Bulawayo,
a very good place with tourist attractions
Victoria
Falls - A Phenomenon To Behold
Visit
Harare and know a lot more about this splendid city
Zimbabwe is surrounded
by other countries, and so it has no coast on the sea. This type of country
is called landlocked. The countries that surround Zimbabwe are Zambia,
Botswana, South Africa and Mozambique.
Zimbabwe is home to the famous
waterfall, Victoria Falls, which are a feature of the river Zambezi.
Zimbabwe was known as Rhodesia when it was a colony of Great Britain,
but it took the ancient name of "Zimbabwe" in 1980 when it became an independent
country.
Victoria
Falls - A Phenomenon To Behold by Felix Koskei
A distance aerial view of Victoria
Falls as my flight approached Victoria Falls International Airport is a
field on fire with white smoke bellowing into the skies. As you close in
on the falls itself, you realize that the 'smoke' is actually a cloud of
water rising up as the Zambezi River pours down the falls with amazing
force and power.
Once on the ground, the 24
km drive from the airport to Victoria Falls town is an extremely smooth
highway. Both sides of the road are lined up with beautiful trees. Victoria
Falls town can easily be confused with a small modern city in the developed
world. It is clean; the buildings are modern and very well maintained.
The roads are very well paved and marked. The flower beds and gardens well
nurtured. The town does not have so much traffic apart from the hordes
of buses and minibuses shuttling tourists from the falls to various lodges
in the town.
Park entrance fee is paid
at the falls entrance. Please note that park entrance fees is paid in United
States dollars, cash. This is the most preferred mode of payment. Any other
mode of payment may be a big hassle and give you unprecedented complications.
A lady ahead of me on the
queue had US travelers cheques of 50 dollars denominations and had to go
away because she could not be given back her change. Zimbabwe dollars cannot
be used by foreigners to pay park entrance fees.
Before you arrive at Victoria
Falls, it is very important to prepare for a 'rainy' day. It is guaranteed
that you will be rained on as you view the falls. This will not be rain
water but from the cloud of 'smoke' I mentioned early. The best item to
protect you from the rain is a poncho. A raincoat will also do. Also have
shorts if possible because long trouser will definitely get wet from your
knee downwards. Non-leather open shoes would be the best option for footwear.
First stop would be at the Livingstone statue. This is a relatively big
statue that was put under immense security guard when the locals wanted
to destroy it due to political differences between Zimbabwe and Great Britain
several years back.
Next stop would be a view
of the Devil's Cataract and Cataract Island. The Devil's Cataract is the
western end of the falls and there is a huge force of water flowing down
the Devil's Cataract. From the Cataract Island, the next stop is the Main
Falls. This is where one might experience the heaviest rainfall though
this is the best sight of viewing the falls.
From the main falls, I head
to the Livingstone Island. It is said that Dr. Livingstone docked at Livingstone
Island and spent the night there oblivious of the falls right after that.
As I continue eastwards, the next stop is Horseshoe Falls followed by the
Rainbow Falls and finally the Eastern Cataract. Words cannot express the
sight at Victoria Falls as the scene is never static. The width of Victoria
Falls from the Devil's Cataract to the Eastern Cataract is 1,700 metres.
The mean height of the Main Falls is 83 metres. The mean height of the
Rainbow Falls is 99 metres. The mean height for the whole falls is 93 metres.
The average flow of water over the falls is 34,000 cubic metres a minute.
The best time to see the
falls is between February and June. This is the time the falls is full
and complete from the Devil's Cataract to the Eastern Cataract. During
the other months when there is less rainfall experienced, the Horseshoe
Falls, Rainbow Falls and Eastern Cataract have no water flowing on them.
The paved walkways along the entire falls are well maintained and accessible
by wheel chair.
Immediately preceding the
falls, the Zambezi River has 4 rapids that zigzag one after the other.
The current falls is the first rapid and it is in favour of Zimbabwe. The
best country to view the falls now is from the Zimbabwe side and not the
Zambia side. However, several centuries ago, Rapid 4, which formed the
first ever falls along the Zambezi was in favour of Zambia.
Rapid 3 was then created
and it was in favour of Zimbabwe. When Rapid 2 was created, it was in favour
of Zambia. The Zimbabwe/Zambia famous bungi jump bridge is located on Rapid
2. The current falls and Rapid 1 is in favour of Zimbabwe. Judging
from the amount of water flowing down the Devil's Cataract, it is predicted
that the Zambezi River is already cutting its new path heading towards
the Zambia side.
This will create a new falls
and rapid which will be in favour of Zambia. This will however take hundreds
of years to form. Erosion of the land by the water flow downriver
is an extremely long process and unfortunately cannot be witnessed in one's
lifetime.
As we exit the falls after
the Eastern Cataract, we head to the famous bridge joining Zimbabwe and
Zambia on Rapid 2. This is the bridge where bungi jumping is done. Water
rafting is also done from Rapid 2 downstream. River cruises are done upstream
before the falls.
The best method to view the
falls is by helicopter. The Flight Of Angels provides one with the perfect
experience and excellent view of the falls.
Victoria Falls has all kinds
of lodgings and hotels to cater for all classes of travelers. These include
Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, A'Zambezi River Lodge, Elephant Hills Hotel,
Nyati Lodge, Lokuthula Lodges, Victoria Falls Hotel, The Kingdom Hotel
and Casino among others.
Some of the activities available
at Victoria Falls is a Sundowner Cruise which provides a very good experience.
A visit to Victoria Falls will not be complete without a visit to The Boma
- The Place of Eating. This is a wonderful dinner location with traditional
dances. One can also do elephant rides and visit the crocodile farm. There
is also canoeing and white water rafting along the Zambezi.
Botswana is just an hour's
drive away from Victoria Falls, if one has more time, consider visiting
Chobe in Botswana for a night or two.
My flight back to Harare
stopped over at Bulawayo. I could not miss noticing that Bulawayo International
Airport seemed to have been expanding the airport with a modern massive
airport building. This building however seems to have stalled several years
back.
Harare is a modern city with
well paved and maintained roads. As I traveled around Zimbabwe, it is evidently
notable that this is a country that previously had enormous economic growth
and focused development which now seems to have hit a brick wall.
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