6/10/98: The bridge that straddles the gorge under Victoria Falls now serves two purposes. First it is a border crossing to Zambia. Second, it is a launching point for crazy people who leap down into the gorge with giant rubber bands tied to their ankles…
NOTE: The photo above reveals a rainbow in the mist that rises from the gorge as the water of the Upper Zambezi crashes over Mosi-oa-Tunya (the Smoke That Thunders), or Victoria Falls.
6/10/23: We walked out on the bridge that spans the gorge so that we could say we stepped in another country on our trip. In this case, the middle of the bridge was the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Formerly they had been British colonies called Northern Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia, and were named for Cecil Rhodes, the famous miner of diamonds.
“In 1911 it was divided into Northern and Southern Rhodesia (present-day Zambia and Zimbabwe, respectively); Southern Rhodesia became a self-governing British colony (1923) and Northern Rhodesia a British protectorate (1924). They joined with Nyasaland to become the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (1953–63).” (See Encyclopedia Britannica)
It also turns out that we got to watch crazy tourists jumping off the bride into the 355-foot deep gorge with giant rubber bands tied to their ankles. Bungie jumpers. The Africans get a kick out of the goofy, thrill-seeking white people!
We also took another walk into the Victoria Falls park, wandering around to the many different viewing platforms that afforded more views of the water fall. A pack of baboons strolled with us for a while too.
By 6:00pm we were back at the train station ready to board our overnighter to Bulawayo. We were delighted to find tuxedoed gents and smartly dressed ladies ready to greet us with a red carpet up to the train. Sadly, it turned out not to be our train. It was a newly refurbished luxury train for wealthy tourists on its way to South Africa. A second train was also luxurious and not ours. When once ours was cleared to pull up and let us on, it was over an hour late due to the prior two, and certainly looked like it would be worth the $9 each that we paid. Well-worn is the best way to put it. Not unsafe though. We even enjoyed a nice meal in the dining car before retiring to our double bunk cabin. The train was to take us overnight to Bulawayo, where we would spend a couple of more days with Arthur and Sylvia H.
