I've always wanted a power shower but...

And then there was 3, and I was down to but a single Finnish girl. A very cute Finnish girl, granted, but still just a single Finnish girl. Which after having 3 for so long, comes both a a relief and a sad disappointment. At least I don't have to listen to all that strange foreign warbling anymore.

Just different foreign warbling.

Dr. Livingstone famously noted* on discovering Victoria Falls that it was the grandest and most glorious sight that he had seen, far surpassing any sight that any European had ever set eyes on. I think I can safely say that Dr. Livingstone did not reach Victoria Falls just after a bad rainy season. I saw virtually nothing. But it was still great.

A doubtless very cheesy (and very wet) family picture

On the Zambian side of the falls (where we were), you are so close to the falls that during and after bad rainy seasons, the Zambezi is so over-laden and has so much water, that you can't actually see the falls. All you see are occasional glimpses of the falls amongst the vast torrents of water that gush over them barely 50m away, and perhaps more relevantly from a personal point of view, you.

After Angola, Zimbabwe became the second country this month that i've seen but not been able to visit. This is the bridge across the Zambezi linking Zambia (left) and Zimbabwe (right) with idiots (centre) constantly bungeeing off it as well.

No guidebook or information in Livingstone really prepares you for just how wet you are going to get. Even in the park itself, there is a solitary man renting waterproofs and umbrellas (! - what use is an umbrella when water comes at you from every conceivable angle, and several unconceivable ones), but still no warning. Maaret had been here on her way to Namibia (and look how well that had turned out) and so had warned me. Nothing was taken that was not waterproof, or well wrapped in several plastic bags, or called Fred.

Top, this is pretty much the best view of the falls i got due to the spray, whilst (centre) the photo is not corrupted just spray covered and (bottom) Fred and I crossing the small bridge over the falls, which is an exercise in attempting not to drown from the mass of spray

Despite the perhaps slight disappointment at not seeing the full glorious vista (no, no XP jokes here), it was great, for it is probably only at this time of year that you really get it appreciate the sheer volume of water and awesome power it contains. And besides, it just gives me an excuse to return in dry season to see it properly...

And what, i don't hear you ask, of Fred? He kept making friends, of course:

• He didn't, really. But he did allegedly say something almost along the same lines, and as i'm too lazy to find a real quote that's good enough for me.