Victoria Falls - Part2: WOW

In our last episode about Victoria Falls we talked about getting to Livingstone, Zambia. Today we talk about how cool it was once we got there.

The lodge where Keith and Thom were meeting up with Carmen and Jason at was called the Tongabezi. It was quite spectacular to say the least. The accomodations were awesome and the service was great. Keith and Thom ended up arriving at about 2:00 that afternoon and checked in. They were then shown to there cottage called the treehouse. It's called that because it is built around a tree and absorbs the tree into the architecture. It was really amazing. The next couple of pictures show some interesting pictures of the cabin.

This picture captures how the tree is key to the architecture. It holds up the roof and also the bed netting. The back of the cabin is the rock of the river bank and the front is open, overlooking the river.

The bath, shower and sinks were located on the level below the bed and the main deck. The tub is made out of molded concrete. As you can see this whole area is also open facing the river.

This picture was taken at about 6:30 in the evening. Keith and Thom were still waiting on Carmen and Jason to arrive (They were on African time). This is from the deck in front of the sleeping area.

So Carmen and Jason finally arrived and much food and wine was shared through the evening catching up on what everybody had been doing lately. About 10:00 we went to bed because we had a big day ahead of us.

So we woke up the next morning and had a great breakfast (all the food here was amazing). Carmen, Jason, and Keith ran out to see a small game park located close by in the morning. At about 11:00 we all piled in the truck and headed for Livingstone Island. To get there we actually had to go to the Royal Livingstones and then take a boat out to the island. The thing that makes this island so cool is that it's located right in the center of the falls. As you can see from the next couple of pictures we were right at the edge of the falls. It still blows my mind to think about walking through the water getting to the different places just a couple of meters from the edge. There were no safety rails or ropes. You would just never experience anything like this in the U.S.

This monument was laid in 2005 to commemorate the 150 year anniversary of Livingstone discovering the falls. Not that he actually discovered it but he gave the falls some great PR. The falls in the background are the Zambia side of the falls. Because it was high season the was a lot of water on this sise.

This is on the other side of the island. We walked along the edge of the falls the entire way. There were several times when we had to walk through rushing water just a few feet from the edge of the falls. The Zimbabwe side of the falls is in the background of this picture. There was a lot more mist on this side which made it difficult to get many more pictures. During low season there is a pool you can swim in just behind where we are standing that comes right up to the edge of the falls.

So after our trip to Livingstone Island we decided to go and see the falls from the viewing side. They actually charged to go into the park. Having grown up near Niagara Falls Thom found this is a bit weird, but what the heck. We actually went over to the Sun and asked if we could enter their. The guard gave us a fake room number and told us to give him $20 when we came back. It was about half the cost so we said OK if we had gone to the correct place to get in. So we got into the park.

This is from the second viewing area. The falls go on for probably another 3/4 of a mile beyond this. This is the last viewing area where we were dry.

As we were heading down to the viewing area we went by a concession renting rain coats for about a dollar (Carmen and Jason had brought there own). Thom being the cheap bastard that he is said "I don't need no stinking rain coat." Well as it turns out, Thom needed a rain coat. The mist was unbelievable. It was everywhere.

As you can see there is no staying dry. There was so much mist in this area and the rest of the way that most of the time you could only hear the falls.

To see all the pictures that Thom managed to take at the falls click here.

That night we went back to the falls to see the "Lunar Rainbow". It was really cool but impossible to photograph. Ok, at least not possible with my little Powershot. But it was none the less very cool. The "rainbow" did not have all the colors of the spectrum!

So that's the story of Vic falls.