The Devil's Armchair

Edge of the Falls
Jumping into Angel's Pool
Sunset Cruise
Sweet tan/dirt lines
Devil's Armchair

September 19, 2009

Last Saturday a group of fellow volunteers and I headed out to Victoria Falls to swim in the much-heralded Devil’s Pool. Turns out that it costs $50 to see the actual Devil’s pool. The take you across the top of the falls in a boat out to Livingstone Island and you can spend the day seeing the pool and hanging out on top of the falls. We went for a cheaper option. There are local guides that will take you across the falls to the edge of the falls and a pool called the Devil's Armchair (or Angel's Pool).

The guides are actually illegal but will take you out for as little as K10,000 a person (around $2) if you bargain with them. The water is quite low at the moment so crossing the falls is fairly safe. We stopped once on the way to the pool to take pictures near the cliff. The pool itself was a fair size. Earnest, our knowledgeable guide showed us where it was safe to jump in and then took some pictures for us. I jumped in twice and got some sweet action pictures and videos from the edge of the pool.

I spent the rest of the weekend on a sunset cruise, going to mass, relaxing and cleaning my room. The power system here in Livingstone is sketchy at best. When I first got here Thursdays were power cut nights and we would eat and play card games by candlelight until the lights came on again around bedtime. This week however, the power decided to cut out for a few hours on Tuesday and again for four hours on Wednesday. This isn’t a big deal except that I had plans to talk to my dad on Skype. I did eventually get a hold of him on Thursday evening.

On Wednesday Annaleen and I were filmed for a documentary. The film crew was from France and was taping a group traveling across Africa. They wanted to include a bit about what African Impact is doing in the community, so they came by to tape us doing a home-based care visit with a woman named Agnes. I’d seen her a few times before. She is bedridden and paralyzed on her left side due to a stroke a few years ago. The family has been instructed to do exercises to increase her range of motion and circulation and prevent bedsores.

The film crew taped us entering the house, taking Agnes’s vitals, interviewing her and the family to see how she was doing and giving her some medication to help with the pain. They also taped a bit of us walking around the community, interacting with the kids, and interviewed Annaleen. They told Annaleen that they didn’t want an American to do the interview. I guess the French really don’t like us.

I was working in Maramba Clinic yesterday morning. Normally this is a very busy place, but the morning was slow and I spent half of the time reading. About midmorning a ten-year-old boy came in wearing an old man farmer outfit. His ears stuck out under a big-brimmed baseball hat and he wore a plaid, collared, short-sleeve button-up shirt. He had on dark blue pants with a belt and black dress shoes. As I took his vitals I found out that his name was Zefania and that although he seems to be a normal height for his age he weighed only 16 kg, 3 kg lighter than when he came to the clinic last time. He was all skin and bones and seemed shy, although if you smiled at him his slight grin would turn into a big toothy smile. I’m not sure if he had some sort of genetic disease or if he was just really sick and unable to maintain his body weight. It’s hard to see cases like that where the young are so sick and it feels like there’s nothing you can do to help.

The rest of the week has been pretty quiet. Yesterday afternoon I taught the Adult Literacy Class and realized how hard the English language can be. I also realized how much I am not an English teacher. Most of the group went to Jungle Junction this weekend, but I opted to stay back, save some money and prepare for Malawi.