Wet Victoria Falls

Country: Zimbabwe by Lisette

27-04-2013

More than a month ago, Marlowe and I went to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe with fellow Canadians Tim and Chris. The trip from Mozambique took about 36 hours by bus and train so by the time we got to Vic Falls we were beat. Nevertheless, we did so many things that we ended up seeing the falls only on the very last day we were there!

In the morning we (excluding Chris) went horseback riding. When I told my parents afterwards in our weekly Skype call they started laughing. “But you don’t know how to!” my mother exclaimed. Which is correct, and to be completely honest, I was a little scared. Every time the horse did something weird or moved differently, a little squawk came out of me.

Luckily, the owner of the “safari on horseback” realized this immediately and made sure my horse was guided and all I needed to do was sit on its back. That I could do! We saw lots of impala, a young elephant running away, a surprised warthog, a big black bull, birds and monkeys. But mostly we saw green grass and low bushes with thorns.

Only afterwards did I realize I was going to feel my butt and legs for a day or so. Gladly we stretched our legs and walked over to Victoria Falls . The first sight of these wide falls took my breath away. Only to realize a couple of minutes later there was much more to see. We walked for several kilometers to make sure we saw everything.

There was no escaping the mist that felt more like rain at certain parts of the trail. In wintertime the falls carry more water so the falls are much bigger. The downside is that the thick mist obscures your sight at certain lookout points. It is no wonder then that the original name is Mosi-oa-Tunya meaning “smoke that thunders”.

Victoria Falls is one of the Seven Natural Wonders, meaning I have officially seen two now because I visited the Great Barrier Reef briefly. (To be more accurate, I’ve been in the area as I’m not much of a snorkeler and no diver at all.) The falls are the largest known due to a combination of its height and width.

At Niagara Falls in 2009, I took the chance to go in a helicopter flight and the view (and as such the pictures) was amazing. This time, we chose not to fly and our experience is quite different. If you have the money, fly! We also chose not to go to the Zambia border to see Victoria Falls from their sight. That was a good call, the border agency only gave the three Canadians a single entry visa for a decent price, so to go through that again would, in my opinion, be a waste of money.