Thursday, June 18, 2009

Best of Africa - Zambia & Zimbabwe

(May 15th - 24th, 2009)

3. Zambia and Zimbabwe (and the train ride)

As I have mentioned on my last posting, when I was in Tanzania, I’ve decided to skip the trip to Malawi and stay in Zanzibar longer than the overland group. After 2 weeks enjoying my well deserved (it was really well deserved) break in Kendwa Beach, I had to catch a 3 days train ride to Zambia to meet up with the truck again in order to continue with my Best of Africa trip.

The train was a real “African” train (I do not like labeling things but unfortunately I cannot find a better way to describe it now) and the journey was just unbelievable. During those 3 days, we were riding inside game parks and spotting many wild animals and making regular stops in little villages where the locals would come to our windows to sell us all types of food. It was also very good to be able to spend a lot of time chatting with other travelers and locals on board. Indeed a very interesting culture-exchange opportunity!

On May 18th, I arrived in Lusaka (Zambia) and joined the overland group again. It was great to reunite with all of them. Next morning we headed to Livingstone (Zambia), where we had 4 free days to do whatever we wanted and/or could afford.

There, I did the “Elephant Trail”, where I was riding BOP, this massive 7 tons animal, for about one and a half hours. It is amazing how a creature that heavy can be so gentle and sensitive. It was a very special experience!

I also did a microlight flight over the Victoria Falls, and as you will be able to see from the pictures I got, it was breathtaking. Of course I would not miss the bungee jump experience as well. I’m always looking for some adrenaline fix and I guess throwing myself out of a 111m/365ft bridge was a great way to get it…

After Livingston we went to Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) and there we had few more free days. I decided to spend those days more involved with the locals and their regular activities. I joined our hotel hostess’ in her projects with the street kids, learned a lot about the Lion Alert’s great mission (lionalert.org) , took drumming classes, and just had a blast hanging out with the local girls while having manicure and pedicure :) ...

Here are some photos from this part of the trip. I hope you will enjoy it!




2 comments:

  1. sua doida!!!! bungee jump is too much!!!! hahahaha! fiquei sem ar só vendo o filminho! hahaha. beijos e saudades amiga, carol

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  2. It's very strange that I just came across this post! That was a cool train ride though!

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