So our second full day in Livingston and we decided to fill it with a full day of abseiling, high wires and gorge swinging (well to be discussed). The full day cost $100 and included breakfast and lunch. We were picked up at eight o’clock and brought out to the Batoka Gorge, one of the gorges downstream of the Victoria Falls. When we arrived it was straight way visible the depth and size of the gorge. The scenery was amazing with the river passing at one end of the gorge then disappearing behind rocks into another gorge. The thought of climbing down the cliff face into the gorge (never mind hanging above it, or jumping into it) seemed a hell of a lot scarier. There were about 20 people there and we were given a talk through each of the activities (insanities) and also a safety talk. We were then served breakfast of tea/coffee and muffins (not very nice ones in my opinion, but then I still wasn’t feeling great) in a cool gazebo overlooking the gorge. They then split us into 2 groups and we were joined by an American family (a mammy, a daddy and 2 daughters). They had been missionaries in The Congo until 1999 and one of the girls was born there. They turned out to be a real adventure family, adrenaline junkies. The first activity up for us was abseiling so we got harnessed up and went and did a practice on the edge of a cabin. We then went to watch one of the instructors go down. He did the whole 53m of the cliff face in 3 jumps it was insane to watch. Dan then went first and after some initial trepidation had a really successful abseil. Áine was next up and again it went quite well but once she was suspended in mid air she got a small bit panicky but she eventually lowered herself the whole way down. In between us the Americans had a go and they did it with ease. Next up it was my go. On the decent you control your own speed by letting the rope go more and more and jumping further and further from the wall, however the guys at the top and bottom also have ropes to prevent you going too fast. When you reach the front of the cliff in this little metal cabin it quite scary looking at the depth (where we stop is on a ledge half way up the gorge so the full depth makes it look worse). The only thought that went thru my head was “what the fuck am I doing”. The first 3 or four steps are over a metal grate attached to the cabin and it’s quite slippy until you finally put your feet onto the cliff face. You then descend about 10 m on uneven rock until the face flattens out and the instructor above tells you to start bouncing off the wall, which is quite difficult to master. It’s hard to bounce and release the right amount of rope to reach back into the wall again. Quite often we all ended suspended in mid air nowhere near the wall. About half way down the cliff slopes in and for that section you end up just lowering yourself on a rope and you end up spinning which is a little bit scary especially when you see how deep the gorge is below you. It’s impossible to see where the next rock you can reach is below you. I ended up trying to use my legs to turn myself so I was at least facing the cliff to try and bounce off it. Eventually I made the bottom (well making it down was inevitable it’s just how well you do it). Last down was Jamie who seemed to have a similar experience to us all. Once down the bottom the only way up was a 25 minute hike through the gorge floor and up these painful steps. The scenery was amazing but we had no water or cameras down there in the baking sunshine, it was tough. The last stretch involves climbing a bunch of steps which is so tough, halfway there’s a water station with a seat and absolutely amazing views. (On a side note I’m writing this sitting beside the pool in the hostel and its Sunday I’ve been too busy (lazy) to write this any sooner, also there’s a very cranky English women sitting by the pool complaining about everything, you’re in Africa love not bloody London deal with it!). So once the gorge walk was over the high wires were next. The wire is 135m long suspended 97m above the gorge. We were to be tied on in the superman position, the rope tying us to the wire above would be at our back so we’d be looking straight down. We went in the same order as before. You start on a ramp and have to run to the edge of the cliff and just jump off. It feels so bizarre, forget bizarre it just feels wrong during the run the days refrain just kept repeating in my head “what the fuck am I doing”. The views are amazing and on the way out its cool and not overly scaring (after the initial jump) you then hang there for a few minutes looking around before they start to pull you back in which is strangely worse as everything is creaking and its sounds like breaking which is really unnerving. You then do a second run straight away, its weird trying to run and jump faster to go further cause it’s so hard to run in the harness. Áine was a little afraid and was unsure about running so to show her how strong the harness is he got her to hold on to the tower holding up the tower. He then picked up her feet and without warning just let her go out on the wire out over the gorge, it was really funny she was shouting back at him. When she came back in she gave it a second go with the slowest walk to the edge possible. Next up for us was rap jumping which is abseiling forwards down the cliff. The harness holds you from behind and you face the ground and walk down the cliff. Again it’s something that feels all wrong. In things like this the phrase “don’t look down” is always said however in this case you have no choice. The Americans all went first ahead of us as they were pure adrenaline junkies and couldn’t wait so we let them fire ahead. Dan again went first from our group and made it down with no bother. Next up was Áine however when she got to the top she was unable to go, she just didn’t want to do it no matter what the instructors said. To help her they asked me to go ahead of her and show her it was fine (maybe not the best person to do that). So I got set to go. The first couple of steps are just so weird walking over the edge of a cliff. Suddenly I stopped I couldn’t go forward, eventually I realised it was because they were holding me there showing Áine how strong the straps were. It was weird just being held there suspended above the gorge looking straight down at it. Finally they let me go (not fully but allowed me to start going again). I thought it was so much better than the other way. Again we had to jump and this time you could see where you wanted to jump to. It was far easier and more enjoyable. Jamie then went and after he got down Áine decided to do the normal abseil again. So after our rap jumping and the long gorge walk back up the next activity was the Gorge swing. The gorge swing is like a bungee jump while sitting upright. It involves steeping over the edge of a cliff and then falling 53m in 3 seconds before you start swinging. Due to not feeling the best I decided I didn’t want to do (a convenient excuse, I’m not sure if I would have done it anyhow). Áine was of the same opinion and Jamie was unsure but eventually decided to give it a go. Seeing them do it just looked insane. They described it as the scariest thing they’d ever done, that stepping over the edge of the cliff was so terrifying. There were some couples who did it in tandem. Once the lads returned we were given a chicken and pasta lunch and some cokes. After lunch we repeated each of the activities other than for the abseil we choose only 1 way. I went forwards, Dan & Jamie went backwards and Áine eventually decide she wasn’t up for walking all the way back up so decided against it. Dan’s second gorge wing caused him to go upside down and we all thought he hit his head on a cliff (he hadn’t). Around five we arrived back at the hostel. After a bit of relaxing and showering we headed for a restaurant to get some dinner. The place turned out to be quite nice it was called Rite Bar & Grill and felt a bit like a bar at home with all little boots but with a local twist. The food took ages but when it did arrive (we’d almost forgotten what we’d ordered) it was really good. I had steak and it was really really nice (I got to find some better descriptive words, exceedingly & sincerely says the thesaurus). Let’s try that sentence again. I had steak and it was exceedingly sincerely nice. After dinner I did a bit of internetting before taking another early night as we had a six o’clock start for the Botswana Safari the next day.
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