ZAMBIA and VICTORIA FALLS

As I mentioned in the last post, we left Botswana and Kasane to cross the Zambezi River into Zambia and Livingstone.  However, even this can be an adventure.  We had no problems on the Botswana side to register our departure.  There was a very long line of trucks waiting to go across, but fortunately we were able to by-pass all that.  We were told we had a “private” ferry across and this is it…

This little boat is going to carry the ten of us plus all our luggage across the mighty Zambezi River which is currently in full flood!  I am not sure that Bob is convinced …

Here is the meeting of the Zambezi and the Chobe – additional current and eddies are caused by the two large rivers meeting.  More dangers for our little “private” ferry.

There are “real” ferries that cross here – this is the main crossing point between Zambia and Botswana but also Zambia and Namibia as there are no direct routes.

The landing on the Zambian side is like a large beach.  However, it is also filled with trucks coming and going.  It looks like a massive traffic jam and we are not sure how we are going to get out.  We are immediately assailed by souvenir sellers – funny, we did not have any in Botswana – here they are about as aggressive as I have know, not taking the first 20 “No’s” for a definitive answer.

We are soon stuck in the middle of large truck and parked cars in our air conditionned mini-bus – comfy, but not going anywhere.

We are not alone in that situation and one enterprising man from South Africa has decided to find a way out.  He is the one facing the bus.  He got us to back off a little, so that the big white truck next to us could also move and free his car.  After that, the truck was able to advance enough so that we could also pass and we moved into Zambia proper.  We are now making progress towards Livingstone, the large city nearest to the Victoria Falls, which is about one hour away.

We crossed through Livingstone and headed towards the fall.  For a while now, we are seeing the plumes above the trees indicating where the falls must be.  Just before we turn off the road towards the hotel, we get a quick glimpse at the Zambezi about to disappear over the falls.

We are staying at the Royal Livingstone Hotel, situated within walking distance of the falls.  You can see the plumes from the Falls directly from the swimming pool.

The hotel is in the middle of a park, with some wild animals.  It seems that every day around noon, zebras come to visit the pool, but they have the decency not to swim.

It is lunch time and our rooms are not quite ready, so we start with lunch.  There are vervet monkeys in the park too, and they can be very adept at stealing your food.  One of them came to the table next to mine and stole a sandwich while the lady sitting there was distracted for just one instant.  It went to fast, I did not even have a chance to think about taking a picture.  Of course, once I had the camera ready, he just stood there doing nothing – typical!

The real attraction here, of course, is Victoria Falls, one of the “Big Three” in the world and the last one I had yet to see (the other two are Niagara Falls and Iguazu Falls.  I believe that Niagara has more water, Iguazu is the widest and Victoria is the tallest – yes, yes, I know that Angel Falls is really the tallest, but it has almost no water so on the basis of gallons times elevation, Victoria is the highest).

On the way to the falls, the first thing that I noticed is the noise.  It is clear that there is something ‘down there’ because there is a loud roar and the water seems to disappear all of a sudden.

The current becomes furious right at the edge.  I am amazed that there are trees growing right at the edge of the falls – however, we have to remember looking at these pictures, that the water is about as high as it ever is.  Six months from now, there will be less than 1/2 of the water currently going over the falls and therefore the islets in the middle are larger and there is more space for the plants to grow.

It is impossible to take a decent picture of the falls from ground level!  As soon as you get downstream of the falls, the spray coming back up from the gully into which the water falls is so heavy that it hides everything.

I tried many different angles without much success.  This one shows about as much of the falls (one of the nine separate sections of falls) that I could see.

As you approach for a closer look, the ‘weather’ becomes a factor.  Some of the viewing platforms have rainy weather 24 hours a day, 365 days a year!  No chance to see anything without a good raincoat, and even with that, chances are you will be soaking wet within minutes.

I decided to go explore the back side away from the falls.  At the end of the Zambian side is the Victoria Falls Bridge, the link between Zambia and Zimbabwe (2/3 of the falls are actually in Zimbabwe while only 1/3 is in Zambia).  I did not go as far as the bridge, but was told that there is still constant mist there too.

The nine separate falls disappear in a narrow gully and exit through a very narrow channel between two sets of cliffs. The rapids here are about as dangerous as any ones in the world and this area is called the “Boiling Pot” because it looks like it is in a constant state of violent boiling.

The only way to get a reasonable view is to stitch together several photos (10 of them in this case) for a panoramic view from the falls to the bridge.

I made several attempts at taking pictures of the falls themselves, from a safe distance (safe enough not to get my camera soaked in the few seconds it took to snap these) but there is always spray in the way…

It is clear that I am going to have to find a better way to see the falls, and I have an idea that might just work.

As the sun starts to set, the reflections on the spray from the fall turns everything red.

The view from the hotel is not bad …

The next day, I found three friends willing to part with hard earned cash and take a better look at the falls.  In order to do that, we had to move away first.

We decided that the best look at the falls would be from the air, and what better way to do this than in a small helicopter – this will be my first such experience.

As soon as we took off, we flew over our hotel.  Here we can see how close we are to the falls.

From above, you can see how narrow the space is into which the Falls fall.  This is on the Zimbabwean side, at the opposite end from where I was yesterday.  You can see Victoria Bridge at the upper right hand corner of the photo.

After the falls, the Zambezi does several “S” bends, probably where the falls were several 1,000’s years ago.  There are rafting trips organised down these rapids but I decided that my camera would probably get too wet and desisted.

There is a small power station that generates electricity for Livingstone and Victoria Falls (the main city on the Zimbabwean side).  The power station is fed by the small canal that you can see leaving the main river in the upper left hand corner of the view above.

I stitched together several photos to give a more general view of the falls!  Yes, there is a piece missing at the top! I could not really go back and take another shot to complete it, could I, so you will just have to live with an imperfect photo!  In this view, you can see how much of the land immediately opposite the falls is obscured by the intense spray.

This is about the best look we got inside the chasm of the falls.

But our time around the falls is essentially up and it is time to head back to the helicopter base.  One last look over our shoulders to the Zambezi and the falls in the distance.

and then we are on final approach towards the helipad

As soon as one group is done, the next one gets ready – our pilot does not get a lot of rest.

I decided that I would try to get reasonable sunset shots by the falls today.  There was no way I was going to do better than the pictures you just saw, so only better light can now make a difference.

There is a pedestrian bridge between two sections of the Zambian Falls.  This bridge is constantly obscured by mist.  This must be the wettest place on earth.

Closer by, you can see what I mean.  I crossed the bridge twice (coming and going) and I had my camera bag fully closed, with its rain protection and inside my poncho to make sure that stayed dry – I did not!  The spray from the Falls actually rises above the bridge and then falls onto it in a constant rain that is heavier than the heaviest rain I have ever experienced, even in Singapore.

I was there on Easter Sunday and a lot of locals decided to spend the day by the Falls and were having a pic-nic, or just relaxing on the side of the river.

I was amazed to find this one man fishing, knee deep in the water only meters away from the edge of the Falls.  One slip and I hate to think of the consequences.

As I said earlier, I wanted to play with the light to see what I could do …

The setting sun did give a whole new dimension to Victoria Bridge

It surprising what can be done shooting directly at the sun, something I was always told I should never do when I first started to take pictures.

This is the end of my adventure! The day after taking this picture, I headed back home, a very long trip from Livingstone to Johannesburg then Frankfurt and finally Brussels.  It was a great trip! Another one …

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