Looking back on a smart move!

Earlier this week I saw on CNN video of a young Australian woman who was visiting Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River at the Zambia/Zimbabwe boarder. On New Year's she decided to be adventurous and bungee jump from the Victoria Falls bridge which sits almost 400 feet above the river. Sadly, the bungee cord snapped and plunged her into the mighty currents of the Zambezi. Miraculously she survived with little more than some very nasty bruising but no broken bones! If you have not seen this video, I am posting it below.

Seeing this brought back memories of my trip with a friend to Southern Africa in 2006 which included a visit to Victoria Falls on my way to the Chobe River National Park in Botswana. As it was my friend's 50th birthday while we were there, he expressed a great interest to do the same bungee jump you saw above. Having a VERY healthy fear of falling from ridiculous heights, I declined his invitation to join him, but promised that I would dutifully record his deadly plunge into the Zambezi Canyon for his family.


To my surprise, he changed his mind overnight and greeted me at breakfast with the suggestion that we see teh falls from the air in a helicopter. Having never been in a chopper, I was more than game! Trying to ignore the safety risks of flying in a Zimbabwean helicopter, we had a fantastic ride and saw Victoria Falls in all its glory.

If you look to the right center of this photo you can see the bridge over the Zambezi Canyon and even see the small hut where the bungee jumping outfit operated. 


Am I ever glad we chose the helicopter ride that day!