Press trip – Vic Falls: 5/5

Known for extreme leisure activities, like bungee jumping from the Vic Falls Bridge, it was the majestic waterfall that made the prospect of visiting Victoria Falls, in the north of Zimbabwe, a real treat for me. The UNESCO World Heritage site draws crowds by the thousands each year to bask in the sounds of water rushing over a sheer drop to meet the river hundreds of metres below. A-friend and I spent five days exploring this African gem and came back with stories to tell.

Day 1 – Joburg to Livingstone, via Victoria Falls

Our trip began with a Sunday morning flight on Flyafrica.com to the Victoria Falls International Airport where we were collected by a driver from Wild Horizons, one of the two major activity providers in town. While we spent only a few minutes outside, the air-conditioned coach was welcome in the rising heat of the October afternoon. We were driven through town to the land border between Zimbabwe and Zamibia, where we transferred to a second coach to reach the Royal Livingstone Hotel. The whole process was well-managed, the drivers knew what they were doing and we were on our way with a minimum of fuss.

While waiting for permission to cross from Zim to Zambia, I was thoroughly entertained by this female warthog and her piglets in the grassy surrounding of the border post. All three animals seemed completely unfazed by the humans creeping ever closer for a photo.

It was a quick drive from the border to the Royal Livingstone where we were checked in. Being early, however, our room wasn’t ready for us. Fortunately, they were prepared to store our luggage while we took a taxi to the local market for a spot of shopping and a quick lunch. I had US Dollars and A-friend had rands, both of which were gladly exchanged at reception for Zambian kwacha.

The drive through Livingstone was a slightly surreal experience for a big-city girl used to bustling Sunday crowds in Joburg. Few shops were open in the late morning and the streets were almost devoid of cars. The local Marimba market, however, was open and traders were happy to accept window shoppers and customers. Our taxi driver, having charged us $30 for a round trip to the market, accompanied us on our tour where we loaded up on lengths of bright patterned fabric known as chitengas. He also directed us to a small ‘restaurant’ for lunch.

We ate like locals, sitting on plastic chairs in a crowded alleyway while the all-in-one cook, waitress and restaurant owner served us. She brought a large tin bowl and a plastic jug of water for us to wash our hands before serving up helpings of fried chicken, spinach and sadza, a local ground mealie meal similar to pap. Drinks were bought from the next stall at a cost equal to the price we paid for our meal – seven kwacha per person.  At an exchange rate of R2 to the kwacha, the meal was ridiculously cheap, especially when measured against the price of food at the hotel. R14 for a half litre of coke, though, was not cost effective.

Back the hotel, with its well-manicured lawns, and friendly staff, we were shown to our room. When the Royal Livingstone claims to be five-star plus, they’re not kidding. Our first floor room was a perfect example of luxury, from the robes and slippers in the closet to the Molton Brown toiletries in the bathroom.  Not for guests Nescafe coffee sachets. Oh no. Freshly brewed Nespresso is the order of the day here. Bottled water is readily available, but at a cost. And when the tap water is perfectly safe to drink, we steered clear of this additional cost.

I unashamedly helped myself the unused toiletries. 

Your Royal Livingstone or adjacent Zambezi Sun room key gives you free access to the Victoria Falls via a private entrance at the end of a paved walkway from the hotel. Unlike Zimbabwe, you are allowed to wade into the Zambezi River and even stand on the edge of the Falls, at your own risk, of course.

Frontal views are obtained via a path of walkways and viewing decks. They certainly make for great photo opportunities and a chance to lose yourself in the roar of the water as it tumbles over the edge of a cliff.

And on a Sunday afternoon, you’ll have the place almost to yourself. Or at least you won’t have to fight crowds of tourists ambling along the pathways. But on a summer afternoon, it’s hot work. The small hut selling cold drinks and curios saw a fair bit of business from us as we took the opportunity to rest in the shade and cool off.

From here, we walked upstream and entered the river, shoes and all. Locals were taking advantage of the sunshine and cool water to relax, but tourists were cautiously making their way along a narrow concrete wall to explore the opposite bank of the river. We joined the queue and attempted a bit of a tight-rope walk with water rushing past our ankles.

The ledge isn’t even 1 foot wide and the rushing water doesn’t make this crossing any easier. 

Word of advice: always face against the flow.

About half way across, a guide grabbed my hand, turned me sideways and accompanied the rest of the way. It was slow going, and I had to concentrate hard to avoid over balancing into the river. I wasn’t too worried about getting wet, but my camera and phone really didn’t need a dunking.

The hike didn’t end there. The guy who helped A-friend across the river insisted that he wanted to take us to the edge of the Falls. Neither of us realised how far this was, or how tiring it would be to navigate through a fairly fast-flowing river, or how we were going to be fleeced at the end of it, so we agreed.

Now, I’m a city girl. I grew up with clear swimming pools, not spending time on lakes or in rivers. So hours of traversing watery terrain was difficult for me. But, I’m proud to say that I remained dry from the mid thigh up. I slipped and I slid over river rocks slick with moss. I sunk into sandy patches and I need help balancing and finding the best place to set my feet from someone with more experience of this unfamiliar environment.

At the end of the outward journey, I was exhausted. Before you call me out for being a complete woes, remember that I was up at 04h00 to catch my flight, and had eaten little more than the chicken and spinach at lunch. The mercury was sitting above 30 degrees Celsius and I was running low on drinking water.

After a peek at the edge of the Falls (I didn’t get too close), we sat and dangled our feet, still clad in socks and water-friendly walking shoes in the swirling water to regain our breath. The trip back was possibly more tortuous, and we stopped in multiple shady spots to rest.

Making our way back over the narrow ledge to the hotel-side of the river we encountered a group of rowdy teenagers in the water, screaming and splashing and breaking my concentration. Every time I thought I’d developed a rhythm and could stop looking the guide’s feet and matching my steps to his, I wobbled precariously and nearly dunked our threesome in the river. So it was a shock to me when I saw A-friend beating a hasty retreat away from the riverbank, until our guide explained that there was a rather annoyed bull elephant making his way determinedly in our direction. While I wish I could have found a burst of speed at this point, I was completely tapped out. I remember thinking that if the elephant was going to trample me, he’d just better make it a quick death, because I couldn’t run anywhere.

While buying yet more drinks from the curio hut, the guide now chose to inform me that the $20 I was offering him as a thank you for his time was a woefully tiny gesture. He charges $30 per person for the privilege of his company. That’s American dollars, BTW. Had we known this beforehand, I guarantee that we would have declined his help, but of course this is not something they like to talk about.

A sundowner on the deck that overlooks the river seemed like a great way to recover from our afternoon hike and it was slightly magical watching the sun ignite the water with an orange glow.

On the left, you can just see the spray from the water as it falls over the edge.

Being a five-star establishment, you are expected to dress up for dinner – that means no shorts. The dining room spills out onto an open-air terrace, perfect for a summer evening. Dinner is an a la carte affair with a number of delicious choices. We spilt a starter of fish cakes and I ordered a fillet of Bream for my main course. It was tender and flakey, but I was glad for the small pots of salt and pepper on the table. As we were completely knackered at this point, we opted out of dessert and chose to make coffee in the room, in the comfort of our PJs.

It was a great pleasure to stand under the spray of the large shower and lather deliciously-scented shower gel on a sponge. There is something completely therapeutic about cleaning up at the end of a long day.

Day 2 of our exploits to follow soon.

Why I’ve decided to live without carbs

Disclaimer: some of this post may be TMI, so forgive me if I gross you out.

I know it’s all the rage these days. The latest thing. What everyone’s doing because they believe it’s going to make them skinny. And I have to admit, that’s why I started. But it’s not why I’m continuing with this new way of eating.

It turns out that carbs and sugar have a really bad effect on my body, something I didn’t realise until I cut out this convenient and addictive food. I’ve suffered a number of ailments over the years, starting when I still in the single digits of age. They all seemed unrelated to each other and were all treated in isolation.

Here’s a breakdown of all my medical woes. If it doesn’t interest you, scroll about half way down for the carb-free stuff.

When I was a kid, I got a sore knee. An ache that no doctor could explain. I have no recollection when or how it started. I went for x-rays and all sorts of other tests, but there was nothing to see. Someone told my mom it must be growing pains and it would go away. When I got to my twenties and the pain was still there, albeit not permanently – it came and went with no discernible pattern – I figured there must be something else wrong. But it’s never been an excruciating pain that I felt needed further investigation. It’s just something I’ve learned to live with.

When I was in my late teens, I went to the doctor with a post nasal drip. The kind of snot build up that blocks your sinuses when you’re trying to sleep. He prescribed me an antihistamine and said the likely cause was an allergy. However, since it’s usually really hard to pinpoint an allergy, he suggested that if I could live with taking a pill every day it was the way to go. I wasn’t really in the position to pay for and undergo expensive tests, so I took the pills and just learned to live with it.

I experienced my first bout of heartburn when I was about 23. I know it’s fairly common, and to start with, Rennies worked fine to control it. But since starting on cortisone for the eye problem (which I’ll explain now), it’s gotten worse, and I’ve noticed that when I eat a lot of carbs, I need to medicate it with something stronger.

At the end 2008, I contracted an intestinal bug. It took about a week for me to realise that it wasn’t just something I ate and get myself to a doctor. I had to submit a stool sample (one of the grossest things I’ve had to do) and got a prescription for antibiotics for my trouble. After the bacteria had been successfully eliminated, I experience unexplained diarrhoea. It took me another two years to come across the idea that perhaps a probiotic would help. It did, and I made sure to carry a stash of pills at all times, because I never knew when it would strike.

In 2010, I got an eye infection. The GP thought it was pink eye and prescribed drops. When that didn’t clear the problem up, he sent me to an ophthalmologist, who diagnosed scleritis. Scleritis is an autoimmune disease usually caused by arthritis or diabetes. I was tested for these and other possible causes, but they found nothing.

The scleritis morphed into plain old orbital inflammation, again without a known underlying cause. The treatment for this is lots and lots of cortisone. However, after three years of reoccurrences and increasingly heavier doses of cortisone that didn’t seem to be working, I was referred to a rheumatologist for cortisone sparing immunosuppressant drug therapy, which I need to be on for at least two years.

In 2011, I was forced to see a physiotherapist for repetitive strain injury in my forearms. It was thought the pain was caused by overuse of the computer mouse. While the massage and needle sessions did help somewhat, the pain never really went away. The second physio I went to, about a year ago, gave me exercises to do at home, which did seem to help.

In February, I gave up carbs. My parents had started on this new diet about four months previously and my dad had amazing results. He lost weight, and lowered his cholesterol and blood pressure. I gave up gluten (and dairy) at about the same time they gave up carbs, and I did see some positive results. Mainly, my eye inflammation was manageable.

But as Christmas approached, I went off the rails. I ate all the things I knew I shouldn’t – bread, pizza, muffins, mince pies and all the yummy food associated with Christmas and holidays. And my eye just kept getting worse. I had two cortisone injections into the eye socket before the doctor closed for the holidays, and was taking more and more oral cortisone, but nothing seems to make a difference. It wasn’t until February that it dawned on me that my eating might be the problem.

So I gave up carbs. That is, I cut down on my intake drastically. I did have a few days that were completely carb free, but it’s not realistic to give up all carbs all the time. Especially considering all the places carbs like to hide – in sauces mostly.

I cut out wheat – pasta, bread, all things made with flour – pretty much completely. I cut down on rice and potatoes, and all the things that contain sugar. No more biscuits, crackers, doughnuts, cakes or pies. No more sugary soft drinks. No more frozen meals or processed food. Also, no more low fat or fat free options, like yoghurt.

I embraced the LCHF (low carb high fat) diet, buying butter instead of marg, and adding cream to everything. I bought nuts and seeds by the kilo. I stocked my kitchen with coconut oil and flour. I added almond meal to my baking ingredients. I planned my meals, milled my own flour from flaxseed, baked my own bread and muesli. It was hard work, but my eye was so much better.

Then, around Easter, I fell off the wagon. It was a week of eating junk food – pizza, doughnuts, chocolate, chips, coke, oat crunchies. I ate through all the warning signs my body was throwing at me and settled for medicating the symptoms: antacids for the heart burn; probiotics for the upset tummy; Deep Heat for the sore arms; cortisone for the sore eye.

After a week of a painful, swollen, throbbing eye, I was back at the rheumatologist, getting an extremely expensive cortisone drip to get things under control again.

But it made me realise that all my problems were connected – by carbs. When I eat right, with minimal carb intake, I don’t suffer from heart burn, joint or muscle pain, diarrhoea, flatulence or an inflamed optical orbit.

A carbohydrate intolerance basically causes a low-grade inflammation, which targets areas of weakness, of which I seem to have many. It causes weight gain, especially around the mid section and makes weight loss really difficult. Okay, I personally can’t blame all my weight problems on a carb intolerance, but it goes a long way to explaining my situation.

When the eye problem started, and I saw a small army of specialists to try and get some answers, I asked them if it was possible that something I was doing to cause the problem. Everyone said no. But now I know differently.

I’m sharing this story in case it resonates with others out there, searching for answers and coming up with nothing. There are apparently blood tests that can prove a person’s carb intolerance, although I’ve never actually been for one – I’m listening to what my body is telling about the food I eat.

I can handle a small amount of carbs on a daily basis, but I have to be very careful not to overdo it. But even then, I try to choose rice or potatoes over wheat and sugar. Aside from the things it does to my weak spots, the sugar cravings that increased carb intake causes is hell to get under control again.

My aim is get off the cortisone, which I’ve been on for eight months nonstop, something I can only do when I’m off the carbs. I’d also like to lose weight, for I believe that once I’ve lost the 75 or so extra kilos I’m carrying around, the inflammation problem will be minimal and more easily controlled. 

But for now, it’s mostly a case of fighting the urge to inhale carbs at every opportunity, to say no when I know I’ve reached my limit, to make healthier choices.