Via Lusaka we head south to Victoria Falls. We had met a Swiss couple days earlier, we would like to visit them at the Moorings Campsite, where they have settled.
We spend a few days here and have fun with them. But we want to continue on to Victoria Falls to Livingstone. On a good tar road it is easy to get there in one day. On the way we fill up with charcoal for cooking.
Livingstone is a modern city and we stay at the Livingstone Safari Camp Site. Almost every camp has dogs, but mostly Tara gets along fine with the half-wild dogs. She is old and interestingly most dogs have respect for her.
The camp is very good. It provides shadows has electricity and even has free internet access.
Another advantage is that it is close to Victoria Falls, where we want to go today. The first sight is gigantic.
The water masses are not so great because it is dry season, but this allows good vision, as if a strong water vapor is in the air you cannot seen so much.
“Thunder Smoke” it was called by the locals before the falls were renamed by Livingstone in honor of the queen. They are among the great natural wonders of the world and have been classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The Victoria Falls form an edge of 1688 meters and plunge 108 meters into the depths. This makes them the largest unique down collapsing mass of water in the world. They are twice as high as Niagara Falls.
The Zambezi lays back 1440 km from its source in northwestern Zambia to Victoria Falls. Until those falls, it is calm and leisurely. Then it bends and gains speed noticeably.
It rushes over rapids against the escarpment. Then it plunges over 100 meters into a narrow gorge. Now the water masses squeeze through steep narrow gorges, until it finally empties into Lake Kariba.
At the falls there is a monument representing the David Livingstone, who is the discoverer. But they were discovered of countless locals who lived here for centuries.
Also, he should not have been the first white man who saw the falls. Three years earlier, a certain Cooley showed the falls in his map. And 1848 a Portuguese could have already been here. In any case, it is good for Zambia, because Livingstone is a well-sounding name, and can be marketed.
A bridge spans the gorge, and marks the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. You can visit both sides of the falls without difficulty, because the border officials are used and there is not much paperwork and let visitors pass over the bridge.
We have enjoyed the waterfalls, they are indeed impressive. We drive back to the campsite. There, we notice that Tara is feeling bad and has problems with her hind legs so we decide to return to the Swiss couple, because they know a good vet.