The idea for many of our journeys originates from big screen movies and books. Traveling to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe came from both.
The Book:
In his book, “Into Africa”, Martin Dugard tells the story of Dr. Livingston’s African journeys to Central Africa. Of course, journalist Henry Morton Stanley is part of this compelling story. Who among us has not uttered Stanley’s line “Doctor Livingston, I presume”. Their epic experiences, including Livingston’s first siting of Victoria Falls, prompted my wife and I to travel to Zimbabwe. We stayed at the Victoria Falls Hotel, an Edwardian styled hotel, built in 1904. Workers constructed the hotel to house bridge crews for the Cape-to-Cairo railway. The hotel is now known for its serenity because of its lily ponds, arched loggias and broad verandas. The verandas offer stunning views of the gorges and the bridge crossing the Zambezi River. The Victoria Falls Hotel features 161 rooms and suites of pure grandeur.
The Brits:
It is hard to imagine what was going though Livingston’s mind when he first conceived his idea to explore interior Africa. Being a member of the Royal Geographical Society, he likely felt challenged to “out-explore” other members. These explorations were all paid by the British Government, like a NASA for the 19th Century. For nearly 30 years, until his death in 1873, Livingston explored most of Central East Africa. As a reference, this was about the same time the western US was being explored and settled.
On one of his treks across Africa in the early 1850’s Livingston started following the Zambezi River. A constant sound, similar to thunder, became evident. This was after following the river for about 500 miles. The Zambezi River was spilling 360 feet off a cliff into a sliver of a gorge creating that thunderous sound. He named the massive waterfall after Queen Victoria, because of respect for the Queen. I am sure it was not because of the tremendous roar from the plunging water.
The Bridge:
The Victoria Falls Bridge commissioning thrust the area into a period of more rapid growth. The bridge, completed in 1905, became a major transport route for road, rail traffic, trade and enterprise in Africa because there was finally a crossing of the Zambezi River.
Visitor numbers to Victoria Falls have increased steadily over the decades, surpassing 300,000 annually by the 1990’s. Victoria Falls has become an adventure vacation destination. It attracts visitors from all over the world. They are not disappointed.
The surrounding Victoria Falls National Park (Zimbabwe) and Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park (Zambia) abound with large and small game viewing. Victoria Falls and the adjoining parklands were collectively designated a World Heritage site in 1989.
The Movie:
By the way, the movie inspiration was the “African Queen” starring Humphrey Bogart. Just like the Ulanga River in the “African Queen”, the Zambezi is an east flowing river that empties into the Indian Ocean. We were able to reserve an early evening dinner cruise on the Zambezi River just up-river from Victoria Falls. Our boat was very similar in design to the “African Queen”. From our boat we were able to see quite a few elephants, crocodiles and hippos, as we sipped beer, wine and champagne.
