As Bruno and I crossed the border at Katima Mulilo into Zambia, I felt a little bit giddy. I had now fulfilled one of my Bucket List goals – that of visiting one country for every year of my age. At 28, I have been to 28 countries! But I have not merely stepped foot into them (in fact, I am not even counting Japan, where I spent almost 24 hours and even visited the city of Narita, walked around the grounds of a temple, and ate sushi) – I have passed no less than one week, and more often several months, in each country. Of course, my 29th birthday is coming up soon, which just means that the travel (and therefore the blog) will have to continue!
I was also giddy, upon entering Zambia, because I was now back in “real” Africa. I have spent the last five months in the wealthiest and most western countries of Africa. Camping facilities have been superior, roads generally good, immigration posts orderly. With our entry into Zambia, it was clear that our days of comfortable African travel were over. There was a traffic jam leading into the border, and when we finally passed the gate, all I saw was dust and people everywhere. Off to the left, there was a smattering of buildings and caravans, and that seemed to be the way to go, but there was of course no sign. We parked and wandered around for a bit, all the while being hassled by people trying to “help” us, and finally came across the immigration and customs building. Inside, a mass of people, the smell of bodies (which I now associate with Africa), and no clear organization of procedure. After getting our visa and getting Bruno’s “carnet de passage” (for his Toyota) signed, we had to pass outside to no less than 4 different caravans scattered amongst the dust and the people to pay for this tax or that tax, each time changing American dollars into Kwatcha on the informal black market (there being no ATMs or Bureau de Change anywhere). It was so ridiculous, chaotic, and disorganized, that I had to laugh.
Welcome back to Africa!
Our first stop – a visit to Livingstone and Victoria Falls, the tourist capital of Zambia. I had the fortune to visit Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe just over a year ago with my friend Alex (what’s up, girl?), but I wanted to see the falls again, this time from the Zambian side. Last April, at the end of rainy season, the falls were at their peak water flow, so we didn’t even try to bring a camera into the park to take photos. This year, despite the falls being yet again at their peak , I had my professional photographer in tow, so I have photos for you all!
The falls are situated about 10km south of Livingstone. This was a strategic anti-malaria move because the town is a colonial town built over 100 years ago, so there wasn’t quite the variety of anti-malarial medication as is now available! As you drive along the road leading to the falls, you can see a cloud of water spray floating high up into the air. By the time you are within a kilometer or so, you can feel the spray, like a mid-afternoon sunshine rainstorm.
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| Approaching the Victoria Falls. Note the spray from the falls! |
There are four walking trails on the Zambian side of the falls, each offering a different view. We first walked to the Knife’s Edge, which offers a close-up view of the falls. This walk follows a plateau that faces the Eastern Cataract of the falls, and in the wet season, you get absolutely drenched with water spraying up from the falls. At one point, you have to cross a small bridge, which, in the pouring rain, is a difficult task – the bridge becomes slippery with wet moss, and you have to keep your eyes half shut because of the rain! The sheer quantity and force of the water falling down each second is so powerful that a thunderous sound vibrates throughout your body. That is why the falls, in the regional dialects, are translated as “The Smoke that Thunders”.
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| The Eastern Cataract |
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| Bruno soaking wet (but thankfully sporting his rain coat!) |
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| The cliffside path opposite the falls (I’m loving the spray!) |
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lots of water –
500 million liters flowing downwards each second! |
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| double rainbows everywhere |
After getting thoroughly soaked, Bruno and I opted to take the walking trail that takes you behind the falls, to the rapids just before the fall. It’s fun to stand just at the point right before the water falls and to see the cloud of water rising up from 100 meters below. Interestingly, the location of the falls slowly moves further and further back over time (lots of erosion going on here!), so the spot where we stood that day will perhaps, in the future, be the exact spot of the falls!
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| the rapids just before the fall |
Next, Bruno and I headed down to the Boiling Pot, located at the foot of the falls. The landscape on this walk is very lush and jungly, and has loads of baboons to make it feel even more exotic. I didn’t really enjoy walking less than a foot past loads of huge male baboons with teeth as long as my hand, but this place is so touristy that surely the baboons are used to us. The Boiling Pot is so named because the water here gets caught up in a sort of tornado in the water, creating a circular pot shape. There is a nice view here of the 100-year-old bridge that links Zambia to Zimbabwe. Last year, Alex and I crossed it and watched people bungee jump. At the time, I didn’t realize my aunt had done that exact bungee jump a few years before! Go Louise!
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| the lush jungle on the way down to the Boiling Pot |
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| the Boiling Pot, with bridge view overhead (where Louise bungee jumped!) |
Our last walk afforded us a wider view of the falls and took us to the Zambian edge of the bridge. Here, the shrubbery is dull and fall-like, which is in sharp contrast to the lush, green, tropical greenery we’d spent the afternoon walking through. The spray from the water doesn’t reach this far, so the land here is similar to the more common dry regions of Southern Africa. These poor plants must be looking over at their nearby green neighbors and cursing their seeds for planting themselves there! Yet another example of how water is life.
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| The dry shrubbery on our last walking trail – poor, thirsty, jealous trees! |
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Wide-angle view of the falls (Note small bridge on upper right
as well as large tract of land in center = Knife’s Edge) |
As we headed back to Livingstone, I pondered David Livingstone’s journey to these falls more than 150 years ago. A medical missionary turned explorer, Livingstone had heard rumors of the falls in 1851, but was headed toward the Angolan coast looking for trade routes, so he didn’t mount his expedition until 1855 in search of the falls. Roughly 100 locals accompanied him on their journey through the wild bushlands of Zambia. Livingstone was the first European to spot the falls, and he named them after his queen because they were the most beautiful sight he’d ever laid his eyes upon. Frontier-fever was gushing through England at that time, so within 50 years, the very European town of Livingstone was set. By this time, Livingstone himself had been dead for almost 30 years (gone a bit crazy while searching for the source of the Nile, he died of malaria and dysentery), but his statue was erected near the falls, and is still there today. (All this info gathered from the Livingstone Museum, the largest museum in Zambia, and a very decent museum. I spent three hours there yesterday learning about the history of Zambia until 2001, traditional culture, natural history, and of course, David Livingstone.
The falls are beautiful today, of course, but to have seen them in 1855, or even 50 years later, at the founding of the city…. Wow! That would have been something else! No walking paths, no bridge, no entrance fee, no tourists. Just a feeling of discovery and adventure. And of course, danger!
How would YOU prefer to see Victoria Falls?
