Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe – Final Day with Nomad Tours – Day 19

Our Last Day Together

Victoria Falls

We leave at the crack of dawn to reach the Zimbabwe border before all the other tour buses.  The process is more complicated than previous border crossings with each visa having to be handwritten.

While we wait, baboons on the rooftop of the border station harass us.

We arrive at a nice hotel and everyone unloads their belongings from the truck.  Morrison and Mxolisi take us to Victoria Falls and then we are on our own  – needing to get back to the hotel alone.  It’s my first solo journey in a while.

Victoria Falls is awesome in the true sense of the word.  I am fortunate to have also seen Iguazu Falls in Argentina.  Victoria Falls is even more impressive.  It seems impossible that there can be that much water in the whole world!

After a walk around the falls and getting soaked (the wise wear raincoats) I walk back into town, frightened by a gang of warthogs crossing my path.  We were told it’s not safe to walk at night because elephants come into town.  That is not a nighttime encounter one wants to have.  The town of Victoria Falls is still a wild place.

We have a final dinner together in the hotel.  It’s a sad night for me.  I have enjoyed my time so much.  And I will miss several people.  Even the Germans.  Surprise, surprise.

I can highly recommend the Cape Town to Victoria Falls tour with Nomad Tours. It was a fast-paced tour and there were some minor glitches but overall it was an amazing experience.  I would not have been able to see even half the sights I did, financially or logistically, as a solo traveler.

Now Africa has a special place in my heart and can’t wait to return again.

The final night as a group. Photo courtesy of Nicole.

Video and photos below.

Disclaimer: Nomad Tours offered me a discount in exchange for documentation of the experience.  I have complete freedom to share my thoughts.  All opinions are my own.

Official Itinerary from Nomad Tours:

Day 19 Zimbabwe – Victoria Falls On arrival in Victoria Falls town, we have time to plan the next day’s adventure activities before we visit the spectacular Victoria Falls and experience the thundering of the mighty Zambezi. An optional dinner out is a friendly way to end your tour with all the new friends you’ve made along the way. Optional Activities: Chobe morning game drive, Zambezi Sunset Cruise
Victoria Falls
Victoria Falls, 1 700 m wide and 108 m high – is said to be the largest falls in the world. David Livingstone, the Scottish explorer, is believed to have been the first European to view the Victoria Falls and wrote: “It has never been seen before by European eyes, but scenes so wonderful must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight”. The older, indigenous name of Mosi-oa-Tunya (‘the Smoke that Thunders’) is the name in official use in Zambia. Due to its immense power and size, the waterfall is surrounded by a rich mythology. The local Tonga people of the Zambezi believe that a river god, Nyaminyami, resides in the water in the form of an immense snake. When the Kariba Dam was built in the 1950s, the Zambezi River flooded three times, causing many deaths and much destruction. The local people believe Nyaminyami caused the terrible floods in anger at the construction.

The unusual form of Victoria Falls enables virtually the whole width of the falls to be viewed face-on, at the same level as the top, from as close as 60 metres, because the whole Zambezi River drops into a deep, narrow slot-like chasm, connected to a long series of gorges. Few other waterfalls allow such a close approach on foot. The falls are formed as the full width of the river plummets in a single vertical drop into a chasm 60–120 m wide, carved by its waters along a fracture zone in the basalt plateau. The depth of the chasm, called the First Gorge, varies from 80 m at its western end to 108 m in the centre. The only outlet to the First Gorge is a 110 m-wide gap about two-thirds of the way across the width of the falls from the western end, through which the whole volume of the river pours into the Victoria Falls gorges. There are two islands on the crest of the falls that are large enough to divide the curtain of water even at full flood: Boaruka Island (or Cataract Island) near the western bank and Livingstone Island near the middle. At less than full flood, additional islets divide the curtain of water into separate parallel streams. The main streams are named, in order from Zimbabwe (west) to Zambia (east): Leaping Water (called Devil’s Cataract by some), Main Falls, Rainbow Falls (the highest) and the Eastern Cataract.

Photos of Victoria Falls: