You want to show me what...?

"Welcome to Livingstone, Zambia, where it is a humid 35 degrees. We hope you enjoy your stay here and looking forward to seeing you fly with us again."

The Captain's final announcement blares through the speakers on the plane as I look out the window. What I see amazes me, there are baboons running along the tarmac chasing the aeroplane. What? Not just a few baboons, but up to 30 darting in and out of the bush around the small Livingstone airport. And so begins my 5 day adventure in Zambia to experience the Victoria Falls.

There's a bit of a line in Customs but I eventually get through. On the other side I'm greeted by dozen of locals asking if I need help with my bags. I've been through this enough times now. They all pretend to be nice and friendly, 'just here to help' but expect a tip at the end. I'm packing light so I don't need their help. I spot the a guy holding a sign with a list of 5 names on them, one being mine. I introduce myself to him and he takes me to a minivan where I'm the last person to arrive. Soon we're heading to the hostel we're all staying in, the Jollyboy Backpackers.

Once we've checked in and shown to our beds and rooms, I meet Andrew who I'll be sharing a four bed room with. Andrew turns out to be a really nice guy from America who is interested in doing the same activities, so we decided to hang out during our stay.

We decided to head out into the local town to explore, so we step out of the hostel and enter a time portal...

It is now four days later. My new friend Andrew has left to continue on his journey. It's been a hot and humid few days, and I decide to take it easy and just chill at the hostel. At this point, I should describe the hostel to you. The set up is awesome. There's a swimming pool, a bar area, pool tables, a little kiosk and Internet cafe and this huge chill out pit dug into the floor which is covered with cushions. This chill out pit is where I spend most of my time. Rolled up in the cushions with a book and my ipod.

  

This afternoon I kind of have a date. I had gone on a lunch tour to Livingstone Island and one of the tour guides offered to take me to dinner and show me the town. I accepted, but we didn't exactly confirm when and where to meet, hence kind of a date. I think we're suppose to meet at 430pm on the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe where they do the Bungy jumping from. I decided to take the chance and head out there and see if he's there. If not, I can hang about and watch people bungy and then watch the sunset. Romantic time for one.

Four o'clock rolls around and I take the shuttle bus out to the bridge. It's the first time I've head out here alone and now that I'm not with a male escort (Andrew), I get approached by every sales man offering to sell me things I don't want or need. Unlike their approach to foreign men, whom they treat with respect and camaraderie, they become rather aggressive and won't take no for an answer. It gets to the point where I stop firmly telling them I'm not buying anything and just ignore them and pretend they're not there until they go away.

By five o'clock, my friend hasn't shown up, which I'm not surprised about since I really didn't know when and where we were suppose to meet. So I hang out near the Bungy jumping and watch people leap off the bridge. One of the boys working the rig start striking up a conversation with me.

'Hey! What's your name?'

'Ronda'

'Where's your boyfriend?'

'Who?'

'The American man you were here with the other day.'

'Oh. He's  just a friend. He's left to continue his travels.'

'Ohhh. We thought you were his girlfriend, so didn't talk to you because we don't want to be in trouble.'

Hmmm interesting, I think to myself.

'So what are you doing here?'

'Just came to watch the sunset.'

'I finish work in half an hour. If you want, I can take you to where we do the gorge swing to see the sunset.'

I think to myself, 'Well he seems a respectable guy with a job. Can't do much harm.'

'Sure, that sounds good,' I reply.

*For the rest of this story, I'm going to refer to this guy as M. Mainly because I can't remember his name but do remember it starting with M.

Shortly after, I'm sitting on a bench with M watching the sunset. He starts to ask me questions about my life, my family, and trying to get to know me. I give him short answers to avoid giving away too much.

'Why don't you take your sunglasses off?'  M asks.

'Because the sun is in my eyes,'  I reply.

'Take them off please so I can look into your eyes.'

Um awkward. OK, let's see where this is going, I think to myself and take my sunglasses off. He then proceeds to look deeply into my eyes and tells me, 'You really can learn so much about someone when you look in their eyes.'

I stifle a laugh. Is this guy serious? I get up, put my sunglasses back and tell him I'm ready to head off.

On our walk back to the bridge, I spot the numerous monkeys running around. For the first time in the 4 days I've been here in Livingstone, I notice that they have blue testicles. Yes. Blue. Testicles. I try to capture these testicles on camera, but keep scaring the monkeys away as I try to get close to them. So I give my camera to M and he manages to get up close to take some photos for me.

The infamous blue testicular monkey

M offers to take me to dinner, which I accept. I'm not totally sure why but figured it would be an interesting experience. We end up at a pizza place where he tells me his life story. M is 33 years old. He has a 17 year old son with an ex girlfriend who accidentally fell pregnant.  He takes care of his mum whom he loves very much and is now looking to fall in love again and get married.

'You should come back here in February or March after the wet season. That's when the waterfalls will be at their fullest and most majestic,' M tells me.

'Yeah that does sound amazing.' (It's currently November) 'But I don't know if I can afford it. I'm running out of savings and need to find a job once I arrive in London,' I responded.

'Well you can always stay with me. Free accommodation.'

'That's an idea. What about my friends? I would love to bring them with me. Do they get free accommodation as well?'

'Oh well...'

'It's a great idea. We can all stay at your place for free. That's awesome. Can we get free bungy jumps too?'

'Ummm I was suggesting you stay with me. Your friends will have to find somewhere else.'

'Oh right. What about the bungy jumps? Can we all get freebies?'

'Maybe I can ask for you, but not your friends.'

'Well this isn't so appealing now.'

'If you come back to Zambia, I will show you what it's like to be loved.'

What? WHAT? Inside I am laughing so hard. Is this his seduction technique? It's hilarious. Outwardly, I smile politely as I think of something to say that won't mock him or piss him off.

I finally come up with something like, 'Well that's an interesting notion. I'm quite full now. I think it's time I head back to my hostel.'

M offers to walk me back to the hostel. I accept it because I don't know where it is from where we are. So we walk, I try to keep the conversation as neutral as possible. We get to the hostel and M gives me a hug, then whispers, 'Can I kiss you?'

I answer, 'No.'

'Oh please, why not?'

'I don't want to.'

'What about a peck on the cheek?.'

'Nah.'

'Ok. You make me sad. But I will say goodnight now. You have my number. Call me when you are in London.'

'Ok. Sure. It was nice to meet you.'

And as casually as possible, I step through the gate of the hostel into its warmth and safety and thankfully never see or hear from him again.

**There wasn't really a time portal, I just needed to skip the first 4 days of the trip.

Livingstone Island  - At the edge of the Falls

**Livingstone Island is an island in the middle of the Zambezi River which Victoria Falls flow from. On this island, you can either swim through the rock pools or climb along the rocks to get the Devil's Pool. Devil's pool is a little rock pool right on the edge of the top of the waterfall. You can literally lay on your stomach on the edge and look right over the waterfalls into the gorge that is falls into. An amazing place.