ZIMBABWE: SEEING VICTORIA FALLS BY HELICOPTER

Our second full day in Victoria Falls was dedicated to viewing the Falls, first from a helicopter and then from the ground. 

We were picked up at our hotel at 7:30 AM and taken to Zambezi Helicopters for what was supposed to be an 8:00 AM flight. However, they didn't even wheel the helicopter onto the pad until 8:20, and it was 8:30 before we were airborne. While we waited, they encouraged us to spend money in the gift shop, and it did feel a little pre-planned.

Morning in Victoria Falls with the mist from the cataract rising in the distance

  We had plenty of time to look over the information about our 27-minute-long flight:

The spray from the Falls in this photo makes the Falls look much closer (and smaller) than they actually are:

This was my first time in a helicopter, but it didn't make me feel nervous, even though I think I should have been:

I got to sit up front and had not just the big front windows in front of me . . .

. . . but also a glass window at my feet:

Bob was in the back. I think I got the better view.

Up, up, and away!

 We headed straight for the Zambezi River and followed it down towards the falls:

At 3,212 feet, Angel Falls in Venezuela is the tallest waterfall in the world. By comparison, Victoria Falls is just 354 feet tall, which is still twice the height of Niagara Falls. However, Angel Falls is a narrow strip of falling water and Victoria Falls is 5,605 feet wide. Iguazu Falls in Argentina is wider than Victoria Falls but shorter. Overall, based on Victoria Fall's combined height and width, it is the largest waterfall in the world.

I had not understood before seeing it from the air that the water plummets into a narrow gorge, and the full drop is blocked from a head-on view by the canyon wall that faces it and encloses the gorge:

The river prior to the falls looks so placid, but once it goes over it edge, it becomes a power hard to comprehend:

The Zambezi was at an unusually high level, which meant that the mist coming off the Falls was more extreme than usual and kept us from flying closer, but we got some great views nonetheless.

Victoria Falls is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. I can understand why.

All of the water from the vast breadth is funneled into one narrow gap only 360 feet wide . . .

. . . and then rushes down a series of tight twists in deep gorges that must be heavenly for whitewater rafting. (Whitewater rafting was shut down when we were there because of the unusually high water level. Even at lower levels, I think it is pretty intense.) Eventually it zigzags its way to calmer waters.

I was shocked to see that the bridge we crossed into Zambia on our first night in Victoria Falls spans that first wild piece of the drainage from the Falls. When we crossed, it was dark and we were in a taxi, so we didn't get to look over the edge. No wonder we thought it was raining!

Here is a shot from further away that shows Livingstone, Zambia, on the far side of the bridge:

 The river has carved deep channels into the otherwise flat valley floor:

 Here is a shot looking back towards the Falls:

We circled the falls a couple of times, and my photos above are an amalgamation from both of the trips.

Then we flew upriver. I can't get over how still the water looks:

Because of the high water level, places that are sometimes islands looked more like marshland:

It is a beautiful river, isn't it?

Can you see the hippos in this picture?

 Here is a blurry cropping of one of my photos to show the hippos close up:

 

Here is the view from another angle:

We left the river and falls for a rather unexciting game hunt over the land:

We saw zebras . . .

 . . . and giraffes . . .

 . . . and impalas . . .

 . . . and elephants, but from very high. They were just specks. I thought this part of the flight was a waste of time and money. The Falls viewing was worth it, but the "game viewing" was not.

We touched down safe and sound at Zambezi Helicopter and disembarked. While we waited to be picked up for our walking tour of the Falls, I enjoyed this wonderful succulent garden:

It reminded me of home.