Victoria Falls is a huge tourist attraction with a well-developed infrastructure. Our accommodations (the only place we’ve stayed more than one night) Shearwater Explorers Village, seems uniquely set up for Intrepid, and there are multiple groups heading in various directions. Also, the falls themselves are a national park requiring separate admissions.
On Saturday, after arriving, we had a brewery tour to learn about the process and have some samples. Later, we had a farewell dinner for those only doing the first half featuring a huge buffet and live entertainment…
It takes a while to suss out the situation at a place, but package deals are always good, so we got one. Sunday started out with a helicopter ride at 8:00. We spent almost 15 minutes flying over the Zambezi river and Victoria Falls. There’s some redundence here, and as you can see it was quite dry. When the falls have more water they are twice as wide and much mistier. But it was exhilerating…
We left our lodge again to take the Victoria Falls walk – and it was hot! Sadly, not everyone is benefitting from the tourist industry (first pic). This batch emphasizes the interpretive signage at the entrance to the park and the beginning of our walk…
As you should know, David Livingstone, an English missionary, was the first European to view the falls. (I hope he learned about where he was before he proselytized about where he wasn’t!) Anywayz, as you could see from the air the ground is very dry, but it was a treat to walk through the small rainforest created by the mist coming up from the falls. Even during this extremely dry period, that little area was still delightfully cool & moist. Early part of the 16 view point trail along the rim of the gorge (& monkeys!)…
More of the Victoria Falls, the exit through the gift shop, and some crazy people sitting in the Devil’s Hole on the other, Zambian, side of the gorge. Nobody was bungee jumping off the bridge…?
On the way back from the walk, we stopped at a particularly big baobab tree (estimated to be way over 1000 years old). Before embarking on our river cruise, I cruised through the town of Vic Falls, checking out the many curio shops. Had a couple of nice conversations with desperate salesmen. Always rough to see people struggling to sell art…!
What was supposed to be a relaxing day, but filled with fun activities, ended with a river cruise on the mighty Zambezi. A festive group of fellow travelers also saw some crocs, hippos, elephants, birds, other African wildlife, and a spectacular sunset…
This ended the first half of our first African tour. Stay tuned for more…