Victoria Falls River Lodge is really great, as mentioned before, and one of the things that was cool was that they offered their menu of stuff to do and I torpedoed it with “We want to see Victoria Falls at dawn tomorrow and do a walking safari the next day” and they just … made it happen.

Victoria Falls River Lodge main building, pre-dawn from the river

So at 0500 we got up and dragged ourselves up to the lodge (well, we were escorted, because you know, leopards) and had a quick coffee before piling into the land cruiser with Chips at 0530. We drove out of the park in the pre-dawn light meeting giraffe and kudu on the way, then down into the town of Victoria Falls and to the gate just as they were opening.

Chips drives us to the falls at 0545. Saint Chips.
False dawn on the savannah

By 0605 we were striding behind chips and I was anguishing over how high the sun would be. We could hear the roaring of the falls. As soon as I spotted a chance, I ran over and set up the tripod and got my first shots of the falls.

The eastern side of victoria falls at sunup, about 0615.

Now, I usually try to keep a leash on how many of the same pic I post, but THIS IS ONE OF THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE NATURAL WORLD y’all, so just bear with me.

Heather and Chips. Chips is about my age, has guided since he was 18 and has put his kids through college doing it. They are all amazing, and he’s so proud of all of them.
The devil’s cauldron

We worked our way down to the Victoria falls bridge, which was build in 1904. It was assembled from pieces pre-made in England and shipped out.

Victoria Falls bridge, built in 1904 in pieces in england, then shipped over and assembled.

From the brige, we worked our way from East to West. By the time we hit the main falls, the sun was pretty high.

Looking east. This is the lesser part of the falls at LOW water.
The main falls, earning its name “The smoke that thunders” – Mosi Oa Tunya
Sun + mist = rainbows
Chips clears the path for us.

Looking east across the main falls.
Looking down the canyon from the West

I started worrying at “hmmmm I want another go, I think we can do this better.” Heather wanted to see the falls again . . . so we actually said “we’re doing this again tomorrow.” Next blog!

I had a tripod and a timer, so got a “groupie”

Anyway, it was a long morning and after a rest we chose to go for another boat tour – basically, we are going to be lazy somewhere, might as well be on the water.

  • Fish eagle low altitude
  • Kingfisher hunting
  • A beautiful kite looking for supper.
Amazing wildlife on the Zambizi

And of course, saw amazing wildlife and . . .

Ok Africa, now you’re just showing off.

A great sunset.

G&T on the boat.

And went to bed early, because we have another 0500 falls tour followed by a walking safari!

Fancy dinner set on the dock (not ours)