Zimbabwe (home for Pita and Teddy) and Zambia

Our first real stop in Zim was at a farm called the ‘Antelope Park’. Here we got to a lion walk with three 18 month old lion cubs. There were two girls and a boy. On a number of occasions I went up to two of the cubs and when I was not looking the third cheeky girl would charge up behind me. Thank god for the keepers’ intervention. Part of the reason that she did this was because I was obviously scared of them. As they walked you could see the muscles rippling under there coats. You had to respect these magnificent creatures.
The following day we went for a horse riding safari. We didn’t see any of the big five, but we did see a lot of game and had a great ride. My horse Princess was little but gorgeous. That night Teddy made us the African staple none in South Africa as ‘pup’. It is made from corn meal and looks like mash potatoes but with a thicker consistency. You take a bit and roll it in your hand before dripping it into you stew. It doesn’t have a lot of flavour by itself but I really liked it. That night Pita sat us around the fire and told us about the African way of life. You are not allowed to date but still have to choose a wife, usually without really knowing them. The family does not find divorce an acceptable option. If you make a reasonable wage any extra money is used to support those in your family less fortunate. The male in the household makes the final decisions. It was very interesting, very different and definitely not the way for me.
We drove further north in the search of Rhino’s, which we found but still only at a long distance. Though we did see some ancient cave paintings that were bizarre and mind-boggling to think people stood in this same space throughout the last 50,000 years drawing and seeing what I was seeing.
The next stop was Victoria Falls. The falls themselves are stunning in their magnitude and if you want to get close enough to look at them on foot prepare to get wet. We were drenched in seconds from the back spray at the top of the falls.
In the evening I went on an elephant ride. My elephant, Tandia, was pregnant and due to give birth in only 3 months. It was a lovely safari ride but again we didn’t see many animals.
One night we went for a cruise on the Zambezi via the Zambia side, which ended in a drum session. Playing the drums was huge amount of fun, but my ability was sadly lacking.
I joined Emina, Wobbie, Kath and Forester in white water rafting the Zambezi form rapid 1 to 25 (excluding 9 which were just too crazy to ride). Forester our guide looked a little terrified when he realised he was getting us four girls as his crew. Most places you start on an easy rapid, like a grade two. But not on the Zambezi, you start on a grade 5, the highest rating for a commercial rapid. Forester was a little concerned when we could not even paddle our way into the first rapid. In our defence we didn’t actually realise that is what we wanted to do. It was such a buzz when we finally got in there and you could see these massive waves that you where heading straight for. On about rapid five I was literally flipped out of the boat. But I held on the safety rope and was pulled in fast so it was all OK. The boat behind us, with the boys in it, had flipped three times by rapid 14. Yep, we were feeling a little cocky until we hit the grade 5, rapid 15 called the washing machine. I thought we had made it through when suddenly there was a humongous wave in front of us. When I could see Wobbie, how was sitting in front of me, still in the boat but at the same time directly above me, I knew we where goners. I remember finding myself under the water, looking up seeing yellow, thinking I have to come up soon. In what seemed like minutes I waited then suddenly I popped up along way from the boat. I started to swim, but I felt completely useless against the current, as my strokes were getting me know where, but I suddenly found that I was not alone that Wobbie and Kath were with me. Forester through us a rope from the boat and pulled us over fast. He quickly pulled me and Wobbie in. Kath was stuck. I looked down stream and the next lot of rapids were almost upon us. With an extra hard heave Kath was in the boat, but Forester fell out backwards. Shit!!! We are in grade 3 rapids without the oars or a guide. So we just held on. Forester got himself back in. At the finish of that rapid we realised that we didn’t know where Emina was. She had taken a hit to the head and was picked up by the safety raft. It was relatively smooth sailing after that but we were all abit shaken and very tired by the end. But it was well worth it. What a rush!!!

The following day Emina and I had to say goodbye to our old truck crew and hello to the new crew.