Victoria Falls - the highest waterfall in the world

All the waterfalls that I saw before were quite narrow streams of water, and this one is a huge gorge, almost two kilometers wide and 30 meters high with a height of thirty. Its name came from a waterfall from a Scottish researcher. He was the first white man who discovered this miracle of nature, and named it in honor of Queen Victoria. Local tribes were not so romantic and called it simply and in the case - "Thundering smoke" - for the noise and a cloud of spray that rises above the gorge. We visited the waterfall, flew from above on a helicopter and even climbed into the "Devil's Pool" - a small area at the very edge of the waterfall. It is difficult to imagine such entertainment in a civilized country, but in Africa it is possible and not such ...

Unfortunately, we were in a drought season and did not see it in all its glory. I photographed postcards on which the waterfall is depicted in the rainy season.

We also saw a waterfall like this

Two countries border the waterfall: the eastern part belongs to Zambia, and the western part - the largest and most beautiful - Zimbabwe. This picture is taken from the east side, but very soon we will reach the place where the rumbling smoke is rising

These people are on the opposite bank of the waterfall, on the territory of Zimbabwe. From there the best view opens

A bridge has been built between Zambia and Zimbabwe, which, in addition to formal border controls, offers tourists to jump from the stream.

Another entertainment that is offered to tourists is flying on a hang-glider over a waterfall. There fit two people - a pilot and a passenger. The latter is fastened with an ordinary waist belt, as in a children's attraction. On the right and on the left there are two small metal pens, in which you are tightly clinging to the whole time of this flight. This strange flying design rises quite high, but the sensation while doing this, like flying on a stool. There is nothing around you, with the slightest gust of wind, the hang glider starts wobbling from side to side. I really love flying, but to say that this flight brought a lot of pleasure to me is difficult. With himself it was impossible to take a camera or phone. To the wing of the hang-glider was attached a camera, which occasionally made frames

After that we moved to a more familiar aircraft - a helicopter. From the cockpit you could safely take pictures, and I made several kinds of waterfalls. All this is a wide space with water and islets and is the Zambezi River falling from a waterfall

The canyon breaks the course of the river and, in fact, forms the Victoria Falls:

Helicopters said that during the rainy season, the steam rises so high that it is impossible to fly over it:

The pilots made several circles so that we could take a picture of the waterfall from all sides:

After the waterfall, the river flows through a long and sinuous canyon on which we rafted.

From this perspective, you can see the bridge between Zimbabwe and Zambia, as well as the dam that the residents of the latter built to generate electricity:

Several more species on the waterfall:

Those who wish to fly a helicopter are offered two options: & ndash; flight trip for 15 minutes and for half an hour. The first option is limited only to the observation flight around the waterfall, and the second one - we just took it - includes a flight along the canyon

This happened very unexpectedly: we flew very low over the ground, when suddenly the helicopter took and fell into the canyon:

We flew in 2-3 meters above the water - we could forget about safety:

The pilot was flying very fast, and everything that was happening was very much reminiscent of the episode from "Star Wars":

In each turn (and there were a lot of them if you looked at the previous shots), the helicopter entered at full speed:

When we finally flew out of the gorge, everyone sighed with relief:

I hung this photo so that you appreciate the roll the helicopter is capable of: the right sleepers are the central stand in the helicopter:

The next day we went swimming in the Devil's pool. We were put in a boat and taken to the island of Livingston. From this island, the pioneer first saw the waterfall and named it after the queen.

We were met by an African mowing under a Jamaica.

The main attraction of the island is the "toilet with a view". To understand what this means, you need to see the construction from the other side:

I would like to think that Livingston admired the view and thought about the queen in other circumstances:

We were led to a cliff:

While we are approaching the pool, we slowly evacuate the previous group:

Devil's Pool:

Going down to it is very difficult because of the steep descent and sharp stones. We have to jump, which adds more acuity to the sensations:

In the center the pool is deep - about two meters. At the very edge of the rock there is a natural side that allows the bathers not to break from the waterfall down:

The guide insures vacationers, and ensures that no one climbs close to the cliff:

Everything is calm in the pool, and in a meter from it the terrible element is raging

The guide said that those who really want can neatly crawl to the precipice. Everyone wanted it, everyone now has such a photo in the archive. It is worth, however, admit that the guide at this time was holding us by the feet. Already later he said that in the waterfall during this procedure an average of one tourist a year per year perished:

After some time we got out of the pool, and the following group was led into it:

Stay Tuned!