Tourist Attraction #1 - Victoria Falls

Victoria falls was my first tourist destination on the trip and I was there only for my first two days in Africa (and a few hours in transit leaving Africa).

The falls are located in Livingstone, Zambia and were founded by Dr. Livingstone (I presume..) :)
The falls are also one of the seven greatest wonders of the world. Click here for some more history on the falls

These few pictures can't begin to describe how breathtaking the falls are.

Welcome to Victoria Falls

The other side of Victoria falls is called The Smoke That Thunders - for obvious reasons. 1) It's very loud, and 2) From far away, it looks like smoke from a fire. When I first saw it from the plane - it looked as if there was a massive brush fire.

What amazed me the most was these falls...

....actually become so dry in October that you can walk across to the other side!!!

And of course, the required tourist picture standing in front of the falls:

and when our guide said I could step into the falls on the other side, of course, i had to go in. But only my toes....the fall down from the....falls is 108 metres down...I wasn't so ready to get anything else wet.

Next up was the bridge to cross the falls. On the way there, I stopped to see the bridge that connects Zambia to Zimbawe, this bridge was built in 1905 - and people actually bungee jump off of it!

Here is the walking bridge to actually cross over the falls:

and here is me, trying to take a self portrait and keep my eyes open at the same time.

On the way back there was a little boy with his brother and sister. This little boy was CONVINCED that he would not make it on the bridge - that the power of the water would sweep him away. After several attempts - and then walking back - and then trying again, he scrambled to hold any adult's hand for stability. He grabed onto my guide's hand and was still so terrified!! I was about five seconds from just picking him up and carrying him, he was just so freaked out!! But it was pretty cute. His brother kept trying to tell him - open your eyes!! Look around!! But there was no convincing him.
Once on the other side, he nearly ran back to meet his mom - and had there been less people around - probably started crying.


I guess it's not nice to laugh at a scared little kid, but he was pretty entertaining to watch.
And I guess it is kind of scary, especially if you were little! It's a long slippery bridge with water pelting you - including into your eyes, so it's hard to see. But - he made it.

Zambia was just a bit of a stop over on my way to Botswana, but if I ever have the chance, I would love to go again for a few more days. This was obviously a "touristy" kind of place, which I generally am not a bit fan of, but the culture and history made it super interesting, and the scenery is absolutely breathtaking...

Hopefully I'll get to go again one day!