A Wall of White

We’ve now been to the three most famous falls in the world: Niagara, Iguazu and Victoria. And I must say that I think Victoria is the most powerful. Of course, we were there at the end of the wet season, and things can change dramatically from season to season, but lets just say its called the “mist that thunders” with very good reason. We first could see the plume rising from over 20 miles away as we approached through Zimbabwe from the Botswana border. After sorting out a place to stay and some food, we Walked down to the park, and it only looked more daunting. Then we entered the park.

Now, I said they were the most powerful. It’s actually quite difficult to ascribe anything more to it than that. Because, simply, you can’t see anything. The falls are 1.7 kilometers long, but we could only see maybe 300 meters worth of width if we looked from one end. Which was absolutely beautiful when the sun broke through and rainbows traversed the expanse.

But everything else was a wall of white. And I mentioned its called the “mist that thunders.” More like the downpour that thunders. Standing out at the rocks on the point of the Zimbabwe side was a truly soaking experience, made all the more magical by the nun enjoying the “rain” with us by spinning and shouting “It is a deluge of blessings!” Most other people just tried to stay under their umbrellas.

So not satisfied with our whiteout experience, and based on the highest recommendations of our friends Joyce and Jack, who recently completed their own round the world trip complete with a Vic Falls stop, we decided to splurge on a microlight flight over the falls. As we took off we saw an elephant roaming nearby, and hippos wading in the river just above the falls. I’ve never felt as much like I was actually flying. There’s literally nothing separating you from the air except a lapbelt and two handholds. And the pilot who knows what he’s doing of course. I soared above the falls, just above the plume, and got a real feeling for the magnitude of the place. Which certainly is grand. What struck me was the whole distance we walked the previous day, which sure felt like a long way, only went to the midpoint of the falls. And the view down the canyon below the falls as the Zambezi twisted and curved its way on was magnificant. Unfortunately but understandably, cameras were not allowed up in the microlight since they can easily find their way into the engine and that can cause a few issues, but I guess this means you’ll all just have to go up for yourselves to see it.

Let me finish this up by categorizing my impressions of the three falls: Iguazu was the most beautiful, with the lush tropical scenery and the myriad of actual falls, Niagara the most impressive because its powerful but for the most part you can actually see it and Victoria the most powerful because wow, it is.

And as an aside for those who wonder about how Zimbabwe is these days, we found the Vic Falls area to be quite normal, but I suppose as this is their main tourist attraction, this isn’t surprising. Most supplies were as available as they were in neighboring countries and the people were quite warm and hopeful that things were improving. There were two things odd about the whole scene. First, you could pay for anything in almost any currency as long as it wasn’t Zim dollars; the people were experts at currency conversion and I can’t even imagine trying to keep track of all of it in my head. The second was the bartering culture; we consistently were approached and asked for our shoes or jackets or pants in exchange for some wood carving or a few trillion Zim dollars. We wondered if they expected us to drop pants or take off our shoes then and there, but since we never were offered anything we felt was near an even exchange, it never came to that. But I can now say that I am a quarter of the way to a quadrillionaire! Makes you feel rich, even if its only worth a few pennies.

A Few Facts about Zimbabwe

Did you know that:

During Mugabe’s rule the average life span of Zimbabweans has fallen from 65 to 30 years, the lowest in the world? Mugabe himself is 84.

Mugabe was inspired by Gandhi’s passive resistance movement and once vowed to use similar principles to help his own nation gain independence? He has, however, killed tens of thousands of people in ethnic cleansings since taking power.

Zimbabwe, under Mugabe, has the highest inflation rate of any currency in the world? Current estimates put it at 100,000%. Money is virtually useless.

Zimbabwe was once called the “breadbasket of the world”? Since Mugabe began his program of forcefully taking farms from white farmers and redistributing them (primarily to friends and political cronies), 1/3 of the population has had to rely on the World Food Program to avoid starvation.

In 2005, 10,000 of the poorest Zimbabweans were left without a home when Mugabe had the shantytown to which he had has his administration relocate these people destroyed? One of Mugabe’s many palaces was only a mile down the road.

Zimbabwe has the potential to be a wonderful place. The marvelous Victoria Falls lies on its border. Splendid African wildlife roams its plains. The land is arable and has a history of abundant production. The education system was once one of the best in Africa. In the 28 years that Robert Mugabe has ruled, however, Zimbabwe has been brought to its knees, virtually destroyed by a man the world once thought would save it.

Things do not look good, but on April 2, there was a ray of hope, as word leaked out that Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change had garnered over 50% of the votes in the March 29 election. A run-off was supposed to occur within three weeks between Tsvangirai and Mugabe. It looked like regime change might be on the way. However, Mugabe, not surprisingly, has not been cooperating with the process. Official results have yet to be released, and Mugabe has cried foul in regards to the counting of votes. He has also begun to crack down harshly on opponents, arrest journalists, and instigate violence in order to derail a run-off.

The future of Zimbabwe is at a crucial point. We must hope that the pendulum swings in the right direction. We must also do more than hope. I strongly urge each of you to contact your congress person, your president, and the United Nations to ask them to do everything in their power to see to it that this election process can continue and continue peacefully.

U.S. Representative to the United Nations: Mr. Zalmay Khalilzad, usa@un.int, (212) 415-4000
The president: comments@whitehouse.gov, 202-456-1111
Find your representative’s info: https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml
Find your senator’s info: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm