Devil's Pool

Many people have tried, and consequently died, trying to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.  I’m not sure about the barrel history of Victoria Falls, but I’m fairly positive you wouldn’t survive a trip over the edge.

Our first glimpse of the Falls

Victoria Falls, or Mosi oa-Tunya (“The Smoke That Thunders”) is located in southern Zambia and is one of the seven natural wonders of the world.  It’s smack dab in the middle of the Zambezi river, and is a 100 meter drop.  They are 1.7 km long, with 1 km being located in Zambia and the rest in Zimbabwe.  This makes it one and a half times wider than and twice as tall as Niagara.  In 1855, an English explorer named David Livingstone set eyes on the falls, renamed it in honor of his queen, and quoted, “Scenes so wonderful must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight.”

A breathtaking sight?  Yes.  But of course I couldn’t stop there.  Eight of my fellow volunteers and I decided to walk across the top of the falls and go for a swim.  No, Peace Corps has not instilled a death wish in all of us ( ... yet ... ).  It’s a guided activity for tourists, and there’s a pool at the top of the falls called Devil’s Pool.

It began with all nine of us (plus two guides) linking hands and walking across the slippery rocks.  The water was usually only ankle-high, but you could still feel how strong the current was.  At times we had to wade through water high enough to get our shorts and skirts wet.  We would occasionally stop for pictures, and no matter where we were, the view was beautiful.

On the edge!

Rainbow

I didn't zoom. This is literally how close we were to the edge.

Standing at the precipice of the falls was amazing.  But the really cool part was yet to come.  We stripped down to our swimsuits and jumped into the Zambezi at the top of the falls.  We then swam toward a cluster of rocks, from which we would jump into Devil’s Pool.

I was terrified of going over the edge.  The guides assured us that there was a rock ledge which would prevent that, but we all still had doubts. 

Look closely at the terror on our faces

A deep breath, bend your knees, 1 – 2 – 3 aaaandd…. Jump!

Miss Sue would be so proud of my straight arms and jazz hands

We survived.  The current was strong and little fishies kept getting swept up against the rock ledge and biting our toes.  A guide stood behind us and I asked him, “Aren’t you scared?”

“This is my office,” he replied, and picked me up from under my arms so I was sitting on top of the ledge instead of inside it.  

Our group in nature's version of the "infinity pool."

The mist in the background is from the Falls' largest waterfall,
which was right nearby

So yes, I swam at the edge of Victoria Falls.  It’s so cool I still don’t really believe it happened.

Note: Thinking what a cool "office" the Devil's Pool is, I joked with our guide and asked how I could become a guide at Vic Falls.  Not even two minutes later, I slipped and wiped out on my butt, leaving me with a nasty bruise.  Guess I'll stick to the traditional 9 to 5...