Zambia

Monday 7th December 2015 – After breakfast we decamped to the hostel lounge where Alysa posted her blog and I put some apps on the phone. The power went after an hour or so so we went to the mall to get some more fish and veggies for dinner. Cooked on the open fire again in the evening listening to jazz in the candlelight.

Tuesday 8th December 2015 – took a taxi to the InterCity bus station. The driver was late so received GBH of the ear holes from Anita at the hostel. Bus station was chaos. At the kiosk they couldn’t find our reservations despite Alysa pointing our names out on the reservation seating plan twice. In the end we got 2 standby tickets and sat nervously in our reserved seats for the next half an hour wondering if another Alysa and Aaron would appear at the last minute. The bus company was called Shalom so I don’t suppose we should have been too surprised when an itinerant pastor hopped on the bus as it was leaving, delivered a moving 10 minute sermon on the merits of mothers-in-law, passed round a hat for donations and hopped off again. Nor perhaps should we have been surprised to spend the next 7 hours of the journey being played videos of mad-eyed 1970’s US tele-evangelists singing hymns. Suitably brainwashed we arrived in Livingstone and booked into a dorm at Jollyboys hostel.

Wednesday 9th December 2015 – halfway through cooking dinner power went off but staff kindly let us use their kitchen which had gas hobs to finish. Watched Arsenal beat Olympiakos to reach knockout stages of Champions League.

Thursday 10th December 2015 – Excited as we are seeing Victoria Falls today. We take a tour to Devils Pool right on the edge of the falls. Because there is a lip to the pool so you can lay on the edge without going over whilst the guide holds your ankle. After this we hiked down to the Boiling Pot which is the first set of rapids below the waterfall. On the way down there were lots of baboons including one or two rather large ones on the path who we gingerly went around. Enough excitement; we headed to the Royal Livingstone Hotel for some true colonial style relaxation. Royal Tea (served from 3pm to 5pm) on the veranda consisted of a glass of chilled sparkling wine followed by tea and as many cucumber sandwiches, scones and slices of homemade cake as you can stuff down. Meanwhile we watch the Zambezi flow gently towards the falls whilst the occasional Zebra ambles past on the lawn.