Day 248 – The smoke that thunders

I find it extremely unfair that some Scottish guy (granted, a nice missionary and explorer Livingstone) gets to change the perfectly awesome indigenous name of these grandiose falls, Mosi-oa-Tunya (The Smoke that Thunders), into Victoria Falls (in honor of his Queen, who by the way, had never even visited the place named after her). The Smoke that Thunders paints a much more accurate picture to what you can expect to see, plus it sounds so romantic! Fine, apparently the World Heritage List recognizes the both names, but let's face it, most of us know the falls as Victoria. How sad…

On the other hand, who cares! The name doesn't change the roaring (even during the "dry" season) beauty of this magnificent site. I have also been to Niagara Falls, and as much as I loved it, I must say, I prefer The Smoke That Thunders for the simple reason: totally unexpectedly (for me), it is situated in the middle of the wilderness!!! You cannot simply board a convenient little tourist-packed boat and go under the waterfalls in a waterproof poncho for a miserly $50 (or whatever the price of this attraction is at Niagara). You cannot just cross a little bridge from a casino to the boisterous waters and touch the nature's wonder of perpetual rainbow simultaneously making a wish (for another however many dollars). You have to just walk around in awe and watch its majesty from a respectful distance of a savannah forest surrounding the place. Unless you are really athletic and adventurous: then, you can afford – at your own risk (although under a supervision of an experienced guide) – crossing all the necessary distances and walking under, on top of, and over the waterfalls as much as you want.

P.S. Bungy-jumping

Oh no, don't get excited, that was not meJ. I had enough adrenalin pumping just from translating the instructions of how to fall correctly into the 111-meter deep roaring abyss to one of our brave group members. Watching him jump was SCARY. I'm never ever doing it myself! Never!

P.P.S. African sunset

You don't have to take a sunset boat cruise to experience the gorgeousness of African sunset, but it wouldn't hurt to enjoy it with a glass of wine on the Zambezi river. Simply why not...