2024 African Safari Plus: Victoria Falls Helicopter (6/16/2024)

Sunday, June 16, 2024

Ordered more at breakfast than just a poached egg

This time the locomotives are pulling the observation car
on purpose, having to "back" the train in to Victoria Falls
Station so that it is headed in the proper direction when
the train leaves for Pretoria this evening

Still from quite a distance, we could see
the mist of Victoria Falls

Some local entertainment (to the left) as we disembarked
Rovos Rail, the Pretoria to Victoria Falls journey

Victoria Falls Hotel (1904, as accommodation for workers on
the Cape-to-Cairo railway) is located next to the train station

View of the Victoria Falls mist from
the back terrace of the hotel

Right away, we booked a helicopter ride over Victoria Falls.

For the helicopter ride, one must sign a
waiver, and get weighed

The helicopter we would use comes in for a landing

Kent sits next to the pilot (a Brit) and wears a headset

A view of the top of Victoria Falls, and the narrow
zigzag gorge it carved down river

Another view of the gorge that features white-water
rafting rated IV-V on scale of I-IV

View over the top of the falls

The top of the falls with Livingstone Island, where
Dr David Livingstone first set up camp when trekking
around Africa as a missionary; he was the first European
to see the Mosi-oa-Tunya/the smoke that thunders waterfall

Victoria Falls Hotel

Victoria Falls, Main Falls

Victoria Falls Bridge with the "Boiling Pot"
(a whirlpool dead-end) above the bridge to the right 

At the end of the helicopter ride

At the heliport, a statue of The Big Five,
elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo, and rhino

Next: Victoria Falls Hotel.