Bungee Jumping & Botswana!

Soon after my last post, I took the plunge off a 111-meter bridge at Victoria Falls bungee jumping! I wasn't scared until my toes were on the edge ... I had a brief moment of hesitation ... but did a swan dive off the bridge to be welcomed by a rainbow over the Zambezi River as I bounced by my ankles. Jumping was exhilarating and beautiful; my stomach was in knots for days afterward and even now when I think about it I get a mini-adrenaline rush. After jumping, one of my new travel buddies, Kia, gave me a little Zambezi river necklace carved from the same stone Victoria Falls and the Zambezi River are formed from. Later that afternoon, Bryan and I took flight over the falls in microlights, which was an incredible experience in itself- what a view! Our time in Zambia and Victoria Falls wasn't over yet... we were incredibly fortunate to be at the falls during the Lunar Rainbow on our last night there (what timing!). After the full moon had risen, we returned to the falls after dark to see rainbows forming over the cascades- from moonlight refracting on the water droplets. Bryan figured out how to set my camera on slow exposure, so I was actually able to get a couple (dark) pictures of the lunar rainbow.

The next day we headed to Botswana. After a complicated border crossing (ferry issues across the Zambezi and border issues with the overland vehicle), we arrived in Chobe National Park in time to go on an evening boat trip around the wetlands on the Zambezi River. Hippos, Nile Crocodiles, and beautiful birds were everywhere. The next morning we woke up early to go on an early game drive in Chobe, where we were very lucky to see a leopard with its kill up a tree. Leaving Botswana briefly, we headed into Namibia to take a shortcut and drive through Caprivi National Park, then back into Botswana to get into the Okavango Delta! To get to our camp in the delta, we were on motorized boats for an hour, zipping through wetlands full of hippos and crocs. Although it was nice to get to camp early, I much prefer quieter sailboats and kayaks- the motorized boat scared so much of the wildlife. That night at our camp in the Delta, we heard elephants feeding on and pulling down trees- they sounded so close ... I got a little scared when one trumpeted! :-) The next day was one of my favorites in Africa! We spent the day in mokoros, dug-out canoes used by Botswana fishermen in the delta. Mokoros are shaped like canoes, by are moved by a poler- a man who stands behind two passengers in the mokoro with a tall pole pushing off the bottom to propel us forward through the water and reeds. The day was so relaxing and beautiful, gliding through the delta with water lilies surrounding us! The only time I got a little harried was when we were in an area thick with papyrus, I heard a hippo surface very near but couldn't see it; our poler was cautious and propelled us toward another direction quickly. During the day we saw elephants and beautiful water birds – we felt very fortunate to be spending time in the Okavango Delta. That night at camp, a local traditional dance group came to perform- it was interactive and Bryan and I soon found ourselves grooving with the Botswanans! We had a great time dancing and laughing that night! The following morning we caught a short 45-minute flight in a bush plane over the Okavango Delta, spotting elephants, giraffes, and hippos from the air. The next couple days were pretty uneventful, with a long drive across the vast Kalahari Desert, eventually crossing over the border into South Africa.