The smoke that whispers
Trip Start
Sep 17, 2007
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250
272
Trip End
Oct 08, 2008
Livingstone,
Zambia
Monday, September 1, 2008
Our lack of enthusiasm about Victoria Falls could be that we arrived at low water. Also, we did not make a foray into Zimbabwe, which has a monopoly on all the larger falls, even though they're on the Zambian side. It's very confusing. The trouble is that at Victoria Falls the Zambezi runs all over the place to be wider than any river has any business being and it falls off a cliff, at which point it returns to normal river size. The other trouble is that there's a cliff on the other side, so you can't get an uninterrupted view of the falls (or a panoramic shot - hence airplanes)
a first view of the Eastern Cataract
. You can peer down the gaping chasm and wish that you could afford the $50 that it would take to enter Zimbabwe and its park, if only so that you could actually see some serious water, but alas, it is not to be. Travis and I did a great deal of walking. We walked all the way to Zimbabwe but were cut off by the river...twice. First we made the Eastern Cataract to Knife's Edge walk, which took us right along the edge of the canyon where the water fell on the one side while we stayed dry on the other. At Knife's Edge the canyon forms its little T, so we looked down the top of the T to the Zimbabwean falls and down the stem of the T to the rest of the flowing Zambezi. Across from us was Danger Point, the complementary viewpoint in Zimbabwe.
From there we made our way back into the park and down the the Boiling Point. While guides will tell you that there is a path to the Boiling Point, there is not - the last half of your walk will be over an array of rocks strewn just to make your walk a little harder. Also, you will have to cross a stream that is shin deep, so wear sandals. The Boiling Point is where the Zambezi runs into a wall and starts going west again. There's a whirlpool, so no swimming. We sat and had some cookies before girding our loins for the walk back up
low water
. And up and up. It's just over half a kilometer, but it's almost all straight down. So also straight up. (It goes to follow.) While we were on the Knife Edge path we noticed that there were loads of people walking around on the falls, so we decided to go, too. Why not? I mean, what could possibly happen? A long series of hops took us to the largest fall of the Eastern Cataract. We had a nice little photo shoot while hanging precariously on a ledge, climbed back up, and then made our way back to shore. If you do this, there will inevitably be a number of men who want to lead you to the local swimming hole. Just know that if you let them you have to pay them. Also, if you're going to swim you'll probably want your swimsuit. We didn't have ours, but we also didn't want to swim. Our hostel had a pool and a jacuzi (neither of which I ever managed to use despite my earnest intentions - errands are a killer).
We didn't stay long in Livingstone, since the only thing we wanted to do there was visit the falls and that was done. While waiting for the onward bus we chilled in the hostel - Jollyboys Backpackers. It's certainly got attitude and amenities. But if you arrive late you won't get dinner - you've got to order by 5:30 and it's served communal style at 6:30.
A note on leaving. We wanted to cross to Namibia, and there are a couple ways to do this. First, you can take a bus to Sesheke, which is 5 km to the border, somehow find transport to the border, hope that the ferry is going (but if it's not you can cross the river by dugout canoe), walk the other 5 km to Katima Mulilo on the other side, and hope to get a seat on a minibus for the 15 hr drive to Windhoek
Travis and Erin at Vic Falls
. The other thing to do is take the Intercape Mainliner, which happens to go through Zimbabwe anyway. This is what we were told. THIS IS 100% NOT ACCURATE. Firstly, the Intercape, which is a very good deal, doesn't go through Zimbabwe anymore. (We were seriously stressing about this visa and why we booked this ticket without thinking straight.) Second, the buses to Sesheke are outrageously expensive - what guide books say is a 6 hr drive is two and the price is nearly the same as they charge for an 8 hr drive. Third, there's a bridge, not a ferry. This lead us to wonder, does anyone who researches Africa for guidebooks actually go there? We'd imagine that one would notice that the state of the road is improved and that a bridge is under construction. Farewell, Zambia.
Erin
