Victoria Falls, Livingstone
What are the Seven Wonders of the World, again? After much discussion, we realized that beyond the Grand Canyon we had no idea. Experience is the best teacher! Now we know two!
And wow, is it big.
And LOUD. And wet!! Before going to view the falls, you can pay 10 kwacha (about $1.75) to rent a rain coat. Note to any potential visitors: Get the raincoat. Jake and Eli looked like little ghosts walking along the edge of the falls. No, we are not going to battle Ebola!
Victoria Falls is known in the local language as Mosi O Tunia. We thought “Mosi” was just the name of a beer! It actually means “the smoke that thunders.” This is because you can see the spray rising up in what looks like a cloud of smoke from miles away. We were a few hundred feet away. Imagine what all that spray can do to a person at that distance. We were drenched!!
There is a bridge that takes you out to a viewing point above the Falls, midway across the river. To get there you have to traverse the spray, where even on a sunny day like today it feels like you’re walking through a rainstorm. It’s amazing as long as you don’t slip! Yikes, hold the handrail!
And guess what else we saw? Yeah, baby. Double Rainbow!!!! All the way across the sky!!
Down below the Falls, the Mighty Zambezi River rages. We heard there was a hike down to a place where you could watch the water swirling, and also watch the bungee jumpers.
As you leave the ridge and descend into the gorge, the vegetation changes to a tropical rain forest.
Eli and Jake had a lot of fun throwing sticks and leaves into the streams and watching them float away.
We made it!
Did that guy really just jump off that bridge??
It’s nice having a husband with really long arms.
Oma and Opa made it too, although somehow we didn’t get any pictures of them. But we are so proud of them! Wow, I hope I’m in shape to hike African waterfalls when I’m 70. Back up on top, we ate some apples and dried off in the sun.
Then decided that after all that exercise, we deserved some Happy Hour!
Drinks, Uno, a day spent experiencing one of the world’s great wonders, and dinner later at Olga’s.
What a great day! And our vacation is just beginning!!