Fun at Victoria Falls

I have finally made it back to the world of computers in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. The last week or so has been great:

• We spent 5 days on the beaches of Lake Malawi, a large fresh water lake in Malawi. I went snorkelling, which was amazing. It was like swimming in a large aquarium with thousands of brightly colored cichlids swimming around. The people in Malawi are the nicest people you will ever come across, which considering Malawi is one of the poorest places in the world speaks volumes about them. They were so nice they talked me into buying two hand carved chairs for the low price of $14. The only problem will be shipping them home.
• After Malawi, we headed to Zambia for 3 days on the houseboats of Lake Kariba. This was more of a relaxing stop, with a lot of time spent on the boat watching people play Scrabble and Jenga while sipping on a cool refreshing beverage. A nice diversion from the days spent on the truck.
• From the houseboats we headed to Livingstone (which is on the Zambian side of Victoria Falls) and then to Victoria Falls (on the Zimbabwe side). The falls are amazing, much larger and higher than Niagara Falls. Looking at them from the ground is amazing, but the best view is from a microlight (a hang glider with a motor on the back). The flight was amazing, and also included a flight over a game park where we spotted giraffe, elephants, rhinos and hippos from above. The next day I went to an adrenaline park, where they have abseiling, high wires and a gorge swing. The gorge swing was great. It is basically a rope that is hung across a gorge that is 200 feet deep and attached to your harness. You can either step off the ledge or fall backwards, at which time you freefall for 150 feet and then go into a swing. There is no jerking like a bungy and it is smooth as can be. I bought the DVD of the swing, so I can relive the moment again and again. And if that wasn't enough, today I went for a walk with lions. There is a park where you can walk in the wild with hand reared lion cubs; there are no leashes and they walk amongst the people. The best part is watching their reactions to the environment and the opportunity to pet them when they let you (the teeth and claws are a bit of a worry, but it went well).

From here we head to Chobe National Park, which is home to some 70,000 elephants. Three weeks left on the trip, and so far it has been better than I could have expected.