Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
August/September, 2015
Africa had always been at the top of our bucket list. So I suppose Victoria Falls could be considered a bucket list “sub-item”, as we always wanted to see it when in Africa. Since it resides in southern Africa, it wasn’t easily visited during our eastern Africa safari to Tanzania in 2013. It was one of the deciding factors when planning our second safari to the African continent in 2015. To see it, we needed to plan our total safari visit in the southern Africa region.
As one of the seven natural wonders of the world, it was a must see. Located at the intersection of four countries (Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia), it is the most distinctive feature of the great Zambezi River.
Our visit took place at the end of the dry season at the beginning of September. So the flow over the falls was at it’s minimum. This was disappointing in some ways, but a blessing in others. You see, when the river is at full flood, the volume of water flowing over the falls is so great that the spray from it fills the entire gorge and surrounding pathways with a dense mist. This mist balloons several hundred feet up in the air and soaks everything in an artificial rain. It also prevents anyone from actually seeing the falls. So at least by coming at this time of the year we were able to see and photograph this natural beauty.
We flew into Victoria Falls on a jet from South Africa, and once there had to go through the immigration process at the airport. After being finger printed, and paying a “service fee”, we were able to exit the building and look for our pre-arranged ride.
We planned for a local operator known as Bush Tracks to pick us up at the airport and deliver us to our hotel, and then pick us up again when it was time to head to the Botswana border crossing after our two night visit to Victoria Falls.
Ilala Lodge Hotel
Our stay in Victoria Falls was at the well known Ilala Lodge Hotel. One of the nicer establishments for luxury accommodation, it’s construction started in 1989 and first opened for business in 1991. The advantage for us was it’s close proximity to the falls. It was just a short walk down the road, and then a pathway, to get to the entrance of the park.
Victoria falls Park
The path from our hotel to the park.
The first European to see Mosi-oa-Tunya or “The Smoke that Thunders”, was David Livingston on November 16th, 1855. He was the one to name it Victoria Falls, in honour of Queen Victoria of Britain, and he did this while standing on the largest of the islands in the Zambezi at the head of the falls, now called Livingston Island.
Our visit was much less celebrated, but was certainly worth the effort nevertheless. After a short walk from the hotel, we crossed the main roadway that leads to the Zimbabwe/Zambia border on the other side of the bridge that spans the river. Even at this early hour of the morning, the trucks were already starting to back up from the border over the bridge and past the entrance to the park.
After paying the US$30 each for entrance into the park, we were able to make our way to the lookouts facing the long ledge over which the water cascades.
