"May the waters bless you today," calls the concierge as we leave the hotel, heading for the dusty path between us and one of the new Seven Wonders of the World: the Victoria Falls on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. Visiting the world's largest sheet of falling water, we know we're going to get wet. The concierge's words just make us feel more positive about our inevitable dowsing.
Zimbabwe has been a country of explorers, colonialists, big white hunters, tobacco farmers, privateers and land-hungry villains. Once called "the breadbasket of Africa," it has had a violent past and there have been bad years here recently, when tourism failed because of political instability. But in 2015, those tourists are returning in droves.
The Victoria Falls National Park has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1989 and, unlike the raging cataracts themselves, its statistics sound dry compared to Niagara Falls: 51 metres high, 1203m wide, with a flow of 2407 cubic metres per second versus Victoria Falls 108m high, 1737m wide, with a flow of 1100 cubic metres per second. If you agree that sheer size matters more than volume of water flow, then Mosi-Oa-Tunya should be on your bucket list.
Mosi-Oa-Tunya is the local name, from the Lozi language, meaning "the smoke that thunders" and you hear that thunder well before you see the Falls. At $30 US per person (the US dollar is Zimbabwe's currency), the visit is expensive, no question, so we linger for three hours. Despite the humidity, heat and spray, we want to sit, reminisce, and savour this experience: there are no "in and out" privileges here.
When we first visited the Falls in the 1970s, there was no paved walkway. Back then, we meandered along a rough dirt trail. When we wanted to get a closer view, we simply pushed through the undergrowth, taking care not to get too close to those vertigo-inducing, no return drop-offs. The paved walkway is a huge improvement, but it gets
slippery in the wet sections.
We're glad of decent footgear and, knowing that we will definitely get wet, we're prepared for the "drowned rat" look. No wet T-shirt contests for us, thank you. Sensibly, we borrow a small towel from the hotel to protect the camera.
Even in the dry season, the Falls create great sheets of mist, making photography difficult. The constant spray creates its own microclimate, a narrow slice of lush rainforest that is an anomaly in the surrounding bushveld. We stroll through stands of ebony, red milkwood and Batoka plum, watched by a small troupe of baboons.
There are ferns, palms, lianas, invasive lantana, and strangler figs covering trees in their deadly embrace. We meander along the milelong walk, newly impressed by the sight of Cataract Island View, Rainbow Falls, Horseshoe Falls, the Boiling Pot and the convoluted Batoka Gorge. Yes, Zimbabwe has the best views of the Falls but Zambia has the Devil's Pool, an area of calm water perched directly above the precipitous drop into the gorge. We watch a group there, up to their necks in the pool, nonchalantly ignoring the sheer hundred-metre drop almost within arm's length. Are they crazy?
At one end of the trail stands a statue of David Livingstone, etched with the words "Missionary, Explorer, Liberator." We're amazed that this symbol of the colonial past has survived intact through all the years of conflict, and then we're a little confused about the descriptor as "liberator". A bit of research reveals that, whatever else Livingstone may have done, he did end the slave trade in this part of Africa.
After our three hours at the Falls, we can choose from all sorts of activities: bungee jumping, a casino, helicopter rides for stunning aerial views of the full expanse of the Falls, ziplining across the zigzag Batoka gorges. We opt for a sunset cruise up the Zambezi, a popular option costing $95 - 105 US per person, including transport from the hotel, drinks and snacks.
We choose our boat carefully: options range from the intimate 12-seater Ra Ikane to the enormous partyboat, Zambesi Explorer, with 200 or so of your closest friends. We're glad to have chosen "intimate" on the Ra Ikane with Captain John, a 15-year veteran of the river. The two-hour cruise is the perfect opportunity for some relaxed game watching. There is prolific bird life. A massive crocodile slides down a sand bank to disappear beneath the boat. A multitude of hippos yawn their pink, gaping disapproval of our intrusion. Captain John has given us a thorough safety briefing about what to do if we end up in the water for any reason, whether from sheer drunkenness (not us!) to a hippo attack. But frankly, we never want to be in a nineknot current that will drag anything downstream, past those crocs and over those Falls.
It's difficult to choose accommodation for Victoria Falls because the selection is just so good. We could have chosen a safari lodge that provides game drives and luxurious patios overlooking waterholes that are magnets for wildlife big and small. But given our nostalgia, we choose that venerable old lady, the Victoria Falls Hotel, which has been watching over Batoka Gorge since 1904. Steeped in tradition, some of its more famous guests include King George VI, who took over the entire hotel for his family's visit, and celebrities like Grace Kelly and Peter Sellers. Love it or hate it, it's full of high ceilings, deep verandahs and potted palms; botanical prints brown with age, overstuffed chairs, a pianist in the lounge each afternoon. Its stately Edwardian style, replete with chintz sofas, floral drapes, dark woods and glossy oxblood polish on the terraces, whisks us back to a bygone era, giving us an "Out of Africa" sense of luxury and history.
Until the 1960s, it was the only hotel on the Zimbabwe side of Victoria Falls and it remains the prestigious grande dame. Here we sleep under voluminous mosquito nets, enjoy impeccable service, watch warthogs putting the finishing touches to the bowlinggreen lawns and take in the outstanding nightly "African Extravaganza" show. We are so impressed, we go to this excellent African dance performance twice. With costumes, elaborate masks, drumming, singing, and stilt dancing from four different tribal areas, the energy and skills of the performers are mesmerizing.
Walking back from the Falls to the hotel, we run into a gauntlet of hawkers and vendors, despite having the hotel's security guard with us. He is supposedly there to fend them off. I am offered an exquisitely carved Cape buffalo in exchange for my hiking boots. I am very seriously tempted and decline only because airline luggage restrictions mean that I have no replacement pair. By the time we arrive back in our room, we are completely dry. No evidence remains of just how much the waters have blessed us today. But they have most definitely blessed us and have given us a whole new
supply of memories.
IF YOU GO: At the time of writing, Zimbabwe is experimenting with a UNIVISA, valid for one-time visits to Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia. It costs $50 US per person, which is payable in cash on entry to the country.
Exact cash is required for the visa and other entrance fees. Small notes are useful for tipping.
Anti-malarials are recommended for Zimbabwe and, in addition, a yellow fever certificate is required for Zambia.
Victoria Falls Airport is about a one hour, 40 minute flight from Johannesburg's international OR Tambo Airport.
