JodockWorldTravel

December 23, 2024

For Ken today is what this trip has been all about – everything else has just been dressing.  Having seen Niagara and Iguazu Falls he is anxious to see how Victoria Falls stacks up.  The three are often compared to one another and each has its own unique characteristic that makes it stand out.

Aunt Dori was not only up and moving at the crack of dawn today, she managed the not quite two-mile, 16 viewing points hike around the up-and-down, often uneven, twisty-turny path along the edge of the Falls like a champ! 

Located on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia that is the Zambezi River, Victoria Falls was one of the original Seven Wonders of the World.  Named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1989, it now “belongs” to all the people of the world.  The local people, the Tonga, gave it its original name of Mosi-oa-Tunya, “Smoke that Thunders,” who, according to our guide, believed that Spirits inhabited the waterfall, and that they became so angry at something man did that they separated the earth and caused a great break in the land.  Fearful that it could happen again, they had an annual tradition of sacrificing a young girl each year to appease them.  The girl would be chosen at random and made to jump of the edge of the falls into the abyss below.  There are many rituals and traditions that carry forward to today, but thankfully this is not one of them!

The Falls are believed to be more than 150 million years old, and they were certainly well-known to Tonga, but it was the Scottish explorer, David Livingstone who brought them to the attention of the rest of the world.  In 1855 he is said to have crossed the Zambezi River in a dug-out canoe in an area just above the falls.  He camped there overnight and when he woke in the morning he walked to the water’s edge, looked over and saw the Falls for the first time.  Today people on the Zambia side of the Falls can purchase excursions to this same site where they will enjoy a five-star meal and have the opportunity to walk across and swim in the area of the Falls known as the Devil’s Pool.  Some folks were doing it when we were there.  But don’t get the idea it’s safe.  In 2009 an experienced guide lost his life rescuing a tourist in such a group who got stranded on a rock and couldn’t make it back to shore because of the rushing currant.  The guide managed to get the man to safety, but just as he did, he lost his footing, and the current carried him over the edge of the falls.

The granite in this area is so close to the surface it’s difficult for tall trees to put roots down far enough to keep them stable.  They often topple over under their own height/weight, like the ones pictured below.  At first glance the tree in the first picture appears to be a host for a bunch of opportunistic other trees, but it’s actually all one tree.  After the tree fell it continued to grow.  What might have been branches had the tree remained standing have become more like baby trees instead.  The second tree pictured below is a Strangled Fig.  It fell in a way that Aunt Dori didn’t even have to bend to get under it!

The view from every stop is breathtaking.

The final stop on the path provides a view of the bridge we mentioned in yesterday’s post.  Built in 1905 over a period of fourteen months, the bridge connects Zimbabwe to Zambia and provides a trade route for the two countries.  For more than 50 years after its construction it carried passenger and freight trains across its tracks.  More recently age and maintenance have caused the tracks to be closed, but vehicular and pedestrian traffic continue to use the bridge.  We saw several Zambian bicyclists on our way here this morning, heading into town walking their bikes loaded down with produce and other wares to sell at roadside stands.  At the end of the day, they’ll return home with their money and left over product and do it all again tomorrow.

The folks of Zambia are born capitalists – and risk-takers!  They offer bungie jumping off the Victoria Falls Bridge (again, not as safe as you might think…one potential customer reportedly asked the guide what they would do if the rope broke.  His response?  Replace it!  She decided not to take the chance.  A 22-year-old woman from Australia found out first-hand what would happen.  In 2011 the cord did snap when she was on it, sending her plunging 70-plus feet into crocodile-infested waters.  She survived, anxious to try again.), and rappelling off the side of cliff of the viewing point.  When we looked over the side of the gorge, we saw a group of kayakers preparing to put in on the Zambia side of the river to experience the Class V rapids a little further downstream.

Aunt Dori was thrilled to have completed the walk – until she realized she wasn’t done yet.  She still had to walk back!  At one point she asked our guide how much further it would be.  He told her about 15 minutes.  Fifteen minutes later she asked again, “How much time now?”

“About 15 minutes,” he replied.

“Fifteen minutes?!” an exasperated Aunt Dori shouted.  “That’s what you said last time!  You need to learn how to tell time!”

Luckily, the return trip was as pretty as the getting there walk had been.

In the picture below – taken in front of the entry to Victoria Falls – you can see how close we are to the Zimbabwe side of the border with Zambia. The workmanship on the handrail of the steps leading to the park entrance is impressive.

We returned to our hotel with just enough time to clean up before heading to the Botswana border, where our current guide will be turning us over to yet another guide.  More about that in our next post!