Devil’s pool, life on the edge

August 17, 2024

Today I didnt set an alarm because I didnt need to be the border until 1030am so I was planning on taking my time. However, when I got out of the shower at 845am the housekeep were at my door saying that John said I am ready to go. I told her no, but I would be ready soon and would let her know. He is the one who gave me the time to be ready, so why I need to be ready almost two hours early is weird.

I finished my last bit of packing, at breakfast and headed to the office. The housekeeper and another staff member went to get my bags. I asked John how much I owed him for the last two days and my shuttle ride for today. He told me to pay what I think – well I think $20 – but I also know I cant do that. I already gave him $60 for a deposit (he never offered it back) – but since they did my laundry (he said $10 for the laundry – that was a steal!) there was only $50 left. I decided on $120 for the last two days and my drop off today. He agreed to stop at a bank so I could get more cash (because again USD is king here). I had to get smaller bills once the ATM gave me cash – because they give you $100 bills, but no one has change of course.

After I got my cash we headed to my new hotel. I dropped my bags off since my room wasnt ready and then we headed to the border. John dropped me off at the passport control office. I paid him and went inside on my own. Through passport control I hailed a cab to take me across the bridge so I didnt have to deal with Zam’s asking if I wanted to buy anything. (they sell copper bracelets because there are so many copper mines in Zam)

I got to Zam by 10am and I had an hour to kill before my hike. I paid the park but no one was in the excursion office for me to pay for my hike. I started to walk to the entrance and the shop owners got me. I spent like 20 minutes talking to five different shop owners. I was annoyed. I decided to leave them and go into the park early. Maybe the lady at the tablet/umbrella can help me.

The girl was very kind and ran back to the office to get the card reader, beacuse she doesnt get heckled by the shop owners. I paid and the other two girls on the hike arrived right on time. The hike wasnt bad to start. I am doing the hike in slides – the girls and guides have shoes of some sort, but I wasnt willing to get my shoes wet – because we do have to cross some water to get there. All of a sudden it stunk so bad and we came upon a dead hippo rotting, so that was nasty.

After the hippo it just got more interesting. We would have to wade through water to keep moving along. The rocks were a bit slippery so we all had to hold hands to cross the water. We had two guides, one in the front and one in the back of the group. It took about 45 minutes to walk across. Once we were on the island I changed into my swim suit for the devil’s pool portion.

We learned we had to actually SWIM and one of the girls wasnt a great swimmer. It wasnt a bad swim though, but you could feel the strong current. They had ropes in the water that you had to swim to so you wouldnt get swept away. Writing this it sounds super dangerous and I think if you didnt listen it would be – but you should all be proud because I did exactly what they asked. Once we got to the last rope, you had to grab the current (while holding the rope) and get to this cluster of rocks. You climbed the rocks and then they said “ok slide down” well it wasnt that far from the edge, but they assured us we wouldnt go over.

I went first, slipped right into the water and was right on the edge. They told me I couldnt pick up my legs – they had to stay in the seated position. If you pick them up they could take you over. They take photos of you (and I brought my Insta360) while two guides hold your legs and another takes the pictures. They cut the guides out so it looks like you are just hanging off the edge. IT IS SO CRAZY. They even have you get right up to the edge and look over. It was like nothing I ever have experienced before and I know I wont have that opportunity again.

After we each had a turn at the edge they said “ok, lets go,” to which I responded “no! we want more time!” So they let us stay for another 15-20 minutes to play by the edge.

When it was finally time to go the one who took our photos tossed a rope and pulled us back to the rocks and had us climb up. How anyone ever figured out you could go sit at the edge of these falls – I will never know. We had to swim back to shore, this was a bit harder because we were farther down in the current. It meant we had to swim harder and directly into the current but we all made it. We went to get out of our suits and I was first. I took the opportunity to ask the guide if I could go over to the angels pool because it was dried up. He guided me over and I asked if he would take my picture at the edge. I took my sandals off and scooted to the edge. The picture doesnt even look like I am at the top, but I am 100 meters above the water at the bottom of the picture.

When we were all back together we started our hike back. I slipped and jammed (or maybe fractured) my middle toe on the left foot (it was instantly blue and swelling). I also slipped later on and have a nice bruise on my arch on the right foot. We got back to the park and I walked out with the girls so I wouldnt be alone with the shop owners. The girls had a shuttle and I just walked back to the passport control on the Zam side and hired a taxi to take me back to Zim. (it is only $5 for the ride across)

Once at the Zim passport control office I had to fill out the customs paperwork again and got in line to get my visa. Of course it was shift change so it took over 30 minutes to get through this time. Once I was through I got another taxi to take me to the hotel, this time it was $8 (he didnt have change so I gave him $10).

I was able to check in when I got back to the hotel. They brought my bags to the room and it was a very nice room – big and clean!

At 245pm I headed over to the lobby for our day one briefing for the trip. (this trip is a 14 day tour, but day one is just a briefing and day 14 is just shuttle service to the airport if you arranged that.) Our group is a full bus of 16 people – we have a couple from Portland, a friend couple from Aussie, four Danes, six Italians and a girlfriend from Belgium.

Our guide is Noel (spelled like Christmas but rhymes with bowl) he is SUPER cool already. He talks us through the itinerary and tells us we are not even leaving until 2pm tomorrow. That means I can arrange to zipline in the morning! Right after the meeting I head to the activities office to schedule that zipline.

I decided to stay at the hotel for the rest of the night and relax again because tomorrow starts the camping! I get dinner at the hotel (salad and fries of course) and then go and repack my suitcase. Tomorrow starts my journey!