Victoria Falls
Located in the northwest corner of Zimbabwe, the town of Victoria Falls (pop. 30K) is the heart of tourism in this part of Africa. On one side of the great Zambezi (zam-BAY-zee) river, the traveler finds VF and, on the other shore, Livingstone, Zambia (pop. 300K).
This is the area where the famous meeting between the missionary doctor, David Livingstone, and the intrepid journalist and explorer, Henry Morton Stanley, took place, and their famous greeting, though probably fictional, was immortalized as, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume.”
The falls themselves drop over 300 feet into the gorge created by faulting in the underlying basalt. They are considered to be one of the original Seven Wonders of the Natural World, “Mosi Oa Tunya” in the native language, or “The Smoke that Thunders.”
My visit to the falls was twofold. First, our group walked the trail through the national park that includes quite a few viewing points and the famous statue of Dr. Livingstone.
The mist from the falls is so strong that our trip leader distributed raincoats to all of us. At a couple of points, it actually seemed like it was raining, and we were soon soaked.
My second experience was via a 15-minute helicopter ride that we had booked through our trip leader. Early Monday morning, we boarded a four-seat chopper from which we saw the falls and the gorge from every possible angle.
After an hour of shopping and bartering, it was back to the hotel to relax by the pool and catch up on my email and blog.
The last evening of our main trip together included a candle-lit riverside farewell dinner after a sunset boat cruise on the mighty Zambezi River.
