We’ve all participated in trust exercises. You know, where an overpaid consultant tells you to trust everyone you work with…well…because you work with them and everyone is happier and more productive with mutual trust. Some entities go further than interactive lectures and even add in ropes courses, or other activities…such as the whole blindfolded fall backwards and someone catches you exercise. (Of course, they may only be catching you because they don’t want to get fired…but whatever.)
At Victoria Falls, I participated in the most exhilarating experience of my life…which doubles as a trust exercise (this one is Colonel Kahn (I’m a Kentucky Colonel) approved 15/10 definitely recommend). I swam in Devil’s Pool! Devil’s Pool is a natural infinity pool at the edge of Victoria Falls. To get there, you take a short boat ride down the Zambezi river to Livingstone Island after which you take a brief walk across the island (it’s called a “tour” of the island but it is really just a walk from the boat landing to the falls) to the edge of the Falls.
From there you meet your guide, and then swim through the current to another small rocky outcropping where you enter Devil’s Pool. The trust exercise part? This guide, who you’ve just met not 10 minutes ago, holds your ankles – while treading water against the current – while you hang over the edge of the falls! Now this is blind trust!
I can’t even describe how amazing the whole experience is. Once in the pool, just a few feet to the right (not that right, your other right) would put you in the strong current right over the falls. But, in the pool itself you can swim, and post up at the edge under the watchful eye of your guide.
I also had an awesome time enjoying a “Victoria Falls Massage” where you sit in the middle of a rapid – using all your strength to hold yourself in place – and feel the force of the river before letting go and heading left back into Devil’s Pool. (Heading right would end badly.)
After about 15 minutes, it’s back into the river to swim back to Livingstone Island for some adult beverages and snacks before heading back to the hotel.
The Kahn Man 