Hiking Kalambo Falls

Last weekend we were at Isanga Bay enjoying a little time away from the base and all the chaos that is daily life.  Patrick, Susanna, and I decided to hike up to Kalambo Falls, which is one of the largest waterfalls in Africa (maybe even the world.)  We had a guide who picked us up in a boat to take us to the starting point for the hike.  To get to the trail we had to tromp through a small village, meaning we had a ton of kids following us shouting “Mazungu! Mazungu!” (white person).     

He makes me so nervous sometimes!

The hike wasn’t too bad except for the fact that Patrick and Susanna weren’t feeling too well that day.  We climbed a pretty steep hill for the first 45 minutes then the terrain evened out a bit.  Still, the African heat gets to you after awhile, so I was certainly glad to finally make it to the falls.  It’s a 770-foot single drop, and is quite impressive! 

The Kalumbo River serves as the border between Zambia and Tanzania, and since it’s still the dry season we were able to (carefully) walk across the top of the falls to the other side.  Later when we thought about it, it was kind of terrifying to think that if we’d slipped, we most likely would have drifted right over the edge.  Yikes.  But we had a steady guide who helped us across safely both ways, and now I can officially say I’ve been to three countries since leaving home in August.     

Slightly nervous going across

In Tanzania!