David Livingston Lodge has been a nice respite from the bush, but I’ll be glad to return to our tents tomorrow. We haven’t seen the resident hippo that is said to wander the grounds occasionally. We also haven’t seen any snakes, but we know they are there.
Robyn and I, and I suspect the rest of the group, are on malaria preventive every day. We sleep under mosquito netting at night, and I’m enjoying that cozy experience until you have to go to the bathroom in the dark and can’t find your way out!
Victoria Falls, named for England’s Queen Victoria by British explorer, David Livingston, is formed as the Zambezi River plummets into a narrow chasm forming a series of waterfalls. Twice the height of Niagara Falls and over twice the width of Niagara’s Horseshoe Falls, this wonder generates spray and mist that rises over 400 meters in the air and can be seen from over 30 miles away.
The natives called the falls, Mosi-oa-Tunya, the smoke that thunders. You hear the falls long before approaching them, and we saw the mist as we flew into the local airport and from our hotel rooms. Before sunrise, the mist looks like a black smoke!
We are viewing the falls during the wet or high water season when over 500 million liters/minute cascade downward. Victoria Falls are extremely water dependent and during the dry season, you are able to walk on stretches to reach Livingston Island near the cliff top. Situated on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, the waters flow onward towards Madagascar and finally into the Indian Ocean.
We don our ponchos and wet shoes from tracking rhinos and head along the trail viewing the falls from various vantage points. The noise is so loud you have to shout to be heard. Water rushes by my feet and a single step would pull me into danger. The mist is like a hard rain which ebbs and flows with the breeze while rainbows appear and disappear in the mist.
We are viewing the Zambia side of the falls which the country is proud of, but the Zimbabwe portion is better known. We will be returning to the town of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe after our time in Zambia and Botswana.
We head into Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park for an afternoon game drive. Almost immediately our guide notes buffalo tracks and lots of them. Up ahead in the road we see the culprits, a large gang or obstinacy of Cape Buffalo which is one of the Big Five animals. They are very aggressive and don’t mock-charge like many animals, they are committed! Our guide says no one messes with a Cape Buffalo.
Both males and females have horns, but males have a bony helmet along with the horns. Gestation is 11 months, they live 23 years, and are hunted for trophies. No one mentioned eating them so guess they don’t taste like chicken! They finish crossing the road bellowing, and we both continue our journeys.
We spot more animals ahead....wildebeasts! These animals have long mournful faces with shaggy beard and are one of the Ugly Five. We have seen an occasional one, but they turn and run before we’ve had a chance to photograph them. Males have solid black faces and females have brown brows. A group is called an “impossible”...again, who names these?...and they are browsers and grazers.
We are all searching for more animals....of course, we see impalas...and in a field is a huge collection of Maribou Stocks, another of the Ugly Five. They walk on white legs like stilts with black feathers wrapped around hunched wings. Their red wrinkled faces and hanging pouches definitely earns them a spot on the ugly list!
We have afternoon tea by the river, and a band of monkeys join us hoping for a hand-out (No!) or dropped crumbs. They are clever animals with cute intelligent faces. If all else fails, they search the trash can!
A stunning sunset follows us back to the David Livingston Lodge. Tomorrow we leave Zambia and head for six days in Botswana.
Another day in Africa!
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