Victoria Falls

On our trip to Kasane in Northern Botswana with Richard and Brenda Vernon, we took a guided day trip to Victoria Falls. Thebe River Safaris where we stayed in Kasane took us to the Zimbabwe border where our guide met us, drove us the hour to Victoria Falls and showed us the falls on foot. He gave us a lot of interesting information about the falls.

The falls were at bit below high water flow. This turned out to be a good time to view the falls. All of the falls were flowing but there was not enough mist to hide the falls which happens at high water. We were glad to have umbrellas at some of the viewing points and still got quite wet. The guide said the week before we really would have gotten wet. Victoria Falls consists of six falls - Devil's Cataract, Main, Horseshoe, Rainbow, Armchair, and Eastern Cataract.

David Livingstone was the first white person to view the falls. He spent twenty-five years in Africa. Both he and his wife died of malaria. We decided that we would take anti-malaria drugs rather than risk getting it. They buried Livingstone's heart in Africa and his body in Scotland.

There are a lot of shops and vendors in Victoria Falls. Brenda and Janet enjoyed shopping and bought some craft items. As part of the tour we were taken to lunch where we had traditional food.

On the way to and from Victoria Falls were saw some animals. There were only a few of them because poachers recently burned the area to make it easier for them to get at the animals. It is sad that they are having so much trouble with poachers. All the rhinoceros in Chobe National Park have been moved deeper into Botswana to try to protect them from poachers.

When we crossed the border from Zimbabwe to Botswana, we had to rub the soles of our shoes on mats wet with disinfectant and the tour truck had to drive through a bath to keep foot and mouth disease from spreading.

We had a wonderful day at Victoria Falls. They are truly a wonder of nature and pictures cannot do them justice.