Victoria Falls

July 2002

What to do on a weekend in Lusaka? Not much, unless you count the four-hour drive (six hours if you get lost, and end up at the wrong part of the Zimbabwe border and haul six hitch-hikers and their fresh produce in the back of the truck, like we did) to Victoria Falls.

No words can really convey the grandeur of the Falls.....which, for the North American-centric among you, are twice as high and twice as long as the Niagara Falls....

....and in the local language are known as Mosi-Oa-Tunya ("Smoke that Thunders"). We've never once seen it spelled "Musi" except for on this sign. Maybe it has something to do with the animals having the right of way.

Too bad the white boys are covering up most of what is just a tiny fraction of the Falls....

...but here's a better view (if you discount the poser). The Falls are over a mile long and over 300 feet high.

Still, this is only a portion of the entire Falls. The spray in the background conceals a much larger section.

Even during the dry season, when not a drop of water falls from the skies for months, the spray from Victoria Falls creates the right conditions for a rainforest to thrive on the adjacent cliffs.

During the dry season, though, the rocks peek through the Falls.....

....whereas during the rainy season it's quite a different story. This is a photo of a photo in the visitors' center, in case you couldn't tell.

Don't trip!

The center point of this bridge is the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Yeah, the bridge is more than 300 feet high....

...This shot, from the bridge, should thrill any of you who fear heights.

We did not go farther. Zimbabwe's president hasn't had very nice things to say lately about couples like us,although that hand-on-hip pose in the background makes us think we wouldn't be alone!