Victoria Falls

In the last leg of the trip I crossed the border into Zimbabwe, my home from 1984 to 1987 and I spent two days at Victoria Falls. While the economy is still in disarray, destroyed by the avarice and cunning of the now deposed Robert Gabriel Mugabe, tourism prospers. A currency crisis continues and the country has no currency of its own. Most trade is done in American dollars but often there is no change and credit cards often don't work because of the patchy infrastructure. 

Despite these considerable obstacles, the majestic splendour of the Victoria Falls draws visitors from all over the world. On the Zimbabwe side one can walk all along the edge of the gorge facing the Falls. Where the water is most plentiful, the long drop, over 100 metres in places, creates an ever present mist which falls immediately again as tropical rain, creating a lush rainforest in the immediate area. The noise really does sound like thunder, giving the name Musi-Oa-Tunya, the smoke that thunders. It is a beautiful experience to walk through this mist and watch the spectacular view disappear and reappear. There are many viewing points along the way where  you stand right on the edge of the gorge and watch the water tumble over the cliff. In September, viewing is at its best as the water in the mighty Zambezi is at its lowest. Early in the year, when the river is filled with rains, one sees much less but the spectacle is even more unlikely. I have seen it in many moods and it is always spectacular.

Livingstone wrote in his diary, " No one can imagine the beauty of the view from anything witnessed in England. It had never been seen before by European eyes; but scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight."  The scene seems so unlikely, almost impossible. Why does this mighty river, carrying water from all over the centre of Africa to the Indian Ocean, along a 2 kilometre almost straight line cliff, suddenly drop 100 metres straight down? No similar drop is visible in the surrounding landscape. It seems as if the river should flow almost flat along the ground. Instead, it engages in this miraculous athletic feat, creating rainbows everywhere, giving rise to a rainforest in the midst of endless dry savannah, filling the air with a mighty roar and blowing mist high into the bone dry surrounding air. It is a magical place indeed - a wonder of the world.