I had to see Vic Falls. So I detoured from Johannesburg and flew into Livingstone, where I had a great view, en route, of the Zambezi River on the Zambia/Zimbabwe border and caught a glimpse of the famous “Smoke That Thunders”, literally.

Victoria Falls was a name given by Dr David Livingstone,
the first white man to set eyes on it and to utter those immortal words
about the Falls being “gazed upon by angels in their flight”,
thus ‘inspiring’ many a ‘Flight of the Angels’ tour today that
sets one back by a cool US$75 for a 15-minute flight.

Alas, I didn't have spare change so my journey was strictly grounded. Even then, the entry into the World Heritage Site cost US$10 - “half-price” compared to the Zimbabwe entry and Zambia has the greater part of the Falls, the locals (proudly) told me.

Still, it was worth every cent because the Falls are spectacular at 1.7km wide and a drop of 100m which I could hardly see, given that this was high waters season (April-June) and some 500 million litres of water were gushing past me every minute, spray and all.

Getting soaked was part of the fun, especially when visiting the Eastern Cataract or Knife Edge Point, which involves passing through a wet rainforest and crossing a precarious ‘Indiana Jones’ bridge in a mini ‘rainstorm’...

At the viewpoint, I stood watching with the amused locals
at those ‘suicidal foreigners’ yoyo-ing off
the Zambezi Bridge on a ‘rubber band’.

Hiking down the Boiling Pot track to the bottom of the gorge provided an even more dramatic close-up view of the mighty swirling whirlpool, not to mention a face-to-face encounter on the trail with a whole tribe of baboons!

A stroll along the path beside the customs fence ended my thoroughly enjoyable day with fresh perspectives of the river gorges and Zambezi Bridge. Hm, I actually felt blessed (like an angel!) to have laid eyes on this true Wonder of the Natural World...