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Published: March 16th 2006
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Approaching Victoria Falls from the air
The mist from the Falls is so great that you can see it from the plane. Victoria Falls and Zimbabwe are beautiful. What a pity that the country has been debilatated to such a degree by the present government. Our hotel was huge and basically empty. The country has the highest rate of inflation in the world. The current exchange rate was 100,000 Zims to U.S.$1.00. The inflation is so bad that they only print the money on one side! The back of the currency is blank except for the border. The people aren't able to get the basic necessities of life. In such a hopeless environment, the Falls seemed incredibly spectacular.
We felt limited in what we were able to do in the town of Victoria Falls with the hawkers and the street crime. Consequently, our experience of the area was limited to the Falls and the river cruise that was part of the tour. Our hotel was a replica of the Great Zimbabwe ruins. It was a bit Disney-esque but still very African and beautiful. It had a casino, food court, and shops attached. However, due to the current situation in the country it was practically empty.
Our first view of the Falls was from the bridge that crosses the Zambezi River and
Victoria Falls
A view of about three-quarters of the entire falls. continues in to Zambia. We went as far as the border and discovered that the view from that point was very obstructed. There were good views of the river gorge but the Falls were hidden in the huge mist cloud that the Falls create.
We walked to the entrance of Victoria Falls National Park, readied our umbrellas, and headed to the west end of the falls. The trail, on the opposite side of the Falls, continues for 1 kilometer and provides wet but good viewpoints of the entire span. In places the brush has grown quite tall and the vantage points are somewhat obscured. On the day we were there it was very windy and we had difficulty approaching the edge of the gorge due to the spray and the slippery condition of the rocks. It isn't a place where a misstep can be ignored. It's definitely a LONG and WET way down.
As you will see from the photos there are a variety of different cascades along the length of the Falls. The main cascade is incredibly huge and impressive. The Zimbabweian side does not give the closest views but they do provide a view of the
entire width of the Falls. I have tried to arrange the photos from west to east to give you an idea of the entire expanse. The photos don't truly do it justice. It was quite a sight!!
With the river cruise, we were able to see the calm side of the Zambezi River. Naturally, the cruise took us up the river and the main attraction was the hippos. The scenery, the rainbow, and the sunset were the icing on the cake. We were fortunate to have several hippo sightings, but nothing too close. It's very difficult to get close to them. When they see you coming they just go under the water and move to a new location.
On the boat, we sat with two young women from Zimbabwe. We aren't sure how they were able to afford the cruise. From our conversation it was evident that they disliked the president and his government. They had a sense of hopelessness since there were no jobs for them. They stated that they just sit home and wait for things to change. They felt that 20+ years of his rule was too long and that it was destroying their country.
At the end of the cruise we disembarked and headed up the river bank to the van. In a ramada by the car park, the lights were going on and off. Ron and I just assumed that it was a brown-out condition of the electrical power. When we reached the ramada we discovered that a family of baboons were there. The dominate male was in control of the light switch! He was having a grand time turning the lights on and off. They always seem to be up to some type of mischief. At Akeru they wrecked the reception office and at Chobe we always had to close the windows when we left our room or they would reach in and take anything that they could get.
The next Africa installment will be from Chobe National Park in Botswana. I have 45 photos to download so it won't be anytime soon.
At least Broome has decent and reasonably priced Internet service. By the way, Cable Beach is as beautiful as we had remembered and we are enjoying it every day for sunrise and sunset. The town of Broome, however, is a different story. More about that later...................
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Dorothy
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WOW
That is beautiful. I hope we get to see it. Love