Zambia: My Livingstone Adventure

By: Arjan Mulder, Travel Writer - The Netherlands Photos: Arjan Mulder

Livingstone means adventure; this I now know. After a great safari experience in Kafue National Park, I came to relax by the banks of the Zambezi River, where Zambia meets Zimbabwe. It felt different. The river, which explorer David Livingstone followed when he encountered the giant Victoria Falls in November 1855, gave me a real thrill.

I arrived at Livingstone early in the morning, having come from Kafue National Park and Lusaka. And the first thing I did after landing was to book another flight - straight away. I wanted to see Victoria Falls from above – in an ultralight. It’s not cheap, but I think it will be the best way to see this

over hippos and cranes; we see the ever-present rainbow over the falls, and people bungee jumping from the railway bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe. I’m totally knocked out and enjoy every minute. Fifteen minutes feel like a whole day.

After this magnificent experience, I go walking along the waterfall, and indeed I do get soaking wet from the huge amount of spray. And I don’t see too much of the falls. I’m so happy with my ultralight flight and it is really difficult to get good pictures from the ground. Besides, your camera must thundering water. I was told that because the water disappears over a vast width in a narrow gap, it’s difficult to see from the ground and you just get very wet.

I carefully boarded the fragile ‘plane, made of pipes and cloth, and put on my headphones. “Welcome on board. Hold on to the frame during takeoff,” instructed my pilot. And off we go! My pilot tells me that he has been flying over wildlife parks for years to track poachers. These ‘planes are small, manoeuvrable and quiet. Well, unless you’re almost on top of the propeller, like me. This is truly ‘Out of Africa’. We fly

be waterproof; and yourself too. I am really happy with my own aerial photos.

“Do not move, no noises.” Well, I keep quiet. I’m walking through dense scrub with a number of heavily armed rangers when I suddenly stumble into four sturdy rhinos. They do not look aggressive, but disturbed by the least noise or a single movement they could easily bridge the 10 metres to me in less than two seconds. I prefer to avoid that. What a

great experience, and coming from ‘safe’ Europe this to me is the ultimate thrill. I realise that perhaps I’m putting the animals at risk by walking here with armed rangers, but actually nothing ever happens. The rangers know the animals; they can read their behaviour. “Now move on, slowly! Around that bush. Stay close to me!” That’s a good idea... let me do that. A little bit hyperactive, I return to the Land Rover. The rangers disappear into the bushes. Wow. I never expected an encounter like this during a stay that was meant to be ‘relaxing’. Zambia is becoming a kind of rollercoaster for me, with experiences touching my innermost being. This continues even when walking in one of the many traditional villages around here, where the chief is still the boss. His laws are above the laws of the official government. He judges, and if the tribe no longer likes him he is poisoned. Meanwhile, women peacefully peel peanuts, children play a game of mancala and men carve wooden images. For me, Zambia means ‘pure Africa’. I was sleeping between lions, standing eye-to-eye with four rhinoceros and I was flying over the Victoria Falls. And even without a bungee jump (I would never do that in my life) this has been an intense experience. Fortunately, I can enjoy the end of my Zambian trip in style. I go back to Victorian times, and enjoy myself colonial- style. Around Victoria Falls, it’s all possible. Spend the night in the sublime Royal Livingstone Hotel, with a colonial number of staff, great luxury and the most perfect view of the eternal rainbow over the Victoria Falls; and have your dinner in the Royal Livingstone Express, the classic steam train with wooden interiors, over 100 years old, while passing the historic bridge. Finally, fly around and watch the wildlife from above... Help, I don’t want to return to Holland!

Arjan Mulder is a travel writer living in The Netherlands. His traveling and writing are motivated by untouched nature and inspiring cultures worldwide. Personal experience and emotion are leading in all his writing. He also is a staff member at the University of Applied Sciences in Enschede.

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It is the people and places of Africa that we love and our team are dedicated to ensuring that all clients that travel with us have the optimal African experience. We focus on efficiency, flexibility, generosity and consistency. We thrive on offering a very personal service.

It was approximately 150 million years ago when volcanic eruptions shook the supercontinent scientists have calledGondwanaland or Gondwana. Red hot magma poured out from beneath the earth’s crust and covered huge areas of what we now see as southern Africa. Some of this magma covered the Victoria Falls area, leaving a thick sheet of fissured basalt rock after cooling. Once the Zambezi River started flowing over this basalt sheet, the cracks and fissures in the basalt offered the ideal starting points where erosional forces slowly weathered away the rock over many millennia. The Zambezi River carved, ground and scoured its way into the basalt sheet, leaving us with the magnificent Batoka Gorge, and the Victoria Falls as itscrowning achievement of artistic toil.

The master carver is still at work, continuously shaping and re-shaping. Currently, he is hard at work on the western end of the Falls, at Devil’s Cataract, where the next fissure in the basalt rock is slowly being eroded. We will not be around to witness its new location, but believe it or not, Victoria Falls is definitely moving; moving upstream…. eventually.

There are various ways to admire this awe-inspiring natural wonder. Viewing the Victoria Falls from the top of the gorge is like standing in front of a masterpiece in a museum. If you want to see the master at work; if you want to feel the power of the tools used in the carving, you have to go down and view the Falls from the bottom of the gorge. Swimming in the rock pools below the Falls, surrounded by the massive black basaltic rock towering up above, and the water cascading down - seemingly out of the sky - is an unforgettable experience.

Bundu Adventures, based in Livingstone, is the concessionaire of this activity that is only possible on the Zambian side of the Victoria Falls. The trip starts with a safety talk and kitting you out with a life jacket, paddle and a helmet. On the walk down the Batoka Gorge there are beautiful vistas of the historic bridge and the Zambezi River below. With a bit of luck you might spot a colourful bird, the Narina trogon (Apaloderma narina), in the green foliage of the dense vegetation.

After embarking into the inflatable rafts, we paddle across the ‘boiling pot’ and right out underneath the cascades; the view is amazing. You will be accompanied by an experienced guide and a helperthroughout the tour, and there’s an opportunity to swim and relax in the rock pools directly below the waterfalls. Swimming under the Falls is only possible in the low-water season, from August to December, depending on the water levels of the Zambezi River.

And while you are down there, why not take a rollercoaster white-waterrafting trip downstream through the Batoka Gorge? The Zambezi River is famous for the grade 5 rafting that it offers; described by many as the best white-water rafting experience on the planet. The rafting trip is also a journey back in geological time, as you will pass other gorges further downstream where the ‘Victoria Falls’ was located many thousands of years ago. If you add wings to your imagination you will still hear the ‘Smoke-thatthunders’ , where now the augur buzzardsoars and the Taita falcon hovers over its prey…