And now, all is revealed...

Two posts ago I mentioned that I was working on a special 'project'. Well there was a good reason that I waited to go into detail - I didn't want to scare anybody before I got safely out of the country (I'm in Livingstone, Zambia).

I've had an adventure more exciting than anything in my wildest dreams. Over the last few days I ceased to be a tourist and became a freelance journalist. I was incredibly lucky that in the first 20 minutes of getting to my hostel, I ran into several senior organizers for the MDC, the leading political party opposing the autocrat Mugabe. I started interviewing right away. By the end of the day, I was offered an interview with the Vice President of the MDC who happened to be in town. I jumped on that immediately, or rather, jumped into the back of a pickup truck, and was told to lay down for the ride to her hotel so I wouldn't be spotted by police. Had I been outed as a journalist, I would have been arrested, as there is zero freedom of the press here. I conducted a quick interview, without a notebook, because I was told undercover police were watching us. Thankfully I have cultivated the stupid tourist look well after 3 months on the road.

In the next few days I learned about what kind of shit is happening here - all police and army leaves have been canceled in preparation for violence - they are in riot gear on every second street corner in major cities. On the day I decided to leave, the police were chasing street children, and apparently they often beat children as young as 10. The shelves are bare; people are starving. Opposition candidates are being bribed, hassled or arrested. I got a really good interview with a prospective MP an hour after being released from jail. Most of those I talked to assure me that Mugabe will steal this election again and that there will be violence when that happens.

Things are in shambles in Zimbabwe but I felt that it was worth putting myself at risk so that the world can see what is happening there. My story will likely be published in Saturday's National Post, so keep an eye out for it. An absolutely phenomenal experience!!!

Victoria Falls

Note: 3 new photo albums up

After my post yesterday I braved the throng of peddlers hawking their wood carvings and went down to see the Victoria Falls. I'm hesitant to even attempt to write something about it because it's so beautiful that words are inadequate. Just to give you a sense of the Falls' awesome power, I can hear them from my hostel at night, which is a 20 min walk away. Next to the Falls, the noise of this much water crashing down was humbling. Niagara Falls, in my opinion, does not compare. The water in the Zambezi River is currently flowing in a raging torrent on account of the unusually massive amount of rain this region of the world has had lately. Vic Falls drops into a mile-long canyon that is actually several different falls: Devil's Cataract, Main Falls, Rainbow Falls and Eastern Cataract. It took me about an hour to walk from one end to the other, with time to snap photos.

At my first glimpse, I got tears in my eyes. I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life. Everyone should see this first hand before they die.

The Falls throw up a ridiculous amount of mist, which has the effect of creating incredibly clear rainbows everywhere, and even a double rainbow as you can see from one of my pics. It also meant that as I walked farther East, I got more and more wet. By the time I got to the Eastern Cataract, I was standing in a virtual torrential downpour. At one point I thought I might actually be in the middle of a monsoon rain, because I couldn't believe the Falls were throwing down this much spray. But looking up, the skies were clear blue. Thankful that I brought my raincoat.

I didn't stay very long at the Falls, the reason being that I wanted to leave there with the sense of awe that struck me originally. I didn't want to become used to this much beauty. Have a look at my pictures.