Dear friends,<\/p>\n
Here I am, setting off to see Victoria Falls, which I had so often heard praised.<\/p>\n
Poncho in hand, I make my way toward this powerful stretch of water. I step out of my comfort zone to take on a landscape as elegant as it is unpredictable. I let this force of nature draw me in with its charm and overwhelm me with its power. Watching its relentless course along the Zambezi River, the distance is long but the rhythm never lets up.<\/a> Wildlife encounters are frequent here, and the river\u2019s presence supports a diverse ecosystem. It is forceful, its movement sweeping, discreet at first and thunderous by the end. Like a dance, it draws in several partners \u2014 among them the blue vervet monkey, the trumpeter hornbill, and the warthog. Depending on the time of day, the sun dresses it in different colours, to the delight of anyone watching. The shifting light offers the observer a range of different views. It is a stripped-back experience, open-hearted, with nothing superficial about it.<\/p>\n All along the way, the suspense stays intense, and the ending is quite a fall. From the top of this sheer cliff, the roar of water against rock is deafening, staggering, vibrating through you. So many superlatives to describe this wonder. These turbulent falls regularly produce rainbows, giving onlookers the chance to cast a wish into the mist, much as we might throw a bottle into the sea.<\/a><\/p>\n I am stunned, and my own two eyes aren\u2019t enough to take in the moment. My small camera feels modest against the scale of this queen. Its local name, Mosi-oa-Tunya \u2014 the smoke that thunders \u2014 speaks to the sovereignty of Mother Nature. Queen Victoria or queen of the waters, she will remain, in my heart, the greatest of all coronations.<\/p>\n