We strolled down from the train into the Victoria Falls Hotel, we are here for four nights, not far from the Falls on the Zambezi River that David Livingstone stumbled over on the 16th November 1855. There is much referencing of him as the ‘discoverer’ of the Falls. The reality being that he was the first European to see them. The local people have been here for generations and the Falls were spiritual places.

We are here to visit this special place, known these days (in local lingo) as Mosi-oa-Tunya, although there are variations, being ‘The Smoke that Thunders’. Livingstone named them Victoria Falls, after the then British Queen.
Livingstone was a bit of an enigma. He was largely unsuccessful in his Christianising efforts, which the locals vigorously resisted. But, he was a leading force in the anti slavery movement and was greatly respected for that by the locals.

Despite independence the name ‘Victoria’ has stuck, very much for entrenched tourism marketing reasons. The Zimbabweans, where Livingstone is not as revered, from time to time push for renaming. The Zambians are resistant due to his opposition to slavery.
The original Victoria Falls Hotel was built in 1904, largely replaced with the current central structure after WW1. Additions then followed and the Sables wing where we are was built in 1997.

Spacious rooms and colonial memorabilia adorn the public areas. Great big paintings of King George V and Queen Mary are in the foyer. It would have been an outpost for the very well to do.

We had a prearranged excursion to the Falls with a guide and few others. This was a 3km round trip along the rim of the Falls looking to the Zambia side. Took us about three hours, There are sixteen (?) view points along the way. Photographers dream! The water coming over the Falls at this time is much reduced, still plenty of mist and the rock formations visible. At its peak in May it is thunderous and difficult to see anything.

Back at the Hotel there is a great view of the Victoria Falls bridge, originally constructed in 1904 but strengthened and rejigged to take today’s rail and traffic volumes.

The food at the Hotel was good rather than being outstanding. Fed the hungry stomachs after a day out! Some energetic entertainment too! Homealone tackled the mini burgers, swapped the crocodile one for another beef one. Allthego stuck to a more traditional one, but did enjoy a warthog skewer one evening.

That is all for now, a long catchup and I will leave the next animal instalment to next time