Victoria Falls.

Livingstone, Zambia- home of Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

We took the free shuttle from our hostel to the national park. We paid for the expensive foreigner ticket. And then we walked into the park.

el grupo in front of part of the falls.
Nick, me, Sam, Sean, and Jeff.

The walk started out pretty tame. See above? Yeah, pretty tame.

But we kept walking. And then life got good.

The Bridge. Or
That Pivotal Moment When You Decide You Wanted to Get Wet Anyways.

My god, those falls were something else.

I don't think I've ever seen anything that powerful in my life.

It was so loud. It was so big. It was so wet. It was exhilarating.

The mist was insane- it just pelted you with little bullets of water.

Part of the falls through the mist.

There were two trails--one that was closer to the falls and one that was a bit further away from the water. I took the closer one.

I got soaked. And I loved it. You can barely see anything--but you get to experience everything. You just keep wiping your face off with your hand--and every once in a while, the mist will clear for two seconds, and you can see the falls. Like, really see the falls. 

There was this one time I stood on a rock behind a wooden fence in front of the falls and screamed. And nobody could hear me. In a way, it was incredibly liberating. There's really no hypocrisy in that kind of alone-ness. You say whatever you want to say. In a way, it was also pretty unnerving. You fall off the ledge--you. are. toast. Good news: nobody can hear what you say. Bad news: nobody can hear what you say.

Somewhere between that and wringing my shirt out in a deserted little grove of trees, I decided that I was going to bungee-jump off of the Victoria Falls bridge the next day.

I had lost the rest of the group, so I went on a little run through one of the trails to find them. I said, "I'm going to go bungee-jumping tomorrow."

Mostly, I said it so that I wouldn't chicken out once tomorrow came. You go back on a statement like that, you feel like an idiot and a scaredy-cat.

Then I got to work on getting Jeff to do it with me. He said, "Maybe."

I thought, "Uh-oh. I might be on my own on this one."

soaked.
out of the water for a bit.  

Part of the ravine.

Sam and I.
Victoria Falls Bridge in the background.

We explored the top part of the falls as well. I know there has got to be a technical term for that. I just can't remember it right now. Dang it.

There were a ton of baboons, just chilling out up there.

When I was a little girl, my dad used to take my brother and me to the zoo. Anyways, ever since that one time I watched some ill-fated baboons pick each other's butts in the John Ball Zoo, I've found them rather eughhh. Just like that. And honestly, real-life African baboons are no exception. I stayed as far away as possible.

Baboons.
Okay, so maybe the baby ones aren't quite as ugly.
But let's get real here, a baby anything is hardly ever that repulsive.

David Livingstone walked right up to the edge of the falls and peered down. It's kind of a cool idea at first--and then you realize that you're not quite ready to die just yet.

There was this picture there (Maybe in the museum? A sign? I can't remember where I saw it) of some random dude who stuck half his body over the falls. First of all, who does that? And secondly, who does that?!? Maybe he did it when the water level was low or something.

I am not an idiot and so I did not stick half of my body over the falls.

Edge of the falls.
Please note my absence in this photo.

Right before the edge of the Falls.
Pretty calm, ay?

It was a pretty epic little jaunt, to say the least. Absolutely unbelievable. We walked around the park some more, I got soaked again, and then we headed out of the gates.

There was this outdoors market right next to the little museum. Jeff and Sean just went to town in this market. They wanted souvenirs and gifts, and plus, they like bartering. 

I tried looking around for all of ten seconds before I gave up and just sat outside on the curb. 

The Market from Afar. Or
The Market as Observed by a Wary American Girl.

Why? I guess first of all, I  hardly ever buy souvenir-y type stuff, especially if I have to pack it around. Plus, I was trying to not spend money. And finally, I hate bartering. I won't do it unless it's something I really really want. And that really doesn't happen too often, all things considered.

If you know you're not going to buy something, browsing merchandise is far more of a hassle than it's worth. Here's the thing, you can't just browse merchandise in a market like that in Africa. People will try desperately to make you buy something. And if you shake your head and keep walking, you will feel...well, I guess it's different for everybody. 

But as a second-week newbie in Africa, I felt somewhat like a heartless child killer with a soul of stone. Not worth it. 

I decided I would rather just sit on the curb. So that's exactly what I did, while my clothes slowly finished drying off in the sun. It wasn't bad, not bad at all.