Skydiving

After a brief but intense training, over a month of waiting for weather, plane availability and our schedules to match, we finally went skydiving here in Charles Prince airport, just out of Harare. For 150USD, we got the full training, and two static line jumps (which means the chute opens automatically after you drop out off the plane, so you only have a couple of seconds of free fall).

It was my third jump (did two at uni, so ages ago) and Thomas had only done paragliding so adrenaline levels were high. It was quite the thrill, though short (around 3 minutes of flying) and all following the instructions given from the ground by a big arrow. Thomas sprained his wrist landing though, but besides that, no injuries, just excitement. Might do it again soon, as from now on, jumps would only be 35USD each time, quite the bargain compared to western prices.

Our weekend in Vic Falls

This weekend was along weekend for us in Southern Africa, with Monday and Tuesday off for respectively Heroes Day and Defence Forces Day. Thomas and me decided to go back to Vic Falls where in two and a half years’ time, we had gone only once, and get some adrenaline rushes. We bussed (for 13h!) there but got very quickly absorbed into the backpacking-touristy vibe of things, which was a big change from how we usually live (or survive) in Zimbawbe. Two French friends (Cecile and Helene) travelled with us and we met up there with two more friends who had also come for the weekend (Charles and Kudzi). The Sunday we went on the gorge slide,where (and I quote the adventure agent) we were “traveling at a speed of 106 km’s, hurtling 425m across the gorge, while suspended 120m above the breathtaking beauty of the Zambezi River below”. Quite the adventure, and I was trying to film it ;-).

The Monday we went on our real reason for being in Vic falls: the white water rafting. A must-do as we were told. And it was impressive, though by far not as scary as we’d thought. Seems currently the water level is still too high, because rain season lasted late, and the Zambezi is still pretty full (it’s supposed to be another 30m less end of September). Currently we could only do from 11 to n°23 of the rapids, with delicious names like ‘The Terminator’, the ‘Washing Machine’, or the ‘Three Ugly Sisters followed by the Mother’. Less water means more rapids and more fun. So we might do it again end of September, to get the full experience of the rapids.

What does the future hold for us?

Well, the month of July is gone, and we have entered the last five months of our stay here in Zimbabwe. First visit to Harare in October 2007, selected and hired in January 2008, finally arrived in April 2008, and now been here for over two years.

End of December our contract ends and so does our stay in Zim. We liked it here, but time to move on, as there are other exciting places in the world. So, we're often getting the question what our plans are, so I thought I would share some of our (vague) ideas and dreams here.

Well, my eyes are drawn to the Arab world. I've done 4 years in South America (2003-2006: Haiti and Brazil), now four years in sub-Saharan Africa (2007-2010:South Africa and Zimbabwe) and next region in the world that I would love to explore is the Middle East or the Maghreb countries.

And of those countries, Lebanon stands n# 1 for us, followed by Syria. This is partly because I really liked Lebanon when I was there (and regret not having been able to visit Syria), but also because the girls and Zoélie are now living in Cyprus, where Ingrid is working for the EU. And Beirut is only a short boat ride away. And talking about boats, that would be part of my dream: living on a boat and being able to just sail away whenever we feel like it, spending holidays sailing round the Mediterranean. Dreams and ideas, but we'll see where the winds blows us. Especially since the beginning of the end has started today: applying for jobs! We had said we would only start looking and applying for jobs starting August, since we want to properly round off our current projects in Zim. So, it will be hard to find something for both Thomas and me, so we made a deal that whoever finds something first (which provides enough for the both of us) takes it, and the other will follow. Then we'll swap in two or three years time...

But though I hope to quickly find something, I would also like to spend some time in Belgium, as it's been a long time since I've been back and babies grow up so quickly...

But we'll keep you posted!