After leaving Kimberley, South Africa, in 2012, Janet and I traveled north by train.
Some people and places become part of the vernacular… or everyday conversation. When British explorer Henry Stanley was sent to find and then discovered David Livingstone in 1871, he is said to have asked, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”
Livingstone was exploring Africa and was one of the first white explorers to see Victoria Falls. There is a statue of Livingstone not far from the falls on the Zambia side.
The Zambezi River, which flows over Victoria Falls, forms the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. We stayed in the city of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, while the city of Livingstone is north of the falls in Zambia.
The height of the falls is 108 metres (354 feet) which is roughly twice as high was Niagara Falls. The width is 1,700 metres (5,604 ft.) which is twice the width of Niagara’s Horseshoe Falls, which is why Victoria Falls is often classified as the world’s largest.
The falls truly are quite spectacular to look at.
Locally the falls are known as “Mosi-oa-Tunya” which means ‘the smoke that thunders’, and with the roar and mist that comes from the falls it is very appropriate.
When Livingstone first saw the falls in 1855 (and named them after his Queen) he is quoted as saying “…scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight.”
Visiting at the time in human history when we did, we had the privilege and opportunity to actually see the falls from above, by taking a helicopter tour. In fact, with the topography of the area and the water falling basically into a very narrow canyon, it is difficult to get a really good perspective of the whole falls from the ground.
As you can imagine, the view from directly above was truly spectacular.
Many people have trouble with the air motion of a helicopter and get air sickness. I am fortunate that I felt able to handle this because I had done a great deal of heli-skiing over the years in the Canadian Rockies.
We flew overhead for an extended period which gave me the chance to get a real appreciation for what a wonder of the world Victoria Falls truly is.
Our Africa adventure was a chance of lifetime trip, and Victoria Falls ranked high on the list of reasons it was such an amazing experience.
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