Nansanzu

Mosi-Ao-Tunya or The Smoke That Thunders, was the name that the Sotho people of Zambia used for centuries for the waterfalls on The Zambezi River. Then, in 1855, David Livingstone was paddled halfway across the river in a dug out canoe by local guides to an island above the falls and having given his own name to the island, he named the falls in honour of his Queen. Victoria Falls was then en route to becoming one of the Seven Wonders of The Natural World.

Yesterday morning, we found ourselves on the same island having zig zagged across the river in an open speedboat, to take an early morning dip in Angel’s Pool. This small pool on top of Victoria Falls is backed by 2 cascades and has a rock about 1 metre back from the edge, upon which we were promised the photographic and emotional experience of a lifetime.

A quick change into swimsuits and river shoes was followed with a briefing that included the words, “We have never lost anybody over the top - yet!”. We were then escorted by the kindest, friendliest guides across the island to the entry point amongst the rocks and vegetation that will soon be covered up as the wet season swells the river from now until July.

Our tour group included 5 twentysomething year old Americans and Australians on their own African adventure who could not have been more blasé about striding towards the edge of the 190 metre drop. We weren’t quite as gung ho but the experienced guides gently escorted us towards the edge.

And then, we plunged into Angel’s Pool itself. Wow, wow, wow!

Looking left and right we saw enourmous white plumes of water descending over the sharp, black rock edge, sending voluminous spray high in the air above our heads. As we sank into Angel’s Pool, the water cascaded over us tumbling and washing over our heads as we grinned and grinned at the awesomeness of what we were experiencing. It was actually a little overwhelming to find ourselves in such an absolutely thrilling location doing something that we had never previously considered until the evening before when we decided that a Sunset Cruise on the river would be a tad too gentile for us (plus, 2 families with 6 yappy kids were booking up for the cruise just in front of us).

Sitting in Angel’s Pool at 9 o’clock on a Monday morning, therefore, surrounded by thunderous water plunging down before us, made this decision the absolute highlight of everything that we have done in Africa thus far. Or perhaps anywhere! As each of our group in turn were invited to sit on the protruding rock on the edge of the cliff, the guides took our phones and snapped a million shots of us sitting, reclining, stretching out and lying backwards over the edge with the epic scenes of Victoria Falls providing the backdrop to every photograph. The final sequence of lying face down involved a guide holding our ankles and whilst we had confidence that he could hold on to Carole’s svelte frame, we weren’t so sure that he would have been too effective in holding my weight.

The photos prove that I need to get back in the gym but for 30 minutes, nothing else mattered except absolutely relishing every second of being in the most astonishing spot either of us has ever experienced. How lucky we were to get the chance to sit in The Zambezi River on the very cliff edge of Victoria Falls.

Our trip to Livingstone Island included a delicious breakfast freshly prepared by the head chef with white tablecloths and silver service. All in the middle of the river.

Quite a start to the week.

We continued our day with a trip across the bridge that provides the only road and rail crossing between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Proudly, we learned that was built by the lads from Darlington in 1905. This took us to the Zimbabwe side of the river from where we could see three quarters of The Falls themselves and from where we spotted our earlier swimming pool which was part of The Horseshoe Falls. Each of the main cascades are named and we had seen the Zambian side on Sunday and that trip included a 630 meter descent to The Boiling Pot, where the gorge narrows below the falls and underwater rock formations cause the water to, well, boil!

The Zimbabwean side cost a great deal more to enter and for that we also got to experience first hand the strange fact that the rain forest surrounding the cliffs is the only place in the world where it ‘rains’ 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. At times we had zero visibility because of the height of the spray but the hilarity of being completely drenched below blue skies was great fun.

Our subsequent rain soaked appearance at one of the poshest hotels in this part of Africa, The Victoria Falls Hotel, didn’t seem to bother the pith helmeted doormen and we spent a lovely hour reviewing the Angel’s Pool photographs, drying off and enjoying a pricey cup of coffee.

We spent a little over 48 hours in Livingstone, Zambia but on day one we did 3 countries in 6 hours flying in from Nairobi, Kenya and then later that day straddling the midpoint of The Falls Bridge and on day two we had the most unexpected and absolute thrill of a lifetime. If you have a bucket list, make room for Zambia. It is beyond delightful.

Footnote: We have been hassled for 5 weeks across Africa to buy souvenirs/tat - hats, bangles, paintings, ornaments etc and we have stoically and politely resisted every plea until our last crossing back into Zambia on Sunday afternoon when Carole succumbed. The one dollar wooden hippo that we now own, will do well to travel around the world for the next 10 months! Meet him/her in the photos 😔. Suggestions for a name……..Read more