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On my last full day in Livingstone, I wanted to do one last activity that had gotten fantastic reviews from fellow guests at Jollyboys.

I took the shuttle to the Falls and then made my way to the Upriver Trail. I ran into a man who was very friendly, asking if I was interested in visiting Angel’s Pool. Ironically, that’s why I had come to the Falls for the day. I replied “yes” and he told me to ask for his brother, Felix, at the end of the trail.

I walked to the end of the path and called out to an island in the middle of the Zambezi River. “Felix”, I yelled. “Felix”, I called again. A man came out of the island bushes and walked across the river to meet me. He introduced himself as Felix and we negotiated a price to visit Angel’s Pool. Once we agreed to an amount, I told him I would pay him extra if he brought me back alive. Good incentive, eh?

We proceeded to work our way across the Zambezi, walking sidestep across a very low concrete curb that had been built under the water by the Zambia power company. The water was a little less than shin deep and was not running too fast, though I could feel a little tug every once in a while. We were about 80 yards upriver from the Falls.

We crossed the 50 yards to the island from a where Felix had originally emerged. A group of men were lazily napping away the hot day under the shoreline trees, hoping for another hire to go to Angel’s Pool.

Over the next 45 minutes, we worked our way across the river, alternately hiking over low, shrubby islands and picking our way through water that varied in depth from ankle high to over my head. The Zambezi is 1.2 miles wide as it deposits its contents over the Victoria Falls. We hiked approximately two-thirds of the way across to get to Angel’s Pool.

At one point, Felix told me to wait and then swam downstream about 25 yards. He then motioned for me to follow. While I just thought he was navigating part of the route, he told me later he was judging how good a swimmer I was so he would know for which activities I was qualified in the pool.

We also stopped right at the falls’ edge so we could take a picture. While my feet were in the water, there was hardly any current, so the risk of being swept over the edge was minimal.

We also stopped at another rock formation on the edge so Felix could get more shots of me experiencing a unique view of the falls.

We finally reached Angel’s Pool and it was an amazing natural pool that had formed on the edge of Victoria Falls. The pool itself was about 15 feet below the upper part of the Zambezi, and water came cascading down into the pool that has been cut into the rock edge of the falls by years of rushing water. About 20 feet in diameter, the pool then emptied over the opposite edge, yet another beautiful fall in the vast series of falls that comprise Victoria Falls.

Felix asked if I wanted to do a high-level jump into the pool from a ledge near the top of the upriver fall. Of course I wanted to jump. He showed me the rock perch from which to launch, stepped back with my camera, and took my picture as I jumped the 15 feet into the pool.

Once in the pool, it was easy to swim over to the edge where Felix was standing. He put my camera down and then motioned me to follow him. We swam to a point under the falls and then shot out from under them and away from the wall. We swam over to the far corner of the pool, where he told me to climb over the submerged rocks and go all the way into the corner.

Following his instructions, I discovered a very deep pocket right at the edge of the falls. Getting into it, I was submerged up to my shoulders. The pocket was no more than two to three feet in diameter, but allowed me to safely peer over the edge and down the 300 feet to the rocks below. It was an incredible perspective.

Even though Felix comes out here every day, I could tell he still loved spending time here.

Eventually, we made our way back to the river’s bank and I thanked Felix for an experience of a lifetime. He also got his bonus for not letting me be swept off the edge!