Vic Falls: 1; Camera: 0

DAY 7

In order to cross the border from Botswana to Zambia, there is a ferry that takes people and trucks across the Zambezi River. Its only about a distance of 500 meters so it seems strange they don’t build a bridge to increase efficiency, but I suppose it’s another case of TIA. Trucks trying to get their goods across the border are lined up to take the ferry across for miles. A truck has to wait in line for several weeks or months just for a chance to get across. Luckily, pedestrian vehicles (such as our truck) are able to cut to the front of the line and we only waited about 20 minutes. Once on the Zambian side, however, we had to sit and wait about an hour before they could take us through customs. As soon as we got off the ferry people rushed over trying to sell us bracelets or small trinkets in exchange for shirts, shoes, or hair ties. Believe it or not, plain hair ties are a highly desired item and are used almost as a form of currency when trading at the marketplace.

After we got cleared through customs, we had about an hour drive to the campsite. It was nice because we would be staying at this campsite for the remainder of the trip so we were really able to settle into our tents. The first thing we did was go to see Victoria Falls from the Zambia side. A majority of the falls are located in Zimbabwe, but you can still see about 30 percent from Zambia. Realizing we were going to a waterfall, we took precautions such as wearing our bathing suit under our clothes and putting our cameras into plastic Ziploc bags. At least, we thought we were prepared. As soon as we started getting close you could feel the moisture from the falls in the air. By the time we entered the park, you would have thought we were caught a torrential thunderstorm. The best way to describe it is it felt like someone was pouring a bucket of water over my head, but it didn’t stop for 45 minutes. At one point we were crossing this bridge and water was flowing down the stairs like a river. My contacts got filled with water and I was blindly led across by Rachel. When we got to the other side we couldn’t find the rest of the group and we spent a good twenty minutes roaming around the falls trying to find our way out. Every now and then, however, the back-spray from the falls would subside and you could catch a glimpse of Vic Falls. It was absolutely stunning. The sheer amount of water that was falling over the edge made me feel so powerless and small.

We climbed to the top and watched the sun set over Vic Falls that evening. The only downside to the whole situation was my camera didn’t make it out alive. Somehow water leaked into my plastic bag and… Vic Falls: 1; Camera: 0. Luckily my memory card wasn’t damaged so I’ll still be able to post pictures!