Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Victoria Falls!

This is truly one of the remarkable places on Earth! (I guess that's why it is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World). By the way, the others are: Grand Canyon; Paricutin Volcano; the Northern Lights; Great Barrier Reef; the harbor at Rio de Janeiro; and Mt. Everest. I have been to them all except that tiny volcano in Mexico.

Here's a view from the helicopter looking downstream. The vapor, or "the Smoke that Thunders" is clearly visible.

Another view that shows some previous geologic locations of the falls. Each gorge (on the right) is an old lip of the falls. You may be able to detect the location of the next falls by the way the water shimmers in a line just above the present falls (left). Fantastic eh!

We visited the falls at the end of a very wet rainy season and the amount of water flowing down was stupendous.

Look at how wide the Zambesi River is above the falls and then how narrow and engorged it becomes below the falls. We took a scenic boat cruise on the upstream section and saw many wading hippo's in the water.

Here's a closer view from the ground of the Eastern Cataract on the Zambian side of the border (the river is the international boundary between Zambia and Zimbabwe). In the dry season, this section of the falls is often completely dry.

1 comment:

  1. Mr. Ranney.....If you keep posting things like this I don't know if I will be able to continue following you in your blog.....my bucket list is getting HUGE!

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