|
|
Victoria Falls - A Phenomenon To Behold
Author: Felix Koskei
A distance aerial
view of Victoria Falls
as my flight
approached Victoria Falls International Airport is a field on
fire with white smoke bellowing into the skies. As you close in
on the falls itself, you realize that the 'smoke' is actually a
cloud of water rising up as the Zambezi River pours down the
falls with amazing force and power.
Once on the ground, the 24 km drive from the airport to Victoria
Falls
town is an extremely smooth highway. Both sides of the
road are lined up with beautiful trees. Victoria Falls town can
easily be confused with a small modern city in the developed
world. It is clean; the buildings are modern and very well
maintained. The roads are very well paved and marked. The flower
beds and gardens well nurtured. The town does not have so much
traffic apart from the hordes of buses and minibuses shuttling
tourists from the falls to various lodges in the town.
Park entrance fee is paid at the falls entrance. Please note
that park entrance fees is paid in United States dollars, cash.
This is the most preferred mode of payment. Any other mode of
payment may be a big hassle and give you unprecedented
complications. A lady ahead of me on the queue had US travelers
cheques of 50 dollars denominations and had to go away because
she could not be given back her change. Zimbabwe dollars cannot
be used by foreigners to pay park entrance fees.
Before you arrive at Victoria Falls, it is very important to
prepare for a 'rainy' day. It is guaranteed that you will be
rained on as you view the falls. This will not be rain water but
from the cloud of 'smoke' I mentioned early. The best item to
protect you from the rain is a poncho. A raincoat will also do.
Also have shorts if possible because long trouser will
definitely get wet from your knee downwards. Non-leather open
shoes would be the best option for footwear.
First stop would
be at the Livingstone statue. This is a relatively big statue
that was put under immense security guard when the locals wanted
to destroy it due to political differences between Zimbabwe and
Great Britain several years back. Next stop would be a view of
the Devil's Cataract and Cataract Island. The Devil's Cataract
is the western end of the falls and there is a huge force of
water flowing down the Devil's Cataract. From the Cataract
Island, the next stop is the Main Falls. This is where one might
experience the heaviest rainfall though this is the best sight
of viewing the falls. From the main falls, I head to the
Livingstone Island. It is said that Dr. Livingstone docked at
Livingstone Island and spent the night there oblivious of the
falls right after that. As I continue eastwards, the next stop
is Horseshoe Falls followed by the Rainbow Falls and finally the
Eastern Cataract. Words cannot express the sight at Victoria
Falls as the scene is never static. The width of Victoria Falls
from the Devil's Cataract to the Eastern Cataract is 1,700
metres. The mean height of the Main Falls is 83 metres. The mean
height of the Rainbow Falls is 99 metres. The mean height for
the whole falls is 93 metres. The average flow of water over the
falls is 34,000 cubic metres a minute.
The best time to see the falls is between February and June.
This is the time the falls is full and complete from the Devil's
Cataract to the Eastern Cataract. During the other months when
there is less rainfall experienced, the Horseshoe Falls, Rainbow
Falls and Eastern Cataract have no water flowing on them. The
paved walkways along the entire falls are well maintained and
accessible by wheel chair.
Immediately preceding the falls, the Zambezi River has 4
rapids
that zigzag one after the other. The current falls is the first
rapid and it is in favour of Zimbabwe. The best country to view
the falls now is from the Zimbabwe side and not the Zambia side.
However, several centuries ago, Rapid 4, which formed the first
ever falls along the Zambezi was in favour of Zambia. Rapid 3
was then created and it was in favour of Zimbabwe. When Rapid 2
was created, it was in favour of Zambia. The Zimbabwe/Zambia
famous bungi jump bridge is located on Rapid 2. The current
falls and Rapid 1 is in favour of Zimbabwe. Judging from the
amount of water flowing down the Devil's Cataract, it is
predicted that the Zambezi River is already cutting its new path
heading towards the Zambia side. This will create a new falls
and rapid which will be in favour of Zambia. This will however
take hundreds of years to form.
As we exit the falls after the Eastern Cataract, we head to the
famous bridge joining Zimbabwe and Zambia on Rapid 2. This is
the bridge where bungi jumping is done. Water rafting is also
done from Rapid 2 downstream. River cruises are done upstream
before the falls.
The best method to view the falls is by helicopter. The Flight
Of Angels provides one with the perfect experience and excellent
view of the falls.
Victoria Falls has all kinds of lodgings and hotels to cater for
all classes of travelers. These include Victoria Falls Safari
Lodge, A'Zambezi River Lodge, Elephant Hills Hotel, Nyati Lodge,
Lokuthula Lodges, Victoria Falls Hotel, The Kingdom Hotel and
Casino among others.
Some of the activities available at Victoria Falls is a
Sundowner Cruise which provides a very good experience. A visit
to Victoria Falls will not be complete without a visit to The
Boma - The Place of Eating. This is a wonderful dinner location
with traditional dances. One can also do elephant rides and
visit the crocodile farm. There is also canoeing and white water
rafting along the Zambezi.
Botswana is just an hour's drive away from Victoria Falls, if
one has more time, consider visiting Chobe in Botswana for a
night or two.
My flight back to Harare stopped over at Bulawayo. I could not
miss noticing that Bulawayo International Airport seemed to have
been expanding the airport with a modern massive airport
building. This building however seems to have stalled several
years back.
Harare is a modern city with well paved and maintained roads. As
I traveled around Zimbabwe, it is evidently notable that this is
a country that previously had enormous economic growth and
focused development which now seems to have hit a brick wall.
About the author:
Felix Koskei is the editor of http://www.safariafrika.com
and an
experienced tour operator offering safari vacations to various
African countries. Travel Connections has provided hundreds of
travelers with highly personalized safari packages. For more
details visit Travel Connections Ltd
|
