Mosi-oa-Tunya The statistics detail its grandness: 1 million litres of water falling per second on average (up to 500 million litres per minute) across this 1.7 km wide, 100 metre waterfall. Victoria Falls – or Mosi-oa-Tunya – truly deserves its title as the seventh natural wonder of the world. Here it rains both upwards (literally!) and downwards, despite a perfectly clear, blue sky. The sheer force and volume of water is so significant to drown those walking above. The ‘smoke’, or rather a dense mist, from the waterfall can be seen from more than 20 km away.
This was the key reason to visit Livingstone in the southwest of Zambia (the Zimbabwean town of Victoria Falls lies at the other end of the bridge joining the two countries). Charlie’s friend, Lise, who is also enjoying a period of funemployment, joined us in Livingstone. We stuck to the Zambian side of the falls, exploring the clifftop and valley of the first and second of the six main gorges.
The walk along the cliff opposite to the falls was stunning. Although I deemed myself too tough to wear a poncho (‘as if I want to look like one of those American tourists’), I got absolutely drenched, along with my backpack and camera, without even going under the falls. It’s hard to describe how massive they are. I was amazed by the dryness of the vegetation on the far side of the opposite cliff-top, whilst the side directly facing the falls appeared a lush, rainforest. Within 10 metres, two entirely different vegetative environments exist.
A 40-minute stroll down into the Boiling Pot gorge was another great way to see the water flow but this time from below. Here the water stirs anticlockwise, caused by the force of the downhill flow that is forced to make a sharp right turn in the gorge. All whilst the mist continues to fly through the air into our faces (and my poor camera).
In perhaps the most tense wildlife experience to date, (that’s right – not 10 metres from lions in an open top Landcruiser), we found ourselves stuck in the middle of a territorial baboon battle at the start of the walk. Thankfully, the baboons were too busy focusing on each other than to care for us humans. (That said, I was grateful for my proactive, ridiculously expensive, rabies shot).
High Tea, in Style
After spending the morning walking around Mosi-oa-Tunya, it was time for high tea at the Royal Livingstone Hotel. Built to match the luxurious Victoria Falls Hotel in Zimbabwe, this hotel is certainly the definition of beauty. I was happy to pay only for the tea and cake though, and not the standard $600 room rate. Jolly Boys in Livingstone was worth every one of its $30 cost. For those wanting to splurge though, the hotel comes complete with views overlooking the Zambezi, and resident (seriously) herd of zebra, antelope and giraffe.
Island Escape
As has become almost a certainty, our accommodation was a last minute thought. Afterall, drinks overlooking the sunset at the Royal Livingstone were too hard to turn down. Around 9pm, we finally arrived at our accommodation at Bovu Island on the Zambezi River, Jungle Junction. Well, until we saw that we couldn’t drive there, but rather, needed a boat across. Despite my instinct telling me otherwise, we grabbed our backpacks, ditched the car and rode a tiny boat (see below) across the croc and hippo-ridden river to the safety of the opposite bank.
After a courteous welcome by Mama Alice, we were met at the bar by the less courteous owner, Brett, who within hours had insulted all of us. Although his ability to knock back whisky and shout Mosi beers made it tolerable, even amusing and somewhat endearing. The other visiting Belgians and Dutchies (we were the youngest by 20-odd years) seemed mystified by our late and announced arrival, perhaps as much as we were to see them on this backpacker-esque island.
Nevertheless, we enjoyed our stay at this lodge, read: open huts that were f*&ing freezing at this of the year. Thank God for those extra blankets. This was the epitome of remoteness, as we listened to (half-true) stories about invading Zimbos and guests having their butt bitten by loitering crocs whilst sitting at the bar. But you don’t need to worry about that…
Despite only a 12-hour visit, it was a shame to leave the island, with Lise claiming ‘this is me, it’s all I need’. It was the sort of place illustrated in the movie, The Beach, where time stands still, you forget about the outside world and where there is nothing to worry about (except the hippos, and don’t forget, Zimbos attacking by boat).
There were new adventures to be had, this time in Botswana….