Travel Review Devils Pool, Zambia

YAY! WE’RE IN ZAMBIA!

New country. New stamps.
My camera is charged.

Bring on the waterfalls!!!

Victorian Vibes & Warthogs

The Victoria Falls Hotel is beautiful but colonial. Like, really colonial. Portraits on every wall. Dead-stuffed-animal wall trophies that make you feel super uncomfortable. Meanwhile, on the perfectly manicured lawns outside – Warthogs. Yes, warthogs running full speed across the hotel lawn, tails up like little antennae. I have Devil’s Pool booked for tomorrow. I can barely sleep I am so excited.

Victoria Falls: Beauty & Insanity

The falls are MIND-BLOWING.
Absolutely thunderous. Wild. Uncontainable. No filter needed. You don’t just look at the falls… you feel them.

And then… I saw him. A man in a pink speedo, standing right on the edge of the falls on the other side.
I repeat: ON. THE. EDGE. Is he MAD?? Who is this guy?

I needed to head back through to Zambia because the boat to Devil’s Pool collects you from the Livingstone Hotel at 3:15 sharp.

And wow. Let me just say… this hotel is Exquisite. It’s right on the Zambezi River.
We met the Wild Horizons rep by the river, a perfectly chilled guy in boardshorts. He took us on a walk through a forest pathway to a safe viewpoint for pictures, making small talk along the way. Then he casually asked “Are you strong swimmers?”

We laughed. I thought he was joking. Welcome to Livingstone Island. haha!

The guide suddenly says, very seriously “Now listen carefully. We are going to swim in a straight line to that branch over there.”

I’m sorry… WHAT did he just say? Did he just casually suggest we swim? To a BRANCH? In this torrent of water? I glance at the waterfall – the actual Victoria Falls, thundering into the abyss next to us and then back at him like, “I think you’ve confused me with someone who has upper body strength and life insurance.”

Turns out, we’re not just seeing Devil’s Pool. We’re swimming to it.

He continues, very matter-of-factly “Once you reach the branch, you need to swim diagonally to the rock.” I’m sorry… WHICH ROCK?! There are about forty rocks. They all look sharp and slippery.

“Remember to swim hard to the right so the current doesn’t push you to the left.”

Oh cool. You mean left, where there’s nothing but a sheer drop to my death and international news headlines?

“Once you reach the rock, face the falls and pull yourself along by gripping the crevices.”

Did he just say GRIPPING THE CREVICES
Am I Spiderman now?! What is happening?

Internally, I’m spiraling faster than the current beside me.
I start having some very strong thoughts about MY FRIENDS Clauds and Nix and how they coerced me into this with their “don’t be a baby” energy. THEY are psychos. I didn’t sign up to risk my life. I’m not a good swimmer. I don’t freestyle. I float. I breaststroke.

I PANIC.

What the hell am I doing? No seriously. WHAT the hell am I doing.

“Once you have passed the rock you need to swim straight to the green bush. You must swim slightly to the right, so you don’t get swept by the current, but don’t swim too far right because there is a rock there. Don’t swim into the rock”. Oh. GREAT. So basically: avoid the death current and the rock. Got it. This is fine. Everything is fine. I’m totally fine.

We all link hands to form a human chain and wade slowly to the start point. My heart is JACKHAMMERING.

The guide tries to soothe our terror “There’s a safety rope. If the current pulls you, a lifeguard will reach you before you get there.” SORRY WHAT. You mean the two lifeguards I can barely see over there? Those guys?? They’re like 15 metres away, casually chatting. HOW exactly are they getting to me before I reach the rope?

Then it hits me – this is the exact same spot that lunatic from yesterday in the pink speedo was standing. Except now it looks worse. More water. More current. I laughed at that guy. I judged that guy. And now I am that guy. Adrenaline surges and I start giggling uncontrollably, like I’m halfway between a panic attack and a total meltdown.

“OK, time to swim!” the guide says cheerily.
Wait, what?? I’m not ready. But… hold on… It’s not that bad?!
Wait – I CAN SWIM!!! HELL YEAH. I AM DOING THIS!!!

I swim toward the branch, and as I catch my breath, I glance at the woman who swam before me. She’s clinging to the branch too, and she gives me this look that says: “We are completely insane, but look at us GO.” I beam back. We’re bonded now.

We wait for the whole group to get there before heading for the next step: the rock.
This time the current has picked up. The water’s flying into my mouth, splashing over my head.
But I am filled with more determination than I’ve felt in years. I WILL make it to that rock.

I reach the rock. Victory! Then we clamber over the final set of rocks and OH HELL NO.

They point and say: “Welcome to Devil’s Pool!”

I blink.
I squint.

Umm.
That?! THAT is a pool?! Are you sure?? Because what I’m seeing is a frothing, swirling, violent pocket of water being flung off the edge of the world at 500000000000 litres per second. This is not a pool.
This is a portal to the afterlife.

But everyone’s acting normal, like this is just what we do now.

The guide casually asks “So… who’s jumping in first?”

Naturally, I think he’s joking. Again. Because surely NO ONE is going to voluntarily propel themselves into this pit of death. Wrong. Dead wrong.

Suddenly it’s a sea of raised hands. Everyone is apparently cool with this idea. Everyone except me… and one other girl who looks like she’s about to have a heart attack.

“You’re going to JUMP in?”
Once again, I feel the irrational need to keep up.
Yes, okay FINE. I will also jump in.

I currently hate myself and my life choices with the fury of a dragon scorned .
But I am also smiling so hard my cheeks hurt because this is batshit crazy madness and I’m 300% HERE for it.

I sneak a glance across to the other side of the falls and there’s a small crowd watching us, clearly questioning our collective intelligence.

I look at the two lifeguards casually floating nearby, looking like they do this every day (which they do, I suppose). “They won’t let me die,” I start repeating in my head.

I jump.

I’m in the water.
And HOLY SHIT. This current isn’t “oh-it’s-a-bit-strong”. This current is “hold-on-for-your-freakin’-life”.

This is MIND-BLOWING.
We are sitting, literally sitting, less than a metre from a drop that plummets HUNDREDS of metres straight down. I’m basically defying gravity and sanity at the same time.
Forget open safari vehicles surrounded by lions, that was child’s play.

At this point, I’m so high on life. This is my new level of crazy. I’ve transcended.

Nothing in my life has ever come CLOSE to how I feel right now.
No words. Just awe.

It’s time to get out.

I haul myself up with the safety rope and now we’ve got to SWIM BACK across the rapids to Livingstone Island. But I feel invincible now.
We all make it back in one piece, and as soon as we hit land, the entire group bursts out laughing, you know that slightly maniacal, “I’ve just flirted with death and survived and now I feel like I’m on a mixture of Red Bull and life purpose” kind of laughter? Yeah. That one.

My nerves are absolutely fried, but my soul? Sky. High.
I order a double vodka, lime & lemonade before I can even get the words out properly. My hands are still shaking, but I’m grinning like a lunatic.

The rest of the day is a bit of a blur as we are floating away in our own little world.  Everytime I think of that jump and swim I cant help but smile & shake my head. Absolutely crazy and surely the dumbest thing I have ever done, but well worth every single second.

Memories are priceless after all, and I will NEVER forget this day ❤