The smoke which thunders....................

The smoke which thunders

Africa has always held a special fascination for me and I knew that someday I would get a chance to visit this vast continent; home to herds of exotic animals, “Mosi-oa-Tunya” and Mt. Kilimanjaro. After a long flight from Hong Kong through Johannesburg, I arrived in Livingstone, Zambia, named for the famed European explorer of “Doctor Livingstone I presume” fame.  Now I’m going to have to digress a little here to tell a story that I know at least one person will appreciate, but it also illustrates how small and connected we are in this big old world.

So I’m standing in the customs line at the Livingstone airport, waiting for my turn to enter the country, talking to an Indian couple ahead of me. They were from the states and had lived in Park Ridge, a suburb north of Chicago, which is near Skokie, another northern suburb and the community I worked in for many years before our site was closed in 2003. Somehow we got on the subject of food and the lady says, “you know the best falafels are made in Skokie……….. at The Pita Inn”. The reason for this anecdote is that I’ve eaten there many times, on occasion still do, and a friend has always insisted that the Pita Inn has the best falafels in the world and now an Indian couple, living in the states, and visiting Zambia supports his hypothesis.  Shawn, this one’s for you.

Sunset on the Zambezi

Having arrived late in the afternoon and being fairly beat from travel it was suggested by Richard Chanter, owner of Chanter’s Lodge, the lovely little place where I would be staying, that I start my visit with a relaxing sunset cruise on the Zambezi river. So after a short period of settling in, the shuttle bus picked me up at the lodge and made its’ rounds to other accommodations gathering guests along the way. At Jolly Boys Backpackers, a place I had considered staying, four young people carrying beers boarded the bus. They were already in good spirits and it looked like it was going to be a lively cruise. They were Peace Corps volunteers on a short break from their two year commitment of service. I told them I was from Chicago and as we talked found out that unfortunately we were going to be on different cruises; apparently I was going on the “nice” boat according to them. Had I known there were options, I would have gladly joined them for they sounded like an interesting group. The bus dropped me off at a fine lodge located right on the river where I boarded the nice boat, and we slowly set off upriver in the direction of the setting sun. The river was magnificent, clean, clear, and uncrowded; and as we slowly glided along the tranquil water we saw elephants, hippos, crocodiles and eagles. Add to that an ice cold beer, some tasty snacks, and the glorious yellow sun sinking leisurely over the trees, reflecting its’ golden rays off the calm surface of the mighty river, and you find you are living the dream a perfect African river cruise. After the sun was below the horizon the boat turned around and starting heading back. Not far away I noticed another boat, a double-deck pontoon boat with quite a few people on it. All of a sudden I hear shouting, “Whoo-who, Hey Chicago!” It was my Peace Corps friends from the bus; our boat was definitely nicer but they seemed to be having more fun.

Mosi-oa-tunya, “the smoke which thunders”, better known in the western world as Victoria Falls, lies on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. It got its name because the falls dump into a narrow canyon causing the mist created by the falling water to rise high into the air. From a distance it looks like smoke from a forest fire and the noise is the rumble of the massive volume of water as it crashes to the canyon floor. For comparison, Victoria Falls is over twice as high as Niagara Falls (351 feet vs.167 feet), over twice the average volume of water (85,002 ft³/sec  vs. 38,846 ft³ sec) although not as wide (3946 ft vs. 5698 feet). My visit coincided with the dry season. This was intentional on my part because if you come during the wet season, there is so much water falling and the mist is so thick that your view of the falls is limited and you get completely soaked; I wanted to see the falls.  Even at this time of the year there still is enough mist in some places to require a raincoat. There is enough moisture that the falls has its own microclimate and has created a rainforest on the opposite side of the canyon. Also, I wanted to go

Fraying bungee cord

white water rafting and if you come in the wet season, the first 10 rapids of the lower Zambezi river are closed and they sometimes close the river to rafting altogether. Richard dropped me off at the Victoria Falls Bridge, built in 1905, and the no-man’s land, border crossing between the two countries.  It’s a relatively short walk across the bridge, but it is made longer by the hustlers trying to sell you wood carvings, trinkets and Zimbabwe dollars. At one time Zimbabwe had run away inflation and they created money in ridiculous denominations, billions and trillions, now they are sold to sucker tourists like myself as souvenirs. You can also bungee jump from the bridge but I had strict orders that there would be no bungee jumping on my odyssey. Even without the directive I would never willing toss my body off a bridge (okay maybe for The Amazing Race) and after seeing the fraying rubber band of

Victoria Falls Bridge

a rope it confirmed my commitment, yet there were other people were taking the plunge. Victoria Falls is the second of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World that I had the opportunity to visit on my odyssey and there are not enough adjectives to describe the awesome beauty of this natural setting. I spent several hours walking along the edge of the canyon, stopping at every viewpoint to absorb the grandeur and majesty. Even though it was the dry season, the falls are spectacular; I can’t wait to come back to see them in the rainy season. You can walk right up to the edge of the canyon to get a good view. In one section there are no guard rails just a little sign warning you of the dangers; slippery rocks, windy and no barriers. If you’re one of those people who have the urge to jump, you might want to avoid section.  From this side you could also see people making their way to the “Devil’s Swimming Pool” (more on that later).

Odysseying is hard

 It was hot, Africa hot, and after taking in every panorama and before heading back to Zambia, I decided to treat myself to a refreshing brew on the veranda of the Victoria Falls Hotel. It’s one of those things you have to do when visiting. The hotel is a classic throwback to colonial times. Built in Edwardian style at the turn of the twentieth century, the portico has a commanding view of the Victoria Bridge. It’s classic, elegant, was and still is, THE place to stay. The view, the atmosphere and the fact that I was sitting there was just astonishing.

The next day I went white water rafting on the lower Zambezi below the falls. It was an all day affair taking in 25 rapids; including a couple class 4 and 5. There was one class 6, but they don’t run it; you have to portage around it and by the looks of it, that is a good decision. There were only four of us in the raft, not counting our “captain”; a missionary worker from Belgium, a couple from the Czech Republic who had just come from the Burning Man festival (on my list of things to do) and me. We started with a long hike down the canyon to “The Boiling Point”, rapid #1. We climbed into the boat and the first thing the captain said pointing to 2 of us was “you and you jump into the water”. Huh? I thought the idea was to stay in the boat. Well, we were going to practice pulling each other into the boat should the need arise and one of us fall out along the way; and the need did. The one nice thing was that the water was warm and after sweltering under the hot African sun it was actually refreshing to be wet by something other than sweat. After practicing our life saving techniques we got underway. Since there were only four of us, paddling was hard and it took us three tries to get through the first rapid, after that all went well … for most of the trip. This was my first time white water rafting and it was fantastic. We were the only craft on the river. Occasionally we would see a lone fisherman who had climbed down from one of the villages on the canyon rim.  At times it was

wild and crazy and we paddled like mad through the untamed water and other times we rowed easily through the still water between rapids. It was quiet and beautiful, with imposing walls of rock on either side. Yes, I was thrown out of the boat a few times. One time we were basically through the rapids when some rogue wave hit us; the raft started to tip and the next thing I know is the guy from the Czech Republic is flying over my head and we’re going onto the water. At first it seemed daunting and tense but after the first couple rapids and plunge into the water it became fun and enjoyable. There were two times where they let you jump into the river and float through the smaller rapids with your life vest. What a great feeling as the current moved you along without any effort. It was awesome.

I took a one day safari to the Chobe National Park in Botswana. It was about an hour ride to the Botswana border where I boarded a little boat to cross the river. Yes I had to go through customs on the other side, but it seemed like you could easily bypass this step if you were so inclined. The safari turned out to be great since it was the dry season and all the watering holes in the interior had dried up so all the animals have to come down to the river to drink. The tour included both a land and river cruise portion. Also, Chobe has one of the largest concentrations of elephants in all of Africa. We saw probably a couple hundred elephants, hippos, crocodile, birds of all kinds, giraffe, kudu, gazelle, warthogs and cape buffalo. The numbers were astounding and we were able to get fairly close in

both the truck and the boat; elephants swimming across the river, a crocodile eating a fish, and hippos floating like giant logs. Incredible is all I can say.

The next day I headed for the “Devil’s Swimming Pool”. The pool is basically a spot on the brink of the falls where in the dry season you can jump in and not be carried over rim. Look it up on youtube to see some of the videos. I assumed it’s safe because you don’t hear of people falling over the falls

and they still let folks do it. You can get right up to the edge and peer over down into the canyon. You’re in the water, and water is still going over the falls, but there’s like a wall that prevents you from going over. The guys who take you out there are crazy because they will walk right on the rim. You get to the falls from Livingstone Island, the place where he is said to have first viewed the falls. I thought it ironic that when you board the boat to get to the island they make you wear a life vest and when they hang you over the rim of the falls you have no safety equipment whatsoever. After reaching the island you have to wade and swim to get to some rocks by the edge of the pool.

Once there you can either go all out and jump into the pool or ease in by sliding on the rocks, either way it’s a little scary. I’ve seen it in the videos and I saw some people go in before me, but when it’s your turn and the water is roaring over the rim and you can see you are jumping in only a couple feet from the edge, and when you’re in you will be only inches from the edge it seems a little crazy, but somehow you find the courage and take the plunge. Once in they help you to sit on a ledge just below the water so you can take the obligatory photos and then one by one they have you get on your belly and hang out over the edge for a look down to the canyon floor. While I’m sitting there waiting for my turn, the wind was blowing hard, the current is more powerful than I expected, wanting to push you over the edge and even though you feel a solid rock wall behind you about 8-12 inches thick, I have to admit that after a while I was feeling anxious about the whole situation; you really could go over. Still it was one cool experience that I will never forget.

On Livingstone Island there is a plaque marking the spot where Dr. Livingstone first viewed the falls with an inscribed quote “senses so lovely they must have been gazed upon by angels in flight”. If only he could have seen the falls the way I did for then he could have gotten that angels view because on my last day I took a microlight flight over the falls. Simply put a microlight is like a giant kite powered by a lawn mower engine. The ride was absolutely fantastic. We flew at about 1500 feet and I could clearly see the snaking canyon and rapids down which I rafted, the mist rising from the center of the canyon like a smoke signal to the seraphs, the mighty and picturesque Zambezi  and Victoria Falls in its infinite glory. It was an image that will stay with me forever.

Next stop the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro!

norb