The Harding in Zambia (HIZ) program often times gets cast in the light of the nitty-gritty, with the frequent power outages, the big bugs, and the even bigger snakes. I’ll gladly admit it: the nitty gritty thrives in Zambia. Dry, hot weather, shower shortages, spider infestations, malaria – there’s plenty of diseases and venomous animals to go around, though (sort of) improbable. And that’s the precedent of HIZ. Though partially true, that’s not the whole picture, and this last weekend serves as a prime example of one of the many perks of HIZ.
Early Friday morning we all took a bus down to Livingstone, which is probably Zambia’s most touristy city. Livingstone provides relatively easy access to several countries in southern Africa, and draws millions to the legendary Victoria Falls and the Zambezi River. The latter was our first destination in a weekend packed with adrenaline-pumped adventure.
After a couple hours of driving, we arrived at our home for the weekend, which was comprised mostly of large two person-tents. We stowed our gear and headed for one of the world’s greatest thrills: white-water rafting the Zambezi River. After a quick debriefing, we selected our choice paddles, helmets and life jackets – our only personal effects for the next five hours or so – and drove to the raft let-in. Once there, we split up into our separate crews and met our fearless guide. I and six others were fortunate enough to be put in the same boat as Lord Henry II. We then shuffled down to our bright yellow rafts, and after a short rowing lesson we were off. The ensuing 25 rapids were filled with exhausting tales of near death experiences (perhaps over-exaggerated by the storytellers, but nonetheless mortifying) and both literal and figurative highs and lows – like soaring over such aptly named rapids as “The Devil’s Toilet Bowl,” and crashing under the rushing weight of Zambia’s most powerful river. In the midst of it all, we had the time to discover a little more about our royal guide, and stumbled on the fact that he is a Christian. So in the midst of laborious paddling between rapids, Lord Henry II preached to us in what became one of the more rewarding experiences of the whole ordeal, though not heart-stopping. Hours later, we arrived back at our camp in one piece, but not without the bumps, bruises and stories to justify our exhaustion. Those of us who had any sense dragged our sore bodies to bed at a prompt hour – we had a safari to attend in the morning.
The next day we were up bright and early, and we were soon shuttled to the Chobe River for our first safari. Because Livingstone is a city bordered by several countries, we had the opportunity to go to Botswana for the activity. We simply took a twenty-minute bus ride, hopped on a boat to cross the border, and got our passports stamped for the day at customs. Soon after we found ourselves on another boat in the Chobe River, floating downstream in search of any and all wildlife. We weren’t disappointed. We saw plenty of hippos, crocodiles, warthogs and water buffalo. There were innumerable amounts of antelopes, and some I’d never heard of, like waterbucks and kudu. We continued floating until lunch time, after which we transitioned to land for the remainder of the day. From the Chobe River we went to the Chobe National Park, where one of the world’s largest population of elephants is found, with 50,000 elephants on 11,000 kilometers of land. So naturally, we saw a lot of elephants, some of which were a mere 20 feet from our vehicle. We saw even more of the animals we saw on the river safari, but added giraffes and zebras to their number. The day ended peacefully and significantly less heart-thumping than the previous, but nonetheless rewarding.
The next morning brought new experiences and new thrills for everyone. We all had a unique experience on Sunday, if only because there were many different options of activities to choose from. You could do the gorge swing in a gorge near Victoria Falls, ride elephants, experience a lion encounter or any combination thereof. Those who chose to ride elephants bragged of escapades in and around the Zambezi River, as well as other neat experiences like feeding the elephants. The students who did the lion encounter got to play with “cubs” – the one-year-olds were a lot bigger than your average house cat.
I and several other students chose a package deal from the gorge swing company. Our day was comprised of two hair-raising gorge swings – with over a 50 meter (165 feet) drop and a maximum speed of 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour), it wasn’t an everyday commodity thrill – rappelling down the gorge, and two breathtakingly scenic zip lines. After our various activities, we all met up and went souvenir shopping in Livingstone to wrap up an exhausting but incredible weekend.
All this not to say by any means that HIZ is a superior study abroad program – each has its own unique advantages and disadvantages. I only mean to state the facts: HIZ isn’t all grunge and grime; we have our fair share of thrills, too.
