Visit Victoria Falls, Zambezi River, and Sanctuary Camp Sussi & Chuma
Breathtaking sights and unforgettable memories are always to be had on a trip to Africa! After our stay at the Saxon Hotel in Johannesburg, we headed to visit Victoria Falls on the border of Zambia and Botswana. Zambia is one of the loveliest of all the countries on the continent. In terms of appreciating the natural beauty of the region, however, one location stands out: Victoria Falls. We visited the Falls from both the Zambia and Botswana sides, and though our stay was very wet (it is a rainforest, after all!), we didn’t let the weather put a damper on our enjoyment.
Visit Victoria Falls : The most wonderful Tour of My life
We had so many enjoyable experiences it’s hard to single out just one, so here are some of the highlights from our trip, starting with a bit of background about Victoria Falls itself:
On our first day in the area, we took a helicopter tour of Victoria Falls to get a lay of the land. Located on the Zambezi River on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe, Victoria Falls is an enormous natural waterfall. It’s considered to be just one of the world’s seven natural wonders, and attracts thousands of tourists each year simply to view its majestic beauty. Though Victoria Falls is not the tallest or the widest waterfall in the world, it measures in at a gargantuan 5,604 feet wide. The waterfall has been there since its geological formation roughly a few thousand years ago, Scottish explorer David Livingstone is considered the first European to have “discovered” it in November 1855. It was him who named the Falls after Queen Victoria of Britain, and additionally, the point from which he viewed the formation, a small island on the crest of the waterfall, is named for his discovery.
The waterfall is formed by six principal gorges, which are narrow valleys between high peaks with steep walls and water from the Zambezi River running through them. It was amazing to see the intersections between the basalt gorges from overhead, especially seeing the path of the water travel from the First Gorge into a deep pool called the Boiling Pot. The Boiling Pot is a bowl in the Second Gorge that has been created by the rough effect of the rushing water on the landform over time, and is characterized by the chaotic, turbulent ebb and flow of the water it holds. It’s extremely dangerous to be near — there are a number of stories about travelers falling in and washing up miles away in one of the later gorges — but from up above, it was truly amazing to behold.
Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park
We had a chance to Visit Victoria Falls from both the Zimbabwe and Zambia side during our trip. The latter included a safari trip through the Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park. Roughly translated from Kololo or Lozi language, the park’s name means “The Smoke Which Thunders”, and it stretches about 25 square miles from the Songwe Gorge of Victoria Falls to the Zambezi river bank. It’s located near the city of Livingstone, named according to the colonial explorer David Livingstone as well.
The park is divided somewhat in two between the Falls region and the wildlife region, and we did our best to explore them both. The former consists of primarily rainforest, with exotic trees and plants like ivory palm, pod mahogany, and a number of creeper vines. Many of the park’s wildlife inhabits this area, likely due to its heavy tree cover, including small antelopes and warthogs. The latter surrounds the riverbank, a watering hole for the park’s animal population, which has been rapidly shrinking in size due to factors such as widespread drought and poaching.
