A Trip to Zambia: And the Victoria Falls…

So I went to visit Victoria Falls. I know, it is just crazy that a homeschooling mom of many, who spends eighty percent of her time at the kitchen table with her kids, should have an opportunity like this to travel through four countries in twelve days, enjoy the scenery and then get to spend an afternoon at Victoria Falls… It has taken ages to write this post, I simply have the words. Incredible doesn’t half cover it. It was all part of my trip to Zambia, courtesy of GreenPop South Africa…

All the Posts from the Zambia Adventure

1. Se7en Stories to Begin With
2. The Journey that is Traveling to Zambia by Bus
3. Feasting in an Eco-Friendly Kitchen
4. Life in the Green Green-Pop Campsite
5. There is so much more to Planting a Tree than Planting a Tree.
6. Se7en + 1 Things to Make and Do in Zambia.
7. The Incredible People You Can Meet in Zambia.
8. A Trip to Zambia and a Market Tour.
9. Se7en + 1 Timeous Lessons Learnt on a Trip to Zambia with GreenPop…

When you volunteer to spend a week planting trees in Zambia, you may be forgiven for thinking that you will spend a week planting trees in Zambia… in actual fact you will spend a week living alongside locals, meeting lots of fresh faces, planting trees with school kids and local farmers, painting murals and and attending workshops. There will also be time for movie nights and campfire stories, trips to the market, an entire day of Earth Fest, not to mention a couple of other outings including a trip to the mighty Victoria Falls.

Introducing “Mosi-Oa-Tunya” the Smoke that Thunders

The entrance to the Falls is as one would expect full of curio stalls, and folk trying to sell you plastic rain coats… I had a jacket in my backpack and so was good to go.

I have to say trailing through the area between buying your ticket and entering the park, so much excitement and anticipation. So much energy as folk decide: should they or shouldn’t they buy a cover… “How wet can it be?” And all the usual: “What time to be back at the bus” and whatever and whatever…

And as excited as you are to see an impending world heritage site on the plains of Africa… a quick wander past David Livingston, (not I presume!)… and through the dense forest…

There is the back ground noise of the roaring water but nothing prepares you for your first beautiful siting…

Or the three hundred and sixty degree rainbow…

To say my joy was complete…

The Water Just Rushes On…

Across the Bridge

And on the bridge, the really slippery bridge with moss on the hand rails, you will get drenched… a huge outdoor shower awaits you, and even if other folk are in the park you can be quite alone with the water thundering over you and it is glorious…

From the bridge you can see the depths of the waterfall and that is a long long way down!!!

One of those incredible places where you have to stop and take a pause and wonder at it all.

A Really Long Way Down

The Trans-Border Bridge

And this is the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe…

That is full of history…

That folk jump off for fun…

At the end of my travels, when I was leaving Zambia, I went over this bridge in a taxi before dawn… first person over the bridge in the morning and all I saw was the white spray against the dark night.

Turns out there are many ways to see the Falls…

View From Above

This is Where…

GreenPop Volunteers come to plant trees…

Learn new things from the tree ambassador, Uncle Ben.

And get soaked to the skin…

Get filled with awe and wonder…

Mingle with celebrities…

And marvel at the locals…

And Watch the Sunset…

And this is why I want to go back there… not just to take my gang to see this amazing feature, but follow this path don to the bottom. We visited just too late in the day for us to be able to rush down there to take a look… so another time.