Devil's Swimming Pool

[cjsmith]

This terrifies me. But I also know I would do it.

Comments

[ohhjuliet.livejournal.com]

eeeeeeeeeeeeek. I wouldn't do that!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I'll probably never again be able-bodied enough to GET there, so I can safely say I'd do it without fear of having to follow through. :-) On the other hand, I'm the kind of person who routinely ducks under safety bars (or at least sticks my camera through the bars) to get a good view.

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Ho Lee Crap!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I've always loved images of Victoria Falls, and this makes me fall in love with the place again. Not that I'll necessarily ever be there in person!

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's one of those unique places - it's like the Zambezi falls sideways over a big crack. I'd love to check it out in person someday, but probably never will.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Ditto. There's something oddly comforting in knowing I'll never run out of stunningly wonderful places to go visit. I'll never have so much time and money that I can visit them all, so I'll never run out. I won't ever have to pick some icky second rate place to see because I've seen all the good ones. It's kind of nifty. This planet is amazing.

[allanh.livejournal.com]

Freak. Me. OUT!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

It's pretty dramatic!

[evelynne.livejournal.com]

Oh, WOW. I couldn't do it. It freaks me out just LOOKING at the pictures. But I'm delighted that such a place exists where people can do that. I can't stand how people are always trying to bubble-wrap the world.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I would be scared but I suspect the desire/almost-need to do it would overwhelm me. I like high places, although I do fear falling; as long as intellectually I can tell myself I'm not going to fall, I adore views of long drops.

I too hate the bubble-wrap. The US seems to be particularly over the top about it. I can remember a stunning waterfall I saw in Norway, where you could walk right over the edge if you'd a mind to. It was a couple hundred feet down. Warning signs littered the area, but there were no bars. It was wonderfully refreshing.

[joedecker.livejournal.com]

I'm both terrified and consumed with how I get my camera out to the edge without anything getting wet. ;)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Isn't it a stunning view? I'd put a cheap camera in a Ziploc baggie if I had to!

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

This is what my old Nikonos IV-A was built for!

[wooddragon.livejournal.com]

NONONONONONONONO!!!!!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

YESYESYESYESYES! We can go, you can stay on the bank, and I'll take a photo over the edge for ya.

[recordersmith.livejournal.com]

Not a chance in hell. I'm terrified of heights. Not so much because I think something terrible will automatically happen, but because I have much too clear a picture in my head of what could happen with just a slight screwup. And that picture is all I see when I'm in a place like that.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I do have the picture, yes. So I'd be scared. (Many times, when I'm up high, I either don't have the picture or I can set it aside until I get back on the ground. This one gives me the picture.)

[tiger-spot.livejournal.com]

I would do it. But it would freak me right out if I also had to watch my loved ones do it. That's an interesting little window into my perception of risk.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Isn't that weird? Yeah, I'd have a heck of a time watching Rob lean on that rock wall. But I'd wriggle out there with a camera at the end of my extended arm and feel joyful, exhilarated. I guess nobody ever said it had to make a lot of sense. :-)

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

I'm wondering about the kids in the pool with the parents/guardians. Hope they're on leashes.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I didn't look closely. Depending on age, I can also hope the parents/guardians have taught them the right amount of sense to be able to handle the situation.

[tattermuffin.livejournal.com]

I was thinking about this and how anyone figured out it was safe to do. I have visions of some one deciding to sacrifice/murder a person over the edge of the falls, throwing/pushing them in, and watching them stop at the edge like that.

Talk about feeling like the gods are telling you "this person, we ain't letting him die." ;)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh, that makes an excellent image!

I wonder about how people figured lots of things out. Who was the first person to eat an egg? Who was the SECOND person to eat a mushroom? These things take bravery! (or extreme hunger)

[tattermuffin.livejournal.com]

Who was the SECOND person to eat a mushroom?


Hee! I love the way you phrased that!

[jtidwell.livejournal.com]

And who the heck was hungry enough to think of eating a *lobster*?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah! Let's face it: lobsters are BUGS.

[deege.livejournal.com]

NO.WAY.

It's narcissistic, I know, but I always believe that I'LL be the one who is the exception.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

That's a good way to avoid taking potentially-foolish risks. Seriously, wouldn't you feel like the worst moron if you got to the Pearly Gates and St. Peter asked "How'd you die?" and you had to reply "Falling over a waterfall after I deliberately jumped in" ?

[mac-arthur-park.livejournal.com]

I just showed that to Liam. He wants to go there for his 12th birthday.

Because this year, he's getting a puppy. It's still up in the year if its an Irish Wolfhound (if Bruce pays) or a rescue mutt from BARKS. I'm pulling for the rescue mutt, especially if a) there's cocker spaniel or collie in the mix and/or b) the breed is not the size of a small horse.

Back to the original subject of the post...I would do it, and spend my time trying NOT to throw up.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

It's got to be a mindbogglingly expensive trip. I'd like to go some day too, but I may have to win the lottery first. :-)

Heights don't usually make me queasy, although if there's any kind of undercut (as in, the platform or floor I'm on is over open space) I may get vertigo.

[linuxcub.livejournal.com]

I feel physically ill just looking at that webpage.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Wow. Yikes. :-(

[linuxcub.livejournal.com]

I'm _so_ not a risk-taker :-/

[simplykimberly.livejournal.com]

Oh, I would so TOTALLY do this! And I'd have a camera in a baggie at the VERY least, for sure!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

AMEN on the camera in a baggie! I wonder if I could find my picture of Vernal Falls from the top, or the one of Yosemite Valley (background) and a pair of CJ's hiking boots (foreground, dangling off Half Dome). I would not be able to resist a picture like that view of Victoria Falls.

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

I'd totally do it. I might chicken out when it came to going right up to the edge, but I'd definitely swim in the pool and at least try to make myself inch out farther.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I wonder how strong the current within the pool is.

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

Doesn't look too terribly strong, from the pictures.

[gdaniels.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is AWESOME. Thanks for the pointer - maybe if I stare at the videos long enough before bed I can convince my subconscious to dream about it. :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Ooo, now I want to try the same trick!