The Smoke that Thunders

I have lived in Africa all my life but somehow our travels have always taken us right off the continent (except for our trip to Egypt a while ago). A visit to Victoria Falls has always been on my personal bucket list. In fact I think that it is on Richard Horne's "101 Things to do Before you Die" list. Last year I was fortunate to see Niagara, half-iced over, so have been even more determined to make the trip north to see our own natural wonder.

We made a rather dramatic entrance - the pilot attempted to land at Livingstone Airport three times because of the very stormy weather, before we were able to land safely. I was very glad to not have to go back to Johannesburg. After that, we felt that we should go straight to the Falls and pay homage. Below is our first view.

I was completely blown away by the natural beauty of Africa. I could not help but think of David Livingstone arriving here and imagining what it must have been like for him. Everyone kept telling us that the Falls was "dry" as this was just the start of the rainy season, but I think we were able to grasp the wonder of it. It formed the background to our stay as it smoked and thundered (the locals call it "The smoke that thunders") while we discovered the richness of the area. We walked with lions, rode on elephants and took helicopter flips over the Falls.

This picture of my son doing the jump into the Devil's Pool signifies for me the sheer exuberance and joy of being part of nature. My husband and I did the jump too (it was 20 years, after all) but did not quite manage to do it quite as agilely as this!

This trip will go down as one of my most memorable and clearly we need to return at the end of the rainy season!

To see my full review on TripAdvisor please click HERE