FOOTLOOSE
Thundering smoke
S. THEODORE BASKARAN
|
To stand by the Victoria falls in Zambia as the river Zambezi falls into a gorge over 100 metres deep is an awe-inspiring experience.
|
Photo: Nithila Baskaran
Awesome scale: The mosi-oa-tunya as the locals call the Victoria Falls.
Even as we left our lodge in Livingstone town that morning and joined the main road, we could see at the distant horizon a cloud of spray rising into the clear blue sky, like white smoke. This is Victoria Falls, on the Zambia-Zimbabwe border where th
e river Zambezi forms the natural boundary.
The river, meandering along a vast, remarkably flat plain, suddenly plunges into a chasm that is nearly 100 metres deep, creating one of the largest sheets of falling water. At this spot, the river is nearly two km wide. When you get to the falls and walk along on the other side through the spray, covered in the heavy raincoats provided to you, you realise that it is not mere spray but is rather like a heavy downpour of monsoon rain, of large pelting drops. After passing through the spray area you come to a spot from where you get a clear, full view of the falls. Over the gorge into which the water descends in a torrent, there was a brilliant rainbow, of half a circle.
Unique byproduct
This rain of spray falling for eons on the area across the gorge has created a small patch of rain forest, otherwise so out of place in this landscape. A bridle path snakes through and you get a good feel of the moist jungle, with ferns and liana vines. On that morning when we were there, we could observe a lot of bird activity. Two Redbilled hornbills showed up, followed by varieties of sunbirds we could not identify. We could recognise a few mahogany trees.
Sacred site
At one edge of this patch stands a statue of David Livingstone, the explorer, who set his eyes on the falls in 1855. It was he who christened it Victoria Falls. Commemorating his memory, an island in the river, just at the edge of the falls, has been named, after him, “Livingstone Island”. We could not go to this island as the water at this season was deep. In summer, when half the river gets bare, you could walk across to the island.
Remnants of prehistoric habitat have been found near the falls and the excavated pit is maintained as a museum. For the local people the falls is a sacred site and is known as mosi-oa-tunya meaning “the smoke that thunders”. Our guide, when asked why they are still sticking to the colonial name when there is such a picturesque local name, he thought for a moment and replied “It is easy to market the falls with a Western name”. Next to copper, it is tourism that is holding up the economy of Zambia. After UNESCO declared this a World heritage site in 1989, the tourist traffic has increased manifold.
We went to the falls in the evening also. There were not many people around. We sat by the river and watched it move along gently towards the gorge.
Fun things to do
The tour operators have lined up various activities to experience the falls: you could go up in a microlight plane, or take a chopper and fly down into the gorge or go down the gorge, into the river for some white water rafting. Two from our group of five went above the falls in a chopper. Later in the evening, all of us went on a leisurely river cruise. Silhouettes of gigantic Nile crocodiles could be seen on the bank.
We watched the sun slide down in the centre of the river like a sliver of fire, turning the surface of the river into a riot of golden red.
Next day, our flight back to Lusaka was delayed, and we went in for lunch at the small restaurant in Livingstone airport. When the waiter came with a note book and asked what we would like to drink, we looked at each other and said in unison “Mosi”. Zambia prides itself about her “Mosi” beer, named after the great falls.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Magazine
