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Published: January 23rd 2007
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Victoria Falls
With water this time! After travelling through Muslim countries and countries where dress was fairly conservative, Karen commented as she left the hotel room in shorts and a singlet top that she felt quite underdressed. Two seconds later, we spotted a man walking to the restaurant wearing nothing but speedos and flip flops. And that set the tone for our second Vic Falls stay - laid back and completely comfortable.
We were a bit apprehensive about coming back. I mean, we weren't sure if there would be water this time around. As the plane landed at Livingstone airport, we tried to spot the spray of the Falls but were unsuccesful. We jumped on the transfer to the Zambezi Sun hotel (doing it in style this time!!) and were soon kicking back in our air conditioned room. We didn't stay there for long though - just long enough to check out the view, the TV remote and the flushing toilet. We then headed, of course, to the Falls themselves. As we drew closer and closer to the gate, we kept looking at each other and saying, 'Can you hear it? I think so?' What could we hear? The roar of the water!
As we
Big Wow!
We were both in awe of the waterfall. The noise, the spray, the power is awesome. walked, the path suddenly opened up to a view of the Falls. Wow. I got goosebumps. James got out the camera. We were both totally blown away by the amount of water cascading over the edge before us. I guess words cannot really describe the awesome power of the water, nor the sound of the millions of litres falling 100metres onto the rocks below. I totally understand why the locals call it the Smoke that Thunders, and why David Livingstone wrote, 'It had never been seen before by European eyes; but scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight".' I can't say it any better thn that. But I will of course add some photos to the blog that might capture it just a little.
The following day we had planned to go on a helicopter ride in the morning and then jet boating in the afternoon. In true African style though, the jet boats on both the Zambian and Zimbabwean sides of the Falls were not working. And the helicopter was not flying due to poor weather. So...we went horse riding. I had wanted to do some horse riding during our time in
Africa but had not yet had a chance. We caught a lift over to the Livingstone stables and met our guide. After ascertaining our riding ability (which we both may have exaggerated a little), we saddled up and rode out. Within a few minutes of leaving the stables, we spotted two giraffes. We rode into the clearing where they were eating and walked the horses within 5 metres of them. It was pretty amazing as most times we have been this close to giraffes, it has been in a car and they are generally heading away from the car in one of their cool, loping gaits.
The next hour and half was spent riding through the bush, spotting impala and kudu. We trotted and cantered for part of the way. I don't know what James looked like as he and his horse were behind me, but I know that for the first few minutes, I felt like a sack of potatoes. It wasn't long, however, before I got the hang of it again (must be the genes) and was loving it.
The guide led us to the river, showing us hippo footprints along the way (yech). We walked
along the riverbank, stopping for photo opportunities. As we headed back to the stables, the guide asked if I wanted to canter again. 'Sure', I said. Poor James had no say in this. Sorry James. I started cantering off, and like most horses, mine knew we were on the way home. So he decided a canter wasn't enough and upped it to a full on gallop. Awesome. I arrived back at the stables totally exhilerated. James was not far behind, and although he says he was hanging on for dear life, I thought he looked like something out of the Man from Snowy River. I could be biased though.
We were all ready to dismount, but the guide said that we could ride all the way back to the hotel. So we turned the horses around and started to head out. The guides horse was not so obliging and started rearing up and kicking. I coped a nice kick in the leg but unfortunately it did not bruise (no war wounds!). We rode the horses back through the bush to our hotel and all the way back to our rooms. Some of the hotel guests actually videoed us. Fun
stuff.
We checked to see if the helicopters were going up yet, but no such luck. So we headed back to the Falls. James wanted to get down into the gorge, so I led him to the walk to the Boiling Pot. The Boiling Pot is the point where the rafters set off - ahh, memories. It was a nice walk down, with the last few minutes being a rock scramble. Not so good in my now muddy sandals. We sat there, watching the water swirl and eddy. The spray from the Falls drifted over us occasionally. After a while, we started back up. Always harder going up! When we were at Vic Falls in October it was hot, but it was a dry heat. Although it wasn't as hot this time, it was definitely humid!
When we reached our rooms, we called the helicopter people AGAIN. Finally, they said that we could go up. Alright! We grabbed our cameras and headed to the foyer of the hotel to wait for the van to take us to the heliport. It wasn't far away, on a ridge looking down to the river and the spray rising from the falls.
James...and zebra
We found these wandering around the grounds of our hotel It was still a bit cloudy and there was some rain falling on part of our route, but the pilot was positive so we jumped in, buckled up and off we went. It was James' first time in a helicopter so he got to ride up front.
It's a great experience as the bubble windows curve around almost right under your feet, giving a fantastic panoramic view. we took off and headed for the gorge a few kilometres downstream from the falls. We flew over some farmland and a few villages on the way, but the real excitement started when we reached the gorge. Straight over the edge and down to 10metres above the water elvel. Wow. fantstic. Made up for not doing the jetboating. The sheer walls fo the gorge were rising up above us and the rapids were flowing directly below us. We were banking around the twists and turns and enjoying every minute of it.
After flying a few kilometres downstream we rose up. scooting up and over the edge of the cliffs. Not a time for any sense of vertigo or air-sickness! We then turned and headed back up the gorge, but well up above it all, on the way back to the falls. We could easily see the mist rising up. Such a welcome sight after the dryness of our visit in October. As we approached we had an amazing view down into the gorge below the falls, then of the falls themselves, plunging into the chasm, partly obscured by the mist, then of the much wider river just before it loses 100m in altitude. We circled around the falls a few times, checking it all out from a few different angles, seeing something new and amazing on every circle. It was great.
We eventually had to tear ourselves away from the spectacle and the pilot headed upstream for a bit. We saw the cruise boats moored at the jettys and the land of the National Park, but no wildlife, unfortuneately. Being the wet season the animals can get all the water they need from other sources, so don't come near the river as much. We could see the town of Livingstone as well from that height. The flight eventually had to end and we headed for the heliport. We landed safely and the van took us back to the hotel where we eagerly compared photos from our cameras. What a great way to see the falls.
After all that excitement we had a quiet night enjoying the comforts of a 4 star hotel. The next morning we enjoyed another fantastic breakfast before catching the shuttle bus to the airport for our flight to Johannesburg. We thought it was completly worth the trip back to see the falls with water as it really was an awesome sight. For anyone planning a trip, make sure you get there at a time when there's water!
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