Free Fall Friday

 Day 32

Freefalling Friday! Today was awesome. This morning we had an opportunity to do whatever we wanted to do in Livingstone. Many had made plans the night before. A large group went on a helicopter ride over the falls and another group went horseback riding and still another group went to the markets to shop all morning. These activities did not sound to entertaining to me, or were too expensive. So I decided to find something I wanted to do that fit the time constraints. This morning after eating a wonderful breakfast at the hotel with Dr. Tullos and Ian I went to the front lobby area and booked a half day adrenalin packaged with a high wire company outside of Livingstone. Because most everyone else had plans already, only Tessa and I went.

Our driver was 30 mins late which was frustrating because of our limited time, but the workers were very accommodating. We arrived and within 10 minutes we were repelling down a huge gorge wall! What was super cool about this experience is there were only three other tourists there. So we had the whole place to ourselves this morning. We met a girl named Nichole, who took pictures for us. After both of us repelled down the cliff, we followed this awesome scenic trail through and up the gorge. It was an incredible view. Out next high wire adventure is called The Flying Fox.

The flying fox is a zip line that is stretched out across the gorge. You are harnessed superman style, and you run and jump off the edge of the cliff and fly to the other side! And then they pull you back. You get and incredible view again and you get to do it twice! The flying fox was a very cool experience. I could do it over and over again.

The next and final high wire experience is the gorge swing. The gorge swing is where you fall off the edge of a cliff and then free fall for 54 meters till you are swung our across the gorge. This was the most adrenaline pumping experience of the day. Tessa was extremely scared to go on it, and at the beginning of the day, she was convinced that she would not go on it, but she did. During the process then teach you how to fall, and you do a few practice falls. Because of our time restriction we went tandem because Tessa didn’t think she could do it by herself, and we would really be pushing the time if we went individually. Once we got to the edge and started to slowly back off the edge one step at a time, Tessa started to get scared, but the guy who was working was super nice and talked her all the way through it and she did it. “Tessa, I’m not going to make you jump, but I see a thumbs up in your eyes” That was part of what he told her. He was great, very professional. I was very impressed by all the staff there. Once Tessa got it back together we went and leaned back and fell off the cliff backwards. It was awesome. The free fall was so much fun. We swung back and forth till we came to a stop and were lowered down to the bottom of the gorge. Then we hiked back up and headed back into town to pay.

Our paying experience was frustrating. The machine took forever to connect to the network, but we eventually paid and made it back in time to leave with the group to Victoria Falls. Victoria Falls was incredible again! Now that it was day light you could see the mighty falls. It was incredible. We all got soaked as water rained down on us as it splashed high up into the air. God is good. His creation is amazing. I don’t think I could ever get tired of looking at Victoria Falls. The power and size is just incredible. I loved it.

At the falls there are many shops where you can buy African items from the village. This experience was very frustrating though because all the shops had the same things, nothing I wanted. They owners are very pushy, saying anything to get you to come over and listed. They talk forever about everything and they pull all sorts of guilt trips to try to convince you to buy there junk. So I bought nothing. Many of the group bought items, but I just didn’t see anything I liked.

After the falls we went to our Sunset Cruise at the David Livingstone. The cruise takes you on the Zambezi River where you can seem some wild life and eventually the sun set. It was a relaxing experience. It was nice to sit and visit with friends, and eat interesting snacks that were provided. After the cruise our night was pretty much finished.

Tomorrow is our last day in Livingstone! Though I have enjoyed my time here in Livingstone I am very much ready to be back in the Havens with the babies. Thank you for all your prayers. Continue to pray for safe travel as we head back to Namwinga tomorrow.

Thank you

Ben