Victoria Falls: A Photo Essay From Zambia

Victoria Falls by Moonlight

Wade and I grabbed a taxi at 7 PM and headed toward the falls in the dark, looking for a good place to see the lunar rainbow.

After a few minutes, the clouds moved away and the full moon finally reached the spray. A faint rainbow began to appear in the darkness. That was my first real glimpse of Victoria Falls.

That night, I met up with a couple of guys and girls at Jollyboy's bar. They were having a couple of beers, grilling braais (African barbecue), and were about to head out to a local bar called Fez. And off I went with them, ended up competing in a couple of beer pong tournaments and returned to the hostel at 2 AM. Slept like a baby.

Seeing Victoria Falls by Day

The next morning, while most of my friends went camping beneath a gigantic baobab tree, I gave the entire day to Victoria Falls. After seeing it beneath the moon, I wanted to experience the same place in full daylight.

I found a pretty isolated spot at the top of the fall where I sat and watched the violent current of the Zambezi River. It was April, and the water level was at an all-time high.

Surprisingly, I found solitude in the chaos of the current, watching each stream collide with one another while the falls roared like thunder.

Because of the height of the falls and the water level at that time, the contact between the falls and the river below caused a shower as high as the falls themselves, and even higher.

Same spot as the night before but during the day. Stunning no matter the time.

In my hand was a raincoat that I had prepared for the shower. As it turned out, it was not enough to withstand the raw power of nature.

There was a bridge that went right under the shower, and I was completely soaked by the time I was halfway on the bridge. I quickly grabbed my camera and took this picture just to show you how powerful it was.

This is the amount of water during April. It was crazy and awesome at the same time.

This is the bridge that crossed between the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. This is also the place where people casually jump off to test their bravery and soon tested mine as well.

Down to the Boiling Pot

Before jumping, I decided to survey the area and went to the bottom of the falls. It was a couple of minutes' walk down the falls, and I was able to put the height of the fall into perspective as I watched people almost plunge to their death. The bungee cord saved them right before they were crushed against the crazy current of the Zambezi River. At this point, I started to feel something in my stomach.

Even as I walked further away from the waterfall, I could still see the shower blowing outward. It was mind-boggling.

I decided to sit at the bottom of the waterfall to dry myself before doing the bungee jump. It was a breathtaking view.

Someone just jumped off the bridge, and in a few moments, that will be me!

On the far left was the bridge I mentioned earlier.

I barely saw the fall up to this point, and yet I still felt its power. It's really crazy to think that such an amount of water flows like this all day and all night.

As I walked back to the entrance the same way I came in to go out to the bungee jump bridge, I took another shot at the falls, this time to capture its full height.

The little orange dot at the bottom was where I was a minute ago. As I walked to the bridge, my heart sank as I saw this. The bungee jumping seems like a bad idea at this point.

Damn... maybe I should just watch...

Jumping Off the Victoria Falls Bridge

At the end of the day, my excitement trumped my fear, so after I asked for a bungee jump pass at the immigration, I had lunch, registered for the jump, and went for it.

The Zambezi River from the No Man's Land bridge.

And there it was, the platform where my body would free fall for 100m straight down into the violent river of the falls.

After the instructor strapped me with hooks and filmed my jump, I had to act like I wasn't scared, but to tell you the truth, I was scared shitless.

After they made sure everything was in place, they directed me to the edge, counting down from 3, and there I went.

This was the moment when my body started to reject my action. It felt that something was wrong, so it tried to convince me not to do it, but it was all too late.

Everything happened so fast; it was impossible to realize what was happening.

The first fall was already scary, but the second free fall after the first bounce was just as scary.

The feeling afterward was so awesome, I had rainbows shooting out of my ass. :)

After the jump, I simply sat and watched the sunset at the falls, feeling proud of all the things I've done. It was a moment of epiphany.

One Last Evening on the Zambezi

For my last full day in Zambia, I finally slowed down. I spent most of the day hanging around the hostel and getting to know the people I had been traveling with. That evening, Wade, a few others, and I headed out onto the Zambezi for a sunset booze cruise.

We had braais for dinner as usual, together with unlimited booze.

We drank and talked and drank some more. It was a great epilogue to my glorious African trip.

Sunsets and sunrises in Africa never disappoint.

And this was the last sunset I experienced in Zambia... for now.

On the last day, I packed everything ready to leave, and as I was about to go, I decided to take a little stroll with Bonnie. I had one final Mosi beer at the local's watering hole and flew back to Jo'Burg. I ended up sleeping at the nearest hotel at the airport and headed back to Bangkok.

And that was the end of my first ten days in Africa. I had come all this way because I wanted to see Victoria Falls, but by the time I left, the trip had become about much more than the waterfall. The landscapes were unforgettable, but so were the people I met along the way.

I flew back to Johannesburg, spent the night near the airport, and then headed home to Bangkok.

Victoria Falls had been the reason I came to Africa. Seeing it beneath the moon, standing in its spray, looking down into the gorge, and eventually throwing myself off a bridge beside it was a fitting way to end the journey.

My first trip to Africa was over, but I already knew it wouldn't be my last.