Zambia: Day 4…a day to relax

I think it’s safe to say that after a big day of white water rafting, we were all ready for a little relaxing on Thursday.  So we slowly got up in the morning, had breakfast, and then went to do various things (me work on my blog, Ron and Matt rummage around the truck, Anya doing some cleaning).  And then, we decided to go bungee jumping.

Just another simple relaxing day…

Okay, I can’t lie.  Anya and I had NO desire to bungee, but the boys did.  So we once again walked back across the Zambia/Zimbabwe border to the old bridge where they do the bungee jump.  111 meter jump.  Over the Zambezi river.

There is no WAY you could get me to do that.  But Matt really wanted to, and Ron, although afraid of heights, felt the challenge compelling him, so off they went.

I’m not sure if you have ever been in the presence of a loved one strapped to a nylon strap and tied down to a bungee, getting ready to jump off of a bridge but let me tell you, it gets your heart stopping.  Nevertheless, ever the cheerleader am I, I stood there and watched as my husband swan-dived into the air. 

And then I heard him shrieking at the bottom with exhilaration and I knew that he loved it.  Whew! I can breathe a little better now!!

Okay, one down.  Next up, Ron.

Poor guy.  He looked pale and as though he were on his death march.  Anya kept trying to get him to look up at her for a photo and the look on his face simply said, “leave me ALONE.”  I honestly wondered if he would go through with it.  My stomach was in knots for him.  But as the guys strapping him up counted down, off he went.  He did it!

Once the boys were un-strapped from their bungees and had a beer in their bellies, I took on the challenge of the wire slide.  Simply put, you’re strapped to a harness and slide on a cable across the Zambezi River, at about the same height you jump off the bridge for bungee.  That was just plain fun.  Not scary or adrenaline-pumping, but just a fun ride across the sky.

Okay, cool.  We’ve accomplished some daredevil activities for the day.  I think we can slow things down a bit.

Now time for our helicopter ride!!

We arranged for a 30 minute helicopter ride for the afternoon to see the falls and the topography of the land.  We had been told this was definitely something we should do while in Zambia.  It was incredible.  We flew around the falls, and then the pilot took us through the gorge, the same gorge we rafted the day before.  We saw 4 of the rapids we rode through, although this time it was a much different perspective. 

Elephants grazing on "Elephant Island"

We also saw a few elephants and some hippos as we flew over the landscape!  It was so neat to see these guys from above.  It seemed so peaceful and simplistic.

Flying over Rapids 7

A view of Victoria Falls from above

Yep, so for a relaxing and chill “low key” day, I’d say we did pretty well.