Wednesday, 3 May – Erikka and I went for a short run to start the day and then we all boarded the 10 am free shuttle over to Victoria Falls, one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. It is absolutely beautiful. It is hard to really describe how it looks and even the pictures will not do it justice as they do not encompass the sound of the rushing water, the fresh, clean smell, and the feel of the cool mist as it falls on your skin. As ridiculous as it may sound, there is so just so much water that it is hard to really believe. We can feel the mist coming off the falls and it can often cloud the view, depending on where you are standing. There is a footbridge that allows us to cross over the river to reach more viewing sites. This walk is not an ordinary scenic walk. We were unaware the first time, but we should have prepared ourselves physically and mentally. As we approach the bridge, walking down the stone steps, it is warm and sunny…and relatively dry as the mist from the falls increases slightly as a warning. We can see the falls to our right as well as the different trees and bushes that are a very healthy-looking green. Right before reaching the bridge, the view of the falls has turned into complete whiteness. I can no longer see anything that resembles the falls and water is just pouring onto me- from above, from the side, and from below. It is a bit shocking because it is cold. No longer concerning myself with the others, I try to quickly make it across while being careful of my footing, trying to see where I am walking and also attempting to unsuccessfully to catch a glimpse of the falls which have become nothing but a white blur. Upon reaching the other side, the water slowly lets up, the view of the falls returns to view, and it is warm and sunny again. We are now dripping wet. As we laugh in disbelief and utter amazement, in the backs of our minds we know that to get back, we have to cross the bridge again.

The falls are beautiful, there are rainbows everywhere, we are taking pictures, drying off, soaking it all in. At this point, being at the falls has become a reality but slowly so is the possibility of bungee-jumping. I am petrified of heights. The fear comes in the form of me being unable to move wherever I may be, palms sweaty, heart racing and me not knowing what to do to keep moving forward or how to explain it. And yet, somehow, I have been somewhat convinced and have agreed to some extent that I would be jumping off a bridge with a cord attached to my ankles. The idea being, I am at Victoria Falls, if I am going to do it anywhere it might as well be here. But when did it become a possibility that I would be doing it anywhere at any point in my life?

We decide that we are finished with exploring the falls for now. We have a booze cruise on the Zambezi River at 3:30pm for which we have to be back at Jolly Boys. Jesse is definitely bungee-jumping and Erikka thinks that she and I are jumping tandem. We exit the falls and proceed to the border of Zimbabwe. Halfway across the Victoria Falls Bridge (from where one jumps) is Zimbabwe so we walk through the border crossing heading to the bridge. This is definitely not happening. We arrive at the bridge and make our way up a set of stairs (stairs that have no backs and you can see through…) and we go to the registration booth. Jesse signs up, pays and gets on the scale. With my stomach fluttering, I accompany Erikka to sign up and have my weight written in permanent marker on my arm. We now head down to the bridge. A few feet onto the bridge, I go to the edge, look down and shake my head in utter disbelief. I cannot even look down without getting the uneasy feeling that precedes the eventual fear-induced freezing. Whatever, it will be fine. It always is. I keep walking, slowly and in a daze. We arrive at the jump-off point and they begin harnessing in Jesse. There are two ways you are connected. The main connection is the cord around your ankles. The second connection, in case the cord snaps (real assuring), is attached to the harness on your upper body. Jesse preparing to jump and actually jumping is a complete blur to me and I wish I had been able to be more excited for him.

One of the staff begins harnessing in Erikka and telling her about the jump and joking around. They have a 100% success rate but despite that, the staff is willing to play into your nervousness which is not a bad thing. Erikka gets on the landing and I am now being harnessed in. I ease myself under the railing of the bridge onto a grated platform that allows me to see the rushing water of the river directly below me. I sit down very cautiously. As they are harnessing our ankles very tightly with padded cloth, a man with a video camera asks me if there is anything I want to say. I look up, say no and something about everything will be fine and it will be okay. (They later offer you the DVD for US$50. Erikka tells me after the jump that when the guy asked her, she said, “Mrs. Devin, I am really sorry. I made Courtney do this.” That may have been worth the $50.) Our ankles are strapped in, we stand up and have to shuffle over to the mini-platform that reminds me of being on the edge of a diving board. Think about what it is like to walk with your pants around your ankles. Okay, now have them wrapped very tightly. Okay, now be 200 meters or something above a river of rapids near one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. We stand on the edge, my left arm clenching onto Erikka’s harness, her right arm holding onto mine. My right arm is extended outward to prevent spinning (let’s not complicate things more than they have to be.) The countdown begins as we are encouraged to keep our eyes on the horizon and to not look down. The two staff members, very close behind us so there is absolutely no way we cannot jump, say 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 (we are supposed to be bending our knees to prepare to jump straight out) and BUNGEE (we are supposed to jump.) I think I bend my legs at 1 and I think I jump at BUNGEE although maybe not as far out as I could have and maybe there was a little assistance by the staff but suddenly the horizon is no longer there and I am falling 111 meters toward the river into a rainbow. The feeling of the fall is indescribable and while I am falling, I can still not believe it. We fall, snap back up (that is when I remember hearing us scream) and fall again, swinging to the side and forward and back taking in our surroundings – the water, the rainbow, the canyon-type rocks on either side of the river. At this point they are pulling us back as we continue to swing from our ankles. We eventually make it right-side up again and onto the scaffolding underneath the bridge where the staff removes our ankle harnesses and we now are attached by our chest harness to a cord running the length of the bridge. This honestly was the scariest part – walking under the bridge on a very narrow grate attached with a single cord, guided by a staff member. We climb a ladder, walk some more and finally make it back to solid ground. The adrenaline rush is nothing I have felt previously and the feeling lasts for the rest of the day along with the disbelief that I actually jumped.

We walk back through the border crossing, get a taxi, return to Livingstone, eat at an Indian food restaurant where we wait 45 minutes for our food despite being the only ones in the restaurant and return to Jolly Boys in time to depart on the shuttle for the booze cruise. On the shuttle, we (Pam, Coppelia, Erikka, Jesse and I) meet some others who are staying at Jolly Boys. There is a young couple from Calgary, Canada Ashley and Mark, a guy from Australia, Dale and Michael who we had previously met in Swakopmund where he is doing an internship at a school there through a program in his home country of Canada. Ashley, Mark and Dale are all traveling on the world ticket separately and like us, Michael is on holiday. On the boat, we are socializing, while enjoying the beautiful views on the river including the setting sun, the snacks and dinner, and the beauty of digital cameras as one can just continue to snap ridiculous photos as certain people take advantage of the unlimited alcohol. That night we continue hanging out as Dale and Pam take turns playing the guitar and singing.