supposed to be going, much to the dismay of Charles, my guide. At one stage Matinda went for what I can only describe as a drive (stomp) thru... he pulled an entire tree over just to get a chomp of some of the bark and the leaves. At one point it looked like the tree (and this was no small tree) was going to fall right on us as he pulled it over, but at the last second of falling their was a massive crack as it split in half and Matinda re-joined the group pleased as punch with half a tree in his mouth (no wonder local farmers hate these guys - they destroy everything!). Back at the lodge we fed the elephants (Matinda was still hungry enough for me to sit on his knee and throw food into his open mouth when I relayed the command 'trunk up'. We played with the baby - never crouch down to meet a baby elephant at head level as they see it as a challenge and charge you... nice to get that info three seconds before the event! The DVD was cool but not worth $40 so don't worry no extra footage to bore you all with!