Zambia

The Boiling Pot, where the waters from all of the cataracts of Victoria Falls gather again into the Zambezi River, on its way through Zambia and Mozambique, finally emptying into the Indian Ocean.

Zambia - Click to Enlarge

In Zambia, looking toward Danger Point cataract and the Boiling Pot, at bottom. I was told that some of the best viewing of the falls was from the Zambian side, but other than this picture, the heavy spray obscured the cataracts completely, and also drenched me. Once back at the hotel in

Zambia - Click to Enlarge

Victoria Falls, however, the dry air and sunshine quickly dried all my clothes. If you visit Victoria Falls in the non-flood period of the year, you’re not as impaired by the spray from the surging waters, but you do miss the full rush and sound of the falls. Over 150 million years old, the falls were created at a time when the earth’s crust cooled and contracted, forming crevices.

Cecil Rhodes dreamed of an English-controlled railroad from Cairo, Egypt, in the north to the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of South Africa. Like so many dreams, it died in the surge of nationalism that swept across the African continent.

Today, vehicles, trains and pedestrian traffic cross the bridge between Zimbabwe and Zambia. Some adventurous tourists bungi jump from the bridge, hurtling toward the Zambezi River below. In fact, on my Antarctic cruise in January 1999, one of my fellow passengers, a woman, had done that very thing. And I recently received a card from her reporting she was up to her old tricks again, in Cairns, Australia.