Sara from A to Z - ZamNews!

Right now the Falls are at their peak flow as Zambia’s rainy season is just coming to an end and the Zambezi River is swollen. If you want all the stats, check Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Falls) because all I can say about them is a long string of adjectives: Amazing, Magnificent, Awesome, Thunderous (as the native name implies)…

It was an awesome, yet funny, experience. I knew that the Falls were going to be at their height. I was told that I would get wet. Yet that didn’t do much to prepare me for what I was about to encounter! The “height” part was literally true – the incredible spray reached nearly to the clouds (approx. 1300ft). The wet part was more than true also – all that spray must come down. And come down it did – right on the heads of the spectators. I had envisioned that there would be a heavy mist, sort of like those “misting machine” things you use to cool off in an amusement part during the summer. Instead, it was like walking about in a spring rain storm without an umbrella. Even with rain coats, we were soaked to the skin! Anne was the wise one, coming sans purse. Hannah sealed her purse in one of the ginormous ziplock bags my mom sent over – also a pretty good idea. I opted to put the contents of my bag inside of the ginormous ziplock bag and then the ziplock inside my bag. The idea was to be able to go “hands-free” with my bag slung over my shoulder. That could have worked well. True, my bag did fill up completely with water as we crossed the “Knife Edge Bridge”, but everything inside the ziplock stayed nice and dry. Only problem was, everything did not make it into the ziplock. In turning the bag upside down to drain it, I discovered that my cellphone had encountered Victoria Falls first hand and did not enjoy it at all! (Fortunately, it recovered within a few days.)