Soaking wet in Victoria Falls

My family all knows that I love waterfalls and have taken hundreds of photos of waterfalls through the years so I couldn't come to Africa without stopping to visit Victoria Falls. The falls separate Zambia and Zimbabwe. I opt to go to Zimbabwe for 2 nights since the view is suppost to be better. Zimbabwe in recent years has been having political problems with their corrupt leader Mugabe but I figured Vic Falls is a tourist destination and if the country goes into revolt, all I'd have to do is cross the bridge into Zambia to escape so it was worth the risk for such a short stay.

The flight from Windhoek to Vic Falls is a small prop plane filled with about 18 white people, probably all tourist while the flight leaving the same time to Luanda was just black people. The flight stopped over in Maun Botswana for about 1/2 hour and the scenery from the air was flat but green, hardly any road or signs of villages. Lots of storm clouds around while landing at Vic Falls but the rain held off.

It takes about 1/2 hour to get into town and I'm staying at the Kingdom Resort. It's a large resort hotel with casino. I'm not impressed with the area around Vic Falls. I get the impression that people are really desperate and people are begging in the streets and trying to sell anything as soon as you leave the property. Armed guards are at the front of the hotel. My ground floor sliding glass doors don't lock so I asked to be changed to a different room to feel secure.

That evening I go on a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River. The Zambezi river starts in Zambia, then heads west into Angola before flowing back east into Zambia separating Zambia, Namibia, Botswana & Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe further east it has been dammed to form a large lake before it continues to flow out into the Indian Ocean. The boat is filled mainly with a French tour group. The banks of the river are flooded and we see some interesting birds but finally spot 1 Croc and about 3 Hippos in the water. Due to the approaching storm, we didn't really get a sunset but enjoyed watching all the lightening in the sky.

In 1855 Livingstone from England explored the area with some native people. It was during the dry season while staying on one of the island at a portion of the waterfall that was dry that Livingstone decided to name the waterfall after the Queen of England at the time. The local people called the falls "Smoke that Thunders" since most of the time there is heavy spray from the falls that looks like smoke in the sky from a distance.

There is a group of us that are taking a guided walking tour in the Nat'l Park area that borders the falls. They have rainjackets for rent but I have a rain poncho already so figured I would stay dry. I figured the ground would be rocky so I worn my hiking boats and also pants to keep bugs away. I should have worn flipflops and a bathing suit. Out of about 10 viewpoints, I only stayed dry for the 1st one. The spray was so intense at some point you would think you were standing outside during a heavy downpour. If I lifted my head up the rain collecting in the hood of my poncho would run down my chest. It was next to impossible to try to keep the camera and videocamera dry and even had problems with the videocamera for the next day until it dried out. The falls were spectacular and I was glad I did the stop but 2 days is plenty unless you plan on doing all the adrenelin sports like bungy jumping, rafting, etc that is offered in the area. On the pathway back to the bus, I stopped to take off my rain poncho and I was soaked from head to toe. While trying to dry off a bit someone told be to look above me and about a foot over my head sitting on a branch was a large male baboon. As I looked around there were more in the trees and on the ground just chilling out. They are obviously used to people in the area however I know that adult baboons can be pretty nasty so made sure I stayed a distance away from them.

Later that evening I took a walk over to the historica Vic Falls Hotel next door that has a nice view of the gorge and bridge. On the way there were a few Vervet monkeys around. Too bad I didn't have my camera (still drying out) since I didn't find any the next morning before I flew out. They are really sweet looking monkeys and I was lucky to see a baby venturing a few feet away from it's mother.

I took a quick walk the next day to the market stalls but didn't have much time to shop. Was surprised to find that people were asking for my shoes or any spare clothing I had. Unfortunately, I still need it for a few months before I leave Africa but expect at that time to leave half of my clothes at the orphanage in Moshi Tanzania that I will be at.