The smoke that thunders - Victoria Falls
It’s crazy to think that I started my Southern Africa trip with Intrepid three weeks ago and that we’ve already arrived at Victoria Falls. It feels simultaneously like we’ve been traveling for a long time and not at all, as if we just left Cape Town yesterday.
I’m currently in Mosi-oa-Tunya (the local indigenous name for Victoria Falls) which means “the smoke that thunders” because you can see the smoke (precipitation/mist) and hear the roar that the powerful waterfall generates.
The smoke and the thunder!
Most of the world knows the falls as Victoria Falls because of David Livingston, who was the first European to see the falls and named it after Queen Victoria, the British monarch at the time.
I entered the park early in the morning and was able to catch the ending of sunrise. It was lovely to see different views of the waterfalls as the sun changed its position in the sky.
Some fun tidbits:
Victoria Falls falls (hehe) in the Kaza TFCA region, which is a transfrontier conservation area whose members include Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
The world’s only quadripoint is in Africa! This is where four countries meet at one point, aka the “four corners of Africa” (Dad - I bet this is where you’ll want to visit next!). Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe meet on the Zambezi River near Victoria Falls
Victoria Falls is famous for having an ever present rainbow (sun + water = magic!) and it is one of the few places in the world that is also home to the lunar rainbow. This means you can see the rainbow over the falls at night when there is a full moon as the moon acts as the light to activate the rainbow. I was excited to see this but upon learning that the entrance fee to this was $100 (on top of the $50 for a day entry park ticket) I decided to pass
The falls are split between Zimbabwe and Zambia, with ~80% in Zimbabwe and ~20% in Zambia. I stayed on the Zimbabwean side but there was a person in my group who also ventured to the Zambian side. It’s a bit tricky because to get to the Zambian side you need to go through a border crossing and have a multi-entry visa to Zimbabwe (currently no visa is required for Zambia, although that may change - TIA!) and you need to pay the Zambian park entrance fee of $35.
A couple in my Intrepid group took a helicopter ride and the photos were stunning! They had an aerial view of the falls and could see the “smoke” from the falls all the way from above. Apparently you can see the spray from the falls up to 40km away! If I come back to Victoria Falls I’ll be sure to take this option as viewing the Falls from ground level means that the precipitation mostly blocks your view of the falls
The precipitation made it hard to view the falls sometimes
You get WET! I thought visiting would mean that there would be light misting so I’d get damp, but you actually get very very wet. Even though you’re viewing the Falls from a bit away, going to some viewpoints means that you experience a torrential downpour! This level of rain contributes to the Victoria Falls rainforest where you can see plants that are endemic to rainforests rather than the local climate
Victoria Falls is considered to be the largest waterfall in the world*. (*with some interesting calculations in place)
Calculation of “largest” factors in height, width, and flow rate.
Height: Victoria Falls wins (108m as compared with 51m at Niagara Falls and 82m at Iguazu Falls)
Width: 1708m at Vic Falls, 1203m at Niagara, and 2700m at Iguazu
Mean annual flow rate: Vic Falls has the least with 1088m3/s (2406m3/s at Niagara Falls and 1745m3/s at Iguazu Falls)
If you do a Google search, there are different definitions on what constitutes the “largest” waterfall in the world, but at least in Zimbabwe Victoria Falls is #1
There’s not much to do in Victoria Falls outside of adventure activities (did not partake) and small craft shops, but I did visit the small local Jafuta Foundation cultural center to learn more about some of Zimbabwe’s indigenous tribes.
Guess who else visited the Jafuta Cultural Center?
Found UNC Kenan Flagler in the guest book from 2019! Looks like the MBA program conducted a visit as part of a Global Immersion Elective.
I also ran into a troop of vervet monkeys outside the entrance to Victoria Falls National Park. These monkeys are quite playful and mischievous. I saw one sneaking into our campsite to steal some nuts and a fellow traveler saw one open a Coke bottle!
Playtime! Young monkeys monkeying around
A self-care day and time to groom
Otherwise it’s been a couple of chill days conducting personal admin (laundry! Pay the bills!) and wrangling the WiFi. Internet speeds can be slow, which means some difficulty in uploading photos here, but I’ll continue to do my best!
Chilling at a local cafe
Look at this beautiful presentation of my cappuccino! Best part was the accompanying biscuit (behind the cup) and a shot of amarula, a sweet cream liqueur (17% alcohol) - it’s party time!