I met a woman, who on her 50th birthday, got a tattoo to signify her 5-year cancer free post undergoing surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy for breast cancer. She also happened to go skydiving on this day with her 30 year old son. She exclaimed that it was the most incredible experience. She became fearless. She felt free from all the fear that had clouded her life for over 6 years since her cancer diagnosis.

She described her experience clearly. She felt completely weightless, in zen, during free-fall. Falling at terminal velocity, there was no way for your mind and body to gage how fast you are falling, or even that you are falling at all. However, it was extremely windy which made her feel self-conscious about her aged skin flapping in this giant wind turbine. Big note: Think about how much you really want a video of yourself skydiving before you spent the extra cash. That was one video-graphic evidence that she could have easily lived without.

So during my adventures in Africa, I found myself in Swakopmund, Namibia on New Years Eve 2011. Swakopmund is a well-known skydiving spot, and undoubtedly, NYE is always a great day to mark a first experience, hopefully an unregrettable one, unlike other common disinhibited NYE experiences. I got myself mentally ready. We booked our tandem jump last minute with GroundRushAdventures, and ended up being the last to jump on NYE. I found going up in the plane the hardest part.

The ground seems so far already at just 1,000 feet and we still had another 9,000 feet to climb.

On the way up, up, up.

I coughed.

Apparently, coughing is a common occurrence when the body notices the reduction in atmospheric pressure and drop in oxygen concentration. Who knew? But this sets off a sequence of events which made the climbing fear far in the back of my mind.

One of the instructors begins a mime. He attempts to roll, what we all suspect to be an imaginary joint. He lights it up, take a few puffs and passes it around. We all start acting as forgotten love-children of Bob Marley and partake in this imaginary joint. Though imaginary, this whole scenario actually relaxes all of us. The pilot cracks a joke by rejecting said imaginary joint, and begin his own mime, carving a line of what I suspect to be imaginary cocaine and inhales it in one big snort. Before I can even feel the fear of the pilot using both his hands to mime instead of piloting the plane, it is time to jump.

No arguments, you just give yourself a big hug and out you go.

The free-fall is exactly like being in a wind tunnel. Your stomach stays firmly in place for 30 seconds. You get over the wind and the fact that you are falling at terminal velocity and begin to enjoy the view. Seeing the Earth, so uninterrupted. Wow, she is really beautiful. Then your parachute opens and before you know it, your stomach is in your mouth. But another split second later, it’s sitting comfortably back in your body. You do a few manoeuvres, left to right. It feels like a mild roller-coaster. And you glide like this, slowly back down to planet Earth. And before you know it, you have taken your first skydive! High-fives and beers all round.

Victoria Falls

But to hear the smoke that thunders, you really have to be up close and personal with this giant at ground level. It was the start of December, so the Zambezi river was still quite mellow. The rainy season was just starting and it would be another few weeks before the falls become one huge cloud of waterspray. I had heard through the grapevine that it was possible to walk along the top of Victoria Falls, and dry season is the best time to do this. It is just best done with a local guide who is very familiar with the safest routes. One foul move and you could be plunging over the waterfall to inevitable death, which happens almost every year. Not part of my adventure thrills.

I went with another fellow traveller to visit the falls, and just as we entered the gates on the Zambian side, a local greets us and offers to take us on the infamous hike along the ridge. I’m a believer in things happen for a reason, so I replied with a smile and said “why not?”. The walk, which consisted of hopping from rock to rock and maintaining stability as you cross river sections up to your knees in water, wasn’t particularly physically challenging, but the knowledge that if you put one wrong foot or fall into the water it could be a long drop over the waterfall, kept me attentive at all times. Big note: If you have a fear of heights, either don’t attempt this, or attempt this only before you get the proper view of the falls from the lookout points.

We sat on the edge of the waterfall, watching the water tumble over into oblivion, hearing the thunder echo from below. A cloud of waterspray lurks at the bottom of the waterfall, hiding the true height of this monster. I pull my best attempt at looking nonchalant near the edge.

Sitting near the edge of Victoria Falls

After an hour and a half traversing along the top of the falls, we head down to the lookout points. Here you can truly marvel at the size of the waterfall, especially when a group of three people standing on the edge of the waterfall look about the size of ants. That was enough adrenaline for me, I spent the rest of the day just watching and listening to the roar of this giant.

Not short of impressive nature in Africa, there is also the Okavango Delta in Botswana, one of the largest inland deltas in the world. It is also one of the seven natural wonders of Africa. This delta is home to hundreds of species of fish and birds, and  some of the most endangered species of animals, including the African wild dog, black and white rhinoceros, and cheetahs. It is also where you can find the largest population of elephants, so heavily populated that elephant poaching is legal in Botswana. Sadly the cost of relocating elephants is so much greater, poaching is the solution to population control.

The trip into the Okavango Delta took just over 3 hours. First, we caught a speedboat for an hour, then travelled in groups of 2 on mekoro (wooden dug out canoes) for 2 hours to our campsite for 2 nights. The mekoro are gracefully steered with a long pole. We tried manoeuvring the mekoro ourselves but this just turned into all of us falling in the water. We definitely didn’t have the grace that the Tswana people did.

This was a solid bush camp, with no facilities, no electricity, no drinking water (just the billions of tons of it in the delta). We had to bring everything in, and everything out. Leave no trace. We bath in the delta using biodegradable soap, or in my case, just water, with our mekoro polers on the lookout for hippopotamus, crocodiles, lions and cheetahs. Probably the quickest shower I have ever had. We stayed two nights in a very small corner of the Okavango Delta, passing time with game walks, chatting and singing around a campfire, and drinking home-brewed palm wine (served warm, approximately 20% strength) with our polers.

On our last day in Maun, Botswana, we joined our scenic pilots for a drink after a scenic plane ride. We went joy-riding in their car in search of more alcohol after the bar had closed. Unfortunately, due to personal reasons of alcoholism within the presidential family, alcohol was prohibited for sale after 10pm. We didn’t find any alcohol during this joy-ride, but we did have another one of those close-up animal encounters. This time, elephants! A whole pod of 10 elephants arms length from the car, just on the side of the road. With three baby elephants! It was a pity I left my camera in my room, but the image is well imprinted in my memory.

And the last of the big natural spectacles in Africa, Dune 7, Namibia, one of the biggest sand dunes in the world rising up to 380 metres in height. Located in the Namib desert, it is hot, hot, hot, reaching 55 degrees in the peak of the sun. A visit during dawn, watching the sun rise over these montainous dunes, showcasing the yellow, orange and red sand of the dunes is yet another unforgettable sight.

On my departure from Africa, our local South African guide said to me: “You can take the girl out of Africa, but you will never take Africa out of the girl.” I think she’s right.