Two must do’s while you’re in Zambia and Zimbabwe are Devil’s Pool and Bungee jumping off Victoria Falls Bridge. My favorite out of the two would have to be Devils Pool, because it is unlike anything you’ll ever do. Zambia and Zimbabwe both border Victoria Falls, however, you can only do Devils Pool in Zambia. Since we wanted to experience the falls from both sides, we bought a dual visa for both Zimbabwe and Zambia for 50 U.S dollars.
We scheduled Devils Pool for 7:30am and it was the perfect way to start our day. We got picked up from the Royal Livingstone Hotel, and traveled by boat about 5 minutes to get to Devil’s Pool. Once we got on land, we walked down a path and were told to leave our valuables (besides our cameras) and strip down to our bathing suits. Our guide scaled the edge of the falls while we were told to swim across the river against the current. Once we made it across, we had to hike on slippery rocks before we finally got to Devil’s Pool!
It was pretty cold out so we jumped in as soon as we could, and were instantly comforted by the warm water and insanely incredible views. The current pushed us to the very edge of the falls, and then we were stopped from going over the edge by a massive rock. Our guide let us sit on the rock, and he even let us inch over the edge of the falls to look completely over while he held our ankles. It was CRAZY. Adrenaline kicked in and I was not scared at all, it was pure happiness and excitement.
We took our pictures and then swam back across the river where we were greeted with towels and a delicious breakfast. Overall the whole experience lasted 1.5 hours, but it was so unique and amazing. It is definitely number 1 in my book for things to do in Zambia!
Bungee jumping in between two countries was definitely something I never thought I’d do. I actually was 95% sure I wasn’t going to do it, but then I made my friend Carolyn jump first, and eventually after a solid hour of debating I said, “Fuck it” – I’m so glad I did!
There’s not much to say about bungee jumping. It’s scary as hell and the people working there don’t have the patience for you to come to grips with jumping off of a bridge, so they basically nudge you as close as they can to the edge, even though you’re saying “wait wait wait wait” over and over again. Then they say “you can’t wait, don’t wait” and you say “ok ok ok” and then they count you down from 5. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1- screams all the way down and until the man rescued me from my spinning bungee cord of a death trap. It was fucking crazy and I would definitely do it again. Free falling is the craziest feeling. Maybe I’ll sky dive next ?
Carolyn and I, and our guide!
Getting held by my ankles so I could look over the edge
Bungee jumping off of the famous Victoria Falls Bridge!
