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Lusaka - Livingstone & the Victoria Falls (375km) (Stage
30)
Zambia - arriving from Lusaka at Livingstone and the Victoria Falls
The rally route took the teams south west following the railway line as it crosses series of rivers, which feed into Lake Kariba, through the towns of Monze, Choma and Zimba to Livingstone. Livingstone and The Victoria Falls Described by the Kololo tribe living in the area in the 1800’s as ‘Mosi-oa-Tunya’ - ‘the Smoke that Thunders’ and in more modern terms as ‘the greatest known curtain of falling water’, the Victoria Falls are spectacular on the Zambezi River, bordering Zambia and Zimbabwe. The spray can be seen from miles away as millions of cubic meters of water plunge over a width of nearly two kilometers into a deep gorge over 100 meters below. The wide basalt cliff, over which the falls thunder, transforms the Zambezi from a wide placid river to a ferocious torrent cutting through a series of dramatic gorges. Facing the Falls is another sheer wall of basalt, rising to the same height and capped by mist-soaked rain forest. A path along the edge of the forest provides the visitor who is prepared to brave the tremendous spray with an unparalleled series of views of the Falls. One special vantage point is across the Knife edge bridge, where visitors can have the finest view of the Eastern Cataract and the Main Falls as well as the Boiling Pot where the river turns and heads down the Batoka Gorge. Other vantage points include the Falls bridge and the Lookout Tree which commands a panoramic view across the Main Falls. The Victoria Falls Bridge was commissioned by Cecil John Rhodes in 1900, although he never visited the falls and died before construction began. The bridge affords a magnificent view down the gorge on the one side and through to the falls on the other. Another opportunity for some rest and recreation, plus essential maintenance getting ready for the next stage on June 18th to Francistown in Botswana.
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