Livingstone, Zambia – Sunday, day two, my scheduled morning canoe down the Zambezi got cancelled, so I used the time hand washing all my dirty laundry and sorting through photos. After lunch, I got ready for my afternoon activity, a visit to Angels Pool. This wasn’t on my list of things to do before I came, but one of the guys in our group had mentioned it, and I wasn’t doing much else with my time there so thought I’d give it a go. Still, I was a bit reluctant to indulge in this rather expensive US$130 afternoon tea experience. The most I’ve spent on afternoon tea before was $75 and that was at the Ritz in London. This better be something super special. And it was.
Arriving at our departure point, I soon realised why this trip was partly so expensive. It was run by the five star Royal Livingstone hotel on the banks of the Zambezi. It had been some months since I’d been in the midst of such opulence. It felt odd amongst such poverty, but guiltily it felt nice too. I’d missed such luxuries and was blissfully happy sitting on the terrace overlooking the water in the warm afternoon sun waiting for my departure.
The first part of the trip involved getting in a speedboat and dogging protruding rocks to get to Livingstone Island on the edge of Victoria Falls, using roughly the same route Dr Livingstone used to get there in a wooden canoe on 5 November 1855. Safely back on dry land, although admittedly surrounded by the raging Zambezi, I was whisked to the ‘Loo with the Best View’ to change into my swimsuit. After a short briefing we headed out for the experience of a lifetime – sitting in a pool of water right on the edge of Victoria Falls.
There is no way to fully describe the feeling of standing right on the edge of the largest curtain of naturally falling water in the world. I could say it was exhilarating, and it was. I could describe to you how ‘The Smoke that Thunders’ (the meaning of the local mame for the falls which is Mosi Oa Tunya) really does thunder so loud that you have to shout at the person next to you to hear them. Or tell you how the volume of water rushes over the edge so fast and forcefully that when it hits the bottom below it creates a ‘smoke’ of mist above the falls that can be seen miles away and close up creates constant rainbows, forms a rainforest on the Zimbabwae side, and thoroughly drenches all tourists who come remotely near. But no description in the world could replace that feeling of actually being on the edge of a 1,7km wide waterfall with only you and your guide. I couldn’t help but think that there is no way the safety conscious, suing Western societies would allow such an activity. Maybe doing something that I thought you could do no where else in the world was the appeal. But really, I think it was the fact I was getting totally emersed in the falls that was so amazing. Sure, tomorrow, I’d go see the falls from a distance from both the Zambia and Zimbabwae sides, but I knew then that wouldn’t even compare to feeling the waters rush over your legs and over your head, to standing right on the edge with your toes just over, peering down 108 metres (354ft), to seeing the curtain drop down its edge whilst standing right in the middle of it. Seeing Victoria Falls this way was so spectacularly special. I was very lucky to have the experience all to myself that afternoon. With the one on one hand of the local guide I toured both the main falls and sat in Angels Pool right on the edge. I even got to dip under a curtain of water that flowed over a rock and which when you were underneath created a pocket of air with this mini waterfall going over head. Crazy!
After skydiving, swimming on the edge of Victoria Falls has been one of my favourite adventures on my year out. Entirely unreal. Something you couldn’t do probably anywhere else in the world. And even without the scrumptious afternoon tea of mini steak sandwiches, coronation chicken pockets, scones, profioto rolls and brownies, I would have happily paid $130 for the experience. Simply the best moment ever.
*Note. Look at the last picture closely. It was taken from the Zimbabwe side. You can see people through the haze, relaxing in Angels Pools.
