This morning after breakfast we grabbed a lift with the hostel's lift service over to the entrance of the Victoria Falls. The Falls or Mosi-o-Tunya (the Smoke that Thunders) is located on the Zambezi River, forming the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, and is regarded as one of the largest waterfalls in the world. It's also considered to be among the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, and named after David Livingstone, the first European recorded to view the Falls.

We started off with our Vic Falls sightseeing by taking a fairly long walk down the steep rocky path to the Boiling Pot below, which was quite a mission in the heat, but worth it in the end. This is where the water, having fallen over the Falls and flowed down the First Gorge, then enters the Second Gorge and makes a sharp right turn, and there it has carved out a deep pool, resembling a stirred up Boiling Pot. We spent some time down there, admiring the views around us and even saw a couple of people doing their bungee jumps from high up off the bridge above us.

After the trek back up from the Boiling Pot, we made our way over to one of the vantage points to see the Falls from Knife Edge Point. The walk there was along the front of the Falls, crossing over Knife Edge bridge, with amazing views of the Eastern Cataract and the Main Falls as well as the Boiling Pot where you can see the river turn and head down the Batoka Gorge. We were pretty lucky with our timing, as no sooner had we decided to head back and try another view point that the clouds darkened and the lightning and thunder crashed down on us from out of nowhere. We landed up getting caught up in a storm I can only imagine to be like a tropical monsoon, and didn't subside for ages, mostly soaking us all. We managed to hide between the trees for sometime, even though it probably wasn't the safest option, it was the only one we had. Well, until we came across the small curios, snack and drink shop near the entrance and managed to shelter away from the storm there, together with a crowd of locals who all stood around with smiley faces, but all very friendly.

After the storm had cleared, we met up with Jerry, a local 'tour guide' who we had chatted to the night before back at the hostel. He offered to take us around to the top of the Falls and to Livingstone Island. The walk there took us over the top of the Eastern Cataract and the Armchair Falls, where we stopped off for a swim in the Angels Armchair - a natural rock pool set a bit back from the Falls but within amazing surroundings and sounds of the water crashing over the edge not that far away from us. After our swim, we continued along the top, past the Rainbow Falls and the Horseshoe Falls where we arrived at Livingstone Island, the only land accessbile in the middle of the Falls, and from where David Livingstone first viewed them and named them.

We managed to negotiate the entry price down somewhat, and then Jerry took us over to the famous Devil's Pool, a naturally formed pool right near the edge of the Falls. When the river is at a safe level, usually towards the later months in the year, it is possible to jump into and swim as close as possible to the edge within the pool without continuing over and falling into the gorge below, due to a natural rock wall just below the water level. It was something I really wanted to do, and after having missioned through the waters and the rapids and the rain and the rest, I wasn't about to turn back now. The jump into the pool was scary enough, and then the current starts pushing you towards the edge, with a 108m drop below. And as assured by the guides, the rock stopped us right as we got pushed to the edge, which was the most amazing feeling knowing you were quite comfortable and safe in this rock pool and yet less than a meter away from you was the sheer vertical drop of the Victoria Falls. Absolutely incredible!

After we're all had a few jumps into the pool and enough photos taken, we were helped back to the Island and somehow managed to convince the locals working there to serve us some of the food which is given to paying tourists, and involved Chikanda (The African Polony) followed by some scones and jam. Considering most tourists were been charged $90 for the full package, we definitely scored on that deal. We then made our way back to the entrance, which took longer than we thought. And that became a problem when another storm started brewing in the distance, and getting closer and closer. Being knee-deep in water probably wasn't ideal, but it was the only way back. But we made it, after some time, and unfortunately I lost the use of my camera in the process due to the rain and water damage. But at least the others had their photos. Once back on dry land, we hopped into a local taxi (with Jerry and 20 or so other locals) who took us back to the hostel, via the local market nearby, which was incredibly festive and happening with music and people and drinking. But our plans involved the hostel, a shower and dinner - and for me, it was crocodile curry, which was a good end to an amazing day and incredible experience!