Discovering Victoria Falls

We left Botswana and Chobe Safari Lodge at a reasonable hour to head to the last destination for our group: the legendary Victoria Falls.  A bus ride, short boat ride and a bus ride brought us back near Livingstone and to the Zambese River Lodge.  This is a fairly posh resort, just three minutes by foot from Victoria Falls. It sports a large grassy area and a big pool, so all the kids in the group were psyched to be here.

After a quick poolside lunch, we walked over to the falls, not knowing quite what to expect.  When we arrived at the first overlook, it was amazing.  The falls are really wide, several hundred feet high, with a huge volume of water coming from the Zambese river. In addition to the thunderous noise, the coolest thing about the falls is the mist it creates. The mist is like a light drizzle, and it climbs higher than the top of the falls itself.  At the edge, you can see the water droplets rising upwards, and in some parts the water droplets combine to form bigger drops, which then fall back down into the canyon.  It's a great way to experience how clouds form rain - you can see the whole process up-close.

The other really cool thing about Victoria Falls are the rainbows the mist creates.  These are the most vibrant rainbows we have ever seen.  Looking at them from above, with the water crashing down next to them, is quite an incredible sight.

Rainbow from the mist at Victoria Falls

The magical mist of the falls.

When we arrived at the lodge, we had a special envelope in our welcome packet.  It was a birthday gift for Laurel and Bryce who are turning 12 in a few days.  We were given a complementary traditional English Tea at the neighboring Livingstone resort, just a few minutes walk from our hotel.  Since the rest of our stay was pretty well booked up, this was the best time to go, so we meandered over and enjoyed our next snack. 

Bryce enjoying high tea at the Royal Livingstone

The Livingstone is a spectacular place - even nicer than our own lodge.  It sits right on the river, and the interior is done in exquisite English Colonial style.  The staff was great and perfectly dressed, and tea was really fun.  Our server was named Santa, and since we had a free tea experience, we didn't have a way to tip him.  Fortunately, on our way back, we saw the rest of our group heading back to the Livingstone, so we let the kids have some down time and headed back for cocktail hour.  The river porch at the Livingstone is one of the most spectacular places I have ever seen to have a drink.  You have the river, the African sunset behind it, and then the glorious mist from Victoria falls just a half mile away, rising up over the river as it disappears over the waterfall ledge.  It doesn't get much better than this.

An albino monkey at the Royal Livingstone
Photo by Bryce