VICTORIA FALLS, RHINO WALK, AND CRUISE ABOARD THE LADY LIVINGSTONE ALONG THE ZAMBEZI

Today we headed for a walking tour of Victoria Falls aka Mos-oa-Tunya which translates into English as (The Smoke that Thunders).  David Livingston, a British missionary and explorer, gave the falls its English name for Queen Victoria.  The site where the mile wide Zambezi River plunges into a chasm 350 feet below is awe inspiring.

The Smoke that Thunders, Victoria Falls/ Deafening waterfall

On a sunny day, a rainbow will often appear in the spray of this great waterfall

 After the hike to Victoria Falls, we took a walking safari to view the white rhinos.  These rhinos had been relocated to Zambia from South Africa to create a new population on the north side of the Zambezi River.  Most of the white rhino population in Zambia had been poached.  Rhinos are very dangerous, in fact they have killed more humans that any other animal species in Africa.  These photos were taken with a powerful zoom lens so we could keep our distance.

Next we boarded the boat called, not surprisingly, The Lady Livingstone, for a cruise down the Zambezi River as we ate lunch.  We saw many species of colorful birds, but the highlight was watching the female elephants crossing the river with their babies in single file formation.  The babies were placed between grownups and had been trained to wrap their trunks around the tail of the grownup elephant in front of them.  If the baby began to sink, the elephant behind would bolster its head above water with her trunk.  Amazing and beautiful to observe. The male elephants stay separate from the females and babies, often as loners in the vast landscape.

Mother and baby elephants crossing the Zambezi

 

 

rhino and stork companions