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| Victoria Falls |
So, now, let’s
get back to a subject more interesting -- and more pleasant – than my broken
finger. The next day,
we flew to Zimbabwe for our visit to Victoria Falls.
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| Janet, Becca and Caty |
Once again, it was a
mid-day flight, so most of the day was wasted traveling.
When we got to
Victoria Falls (that is the name of the town as well as the actual falls), we
got to experience Zimbabwe’s wonderful immigration system. We stood in a
relatively short line for what seemed like forever – well over an hour to
process about 20-30 people.
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| Uni Visa |
At the airport, we purchased Uni-Visas ($50) that
allows unlimited travel between Zimbabwe and Zambia – important because we were
planning to go to Livingstone Island, which is on the Zambia side of the falls.
Allegedly, having the visa makes border crossing faster. Allegedly.
There had been
a bit of confusion before our departure for Africa because we received late
notice that GAdventures had changed our itinerary for touring the falls. That
wasn’t going to work because that’s when our Livingstone Island trip was
scheduled – Becca had booked that separately because GAdventures doesn’t do
that kind of booking until you are “on the ground.” We were afraid that it
would be too late to get spots for seven people.
We put forth several
suggestions, but didn’t know the resolution until we arrived. But, it turned
out that we did do the tour as soon as we arrived. So, that was perfect.
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| Becca |
We were also
told just before our arrival that our tour guide was changing from Patience to
Thembie (maybe because of the tour schedule). Patience had another group, some
of whom we met (along with Patience) later.
As soon as we
arrived, we checked into our hotel – the Cresta Sprayview. It was a lovely
hotel with an outside dining terrace and a pool, but it doesn’t have a view of
the falls. From the name, I thought it might. But, I think during the rainy
season when the falls are full, you can see the spray from miles away.
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| Photo: Cresta Sprayview |
Called
Mosi-oa-Tunya ("The Smoke that Thunders"), Victoria Falls is one of
the world’s most famous waterfalls.
For a
considerable distance upstream from the falls, the Zambezi flows over a level
sheet of basalt, in a shallow valley, bounded by sandstone hills.
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| Rocky river |
The river's
course is dotted with numerous tree-covered islands, which increase in number
as the river approaches the falls.
There are no mountains, escarpments, or deep
valleys; only a flat plateau extending hundreds of miles in all directions.
There are two
islands on the crest of the falls that are large enough to divide the curtain
of water even at the height of rainy season: Boaruka Island (or Cataract
Island) near the western bank, and Livingstone Island near the middle.
In the
dry season, additional islets divide the curtain of water into separate
parallel streams.
The rainy
season is from late November to early April, with the volume of water in the
falls peaking in April. When the falls are full, the spray from the falls
typically rises to a height of 1,300 ft., but it can be twice as high, and is
visible from up to 30 miles away.
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| Through the mist |
Because of this, it is difficult to actually
see much of the falls and it is equally impossible to stay dry during the rainy
season. The spray from the falls make the River Zambezi Rain Forest (which flanks the river) the only place that receives rainfall 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
We were there
during the dry season, when the falls have much less water (indeed, the
Horseshoe section is dry), but can actually be seen.
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| The falls |
The falls is
protected by two national parks: Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park in Zambia and
Victoria Falls National Park in Zimbabwe.
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| The course |
Archaeological
sites around the falls have yielded Homo habilis stone artifacts from 3 million
years ago, 50,000-year-old Middle Stone Age tools and Late Stone Age (10,000
and 2,000 years ago) weapons, adornments and digging tools. Khoisan
hunter-gatherers displaced these Stone Age people and in turn were displaced by
Bantu tribes, then the Matabele and the Batswana and Makololo. Although each
tribe had a different name for the falls, they all essentially meant "the
smoke that thunders.”
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| Livingstone statue |
The first
European to see the falls was Dr. David Livingstone in 1855, during his
1852-56 journey from the upper Zambezi to the mouth of the river.
The falls were well known to African locals, Voortrekker hunters and Arabs under a name equivalent to "the end of the world."
He had
been told about the falls before he reached them from upriver and was paddled
across to the small island that now bears his name. Nevertheless, Europeans take credit for "discovering" the falls.
He named the falls in honor of
Queen Victoria. Livingstone is much lauded in Victoria Falls.
In 1860,
Livingstone returned to the area and made a detailed study of the falls with
John Kirk.
Until the area was opened up by the railway in 1905, the falls were
seldom visited by other Europeans.
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| Livingstone marker |
While Livingstone was in Africa, apparently he didn't report in very often (it is so stunning, he was probably distracted).
So, Henry Morton Stanley was sent in 1871 to find Livingstone, who had been "missing" for five years.
Stanley had a disastrous 700-mile journey, during which his thoroughbred stallion died within a few days after a bite from a tsetse fly, many of his porters deserted and the rest were decimated by tropical diseases.
He found Livingstone near Lake Tanganyika in present-day Tanzania and allegedly calmly greeted him with the famous -- and very British -- line, "Doctor Livingstone, I presume?"
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| Such a beautiful place |
European settlement
of the area started around 1900 in response to the desire of Cecil Rhodes'
British South Africa Company for mineral rights, timber, ivory and animal skins
(and for his desire for imperial rule north of the Zambezi River). Before 1905,
the river was crossed above the falls by dugout canoe or a barge towed across
with a steel cable. Rhodes’ vision of a Cape-to-Cairo railway drove plans for
the first bridge across the Zambezi and he insisted it be built where the spray
from the falls would fall on passing trains. The railway offered accessible
travel (mainly to whites) from the Cape to the Belgian Congo, but never made it
to Cairo.
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| A classic view |
In 1904 the Victoria Falls Hotel was opened to accommodate (white) visitors arriving on the new railway and the falls became a popular attraction during British colonial rule of Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), with the town of Victoria Falls becoming the main tourist center.
To this day, the city of Victoria Falls’ only real business is tourism. Otherwise, the economy is pretty grim.
Northern
Rhodesia became the independent state of Zambia in 1964 and, after years of war
(and dropping tourism), Zimbabwe's internationally recognized independence in
1980 brought comparative peace. This re-vitalized tourism, with almost a
million annual visitors. Recent political tensions have cause some declines on
the Zimbabwe side and strengthened tourism on the less-developed Zambian side.
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| Setting sun |
I was surprised
to find that the area has sizable populations of Elephant, Buffalo, Giraffe,
Grant's Zebra and a variety of antelope. Lions, Leopards and Cheetahs are only
occasionally seen. Vervet Monkeys and Baboons are common. The river above the
falls contains large populations of Hippopotamus and Crocodile. Klipspringers,
Honey Badgers, Lizards and Clawless Otters live in the gorges and there are 35
species of raptors. We saw some birds and animals while there (more on that
later), but not many. At least, we finally saw some green! It is warmer and wetter there than most of the rest of southern Africa.
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| Ferns |
So, after we
got settled, Thiembe (which means “Promise”) introduced us to our driver and
Victoria Falls guide, Smart (remember that thing about naming your children
after characteristics or hopes?).
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| Smart and Thembie |
We toured
Victoria Falls National Park on the Zimbabwe side, where you get the best views
of the falls. Smart took us along the trail that follows the Zimbabwe side of the falls. We walked slowly along, admiring every turn ...
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| The river (this was the dray season) |
... and taking lots of pictures of the falls ...
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| Panorama |
... and ourselves ...
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| Caty and Becca |
It turns out that late afternoon is a great time for a tour. It
is cooler than mid-day (where South Africa was cool; Zimbabwe is not) and the
light creates fantastic rainbows.
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| Rainbows abound |
Dry season is
also a good time to visit if you want to see the falls and keep yourself and
your camera dry. There was only one misty spot -- and very green -- on the trail.
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| The path |
While we were
viewing the falls from the various overlooks – all of which had lovely natural
fences that were much more attractive than the chain link you typically see in
the U.S.
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| Overlook |
We did see a few birds: A male Fiscal
Flycatcher …
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| On the trail |
Western Cattle Egrets
…
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| On the edge of the falls |
A White-Browed
Robin Chat …
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| Not a great shot (it was dark under the trees) |
A Blue Waxbill
…
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| A brightly colored bird |
And, while on
the trail, a Trumpeter Hornbill (a bird I would really like to have
photographed) flew right over my head (like 12-18 inches above my head), but it
happened fast and it kept going, so I didn’t even get a good look. I never saw
another one.
Plus, we saw a
Bushbuck in the tall grass …
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| Bushbuck |
Victoria Falls
was the only place we saw any mosquitoes – but there weren’t many and we didn’t
get bitten. We did see lots of small White Flies – the same kind trout love.
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| Mayfly |
At the end of
the trail, we saw the Victoria Falls Bridge that crosses the Zambezi river
gorge to Zambia.
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| Victoria Falls Bridge |
The bridge was prefabricated in England by the Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company, shipped to Mozambique and transported on the newly constructed railway to the Victoria Falls.
It took just 14 months to
construct it in 1905.
The steel bridge is 650 ft. long, with a main
arch 420 ft. above the lower water mark of the river in the gorge below.
Carrying a road, railway and footway, the bridge is the only rail link between
Zambia and Zimbabwe and one of only three roads between the two countries.
Because of the
age of the bridge, trains must cross at less than 3 mph, trucks are limited to
30 tons and only one vehicle can be on the bridge at a time. Needless to say,
it is not the main route between the countries. The bridge was
originally referred to as the Great Zambesi or Zambezi bridge, later becoming
known as the Victoria Falls Bridge.
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| Panorama |
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| Becca |
The walk along the falls was lovely and we witnessed a magnificent sunset. As it started to get dark, we finally had to leave because the park was closing. But, it was set to reopen in an hour because
there was a full moon. That’s the only time they allow people in at night.
It would have been neat to go because, allegedly, you can see moonbows at night (the reflection of moonlight forms a nighttime rainbow on the falls).
We all agreed
that we would have liked to return the next day after our morning trip to
Livingstone Island. But, that was not to be.
I made a little video that you can watch here.
Trip date: August 25-September 9, 2017
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