Our Extreme Morning

We started our Zambia adventure by doing a half day abseil package. That meant we got picked up in a crazy open sided truck at our hotel, drove about 15 minutes and then met the guys who would have our lives in their hands for the next few hours.


We did an activity called the Flying Fox. We got harnessed up and then they told us to run until we hit the green line and then we had to dive!

I have to say it was pretty cool. We got to do it twice so we could get the feel for it the first time then really get a good run the second time. We flew high over the gorge. It was pretty cool. From there we went to rappel into the gorge. I had never rappelled before so the 30 second tutorial was great. They had us lean off the safe side of the platform in our harness and rope, he said sit back, now push off and release rope. Well I did a little but if I released any more I'd be on my behind on the dirt so I chose to just learn on the fly.

This was the scariest time for me. Leaning back over a 150 foot + drop scared me a lot. But I didn't look down and kept pushing off the wall until I hit rock bottom :)

All smiles at the bottom. After this we hiked over to do the Gorge Swing. But that will be a post on its own. I got some video of one of our group doing it and some great snapshots of me taking the plunge.

Thanks for checking in.... more to come from Zambia.

Sunset Cruise

Our first night in Zambia we opted to relax for the afternoon, have a drink and lunch on the patio and then hop on the hotel's boat for a sunset river cruise. It was a small but rowdy crowd on the boat. Our group of 6 grabbed the tables up front for an amazing view of the river, it's animals and the sunset.

Here are the Zambia 6 as we called ourselves..... not really, but it was a fun group to travel with.

We saw some crocodiles along the river, a monkey, some birds, but our favorite animal of the night was the hippo. These animals we learned are very dangerous and fast. They kill thousands of people every year in Africa and are not to be messed with. We saw about ten this night, including a mom and baby climbing out of the water after sundown. It was a truly cool thing to witness. The animals can stay under for 5 minutes at a time so it was hit and miss keeping track of them.

One of the best things of the cruise was free drinks! and a three course snack. This place did it right. We enjoyed the guide, Webster, who told us all about the river, the history and the animals. It was a great initiation to Zambia for our group.

Here is our great ride. We met some really cool people from the US and England. It was a wonderful first night. It let us relax, see some nature, and learn some culture and history about our host country.

We grabbed some dinner after the cruise and rested up for our extreme morning that was to come, but that is another blog.

Welcome to Zambia

After a short flight from Johannesburg we arrived in Livingstone, Zambia. We waited for 15 minutes in line to pay $50 for our visa. Our bags were waiting for us and so was our shuttle driver. He informed us we had about a 25 minute drive to the hotel. We were pumped to be here and ready for some time off of work.

While at the airport I thought it would be a good idea to get some local currency, although we were not aware o the conversion rate versus the dollar. I went to the ATM and saw that my options were 10,000, 20,000, 50,000 or 100,000 +. Knowing it was a tourist town I was timid to get 100,000 so I opted for 20,000. One one of the guys I was with had an iPhone and he pulled up the currency converter. After a minute of waiting and some nerves about how much money I might have just taken out of my account, he informed me that I had just taken out $4.12. The lucky thing was that Zambia accepted US dollars, Euros, South African Rand, and more. It was a very easy country to get around in, sight see and shop. English is the native language and there is little corruption and crime. We felt safe the entire time we were there.

We arrived at our hotel and were greeter with a hand washing and a refreshing beverage while we got checked in.

We got checked in and took in some views of the hotel and the surrounding area. It was a beautiful lodge type hotel, with great rooms, great decks and great views. Oh, an some of the best drinks and food I have ever found at a hotel. All in all it was a great find for our hotel. It was located in the heart of a national park so we were advised to not go outside the fence around the hotel after 6pm. Elephant, hippos and more were known to be found in the area around the hotel. It was such a neat experience to know that these animals were all around us and we were truly in their world. Here's some pics of our hotel.



Well that's it for tonight. I have at least 5 or 6 more blogs to do from my trip to Zambia. I am excited to share the rest of my journey with you. Check back soon!