Africa 2001
Victoria Falls
Early on Sunday morning, we flew from Johannesburg to Victoria Falls, in north-west
Zimbabwe.
The hustle and bustle of Victoria Falls International Airport. In one corner of the
arrivals room, we all filled in our immigration cards, then queued to get them stamped.
This permitted us to cross a red line across the room to a hole in the wall through which
the baggage handler passed our suitcases. We then walked past the customs table and
outside.
We then travelled along a few kilometres of the Livingstone Highway from
the airport through the green forest to the small town of Victoria Falls. The coaches were
the same ones as we'd used the previous day in Johannesburg, having driven up overnight.
(In fact, they started in Cape Town earlier in the week.)
As it was only nine o'clock in the morning, our hotel rooms weren't ready, so the coaches
stopped at small centre with a number of craft shops. We were treated to a delightful
performance from these musicians.
We stayed for two nights at the Kingdom Hotel - a sprawling but very pleasant hotel.
The view from our balcony.
In the afternoon, we travelled down the road to the Victoria Falls
National Park.
The Livingstone Statue, overlooking the Falls. The name Victoria was given to the Falls by
the Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone, who visited them in 1855.
One of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world, Victoria Falls is formed as the
entire flow of the Zambezi River drops from a relatively flat plain into a narrow
cataract. The mist and noise produced by the drop of 108m (about 350 ft) inspired the
waterfall's local name, Mosi-oa-Tunya ("smoke that thunders"). Here we look
across the Devil's Cataract into the bottom of the gorge.
A closer look at the top of the Devil's Cataract
The spray makes the whole area very damp, and in the mornings the Falls have their own
cloud. It also makes capturing them on camera rather difficult, as the spray tends to
obscure full views of the 1709 metre-wide falls. Here you can see the bottom of the gorge.
The Western Falls
Lucy and Kathleen in their protective macs.
The Devil's Cataract again
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