Victoria Falls
Days One & Two - Botswana & Victoria Falls - 2018
Two days to explore the Zimbabwean and Zambian sides of Victoria Falls.
Map Credit: OpenStreetMap
1. Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe Side) #1
Victoria Falls, also known as "Mosi oa-Tunya" ("The Smoke That Thunders"), is the world’s largest waterfall in terms of water curtain.
After the very long journey from the United States (and an overnight layover in Johannesburg), I arrived in Victoria Falls ready to start another Southern Africa adventure. After checking into the hotel, I traveled to the Victoria Falls National Park in Zimbabwe. This is one of two places where you can see Victoria Falls, the other being Mosi oa-Tunya National Park across the Zambezi River in Zambia. The Zimbabwe side is more well-known for its broad views of the water curtain as well as its afternoon rainbows. Seven additional Zimbabwe side Victoria Falls photos follow.
Photographer’s Comment: The spray at Victoria Falls -which produces such beautiful rainbows- also poses a tremendous challenge for photographers, particularly from April to September when the rainy season runoff is at a maximum. I recognize this photograph and many of the photographs below appear “grainy”, a result of this airborne mist. That being said, the spray is part of the Victoria Falls experience, and if you don’t see any spray either in person or in photographs, you aren’t seeing the Falls at their greatest. I recommend all photographers protect their equipment accordingly, and bring lots of lens cleaning cloths.
2. Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe Side) #2
3. Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe Side) #3
4. Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe Side) #4
Photographer’s Comment: This photograph was taken using a Neutral Density filter and is a 6-second exposure.
5. Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe Side) #5
Across the river, swimmers are enjoying Devil’s Pool, a location where you can swim right up to the edge of Victoria Falls. I would make a visit the following day (see photograph #10).
6. Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe Side) #6
7. Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe Side) #7
8. Victoria Falls Bridge
The Victoria Falls Bridge is 128 meters (420 feet) above the Zambezi River and serves as a border crossing between Zimbabwe and Zambia.
The span of Victoria Falls Bridge is visible at eye-level in Victoria Falls National Park. It was a relatively quiet afternoon, but frequently bungee jumpers can be seen leaping off the edge of the bridge towards the river below.
9. Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe Side) #8
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10. The Devil's Pool
I visited the Devil’s Pool right at the open of the tourist season when the water in the Zambezi River is still very high and the rapids are very strong. Only electronics you want to risk going over the edge are brought in a waterproof bag to the pool, so my DSLR was certainly out. But let me back up a bit in case you are unfamiliar with the setup here: the Devil’s Pool -a small swimming area right along the edge of Victoria Falls- is accessed from a boat launch on the Zambezi River on the Zambia side of the falls. You are taken to a small island where you can change and leave valuables, from which you walk and then swim to the Devil’s Pool.
A quick story about my visit to the pool: I wear glasses which, obviously, I left at the hut on the small island. I don’t have terrible vision, but it does take my mind some time to adjust to gauging distance and whatnot. When the time came to step into the Zambezi River and swim up to the pool, I kicked way too hard and absolutely drilled my toe on a rock in the riverbed. To this day, I am certain I sprained it, but -at a minimum- it was bleeding quite badly and was very uncomfortable. I offered to head back to the hut, but the guide said I could make my way along a safety rope along the falls’ edge. Not sure if this is safer or not, but I did limp my way to the pool. Given my inability to judge less than a meter of water depth, the guide did insist on coming to the edge with me. All in all this was an awesome (albeit, from my toe’s perspective, not ideal) experience.
11. The Boiling Pot
The Boiling Pot is a location where you can walk down to the Zambezi River just beneath Victoria Falls on the Zambia side.
After conquering Devil’s Pool, I took a trip to Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park where you can see the Zambia side of Victoria Falls. I started with a stroll down to the Boiling Pot.
12. The Zambezi River
Beneath Victoria Falls, the Zambezi River becomes very choppy and is a popular launching point for whitewater rafting expeditions.
13. Zambian Moth
Zambia has over 400 species of moth.
14. 48 Megawatts Head Pond Siphon Scour Dissipater
This sign appears on the way to the Boiling Pot. I am normally not attracted to photographing curiosities, but this one so thoroughly defies explanation I couldn’t help myself. I think my favorite aspect of this is that despite clearly not having proof-read their poorly-written gibberish, the makers of this sign impeccably included a particularly intricate Victoria Falls watermark on the sign.
15. Victoria Falls (Zambia Side) #1
In the peak of the rainy season, 625 million liters (165 million gallons) of water flow over Victoria Falls each minute.
The Zambia side of Victoria Falls is smaller than the Zimbabwe side, but allows visitor’s to get more up-close-and-personal to the water curtains. Three additional Zambia side Victoria Falls photos follow.
16. Victoria Falls (Zambia Side) #2
17. Victoria Falls (Zambia Side) #3
18. Victoria Falls (Zambia Side) #4
Photographer’s Comment: This photograph was taken using a Neutral Density filter and is a 10-second exposure.
