The Smoke That Thunders (Victoria Falls National Park)

Member Name: cathy

Product:	Victoria Falls National Park
Date:	14/07/00 (134 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Strange and beautiful

Disadvantages: can get very hot indeed

Musi-oya-tunya - 'the smoke that thunders', is the local name for Victoria Falls, where the mighty Zambezi river plunges into a drop over a mile wide and 350 feet deep. The spray is visible hundreds of feet above the falls and remains visible and audible over 6Km upstrea. The Falls and their surrounding area have been declared a National Park to prevent over commercialisation - but don't worry - there's plenty for tourists.

The Falls themselves are divided into five sections, Devil's Cataract, Main Falls, Horseshoe Falls, Rainbow Falls and the Eastern Cataract, The chasm the river plunges into is quite narrow and you can walk quite close to the edge and watch on average, an incredible 120 million gallons of water PER MINUTE hurtle into the void, become atomised and rise again to hang in glittering rainbow veils hundreds of feet above the gorge. Rainbows are everywhere. And this is one of only two places I know on Earth where you can see a moonbow or lunar rainbow by night - an hauntingly beautiful sight. Surrounding the Falls is essentially a mini-rainforest, due to the vast amount of water in the air - quite incredible.

Take one of the sunset cruises on offer down the Zambezi and watch the river turn to molten gold as flocks of birds skim homewards over the gleaming surface, crocodiles slip like silent menace into the stream and you will suddenly realise that hippos are not at all cuddly and you are a very long way from home - and the river bank.

On a more mundane note - the bar on the boat - steer clear of the complimentary sundowner cocktails, (you can actually feel them stripping the enamel off your teeth). Stick to rum and coke, (local and fairly cheap) or gin & tonic, (imported & horribly expensive).

Sadly, sunsets this close to the equator are fairly short. But for an after dark thrill visit the traditional dancing display in the Falls Craft Village open air theatre behind the post office.- examples o
f traditions from a whole range of different ethnic groups. The most exciting have to be the Shangaan - a warrior people, related to the Zulu, who settled the eastern part of Zimbabwe and the Mwaso Makishi dancers, almost completely hidden beneath huge masklike costumes or balancing on tall, slender poles . It's all a bit touristy - but with the flaming torches, hypnotic rhythms and exotic costumes - hey, let's go for it.

Come back to the Craft Village during the day and see examples of traditional living from many of Zimbabwe's different people's. As the brochure sadly comments, 'The modern social behaviour has vastly affected the tradition, culture and heritage of our country, hence the need for such a museum'. The many different building techniques used and different traditional designs will soon reveal the phrase 'mud hut' to be a particularly pathetic, inadequate and derogatory expression.
As usual, you will have ample opportunities to avail yourself of souvenirs in the gift shop. (You have to go through the gift shop to get out - smart design!)

The little town of Victoria Falls doesn't have a great deal to offer - although I am not yet blasé enough to find the spectacle of baboons and warthogs wandering round town anything other than fascinating. (Take note of the signs displayed in the hotels though please, and don't feed the wild animals. This is not a zoo - the clue is right there in that phrase 'wild animals'). But if this dies begin to pall, you can always check out Spencers Creek Crocodile Ranch and Animal Sanctuary, a little outside the town, just past the A'Zambezi Lodge Hotel. Here you can hold a crocodile, (a very small crocodile) and get excitingly close to some of the largest captive crocodiles in Africa. You'll be amazed at how fast they can move when they want to - so don't do anything rash like climbing over the fence. Guess what colour the inside of a crocodil
e's mouth is? Bright orange - like a pumpkin! That came as a surprise.

I stayed at the A'Zambezi Lodge, ( 3 star), which is right on the banks of the Zambezi. It's a modern hotel built using traditional materials and influenced by traditional design - thatched roofs, wooden exterior - it's a bit different. A lot of the air conditioned, en-suite, bedrooms overlook the river Air conditioning's a big plus - Vic Falls is in the north of the country where it gets very hot. There's a nice pool and the restaurant has a good variety of dishes. Unfortunately Zimbabwean cuisine has inherited much that is dull from the English. The standard set lunch menu in city hotels is likely to be hot soup, hot roast dinner followed by hot pie and custard - whatever the weather. Anyway - vegetarianism is an alien concept in Zimbabwe but the hotel will run to a mushroom omelette - or anything else that isn't on the menu if they can. Try and avoid imported drinks if you don't want a huge bar bill. I've plugged the rum & coke above - the local lager-like beer Castle, Lion or Zambezi is fine too and also cheap. (Mind you I'm not much of a beer drinker).

I booked the whole of this Flame Lily tour in Harare, (although it took a long time - the tourist office is totally geared up to stuff booked months in advance from abroad - the idea that someone might walk in off the street and book a tour for Vic Falls for NEXT week took them a bit by surprise), the whole thing, including; flights to and from Harare, transfers, 2 nights half board, sunset cruise, traditional dancing, craft village and crocodile ranch trips cost something like eighty quid.

Oh yes - and there's the added thrill of seeing game from the plane - that was good too - felt like David Attenborough ought to be doing a voice-over.

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