An Angel's Gaze

Things have been difficult the past month on TDA.  It is the same day in day our grind and it is finally taking its toll on the staff.  I suppose you could say I am burnt out.  Physically I am more lean and fit, but my body is wearing down at the same time.  Right now I am sick with Bronchitis and I rarely get sick.  Nearly every experience at the beginning of the trip inspired me to write an update and bring you along for the ride.  My little notebook has not been written in since Ethiopia though I carry it with me nearly every day. 

 

Maybe it was the break in Arusha that sent me on my downward writing spiral.  Everything I have written as of late, has been work related, and it is getting more and more difficult to write as the trip wears on.  Call it writers block or whatever you would like, but I will do my best to get in a few more updates before this trip is over.

 

Visiting Victoria Falls was an enthralling and inspiring experience that would be a shame to no write about.  When Dr. Livingstone, the first European to cast their gaze upon Victoria falls, inquired about the falls to a local chief, the chief asked Dr. Livingstone if he had ‘Smoke that Thunders’ in his homeland.  In the doctor’s journal he wrote of the falls that they were more spectacular than anything found in England and that angels in flight must have cast their eyes upon the falls.

 

The falls are truly magnificent.  I’ve seen the highest waterfall in the world (Angel Falls, Venezuela) and the waterfall that dumps the most amount of water (Niagara falls).  However both pale in comparison to the 1.7km stretch of falls separating Zimbabwe and Zambia.

 

A walkway allows visitors to walk along the falls, giving an impressive view.  Not only is it a great view, but you get absolutely soaked walking through the park.  From a narrow bridge, water shoots vertically from the pits of the falls.  The bottom is impossible to see because of the haze of water vapor flailing in every direction.  Along with dozens of rainbows, Victoria Falls wayward water vapor creates a microclimate hosting tropical vegetation.  That evening, we took a two hour cruise along the upper reaches of the Zambezi River, and in the distance we could spot the falls from the plums of water vapor rising high above.

 

Walking along Victoria Falls reminds me why I am here.